Review: A rebellious young orphaned girl named Olivia, who cannot speak and has the ability to see partially-formed ghosts, lives at the Merilance School for Girls (pretty much a rundown orphanage), her mother's journal (a complex book of writings and drawings essentially chronicling her mom's descent into madness) her only connection to the past. She's bullied by the nastier girls - though stands up for herself and gets her revenge in her own way - and in general has a tough go at the school until a letter arrives from her uncle, telling Olivia she has a family awaiting her, and a place at their home, named Gallant. A home - a family - a connection to others and the hopes of find out more about what happened to her mother and father, it's all Olivia's ever wanted, so though her mother's journal outright warns the young girl to stay away from Gallant, when the school sends her off Olivia is eager to learn of her new family and life.
Things don't go well from the start; Olivia arrives to find her uncle has passed away, and his son - her cousin Matthew, not that much older than Olivia - wants her gone. But a pair of older servants remind their young master that they can't send Olivia away after dark (cue creepy music in the background), and Olivia ends up hanging around the big, cold, decrepit Gallant the next few days, during which she discovers, beyond the garden, a large stretch of broken-down garden wall, complete with a gate, that no one in the house seems to want to talk about. With good reason, as it turns out, when Olivia ends up beyond the crumbling wall ... to find an alternate version of Gallant, dark and sinister and with a very different master, who has his own plans for Olivia.
Though I have several of her novels, this was my first time reading V. E. Schwab and Gallant definitely has its moments; true to al I'd read and heard, Schwab's characters and writing style draw you in with atmosphere and suspense. Olivia is a sympathetic heroine with heart, and you want her to find answers even though they might not be good ones, and the alternate Gallant is beautifully envisioned and downright creepy. Yet through it all, I couldn't connect as much as I wanted with the characters, and at times the writing came off a little florid or over-done. Also, the ending felt a bit hurried, things resolved way too quickly/easily compared to the set-up, and overall - with as much YA as I've read - this is the first time I felt a YA novel I was reading was "written down" to or for a younger audience, which was a distraction. So, good enough that I look forward to reading more of Schwab's work, but overall this was a hit or miss for me. 3/5 stars
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