Review: Gallant by Victoria Schwab/V.E. Schwab
I adore the work of V.E./Victoria Schwab. Obviously, I was very much anticipating being able to read this book, and it absolutely did not disappoint.
Gallant is the story of Olivia Prior, an orphaned girl living unhappily at a school for girls. Olivia is mute and has lost her connection to the one person who understood sign language, she has no positive connections at all left at the school. She is most at home in a little harder shed that is haunted by a ghoul only she seems to be able to see. One day a letter arrives that says her family has been searching for her for years and have finally located her; her Uncle wants her to relocate to Gallant, the place her mother's diary says never to return to.
I loved so many aspects of this book. It is so different in scope from all of Schwab's other books I have read. This book is sort of quieter, but mostly it is just a much more insular story. This book only really takes place in three locations, four if you include a brief car ride, and only has a handful of characters. It really seemed reflective of being written during the pandemic in a really interesting and smart way. This book isn't set in the present, it is a book set in a nebulous sense of the past, but this book is really grappling with loneliness and connection in a way that feels very current.
A smaller aspect of the book I loved was the way Schwab plays with color, specifically the clever way she uses saturation throughout the story. I very rarely think of books cinematically as I read them, but while I was reading this book, I kept thinking how much I would love to see a movie, specifically an animated movie, of this book. I especially would love to see the book's use of color reflected on a screen.
The magic in this book was really interesting. Schwab continues her love affair with doorways, which is obviously a metaphor I am very into. In this iteration it is a gate, and it is very well utilized throughout the story. I really loved the shadow world being pressed up against Gallant, it allowed for interesting lore and just for a satisfying story.
I assume the book is YA, but the book has a lot of the whimsey one would typically expect from a middle grade. The themes and some of the events of the book would probably be too dark to directly recommend to a middle-grade audience as a whole, but I really enjoyed the way this book made m think about who the target reader would be.
This book has illustrations throughout, they are absolutely gorgeous. Each image is used three times in the story (at least to my current memory) in an incredibly clever way.
My last note is that this book absolutely did a top-notch job of physically affecting me. I was legitimately scared while reading a few scenes of this book, actual heart-pounding anxiety that I have not gotten with most of the horror I have read. I also cried exactly where I assume Schwab wanted me to cry, even though the crying moment is pretty well telegraphed.
I really loved reading this book. It has reminded me that I do still have a few of Schwab's backlist I need to read and that I should maybe go back and reread some of her other books I have also loved. I certainly plan to reread Gallant.
I gave this five stars.
