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

Book Description

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 pointed 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.

Review

I recently listened to The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey on audiobook. Wow! What an experience.

I went in expecting a post-apocalyptic zombie thriller but ended up spellbound by a story I found haunting, heart-wrenching, and unexpectedly beautiful.

Now, while this is not a book I would include in my catalog of hopeful post-apocalyptic reads, Carey’s take on this story is wonderful. In a genre that’s often all guts and gore, Carey’s spin is fresh. Thoughtful. And dare I say, emotionally rich?

Yes, it’s a zombie thriller. It’s science fiction and horror too. But layered beneath the action is this deeply human story about identity, survival, and what it really means to be alive.

Next, let’s talk about the writing. Spoiler alert, it was absolutely gorgeous. The prose in The Girl With All the Gifts has a literary polish that elevates it above your standard end-of-the-world fare. Likewise, the world-building is incredibly detailed, but not overwhelming. The story had just the right amount of tension to keep me on edge while still giving me space to breathe (and cry a little, if I’m being honest).

But what I really loved was the novelty of the idea, and the characters, especially Melanie. She’s complex and her plight will break your heart. I rooted for her even when I wasn’t sure I should.

If you’re planning to listen to the audiobook, you should know the narrator, Finty Williams, is fantastic. She’s an actress like her mother (Dame Judi Dench) and brought the perfect amount of nuance and emotion to her performance. Bonus, my veggie beds are now utterly weed free because I couldn’t turn the book off.

If you’re a fan of smart, emotionally resonant speculative fiction, I can’t recommend this one enough. And if you enjoy audiobooks, The Girl With All the Gifts is a stellar story to queue up.

Content Warning

Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal Death, Blood, Body Horror, Cannibalism, Child Abuse, Confinement, Death, Fire, Gore, Injury, Medical Experimentation, Panic Attack, Suicide, Torture, Violence, War

The header photo is a composite image. Base image by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash