The Girl With All The Gifts: The most original thriller you will read this year (The Girl With All the Gifts, #1)

by M. R. Carey and Mike Carey

Finty Williams (Narrator)

NOT EVERY GIFT IS A BLESSING

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 is a very special girl.

Emotionally charged and gripping from beginning to end, THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS is the most powerful and affecting thriller you will listen to this year.

• ISBN10: 140553057X
• ISBN13: 9781405530576
• Publish Date: 14 January 2014 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Little, Brown Book Group
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (MP3)
• Duration: 13 hours and 3 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[HekArtemis]

Good enough, unfortunately I was able to see the way this story would progress and end fairly early on because it felt so similar to a book I read just last month that ends with the same (show spoiler)[ humans are the horrible murderous monsters fighting uselessly against the next step in evolution ] (hide spoiler) climactic premise. The book was (show spoiler)[ I Am Legend ] (hide spoiler) . Fact is this book honestly feels like nothing more than a modern, less sexist, updated version of that book. This doesn't make this book bad or anything, but I do think having experience with the other book takes something away from this one. Definitely removes the twist of it. Still a good book though.

And it is interesting how Melanie's sections are written more simply, with a child's innocent and non-elaborative voice. The book starts with that almost childish writing style, don't be turned off by it as it is deliberate and not the only voice in the book. Her voice matures a little as time passes as well.

Definitely recommend if you're looking for a zombie, plague, or post-apocalyptic book. Or a book that delves into morals in an interesting way.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

You know those books that you start reading and a first you're really engrossed because this is INTERESTING STUFF and by the 50% point you're sort of wandering and by the end, the best you can muster is, "It was fine?".

That's how I feel about THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS.

There's nothing fundamentally wrong with it, other than is formulaic nature. This applies to both the character designs - who stay very true to their tropes - and to the plot, which grasps at a common straw to drive most the book, then uses a very expected twist to "shake things up". Genre readers will really like this one - it's exactly the type of zombie book you want to come home to, if you're the sort of person who likes coming him to cuddle up with zombie books. But it's missing that "wow" factor - that thing that makes it a very good read.

The science and world building were interesting and set up the story to be so much more. The imagery, particularly in the city, was grotesque and fascinating. But the rest of the book fell short of this promise and for me, it was fine to read, but not something I'm going to go off and buy. I do think it'll be good for those you like the genre and want more of it, but as a casual reader, I simply wasn't won over. Personal opinion drives a lot of this review, over craft and technique. Take it with a grain of salt!

For a detailed review on this novel and others, or for more bookish content, come visit The Literary Phoenix!

[gmcgregor]

Zombie apocalypse stories are, at their heart, about the fear of social breakdown. A zombie doesn't have the internal struggle to contain their own demons that a vampire or werewolf does. At least not traditionally. But M.R. Carey's The Girl With All The Gifts isn't a usual zombie story. I guess it's technically a spoiler to say it's about zombies at all, but it's been out for long enough that most people are already familiar with the idea. It introduces us to Melanie, a girl undergoing a strange sort of schooling. Some of it is familiar: there's a class, a rotating group of teachers (Ms. Justineau is Melanie's particular favorite), lessons. But the children, when not in school, are locked in cells and collected for class by armed guards (like the harsh Sgt. Parks) who move them into special wheelchairs that restrict their movements at gunpoint. And the members of the class are sometimes wheeled into a medical lab, run by the ruthlessly efficient Dr. Caldwell, never to return.

That Melanie and her classmates are zombies (or "hungries", as they're called in the world of the book) is obvious fairly early on. But they aren't the typical kind: more like the vampire or werewolf, they're conscious, self-aware, capable of learning and some level of restraint. Obviously this isn't normal zombie behavior, not even in this world, and the lives of the students are being studied in the desperate hope that finding what makes them different could help lead to a vaccine for the fungal infection underlying the transformation into brainless and violent automatons. All of that is interrupted when the base is attacked by the regular kind of zombies, along with renegade humans that roam the wilderness because they refused to quarantine themselves in cities like most people. Melanie, Justineau, Parks, Caldwell, and a young soldier escape the chaos and set off for the city, but the world outside has dangers they might not be fully prepared for.

The heart of the story is the bond that forms between Melanie and Helen Justineau over the course of the book. Justineau is fond of Melanie from her time in the classroom, and Melanie all but worships the only person she's ever met who treats her with the slightest bit of kindness. As they're forced into closer quarters and more dire circumstances, that connection deepens and they become fiercely protective of each other in their own ways. The ways that Caldwell and Parks change (or don't, significantly) in their feelings about her in their turn reveals their true characters as well. There's an interesting, compelling adventure story with some quality world-building, but the book is really based in the relationships between people, how they view others, how they cope with the tremendous strain of living in a world so completely decimated by the unexpected.

My criticisms are mostly fairly minor: I think the book is a bit too long, some of the exposition is a bit too clunky, I wanted more of the past life of the characters to fill them out even further. I did appreciate that while the suspense level gets pretty tense, the gore level is relatively minimal for a zombie book (I'm not a fan of gore but found that what was there felt un-gratuitous). That being said, I don't know that I think this is a book that would be a match for everyone...if you're not into post-apocalyptic narratives, really can't deal with any gore at all, or want a super thriller, this probably won't be your preferred reading experience. But if you're willing to experiment a little with a book that might be outside your usual comfort zone and think a smart, character-driven take on zombies could be interesting, I'd definitely encourage you to read it. I liked it much more than I thought I would!

