New Review! The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey, 5 Cranky Stars

First off, I think I have already declared my love for fantasy books (even though I’ve been reviewing love stories recently). When I picked up The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R.  Carey, I seriously though it was fantasy. Girl with gifts meaning powers and all. Must be epic if she definitely have ALL the gifts.

Also, the short description of the story was very interesting. Why was she being treated like a criminal? Especially if she was a “little genius”? So, I carried on definitely curious and interested.

What came next took me completely by surprise! I was shocked, terrified, a bit grossed out but gripped by the story that I continued reading even though I don’t read this genre. Sure, I’ve watched films similar to the “hungries” mentioned in the book. But films are notorious for not being able to describe scenes the way books can.

Breathlessly, I followed Melanie’s story as she moved from the base camp and travelled from one city to another looking for a safe place. It was like watching Resident Evil but from a child’s point of view. Interestingly though, we get other point of views from the people around Melanie and get the rest of the story from them.

I felt for everyone in their group: Melanie for wanting to find her place in this new world, Miss Justineau for wanting to find a place where everyone can all live together in peace, and even for Dr. Caldwell for wanting to find the solution to the present “problem”.

Since I don’t normally read this genre, I found myself hanging on to every scene and marvelling at the author’s way of weaving words around to create a believable new world born out of desperation. Then just when I thought everything was lost for all of them, the author twisted the story around in such a clever way that even I, as a human, would say “Yes, this is the only way forward.”

Job well done M.R. Carey!