HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

The Girl with All the Gifts

by M. R. Carey

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Hungry Plague (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
5,0073842,050 (4)422
Not every gift is a blessing. Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks 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 is a very special girl.… (more)
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 422 mentions

English (385)  Dutch (1)  Italian (1)  German (1)  All languages (388)
Showing 1-5 of 385 (next | show all)
Loved this. So much to think about. ( )
  Helen.Callaghan | Aug 28, 2023 |
Jon billed this to me as a combination of Matilda, a zombie film and Never Let Me Go. Honestly, that's pretty spot on: there's a first part that is basically a zombie in the Matilda-genre, followed by a longer second part of Matilda in the zombie genre.

The whole idea is a really unique take on the zombie genre, and Carey does a great job using a lot of the old standbys of survival horror to set the scene where he can, allowing most of the prose to really focus in on the protagonists. Using an ensemble cast really allows the idea of zombie sentience to sign -- without the point-of-view of Melanie, a lot of what happens in the book would lose its ethical greyness, but without the point-of-view of the humans, the survival drive would not be felt as well, either. The five characters and their relationships between each other really complement each other nicely. By using zombies, rather than a brand new concept of some sort, Carey frees up a lot of time to focus on the existential (or as he calls them, ontological) ideas of the novel: what makes a being a person, what is free will, what people owe to humanity.

Finally, the science, as far as I could tell (not being a mycologist) was very nicely done. It's rare to find science fiction that actually hits science and is simultaneously interesting. I don't think that using Ophiocordyceps isn't a unique idea (I assume -- given that Ophiocordyceps species that actually exist are already called "Zombie Fungus"; I don't actually do zombie usually) but the details that Carey adds, were interesting, plausible, and added to the plot. My one nitpick is regarding the final piece: that vertical transmission of Ophiocordyceps results in children who are neurologically intact was something I'd guessed from about 25% of the way in, if not sooner, so I don't really think discovering it justifies dissecting children. Caldwell was depicted as a brilliant scientist, who only did the necessary harm, but that really fell flat for me at the end. Yes, it was just a hypothesis, but her dissection didn't really expand beyond the hypothesis in any way, and an MRI of Melanie's brain would have been just as good. ( )
  settingshadow | Aug 19, 2023 |
Incredibly fast paced to the point where you're holding your breath in case you influence the story. Excellent ending as well. Loved it. ( )
  beentsy | Aug 12, 2023 |
"28 Days Later" meets "Attack of the Pod People" meets "I am Legend"

I love it! ( )
  dcunning11235 | Aug 12, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 385 (next | show all)
One of the more imaginative and ingenious additions to the dystopian canon.
added by rretzler | editKirkus Reviews (Apr 15, 2014)
 
Comics writer Carey (Lucifer) delivers an entertaining take on several well-worn zombie tropes
added by rretzler | editPublishers Weekly (pay site) (Apr 14, 2014)
 

» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
M. R. Careyprimary authorall editionscalculated
Spilling, DuncanCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Williams, FintyNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

Belongs to Series

Belongs to Publisher Series

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
For Lin, who opened the box
First words
Her name is Melanie.
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Not every gift is a blessing. Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks 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 is a very special girl.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

LibraryThing Early Reviewers Alum

M. R. Carey's book The Girl with All the Gifts was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4)
0.5
1 7
1.5 3
2 60
2.5 12
3 287
3.5 100
4 745
4.5 103
5 460

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 195,136,327 books! | Top bar: Always visible