Starred Review ALA Booklist

Starred Review Just when it feels as though the zombie fad may be dying out, this well-executed thrill ride of a novel comes along to resuscitate the genre. Melanie is a gifted child oughtful and curious, with a genius-level IQ. She's also a zombie. Every day, she is released from her cell to attend class with a few dozen other students held at the military compound they call home. They read Greek myths, learn fractions, and have storytime with the loving and patient Miss Justineau l while muzzled and strapped to their desks. The children are being carefully studied by Dr. Caldwell, a scientist who is determined to uncover why these children are able to think and learn. After all, when the zombie apocalypse occurred (in a frighteningly possible manner), 90 percent of the population ended up as "normal" zombies mpletely brain-dead, no human traits left. When the base is attacked, a ragtag group of survivors find themselves on the run to Beacon, just outside of London, which may or may not be the last surviving city. Melanie is among them, as she is Caldwell's most precious test subject. Carey's cinematic scenes unfold at just the right pace, and he infuses all of his characters en the undead th personality and emotion. This unique and terrifying tale is a must-read for any fan of zombie fiction or postapocalyptic dystopian novels.

Kirkus Reviews

Carey offers a post-apocalyptic tale set in England in a future when most humans are "empty houses where people used to live." Sgt. Parks, Pvt. Gallagher, Miss Justineau and Dr. Caldwell flee an English military camp, a scientific site for the study of "hungries," zombielike creatures who feast on flesh, human or otherwise. These once-humans are essentially "fungal colonies animating human bodies." After junkers—anarchic survivalists—use hungries to breach the camp's elaborate wire fortifications, the four survivors head for Beacon, a giant refuge south of London where uninfected citizens have retreated over the past two decades, bringing along one of the study subjects, 10-year-old Melanie, a second-generation hungry. Like others of her generation, Melanie possesses superhuman strength and a superb intellect, and she can reason and communicate. Dr. Caldwell had planned to dissect Melanie's brain, but Miss Justineau thinks Melanie is capable of empathy and human interaction, which might make her a bridge between humans and hungries. Their philosophical dispute continues in parallel to a survival trek much like the one in McCarthy's On the Road. The four either kill or hide from junkers and hungries (which are animated by noise, movement and human odors). The characters are somewhat clichéd—Parks, rugged veteran with an empathetic core; Gallagher, rube private and perfect victim; Caldwell, coldhearted objectivist ever focused on prying open Melanie's skull. It may be Melanie's role to lead second-generation hungries in a revival of civilization, which in this imaginative, ominous assessment of our world and its fate, offers cold comfort. One of the more imaginative and ingenious additions to the dystopian canon.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Comics writer Carey (Lucifer) delivers an entertaining take on several well-worn zombie tropes. Years after the requisite zombie apocalypse (this time caused by a mutant strain of an ant-killing fungus, probably the book-s most original touch), scientists in a remote outpost in England are working on a cure by experimenting on a group of zombified children who retain some of their original emotions and cognitive functions. Although Carey piles on the clichés (beyond the apocalypse and the recently trendy intelligent zombies, there are rogue survivalists straight out of The Walking Dead, scientists willing to cross ethical lines, and the ever-silly notion that people would use any term other than -zombies- to refer to the undead), he builds well-constructed characters-particularly Melanie, one of the zombified children, who comes across as cognitively and emotionally different from the other characters, without feeling like an offensive parody of a person with Asperger-s. The requisite action sequences are also well constructed, and the book will appeal to fans of zombie fiction. (June)

Voice of Youth Advocates

In The Girl with All the Gifts, Carey has created a perfect adult/young adult crossover that follows ten-year-old Melanie, a girl who does not know why she is restrained at gunpoint every time she is escorted from her cell to a classroom down the corridor. Here she joins similarly restrained children, hoping always that her favorite teacher, Miss Justineau, will appear that day. Although Melanie has vaguely heard about the "hungries" who live beyond the base walls, her only other knowledge of the world is gleaned through the seemingly random facts that the teachers impart. When the base is eventually overrun by hungries, Melanie and Miss Justineau escape, accompanied by a few other survivors who seem to fear and loathe Melanie.Even if this book were not superbly written, older teens would welcome it based on its incorporation of two favorites: dystopian futures and zombies. The "z word" is never used, but the hungries exhibit classic zombie behavior, and Carey provides an intriguing, well thought-out biological explanation. Melanie's dawning awareness of her nature, her devotion to Miss Justineau, and her relationships with her other companions are touching and suspenseful by turn, and the book remains a nail-biter to the end. While some of the author's other novels, published under the name Mike Carey, are perhaps too violent to recommend here, this novel is perfectly suitable for older teens already familiar with this subgenre. Public libraries should be prepared for this to fly off both adult and young adult shelves.Amy Sisson.