My very first Schwab novel, and at times I was very creeped out, she certainly knows how to create a terrifying atmosphere! The Ghouls that Olivia could see from the beginning felt very warm and protective (I knew straight away that they were not dangerous to her) but the shadows in ‘other’ Gallant, were very spooky and at times this felt like an adult horror story, rather than a YA novel.
I loved the diary entries and the drawings, having her mother’s voice within created more depth and I felt very empathetic for Olivia as she tried to get closer to her Mother by finding out what happened to her (although half the time I couldn’t actually tell what the drawings were of!). Schwab’s writing is incredibly lyrical and beautiful, and it certainly gives me major FOMO and I now need to read the rest of her back catalogue!
The only reason I haven’t given this 5 stars is that I found it a slow burner, with a very fast and lacklustre ending. It was only after the halfway point that a villain came into play, which then kick-started a very exciting rest of the story, until I got to the end of the book, which just had a very sudden ending, which was kind of resolved, but also not (if you read the book you’ll understand what I mean by this!). I just felt that it was incredibly well written, and the storyline was there, but it just wasn’t as impressive as it could have been, there was a lot that was missing.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this for anyone that’s a fan of Schwab, or spooky/mysterious stories, but be aware you may be disappointed by the ending.
4/5 stars
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