REVIEW: Gallant (V.E. Schwab)

Book: Gallant

Author: V.E. Schwab

Premise: After receiving a letter from an uncle she's never met summoning her to his estate, Olivia Prior arrives to find it empty, save for the servants. She is permitted to remain, but must follow two rules: don't go out after dusk, and always stay on the right side of a wall that runs along the estate's western edge. Beyond it is another realm, ancient and magical, which calls to Olivia through her blood.

This is a good book for those dark autumnal evenings. Olivia Prior is mute and grew up in an orphanage with only her mother's journal. She's summoned to her uncle's home and, despite numerous warnings of something sinister in the dark, she decides to stay. I liked the spooky, haunted house atmosphere and the overall concept. Personally I found the ending unsatisfactory. I'd have been happier with a more ambiguous conclusion, which I think would've been more haunting than the one we got. But I did enjoy it and raced through this book.