Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 02/15/2022 The Merilance School for Girls isn't the worst of places to grow up, but for orphaned Olivia Prior, who has always felt like an outsider, it is an isolating one. For Olivia, who cannot speak out loud—only in a sign language that no one else at Merilance bothers to learn—and who can see the intangible ghouls of those who have died, life is a very lonely thing. She longs for the family she assumes is dead, clinging to a journal that once belonged to her mother and is filled with strange drawings and nonsensical babblings. When a letter arrives at Merilance inviting Olivia to come to Gallant, a mysterious old home, she may finally have found the family she's always wanted. But her mother penned dire warnings about Gallant, and Olivia will have to decide if her desire is worth the risk—or, if there is darkness at Gallant, if it can be fought. Schwab nestles this story of heritage and hope into rich, evenly paced prose. Readers of character-driven literary fiction will be mesmerized by this darkly magical tale.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Schwab is a proven best-seller across the YA, adult, and middle-grade markets, and this new stand-alone, which gives her a chance to flex her considerable literary muscles, will appeal to all her audiences. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.

Booklist - 02/15/2022 The Merilance School for Girls isn't the worst of places to grow up, but for orphaned Olivia Prior, who has always felt like an outsider, it is an isolating one. For Olivia, who cannot speak out loud—only in a sign language that no one else at Merilance bothers to learn—and who can see the intangible ghouls of those who have died, life is a very lonely thing. She longs for the family she assumes is dead, clinging to a journal that once belonged to her mother and is filled with strange drawings and nonsensical babblings. When a letter arrives at Merilance inviting Olivia to come to Gallant, a mysterious old home, she may finally have found the family she's always wanted. But her mother penned dire warnings about Gallant, and Olivia will have to decide if her desire is worth the risk—or, if there is darkness at Gallant, if it can be fought. Schwab nestles this story of heritage and hope into rich, evenly paced prose. Readers of character-driven literary fiction will be mesmerized by this darkly magical tale.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Schwab is a proven best-seller across the YA, adult, and middle-grade markets, and this new stand-alone, which gives her a chance to flex her considerable literary muscles, will appeal to all her audiences. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 04/01/2022 Gr 8 Up—Schwab uses a blend of Gothic, fantasy, and horror to create an unsettling story that reads like a cautionary folktale to beware the shadows. Olivia Prior spends her days at the Merilance School for Independent Girls reading her mother's journal and longing for a family. It seems her wish is granted when a long-lost uncle writes to her and calls her home. But when she arrives at Gallant, no one is expecting her, and her angry cousin, Matthew, just wants her to leave. When Olivia eventually finds herself in a warped mirror version of Gallant, she finds answers, too: what happened to her mother, who her father is, why she can see ghouls wherever she goes. She will have to make a choice; which version of Gallant will she choose? Will she stay and step into her role as a Prior, or will she stand behind the dark creature that rules the other Gallant? There is so much grief in this story: over losing family, home, and the way things were. Olivia is a protagonist who doesn't go out of her way to be likeable, but she still very much wants her found family to want her back. The Priors are white. Olivia cannot speak, and her cousin, Matthew, cannot read. VERDICT A must-buy for libraries where Holly Black, Neil Gaiman, Emily Lloyd-Jones, and other authors of creepy and unnerving tales circulate well.—Ness Shortley - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.