This was my third read from Schwab and I have to say that I really enjoy her writing style. Gallant was a fun, short read with a great setup. The pacing was a little slow to start and a little quick once the story got rolling, but I still just enjoyed everything that was going on. Outside of Schwab's fantastic writing, her character work is always a lot of fun. In this case, I think her protagonist construction is among the best I've read. Olivia was a fabulously developed character and I loved the bit of rags-to-riches setup...something Annie, but with a cursed twist. Olivia is absolutely 100% the darling of this tale and she makes it all happen. There was a lot put into her makeup and I appreciated how realistically and carefully she was constructed.

The third big, magnificent piece of this world was the atmosphere. I LOVED the atmosphere and darkness to the story. I'm a sucker for gothic settings, so I was all about the creepy house, the even creepier alternate world. The paranormal aspect was nicely set up and I once again enjoyed the way that flipside was put together. Nowhere was the logic flawed in the connection between the two worlds.

Unfortunately, I did want more from this story. It had a great premise and a decent plot, but I just wanted it to dive deeper. For some reason, it just felt a bit hollow in the end. It was right there, on the precipice of being something great, and then it just kind of wrapped up and ended. I was left not knowing what to feel. I wanted to experience more of the atmosphere, understand more of the backstory, and have more exposure to the secondary characters. It felt like, for as wonderful as everything was that I did read, it only scratched the surface. Despite how lovely the writing was and how much I enjoyed the creep factor of Gallant itself, this feeling (and to some extent disappointment) meant that I couldn't give a 5-star rating. Still...is it worth reading? Yes. I'd read it again.