Illustrated by Manuel Šumberac
But the ones at Gallant, she thinks, belong to me.
Olivia Prior
12th book of 2022
Sixteen-year-old Olivia Prior is missing three things: a mother, a father, and a voice. Her mother vanished all at once, and her father by degrees, and her voice was a thing she never had to start with.
She grew up at Merilance School for Girls. Now, nearing the end of her time there, Olivia receives a letter from an uncle she’s never met, her father’s older brother, summoning her to his estate, a place called Gallant. But when she arrives, she discovers that the letter she received was several years old. Her uncle is dead. The estate is empty, save for the servants. Olivia is permitted to remain, but must follow two rules: don’t go out after dusk, and always stay on the right side of a wall that runs along the estate’s western edge.
Beyond it is another realm, ancient and magical, which calls to Olivia through her blood…
TW: blood, death, child death, ableism, bullying,
Rating
Review
This book is one of my most anticipated books of 2022. I had a great time reading it. I was surprised by the pace at which I read it, and I stopped myself because I would’ve read it in one sit.
I couldn’t stop myself from reading this book. The atmosphere of it is dark and whimsical. You have enough tension, mystery and horror. Sometimes, it feels like you are in a strange dream. You dive really deep into this book, and I was surprised how easy it was to do it, but you feel a pull that makes you continue this book. Also, the thing that surprised me was the drawings. Nobody told me about them neither there are other media in it. It adds so much to the book!
I like all the characters in it, even the villains. I like how they are imagined and built. I like the fact that you don’t have a lot of them. So you can see how they bond together, and it’s a pleasure to see, especially for Olivia. There is an element that I liked a lot in this book, the lack of dialogue. You read the story from Olivia’s POV, and as she is mute, it would have been strange. However, there are some, but not in the usual way.
Even if I truly liked it, I had a slight problem with the explanations. First, I was frustrated as I wanted some explanations as much as the main character. Still, nobody explained anything initially, like at all. Second, you have a mix as Olivia discovers elements but not all of them, and the latest are told to her. I was so into her discovering things that I was a little disappointed to have everything else said to me. Finally, they are a little late, not in the book’s construction as they arrived before the “action”, but it’s in the last pages. I would have liked to read them a little before that.
This wasn’t 5 stars read, but I spent such a great time with this dark fairy tale that it will be a reread for sure.
Liz.
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