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

I love how this illustrates Carey’s masterful way of creating an intelligent and caring character. “It’s looser than before,” the hungry kid says. Throughout the book she’s forced to wear a face mask to prevent her from infecting anyone and at one point when they’re putting the mask on she says: But, Melanie is smart enough to know that she is a danger to the people she cares about and she is precautious beyond her years. She wants what every other child wants, to be loved, to be normal. Melanie is a perfectly rounded character with the ultimate flaw, but Carey makes her into a normal child. This is a great example, Carey has not created flawless god characters, he’s created regular people in extraordinary circumstances.

Like something about her is wounded, and not healing, and hurting her all the time.” There’s this quote where Melanie is describing Miss Justineau and it is perfect, it goes: Miss Justineau is an excellent friend and teacher but she has her own secrets and her own flaws. I sat on the edge of my seat the entire time because I was afraid of what would happen to them.īut, none of the characters are perfect they know their limits. Melanie is such a sweet and lovable girl it’s impossible to hate her, and her savior, Miss Justineau is a total badass. Carey creates characters that you both love and love to hate. And, while Melanie is a ‘monster’, she proves that sometimes monsters are more human than we could imagine. Having the perspective of a zombie hybrid, a character that could bridge the gap between zombies and humans is fascinating. This book is an entirely new perspective, the only book similar to this one is Warm Bodies, and it holds no comparison in my eyes. The zombie genre is a very saturated market, but The Girl With All The Gifts nails it. This novel is so unique, it is not something I have read before and it is so refreshing. During their journey we will learn about how children like Melanie came to be and what that means for the fate of the world. In this novel we encounter ‘hungries’ aka zombies, junkers (psychotic survivalists), and the hybrid children like Melanie. We follow Melanie, a zombie hybrid, on a truth seeking journey with her beloved teacher, a mean-spirited military sergeant, a cold-hearted scientist, and a young soldier.

The Girl With All The Gifts is a fresh take on the zombie genre.

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