Reviews tagging 'Murder'

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

25 reviews

prufrockpreptooth's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad 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? No

4.5

OK, bah, j'ai pas pu le lâcher une fois la seconde moitié arrivée, globalement 😅 J'ai tout dévoré : l'aventure est prenante, les relations entre les personnages bien développées et intéressantes, et surtout, surtout, tout un côté scientifique qui essaye vraiment de rendre tout ça crédible - et même si on est jamais à 100%, j'adore les histoires qui essayent d'être scientifiquement crédibles, alors forcément, j'ai adoré.

Et presque, Caldwell a fini par être le personnage qui j'ai préféré (et aussi, détesté, faut pas se leurrer) le plus !

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Genocide, Grief, and War

etmetmetm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

- Probably one of the most evocative books I've read
- Incredibly tense and sad scenes 
- Good pacing and build up that doesn't feel anticlimactic or too regular 
- World building spoilers:

The best take on a zombie apocalypse I've engaged with

- Characters are both likeable and unlikeable because of their flaws
- What it alludes to at the end is a bit confusing, but it doesn't change much and was still sarisfying

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Suicide

unboxedjack's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

bookmark3brodi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, and War

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

A character throughout most of the book is slowly dying from blood poisoning and I'm not sure if that'd fall under the 'terminal illness' tag or not, A character steals a grenade so that if he's in a fatal situation he can go out on his own terms, a character later in the book does something similar

shieldbearer's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.0

An extremely strong showing from Mike Carey, who I know from his work on X-Men. The characterizations were very well done for the most part- most of them are quite layered. The worldbuilding was strong, and the reviewers asking questions about motivations and "evolution" clearly didn't pay attention because those things were explained in the text. 

Ultimately, a few small things did knock this book down by a star for me. For one, I would have

at least switched the fates of Parks and Gallagher, though I also think you could make an argument for Gallagher's survival being more interesting than his death given the detailed backstory and internal conflict he's given. His interaction with the status quo at the end of the story would have been extremely interesting IMO

Part of this may be because I didn't particularly care for Parks, but this is also because Parks doesn't really have anything interesting going on. 

For another, I feel as though

the Hungry children were too easy to corral at the end.

The questions of the long-term viability of Melanie's plan didn't bother me because  that's not the point of the story. 

Finally, and most glaring IMO,

I feel like Sparks would have encoutnered pregnant hungries if they are able to sexually reproduce. I just have a hard time believing this aspect without a little extra narrative support - especially given how often fatal pregnancy is, and how the fungus wrecks so much of the body and shuts down a lot of its systems. Even mentioning a pregnant hungry in the crowd would have helped. I also can't say I'm a fan of the whole "sex is a human instinct" theme. I expected there to be adult hungries like Melanie that showed up later, if they specified that only the kids were the unique ones earlier I somehow missed it.

Either way, I definitely recommend this even if I feel some elements could have been treated with a bit more care- which is about what I would say about his work on the X-Men, as well. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Car accident, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Pregnancy

gladiolus17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

There were so many good things about the book. I loved the mystery in the beginning, about who and what Melanie was, and her relationship with Miss Justineaux. The characterization throughout the book was rock-solid. I also loved the new spin on zombies:

a fungus!

Who would’ve thought. I loved hearing the science behind it.

In regards to things that didn’t work for me,

I felt everything after the junker attack lost some tension. I felt wanting for more mystery to solve.

As well, I wanted to know why the junkers attacked in the first place. I felt like it was assumed they were attacking for resources, but that just seems random and didn’t have any purpose but to move the plot forward.

I was disappointed in the ending. It was foreshadowed in the beginning with Pandora’s box, but it seemed like a stretch for Melanie’s character. She’s a smart kid, and loves Justineaux, so I feel she should’ve hesitated at, uh, killing the entire human race. If anyone can explain her motivation better, please tell me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Murder

reddeddy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Abortion, and Pregnancy

marthadude's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol

wendinogo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail