The Girl With All the Gifts

A dystopian zombie-type tale, this novel focuses on a hyper-intelligent child who is starved for affection—and non-vegetarian protein.

Melanie struggles to control her biological impulses, to be more than what the adults fear and to be seen as human instead of an abomination, because she’s capable of love. Yet, it’s her immense capacity for clear, rational thought that makes her oh-so uncanny. 

I’ve read the book—and watched the film—multiple times. If you don’t mind some gore, this story is much more than just a zombie sci-fi.

This book is the very first zombie novel I ever read, and it gave me an appreciation for the genre that I never thought I could feel.

An original twist on the classic zombie story forms the heart of this novel as young Melanie comes to realize that the world she belongs to is vastly different from the one she knows.

Melanie is different from other girls, she’s hungrier, and that can make her dangerous, so she, and other children like her, was taken to a secure military facility where she was educated and trained to behave like any normal… show more.

I picked this book up in an airport shop and didn’t expect much from it. It really sucked me in though, I think I finished it before we even took off. It follows the result of a government experiment that I won’t go into detail over. There were some similarities to my own book to make it feel familiar without feeling as though I was rereading my own book. It falls into young adult, but in my opinion, fiction doesn’t have true barriers.

There’s something about combining the innocence of childhood with the darkness that can exist in the world that really fascinates me. The main character is a child, Melanie, with a rather naïve innocence that has to deal with some pretty heavy stuff (I mean, she is part zombie), and is being tested on at a military facility. An intriguing premise for sure. But what really sets this book apart for me is the time Carey takes setting up the characters (two of whom we love, and two that we hate) and then bringing them all together after the facility gets… show more.

Zombie stories are timeless, but in need of new ideas to keep them lively. The Girl with All the Gifts is as unique and fun as zombie stories come while still a proto-typical zombie story. A world overrun by zombies? Check. A military presence fighting for the survival of mankind? Check. A secret that could save humanity or tear apart the group—dooming them all? Check. A plot twist that no other zombie story has attempted? You bet. Carey balances slow-burn tension with fast-paced action, creating a dystopian roller coaster of a story. Fully fleshed-out characters replace common two-dimensional zombie fodder… show more.

Who doesn’t like a good zombie story? Even in a completely saturated genre, this book stands out. The world has been taken over by the undead. (The fast kind. And if you know that distinction, congratulations on being as morbidly obsessed with zombies as I am.) A brilliant little girl who has grown up in a lab discovers that she is one of the ‘hungries’. And when the lab is attacked by a zombie horde, she and the other survivors are forced to survive in a hostile world together. But the zombie apocalypse is bad enough when you don’t have… show more.

I was surprised what a good read this was. I don't often read zombie stories, but I enjoyed this one. This book joins a growing list of different takes on a zombie tale. I found the story fascinating from the first pages to the end. The shocking reveal had me gasping, but it was consistent with the rest of the book. I appreciated how well it was laid out. This book goes into the connection and competition between two species of humans. It takes a hard twist at the end that is shocking and heart-wrenching. You will enjoy it.

Melanie lives in an underground bunker, where all the children are brought to the schoolroom chained by armed guards. She is full of life, curiosity, and empathy, adoring inspirational teacher Helen Justineau. Turns out, society has been destroyed by an infection that turns humans into frenzied ‘hungries’ – Melanie and the children are a new smarter variant of hungries, and scientist Caroline Caldwell will stop at nothing to find a cure. When the base is overrun, Melanie’s brains and fighting skills become key to the small group of human survivors. This gripping and empathic post-apocalypse story has us cheering… show more.

I recommend this zombie book to everyone who hates zombie books. (Side note: I introduce my own novels to people as “Post-apocalyptic. No Zombies.”) Skillfully told from multiple points of view, the characters are faceted and complex, even the cold-as-ice scientist I wanted to simply hate but just couldn’t. Melanie, the “girl” of the title, is both endearing and terrifying, the science is plausible and interesting, and the plot twists just keep on coming. If you can’t take one more Walking Dead knock-off, this is definitely a book worth giving your time to.

The Girl with All the Gifts has a lot of intelligence and plenty of heart. In this tale, civilization has succumbed to a fungus that transforms people into cannibalistic “hungries.” Unlike traditional zombie viruses, this one is passed by blood, saliva, and airborne spores. The story opens in a remote military research base established to capture and study child hungries who, unlike other hungries, retain some semblance of their normal selves. These children still eat human flesh and can still be driven into a frenzy by normal humans. The heart of this story centers around Helen Justineau, a psychologist and… show more.