Kate Harker is a girl who isn’t afraid of the dark. She’s a girl who hunts monsters. And she’s good at it. August Flynn is a monster who can never be human. No matter how much he once yearned for it. He has a part to play. And he will play it, no matter the cost. And that does seem to be my issue with this book. It’s just not a complete circle. Some things are delved into so deeply that I feel them coming to life around me, and others feel rushed through. The ending is also fairly abrupt for this level of magical build-up, to the point at the end I was wondering, ‘what was this all for?’ This novel progressed swiftly enough to retain my attention, albeit a bit slow. It was conveyed in a suspenseful manner, and the delicate tension wouldn't deter you from continuing as that's what made Gallant so captivating. The plot was straightforward, but it can be seen that Schwab took a long span and diligence to develop the world. Shadows have always fascinated V. E. Schwab and they have never been more present than in Gallant, her newest young adult novel.

Schwab continues to delight with her newest novel. If you’ve never read her work before, Gallant is an excellent introduction to those sparks of Schwab’s genius. Her prose is smooth, painting a room or moment or emotion with vivid details and engaging insight. Her characters are complex, and even at their lowest or cruelest, you never lose sight of why you should be rooting for them. And her worlds continue to be places of wonder and danger in equal measures, firmly rooted in the boundary where myth and reality meet, wrestling for dominance. In this one especially, Schwab truly makes the reader feel as though they’re living in a fable that will be passed down as cautionary tale or victory. Trigger/Content Warnings: death, death of a parent, child death, suicide, ableism, blood, abandonment, bullying, animal death Kell was raised in Arnes —Red London —and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see. This book was SO good and I truly am in love with V. E. Schwab’s writing. They write like a painter creates Impressionism - eloquently and filled with striking, beautiful details. It’s impossible to not be blown away.

Gallant

Olivia offers up her uncle’s letter. The woman’s eyes dart over the envelope, then the contents within. And even in the thin hall light, she can see the last of the color go out of the woman’s face. “I don’t understand.” She turns the paper over, searching for more.

I already talked about the characters, but apart from the kind of cliché MC Olivia, we have 3 other characters- all of whose names I have forgotten and all of whom had no personality. There was no plot whatsoever (until like over halfway), but in general I don't even care 99% if there isn't one as long as I'm invested in the characters. Which wasn't the case at all here.For a girl living in a quiet world, conversing with ghoul-like creatures through nods and gestures is a blessing and a curse. Olivia is drawn to the power of secrets and magic. What is real, what isn't? When she meets her cousin Mathew, she begins to learn more about the mystery, the hidden garden, and the wall beyond the path. She holds on to a journal written by her mother, trying to piece together the story of her family and her mother's past. But there are lower powers, stranger ones, and there in the dark, behind the door, she prays to them. Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for Girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home; it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile, or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways. Representation: Olivia is mute, uses sign language, and is implied to be asexual and aromantic; Matthew is implied to be dyslexic

Când Olivia ajunge în sfârșit la Gallant, în urma unei scrisori misterioase primite de la unchiul său descoperă un întreg univers plin de secrete și fantome. Chiar de la sosire, ea află trei lucruri importante: unchiul său a murit de multă vreme, nu are voie să iasă afară după apus și, orice s-ar întâmpla, nu trebuie să treacă de partea cealaltă a zidului vechi care străjuiește locul. Note- I have tried to include all the content warnings that I noticed, but there is no guarantee that I haven’t missed something. Olivia's drive to have a family is stronger than her trepidation, however, and what she finds at Gallant is nothing like she'd ever imagined. The audiobook narration was also pretty good, and this would be a great starting point if you are new to audiobooks. Fiction Review: A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab". Publishers Weekly. 2015 . Retrieved January 19, 2015.

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Gallant is about Olivia Prior, who has grown up in Merilance School for girls. All Olivia has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. When she gets a letter from her uncle inviting her to Gallant, she can't help but accept. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home, it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways. Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, which she is determined to find out. After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure. She doesn’t mean to fall asleep, but when she wakes, the light is thin, the shadows long, the sky above streaked pink and gold with dusk. Even the ground has changed beneath the car, from a proper road to a rough dirt lane. The hills have been replaced by stony mountains, distant craggy shapes that rise to either side like waves, and the grim walls of Merilance with its soot-stained sky feel worlds away. Perhaps it is the word— home—or the knowledge that someone is waiting for her there, the idea that she is wanted.