Review: The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

Around the time this novel was being released I saw a few really awesome rewviews for it that peaked my interest. Unfortunately, it didn't show up in my library for almost a year after its release. THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS is a novel whose like I have never before encountered. And in that same vein, it is one which I am not likely to forget.

Title:  The Girl With All the Gifts

Author: M.R. Carey
Pages:  403      C/W:  2014
Publisher:  Orbit
Date Started: January 22, 2016              Date Finished: January 23, 2016

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr. Caldwell calls her "our little genius."

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children's cells. She tells her favorite teacher all the things she'll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn't know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad. 

What's is about?

                Melanie is a 10 year old genius child with a partial immunity to the virus that changed a majority of the population from normal live people to animated flesh eaters. Melanie does not know this. In the beginning all Melanie knows is the walls of her cell, the people who care for her and the other children, and the schedule that rules her life.

                The story unfolds as Melanie is forced to leave behind the homes she’s always known. As Melanie and her company of caretakers are forced closer to extinction, the truths that keep them all sane begin to deteriorate and they are forced to choose between evils.

Did you like it?                                                              Rating:  5/6

                I really enjoyed this one.

                Word choice in this book made me very happy. I never had to go back and reread a sentence to make sure I actually understood what was done. Carey picked words that accurately and definitively made the story glide along at a pleasant pace.

                The story has five main characters – Melanie, Miss Justineau, Caroline Caldwell, Sergeant Parks, and Private Gallagher. Cycling though multiple viewpoints was a big thumbs up for me in this novel because the human intricacies, relationships, and inner workings of the five characters of this book were amazing and wonderful to read about, even the cool headed scientific detachment of Caroline Caldwell. For me, being able to read about different people, from different backgrounds, that accurately portray classic literary archetypes was awesome.

What is it about?

                Think zombie apocalypse, and ten take everything you’ve heard, read, and seen and turn it upside down and inside out. That’s what M.R. Carey did when he published THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS. This is a zombie apocalypse novel like one you’ve never read before. The characters are raw and beautiful. The world is devastated and dying. And the concept is awesome.

                I encourage you to rea this one if you haven't.

               This novel blew me away. It was a little hard to get into at first, but it turned out ot be really good. I think M.R. Carey just became, for me, one of those authors I will read no matter what they publish.