Girl with All the Gifts (The Girl With All the Gifts, #1)

by M. R. Carey and Mike Carey

[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!

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