Author: V.E. Schwab
Narrator: Julian Rhind-Tutt
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Narration: 2 mikes
Spicy Meter: N/A, it’s clean
Content Warnings: Discusses and describes parental death, suicide, ghost/ghouls, and child endangerment and abuse. Contains violence and psychological suspense.
“Gallant” follows Olivia Prior, an orphan who’s only recall of her past life lies in the diary her mother left for her. In said diary, you can clearly see how her mother went insane… but why? With a final, ominous message, to never visit Gallant, Olivia is left with more questions than answers. That is until a letter comes for her at the orphanage. A letter that’ll give her a whole new life, with her uncle, in Gallant.
The premise of this book seemed okay—label it as YA Fantasy and you could almost say I was excited to listen to this audiobook. I usually really enjoy V.E. Schwab’s writing, but this was not it for me. First off, it’s YA, sure, but fantasy? Absolutely not. This was more of a horror or a thriller, if anything. I was absolutely horrified.
The narrator was a little off-putting for me. Who decided this book about a young girl should be narrated by an old British man? Overall, it wasn’t the voice that bothered me—in another context, with another main character and another genre, I could’ve even enjoyed Rhind-Tutt’s narration—I just didn’t like that voice telling this story.
This would not be the first book I would think about when introducing someone to V.E. Schwab’s writing. I’m not even sure if I would recommend it at all. In general, when grabbing “Gallant”, be sure to not have any expectations—unless those expectations are for a thriller-suspense-horror driven story.
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andrea's galley 