Friday 25 July 2014

The Girl With All the Gifts

by M. R. Carey

My measure of a good book is if it keeps me up way past my bedtime because I just keep wanting to read one more chapter. This one did that for me, and I finished it in two sittings because I couldn't put it down.

It's about a girl named Melanie, whose entire living memory has been spent in two rooms: her cell, and a classroom where she and the other children are taught by a rotation of teachers. Her favourite is Miss Justineau. She loves Miss Justineau, and she knows Miss Justineau likes her, so Melanie's just not sure why she and the other children have to be strapped into wheelchairs by men with guns the entire time they're in class, and when they're travelling to and from their cells. Or why some of the other children disappear and never come back.

Ok, yes, it's technically a zombie book, but this has way more heart and soul (and a better ending) than just about any I've ever read. If you like your sci-fi more on the human side, but don't want to give up the page-turning thrills, this is a great read!

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