[ross91]

This book started strong.
I really liked the premises and Melanie, the main protagonist.
But then the "situation" changed and I progressively lost interest. I ended up skim-reading it.
Not one for me.

3* to the original idea and the great beginning, but the second half of the book was really boring, so it's really more a 2,5* book

I picked this book up while visiting the Women and Children First bookstore in Andersonville (Chicago neighborhood) based on their recommendation card and I'm so glad I did! IIRC, this book is for "fans of the zombie apocalypse, Joss Whedon's show Firefly (and movie Serenity), and badass kid heroes" (or something along those lines) and I was not disappointed by that description. I had not heard of this book until browsing their SciFi section but it's apparently already been made into a movie that is being released in the UK (where the story is set) later this month! M.R. Carey is, it seems, better known as a comic book writer and that fast-paced tone carries over here. I really enjoyed this story, especially since it was a very unique take on the normal zombie apocalypse scenario. If anyone else has heard of this, let me know so we can discuss and I'm happy to lend my copy out!

[Eve1972]

OK, so I am halfway done with this one, and it just isn't holding my attention. I guess this confirms the zombie drama thing just isn't my thing!

[adamfortuna]

I'm a sucker for dystopian environments, and this one hit the sweet spot of optimism coupled with grit and a high level look at why the world is the way it is. The star of the story is the relationship between Melanie, a 10 year old genius girl, and her teacher. Melanie doesn't know it, but a fungal infection has taken over the worlds, and taken over her. It has turned the worlds population into "hungries" -- zombies. The story unfolds as Melanie learns how she is different, and how she can fit into this new world.

I've watched a lot of zombie movies, TV shows and post-apocalyptic tales, and this one holds up. I'm excited to see a movie is in the works set to release in 2016!

[inlibrisveritas]

4.5 Stars

The Girl with All the Gifts was a random decision on my part, having heard almost nothing about it. My library expanded their digital library a bit and I got so excited I borrowed a few just so I wouldn’t be stuck on the hold list, this was one of them.

The Girl with All the Gifts focuses on several people, the main one being a girl name Melanie who is incredibly smart but more than a bit odd. The life she’s known consists of being strapped into chairs, having guns pointed at her, and going to school, and all of it is completely normal to her. She’s never known anything else and her world consists of her cell and her classroom. To the other four this book focuses on this is anything but ordinary. Where Melanie sees herself as a child, the rest of them see her as something entirely different: a monster, a specimen, an unfortunate child with a bleak future. At this point I think it’s quite obvious this is a zombie book, seeing as no matter where you look everyone pretty much tells you that much right off the bat. We get the normal unthinking single minded variety of zombie, but we are also given a more intelligent version capable of behaving like a normal human given the right circumstances. I’ve only read a few books with this type of zombie in them and I’ve enjoyed them all, but this is the first one that left me with an eeiry feeling. It focuses on what humanity truly means and we get to see Melanie’s journey to knowing the world around her as well as becoming more and more self aware to her condition. Each character brings something to the table in this novel. Miss Justineau is Melanie’s teacher and her idol, the one she looks up to and reveres and to Justinineau she is someone to protect and secure a future for. Dr. Caldwell is a single minded researcher who is working on trying to find a cure for the infection and an answer for why Melanie is the way she is. She spouts out facts with little to no regard to the feelings of those around her, and sees Melanie as a subject not a person. Sergeant Parks is the muscle in the group and sees Melanie as a little monster to be snuffed out when the time is right. Each of these opinions helps shape Melanie’s view of herself and the world, and I really loved seeing her go through such raw human emotions for the first time.

While there are slow moments where we are treated to such explanations and self monologuing, there is plenty of action and suspense to be had especially after the first quarter of the book is done. While there are some issues with the writing, I find that I didn’t focus on them quite so much since I was listening to the audiobook version and some of the more off sentences flowed rather well when spoken. Finty Williams is an excellent reader and I loved listening to her. She kept to the pace of the story and made sure each character was easy to differentiate between. While part of me wishes there was a sequel to continue on to, I’m so satisfied with the way the end played out that I’m content with the one book.

This is definitely one of those books that will stick with me, and I’m happy I took the chance on it. I enjoy zombie novels but sometimes it feels like so many of them lack substance and don’t make an effort to set themselves apart, and I certainly think TGwAtG has done just that.

[JumpingShelves]

Check out my review of The Girl With All The Gifts on jumpingshelves.wordpress.com.

[pamela]

I will write a more detailed review another time but for now know that this book is brilliant. It feels like Zombie fiction has finally come of age, with a maturity and gravitas that so many other clunky horror offerings fail to deliver.

This novel will make you question your ethics, what defines your humanity and indeed highlight what a real possibility the end of the world is. With a great many similarities to Richard Matheson's 'I Am Legend' it raises questions of just what it means to be human.

If I could re-read this just to experience reading it for the first time again I would. It was wonderfully written, and a recommendation to everyone, as it truly transcends it's genre.