I am always impressed by a story that attempts several narrative goals or blends several genres and pulls them off effectively. M.R. Carey’s 2014 novel The Girl With All The Gifts is a sci-fi novel, a zombie apocalypse story, a road survival novel, and a story about a child’s crush on a favorite teacher. That is an impressive amount to take on, and it does all of these things without a hitch and at a high level.

The story is set 20 years after a fungal plague turned most of humanity into mindless, relentless things nicknamed “hungries.” As you would expect in a zombie apocalypse, the hungries bite, infect, and eat people, and the survivors are either roving bands of scavengers, or living on a military base in the English countryside. The base’s personnel includes a few scientists, some soldiers, a few teachers, and about two dozen children born after the hungry plague who have somehow retained their higher brain function as carriers of the disease. One such child is Melanie who, despite being born with the hungry pathogen, displays genius-level intellect.

Melanie, along with 20 other “hungry” children, spend most days confined to a chair while in a classroom, being taught obsolete knowledge from the world before the plague. The kids have a rotating cavalcade of teachers, but none are more loved than Miss Justineau. In stark contrast to the people Melanie comes across—from the creepy and determined scientist Dr. Caldwell, to the borderline cruel Sergeant Parks—Miss J. is the only one who treats her and the other kids like they are human, and Melanie loves her for it.

When a roving tribe of scavengers uses a small horde of hungries to attack the compound, Melanie, Miss J., Dr. Caldwell, and Sergeant Parks manage to escape, and together try to make their way to Beacon, the last known stronghold in England. Like any good road story, our travelers have conflicting reasons for banding together, for instance, Dr. Caldwell wants to continue her research on hungry children like Melanie, to hopefully find a cure for the pathogen. Sergeant Parks intends to reunite with what’s left of the Army and mount some armed resistance, and Miss Justineau wishes to save Melanie, her only surviving student By the time they get to Beacon, their understanding of the hungries, humanity, and the world they now live in is fundamentally and irrevocably altered.

Carey layers several disparate plots on top of one another to significant effect. From the road trip to the story of an innocent childhood crush on a teacher, these are all relatable human stories, set in the backdrop of the end of the world as we know it. The book makes strong and pointed commentary about children being our future without being preachy. Also noteworthy is that every character lives in shades of gray. The most reprehensible person—Dr. Caldwell, in my opinion—has a twisted sense of nobility and purpose, and the most innocent and blameless character, Melanie, struggles with her nature as a predator to her traveling companions. Even if their actions are ultimately not redeemable, they are at least understandable and sympathetic to a degree.

My one issue with the story is the abrupt shift from the first third to the middle of the book. The first several chapters go with a slow burn approach and explodes in an action piece; however, the pacing for the middle third of the story isn’t quite so well balanced, and I can see how people could stop reading in the slower middle section. It is a small gripe, though, as the danger the characters are in is constant and comes alive on the page.

The Girl With All The Gifts is not your average zombie novel, nor is it your average road novel, or even your average childhood love story. It’s all of these things at a very high level and goes beyond average to exceptional.

Pros: Does several things well, strong characters with believable arcs.

Cons: Minor pacing issue about 1/3 of the way in.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

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