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

Melanie is a very special little girl. She is academically gifted, loves her school and her teacher, Miss Justineau. She also lives inside an Army bunker is taken to class each day strapped into a wheelchair while Sergeant Parks points a gun at her head. Melanie lives in a chilling, future version of Great Britain, riddled with a disease that turns ordinary people into zombie-like creatures known as Hungries. Like the other children in the bunker, she is a second generation Hungry and certain members of the government are very keen to experiment upon the children and discover how this disease can be defeated and eradicated. And then war breaks out ...

The Girl With All the Gifts proves itself to be a very different book than what is indicated on the very short blurb on the back cover. Melanie is the standout character, however, the story does shift to the perspective of a number of humans. It's interesting to learn more about their fears for humanity, particularly those of Sergeant Parks and Helen Justineau. There is a lot of action (and a bit of gore,) as you would hope and expect from a novel of this type. The resolution at the end of the novel is a surprising one--perhaps not what some readers will be expecting, but entirely fitting. Highly recommended.

This novel was read as part of the Eclectic Reader Challenge 2014

Category: Medical Thriller

Progress: 3/13

Comments

shelleyrae @ book'd out said…
Sounds unusual!
Thanks for sharing your Eclectic Reader Challenge review

Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out
23 March 2014 at 00:19
Kathryn White said…
It is definitely a unique book, which is why I thought that it would be perfect for the challenge.
23 March 2014 at 15:37
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