Gallant

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Olivia Prior has always hoped for a place to belong and a family that cares for her. Instead, she’s isolated at Merilance School for Independent Girls, with its strict matrons, shunned by students who ostracize and torment her for being mute. Olivia uses sign language, taught to her by a now-departed matron (although nobody else signs); treasures the journal belonging to the mother she doesn’t remember; and can see ghouls. When she receives a letter from her uncle, Arthur Prior, inviting her to live at his manor, Olivia leaps at the chance. However, instead of the big, welcoming family she imagined, the opulent yet run-down Gallant only holds Matthew, her irritable cousin, and kindly caretakers Hannah and Edgar. Olivia unravels the ominous secrets of both her family and the house, where ghouls lurk around every corner and the dilapidated garden gate calls to her. The evolving relationships between Olivia and her found family shine, and themes of freedom, the self, and belonging are well depicted. The gripping writing and effective incorporation of horror elements, including haunting, inky artwork, are satisfyingly spine-tingling. Olivia’s use of sign language and her artistic talents, part of the exploration of the importance of communication, are skillfully incorporated into the overall story. Olivia and the main cast are White. Something wriggles inside her then, half terror and half thrill. Like when you take the stairs too fast and almost slip. The moment when you catch yourself and look down at what could have happened, some disaster narrowly escaped. The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. And there are no strangers in the town of Near. We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from Gallant by V.E. Schwab, out from Greenwillow Books on March 1.

When people see tears, they stop listening to your hands or your words or anything else you have to say. And it doesn't matter if the tears are angry or sad, frightened or frustrated. All they see is a girl crying.” Everything seems so arbitrary and disconnected. There are rules about the Priors, rules about the wall (which is a strangely short wall, by the way—I’m still not sure what the purpose of a door is if you can just walk around the wall)... I don’t know why it has to be this way. I don’t know how the Prior ancestors fought what’s beyond the wall. It seems cheap never to give explicit reasons for why things are the way they are. You could say that V. E. Schwab has been writing about shadows for her entire career. London and its many shadows explored by Lila and Kell in her Shades of Magic series. Victor and Eli from the Villains series, each struggling to escape the shadow cast by the other. Kate and August from the Monsters of Verity series learning how to embrace the darkness of their lives and come to terms with their monstrous halves. Even Addie la Rue wanders through the long, long shadow that falls on her immortal life and those around, running from it even as it lengthens in the light. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.And she’ll have to learn fast. The city of ghosts is more dangerous than she ever imagined. Tunnel of Bones (2019) Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now Olivia sees what has unraveled generations of her family, and where her father may have come from.

The audiobook narration was also pretty good, and this would be a great starting point if you are new to audiobooks. 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?’ 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. Goodreads Choice - Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction". Goodreads . Retrieved December 9, 2022.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.

I'm also not sure who exactly the target audience and age group for this book was either. It is marketed as adult, but it reads like middle grade. 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. At first glance, Aria seems like your average twelve-year-old girl. But there’s much more to her than meets the eye. Aria is a guardian angel, sent here to earn her wings. But to do that she’ll have to help three different girls. . . .And dreams can never hurt you. That’s what her mother said. Of course, she knows now it isn’t true. Dreams can make you hurt yourself, dreams can make you do so many things, if you’re not careful.” Dar Olivia este hotărâtă să descopere adevărul despre istoria familiei sale, chiar dacă, pentru a reuși, trebuie să exploreze un întreg tărâm bântuit unde o așteaptă însuși maestrul întunecat…

I’m also very drawn to Guillermo del Toro and Neil Gaiman. Writers who create—you don’t even want to call it horror, you want to call it like the quiet tension of frightening places. I’m not a fan of slasher films. I skew more towards Stephen King’s suspense than his horror. But I think there’s a frighteningness to lonely places. And I think what we’re really afraid of is being alone with ourselves. I think the claustrophobia of places is also the claustrophobia of our own internal landscape. That sounds so pretentious, but what I mean by that, I think this isn’t like a “Boo!” frightening book, right? It’s really about is what happens when you’re left alone. I think that loneliness and fear really go hand in hand.

Fleming, Mike Jr. (December 17, 2013). "Ridley Scott's Scott Free Teams With Story Mining & Supply On Vicious Deal". Deadline Hollywood.