The Girl With All The Gifts

Cover image and summary from Goodreads:

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.

Emotionally charged and gripping from beginning to end, THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS is the most powerful and affecting thriller you will read this year.

I really think it’s best to go into this book without knowing anything. I received this ARC at the Ontario Book Blogger Meet Up held back in October and once I started seeing it reviewed by other bloggers, I avoided reading anything about it. The book’s synopsis gives away so little but is immensely intriguing, and now that I’ve read and loved the book, I want others to go in knowing as little as possible about the story too!

Because I didn’t feel like I really knew what the book was about when I started reading, the story was unpredictable and exciting. I did not want to put this book down once I started, and as events unfolded and I thought I could see where it was all headed, the author took things somewhere that I didn’t expect! I totally love when that happens!

Over the course of the book, the characters became more complex and interesting than they seemed at first (I won’t even name them – you’ll have to read the book for yourself to find out more!). And I have to say, I loved Melanie. She is absolutely one of the most interesting characters I’ve encountered, and I cared about her so much while I read.

The writing was great. M.R. Carey kept things moving along at a nice pace, and getting Melanie’s perspective for so much of the book put a bit of a twist on things that I really enjoyed.

I had no clue how The Girl With All The Gifts was going to end, and I stayed up late to finish it so I could find out. I am still undecided on the ending. I feel like I love it, but at the same time it took me by surprise and was bittersweet.

Overall, this was an awesome read, one that I will be thinking about for a long time after I’ve finished reading, and I highly recommend it!