{"id":24401,"date":"2014-02-20T06:30:59","date_gmt":"2014-02-19T17:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=24401"},"modified":"2014-02-16T17:11:47","modified_gmt":"2014-02-16T04:11:47","slug":"the-girl-with-all-the-gifts-by-m-r-carey-reviewed-by-karen-mcmillan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2014\/02\/20\/the-girl-with-all-the-gifts-by-m-r-carey-reviewed-by-karen-mcmillan\/","title":{"rendered":"“The Girl With All The Gifts” by M.R. Carey — Reviewed by Karen McMillan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Girl With All The Gifts<\/em><\/strong> by M.R. Carey —<\/span><\/h2>\n

Reviewed by Karen McMillan<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

“This is a mind-bending thriller, with aspects of horror, set in a dystopian world that is completely unputdownable and refreshingly original.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every morning 10-year-old Melanie waits in her cell, eager to go to school and see her favourite teacher, Miss Justineau. The Doctor in the facility refers to her as \u2018our little genuis\u2019, but that doesn\u2019t stop Sergeant training his gun on her each morning as two soldiers strap her into a wheelchair. When she jokes that she won\u2019t bite, they never laugh. And her teacher looks sad if she talks about what she would like to do in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

The novel is written from Melanie\u2019s point of view and her innocent narrative voice is brilliantly done, and it is only when the strange world that Melanie resides in is finally revealed, do readers understand the true horror of her situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are moments of very graphic violence in this novel (some parts I admit to skipping over as I didn\u2019t have the stomach for them) but there is also a humanity and compassion, and heroism on a very personal scale. Melanie\u2019s character is irresistible and endearing, even when you discover what she really is. Unsettling and deeply moving.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Publisher:<\/strong> Orbit 2014;\u00a0 pp 416 [Paperback]<\/span><\/p>\n

To find out more about the author, click on: M.R. Carey<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

To read Karen\u2019s previous reviews for \u2018\u2026on Anything, Really\u2019<\/em> click on: <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Citadel<\/span><\/a><\/em> by Kate Mosse<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Love Minus Eighty<\/em> by Will McIntosh<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

About the Reviewer:<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

Karen McMillan<\/strong> is the author of fiction and non-fiction. Her non-fiction titles include Unbreakable Spirit; Love in Aotearoa<\/em> (or Love Bytes<\/em> in the UK); Feast or Famine; Unleash Your Inner Seductress<\/em> and Dying: A New Zealand Guide for the Journey<\/em>, an adaptation of a South African guide for the terminally ill and their loved ones. Fiction works include the novel Watching Over Me<\/em>. Karen lives in Auckland, New Zealand. Previously an award-winning fashion designer, Karen has worked full time in publishing for the past fourteen years. For more information about Karen and her writing visit www.karenm.co.nz<\/a>. You can also follow Karen on Twitter @KarenMcMillanNZ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey — Reviewed by Karen McMillan “This is a mind-bending thriller, with aspects of horror, set in a dystopian world that is completely unputdownable and refreshingly original. Every morning 10-year-old Melanie waits in her cell, eager to go to school and see her favourite teacher, Miss Justineau. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews-for-on-anything-really"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24401"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24504,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24401\/revisions\/24504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}