Gallant

So I really enjoyed this, just, the plot seemed super confusing to me at some points and I thought that the style it was told in was surprisingly achronological buuuuut I think the reasons for that are a) that I was pretty distracted and b) that I must have accidentally skipped at least an hour, managing to listen to 5 hours of the book in what was at most 4 hours in my world, at normal speed. Well, either way, I liked it.

I agree with other reviews I've seen on here that the ending for this book leaves a bit to be desired, and is incredibly abrupt. I just don't think that takes enough away from the characters and world building that led up to those final moments. I thoroughly enjoyed my brief time in the world Schwab builds around Gallant. If anything I want more of it, but I'll take this glimpse.

Atmospheric, dreamy and macabre, a young misfit at an orphanage dreams of her mother, who has left her only a cryptic diary. When our hero orphan is called home unexpectedly, she encounters her cursed lineage with a bravery that ultimately attenuates into stoic resignation. I enjoyed the latent sadness in every detail and felt my fears of death well-expressed. I liked the ambiguous ending as well. Surprisingly good middle school horror that appealed to this old reader.

Good read for spooky month, but not a great read for me, personally. Read my full review here.

I'm mad. I'm sad. I'm absolutely in love with this book. Only Schwab can hurt me like this, give me (what I consider) a worst case scenario, and make me feel grateful for experiencing it.

Hey, pretty good. Atmospheric & spooky, a slow burn through to a fairly anticlimactic ending.

My main problem with this one is that I didn't really feel anything for the character, the story is short and easy to read though and the writing is good^