Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - The Girl With All the Gifts

I picked this up because I'd heard raving reviews about it, but I have to admit, I don't understand. I'd seen many say this was "more than a regular zombie book," but while I found it a decent "regular zombie book," I didn't find much more within it. I read Warm Bodies earlier this year, and these stories have much in common.

Every zombie book that's caught my interest always has a unique angle on the fictional science as well as social commentary. This one executes the tropes well, but not in a particularly new or fascinating way. The novel also spends the first chunk setting readers up to despise a number of the main characters, so I was lacking a concern or connection to make action scenes impactful. That lack of emotion probably also affected the pacing - I prefer there to be action or suspense to push such a story forward, and this story failed to create that for me.

In general, an entertaining but not very impactful read for me.

Content Warnings

unlivinh's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Dr. Caldwell and Ms. Justineau could’ve had earth-shattering toxic yuri romance but M.R. Carey is a coward

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nil033's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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leligavi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I've tried for so long (since middle school, I think) to read this book and for some reason, I kept putting it down. However, I am SO glad I finally took the time to finish it. I really, really liked this book and I think that their makeshift team was brilliant. I love their character development as they get to know Melanie.

I CANT BELIEVE MY MAN GALLAGHER WENT OUT LIKE THAT. I was SCREAMING when he was getting chomped on and saying he didn't want to hurt them. LIKE MY MAN HAD TO GO OUT LIKE THAT? BUT MELANIE WAS SO CLOSE TO FINDING HIM! AND PARKS TOO MAN! HE WAS SO CLOSE, MELANIE ALMOST SAVED HIM BUT HE DIED TOO????? AND LIKE IN A REALLY FREAKING SAD WAY????? LIKE REALLY? I'M HEARTBROKEN. Honestly, a little underwhelmed by Helen surviving and being a teacher but like...the rest of the book just makes up for it.

But, all in all, I think we can all agree that Dr. Caldwell sucks.

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ketreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

5.0

This book is FANTASTIC!
I had the lady in the bookshop commend me on my good choice of book when buying this so if that wasn't a good sign, what is?!

The story follows our main character of Melanie and mainly takes place from her point of view. I thought it was a great use of PoV and while Melanie is clearly a child, she isn't wilfully ignorant. We get to watch her constantly having to reassess her view of the world with every new tid bit of information. It was both a joy and saddening to see her view on the world and those around her.
The other cast character were equally fantastic. I love that we get a little insight into each character as we get further into the book, as this helps us better sympathise and understand character motivations. Even when I cannot agree with a characters choices, I can understand how and why they came to these and I think it shows just how great of an author Carey is.

MILD SPOILERS
But I did not know this book was a zombie book going in. The blurb is sufficently vague to make this a very earlyon reveal but Carey does a impressive job at making this story feel unique. The zombies themselves, while similar to ones we've seen previously, also have an extra layer of mystery surrounding them that is used to great effect throughout. I never felt this book retrod any ground I've seen other zombie media do and I appreciated the hell out of it. Also, it's set in my home city of London! Who doesn't love seeing landmarks and going ''wow! That zombie infested area is an area I visit!!!''

All round a 5/5 read and I'd highly reccommend you get around to reading it, too :D

Content Warnings

lindsaylhunter's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Not sure how I feel about this one. Always love a bleak ending, though.

Content Warnings

lpogo16's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is less horror and more a fantasy journey story.

The story could have been edited down. There’s a lot that happens for the shock value or to make comments about other characters.

Content Warnings

juledebaum2's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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