The Girl with All the Gifts

doug reviewed The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey

Review of 'The Girl with All the Gifts' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Struggled to get through this. The third act is better than the first three quarters of the book. Starts slow with a lot unnecessary over-detailed descriptions. I don't need to know the dimensions of a classroom. I know how big they are. I'm not a fan of overly specific numbers or distances, or actions explaining where everything is, with the left hand doing this and the right hand doing that, and the left foot here and the right there. Just say they got into a scuffle and move on. I don't need notes from the fight choreographer. But that seems par for the course for the (limited) science fiction I've read (which is mostly bad writing). This book was based on the author's short story and it perhaps should have remained as one.
But I really like the ending.

Ikwezi reviewed The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey

Review of 'The Girl with All the Gifts' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Plus one star for the "I Am Legend"-style kicker

flashy_dragon reviewed The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey

Review of 'The Girl with All the Gifts' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Interesting, enjoyable. Probably wouldn't read it again. I'm still not a fan of zombie novels, and I probably wouldn't have read this had I paid attention to other reviews.

And creepy as hell, at least for how zombies are formed.

But, in the end, it was hopeful. And I'll likely not have nightmares from it. Yay!

AbominableDrH reviewed The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey

Review of 'The Girl with All the Gifts' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

An unusual take on a not-unfamiliar theme. Interesting and rather moving.

marksutherland reviewed The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey

Review of 'The Girl with All the Gifts' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Melanie is a very clever girl who attends a rather strict boarding school, during a zombie apocalypse. It's hard to say any more about it, as part of what makes it such a great story is the way the details drip in, revealing more of the world it's set in and steadily foreshadowing the dramatic climax.

It lives up to the zombie genre, with several truly gruesome action sequences and an ambiguous metaphor for the infection lurking in the background. It's the five main characters that shine through though, most of whom fit a certain stereotype (the soldier, the mad scientist, the teacher) but prove to have complex motivations that mostly make sense as we learn more about them.

The premise and the setting provides ample opportunity for big questions and as Melanie learns more about herself and the world we see her come to an inevitable conclusion and take …

Melanie is a very clever girl who attends a rather strict boarding school, during a zombie apocalypse. It's hard to say any more about it, as part of what makes it such a great story is the way the details drip in, revealing more of the world it's set in and steadily foreshadowing the dramatic climax.

It lives up to the zombie genre, with several truly gruesome action sequences and an ambiguous metaphor for the infection lurking in the background. It's the five main characters that shine through though, most of whom fit a certain stereotype (the soldier, the mad scientist, the teacher) but prove to have complex motivations that mostly make sense as we learn more about them.

The premise and the setting provides ample opportunity for big questions and as Melanie learns more about herself and the world we see her come to an inevitable conclusion and take things into her own hands. Overall it's a fast paced and gripping tale with an interesting take on the zombie apocalypse.

SpiderKitten reviewed The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey

Review of 'The Girl with All the Gifts' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

The Girl with All the Gifts is a zombie novel with a twist. We start by meeting Melanie, a 10 year old girl that for reasons unknown is kept locked away in a cell on a military base, and is taken to class by armed guard where she learns lessons about history and nature and other normal middle grade subjects.

From there the story switches point of view to the many different characters. We meet the school teacher that Melanie adores, we meet one of the armed guards, the scientists, and others. Each holds a piece of the puzzle that leads to the realization of what Melanie and the other children mean for what is left of society.

The second half of the novel moves more towards the typical zombie novel affair, the group of characters escaping the base after a zombie attack and making their way towards perceived safety. …

The Girl with All the Gifts is a zombie novel with a twist. We start by meeting Melanie, a 10 year old girl that for reasons unknown is kept locked away in a cell on a military base, and is taken to class by armed guard where she learns lessons about history and nature and other normal middle grade subjects.

From there the story switches point of view to the many different characters. We meet the school teacher that Melanie adores, we meet one of the armed guards, the scientists, and others. Each holds a piece of the puzzle that leads to the realization of what Melanie and the other children mean for what is left of society.

The second half of the novel moves more towards the typical zombie novel affair, the group of characters escaping the base after a zombie attack and making their way towards perceived safety. The end of the story was quite different from the norm however.

I quite enjoyed the story. The characters were likable, despite some of their motivations and the pacing was pretty good as well.