Olivia's only living family member, her cousin Matthew, is openly hostile and wants her to leave. Even the house's ghouls - the decayed spirits of the dead that Olivia has seen her whole life - are recognisable as her ancestors, part of a family Olivia has always longed to know.īut Gallant also holds secrets. Olivia stays in her mother's old room and wears her mother's old clothes. Gallant is ageing but colourful, and the small staff there is kind to Olivia one man even knows sign language.

At first, it's an unbelievable turn of events. You could read it over and over again and still feel that shiver of delight as the magic pulls you under one more time.īut when Olivia receives a letter from an uncle she's never heard of, demanding she come to Gallant (which turns out to be the Prior family estate), she has no choice but to go. And you will be safe as long as you stay away from Gallant.' Full of strange inkblot illustrations, the journal tracks her mother's love affair with Olivia's father, his mysterious death, and her own descent into madness, closing with one final, desperate entry addressed to Olivia: 'The shadows are not real. An orphan who can't speak, Olivia has learned to lash out at her bullies while nurturing her own blossoming identity: practicing drawing, learning sign language (which no one else can understand), and combing through an old journal, the only thing her mother left her before she disappeared. When we meet Olivia Prior, she's the black sheep at Merilance School for Independent Girls. Schwab's 'Gallant' (available now) has one of the best young-adult protagonists I've read in some time, and she's the one leading us through a deliciously creepy world filled with mysterious journals, haunted houses, and gothic magic.

A fantasy book can have all the dazzling magic, intricate plotting, and gorgeous prose in the world, but it won't amount to much if there's not a solid main character in there driving things forward.

Gallant ve schwab review