The Girl with All the Gifts

Hardcover, 407 pages

English language

Published June 10, 2014 by Orbit.

ISBN:: 978-0-316-27815-7
OCLC Number:: 868923582

(2 reviews)

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr Caldwell calls her "our little genius." Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh. Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children's cells. She tells her favorite teacher all the things she'll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn't know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad. THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS is a sensational thriller, perfect for fans of Stephen King, Justin Cronin and Neil Gaiman.

7 editions

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

безжально

4 stars

потужний і безжальний розвиток ідеї «я легенда».

оповідь мала б, гадаю, вразити читача катарсисом принаймні двічі. я не отримав жодного, бо чомусь мені було очевидно вже наприкінці першої третини, чим все має завершитися.

як у справжній фантастиці, автор пропонує читачеві декілька непростих запитань, на які людство не має, і ніколи не матиме відповідей. не знаю, чи було серед цих авторських запитань те, котре найбільше непокоїть тепер мене:

а чи справді в будь-якому екзистенційному конфлікті ми, як людство, чи як суспільство, повинні передбачати мить, коли потрібно опустити руки й перестати боротися, визнати поразку, і допомогти переможцеві зайняти наше місце?

прочитайте «дівчинку», і поміркуймо над цим разом.

п.с. безжальним оголенням емоції ця книжка нагадала мені «бункер» г'ю гоуї.

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

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

4 stars

This is a book where reviews lead to spoilers, which I will try to avoid. The story is told in two broad parts, the normal life before and the imperiled flight after. The general setting is 20 years after a major fungal epidemic wipes out the majority of Britain (and likely the rest of the world also).

Most of the story is told through the eyes of the main character Melanie, born into this dystopia and... different. Her favorite Greek myth is that of Pandora (the Girl with all the Gifts) and this myth and theme frame the story very well.

The rest of the novel reveals the perspectives of the various supporting cast. Archetypes abound (raw recruit, grizzled sergeant, obsessed scientist, etc.), but each of these characters has some depth and most experience subtle growth through the story.

The writing was very visual and generally well done. It didn't …

This is a book where reviews lead to spoilers, which I will try to avoid. The story is told in two broad parts, the normal life before and the imperiled flight after. The general setting is 20 years after a major fungal epidemic wipes out the majority of Britain (and likely the rest of the world also).

Most of the story is told through the eyes of the main character Melanie, born into this dystopia and... different. Her favorite Greek myth is that of Pandora (the Girl with all the Gifts) and this myth and theme frame the story very well.

The rest of the novel reveals the perspectives of the various supporting cast. Archetypes abound (raw recruit, grizzled sergeant, obsessed scientist, etc.), but each of these characters has some depth and most experience subtle growth through the story.

The writing was very visual and generally well done. It didn't always feel like 20 years, and I wonder whether that choice was arbitrary or planned by the author. I have general quibbles about the physiology also, but was able to suspend disbelief for the duration.

The first version available at the library was the on-demand audio, and Flinty Williams did a very good job reading this. Though the setting and characters felt American, they at least sounded British. For me, this was a solid 4 star book, and I look forward to reading more prose from Mike Carey in the future.