Book Review: Gallant by V.E. Schwab

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All her life, Olivia Prior has wondered who she truly is and where she belongs. Her only clue is a slim, battered journal. Her mother's journal, full of entries that seem to show that she was unraveling and drawings that look like blots of ink... until Olivia notices a hand, a door, a bloom, a skull. Then a letter beckons Olivia home - to Gallant. The one place her mother's journal warns her never to go. Olivia goes anyway. Of course she does. What she finds is her last living relative and her family's manor. A manor with a ballroom and a sitting room and a study and a sprawling, vibrant garden - and the crumbling ruin of a garden wall with an iron door. A door she must never open. But no one will tell her what haunts her cousin's dreams, what happened to her mother, or what lies on the other side of the wall. Did the shadows call Olivia home? What will they ask of her in return? ~~~~ Fantasy is not my genre. I have read maybe three fantasy books. This book proved it is definitely not a genre I care for. I read it because the title is my last name. I just HAD to read it. Spoiler Alert: Gallant is not a place, it's the name of the Manor. On the other side of the wall is an identical manor that is in worse condition. There are ghouls who are supposedly protecting her, but are scared of the Master of the run-down Manor. The descriptions of the ghouls and Manors are very detailed. It is a very well written novel. I just find the fantasy genre confusing and obviously unrelatable. I DID connect with Olivia and was empathetic to her throughout the whole book. I did find the book hard to put down but when I got to the last section of the book I just wanted to get it over with. I can't with that stuff. This says nothing against the author. She is a very good writer. If you like fantasy you will probably love this book. I did give it 3.5 out of 5 stars which I believe is generous for a genre I'm just not into. But the writing and story were excellent.