Gallant

Olivia as a character is great. She is inquisitive and smart and her not being able to talk is great storytelling. It is not only connected to the mystery, of where she came from and who she is, but also a big part of the way she communicates and how her life has been shaped. All the characters from Gallant as just as complex, I loved that they all had their characters and motivations really making them feel very distinct. Even the ghouls who can't say much and aren't even alive had clear characterisations. 

The story was well written in the way that I usually figured out what was going on just before the characters did or it was spelt out. It makes you feel smart for knowing it but doesn't make the characters seem dumb for not seeing it. It also genuinely made me scared, the way some exposition was written made it seem like it should be made of movies scenes cut together instead of words on pages. It's like I could see exactly how this movie would be cut and directed somehow. 

The only thing that bothered me about the book is the thing that bothers me about more of Schwab's books. The villain's motivation is born out of him just being a monster. Sure he has reasons for doing specific things, like inviting her or being angry at losing a piece of himself. But the reason he is evil is just because he is a monster. He is Death and supernatural beings need no explanation for being evil. I don't like that about it. For the same reason, I find her endings often very unsatisfying. Like the book sets up this great story and then drops the ball in the last 30 pages.