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_krs's reviews
32 reviews
The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
4.0
The Girl with All the Gifts is a 2014 novel written by M. R. Carey. It's based on his 2013 short story, Igphigenia In Aulis, and also has a 2016 movie adaptation. I haven't watch the movie so this review is entirely focused on the novel. I wasn't familiar with Carey prior to reading this novel, and was surprised to find out that he is a very prolific writer across many mediums, including, notably, comic books. I'm ashamed to admit one of my first thoughts when I found this out was "wow The Girl with All the Gifts has pretty good prose for someone who writes comic books". I found out later that Carey actually has something like a dozen novels and a few poetry/short story collections published. But I digress.
One of the overarching reoccurring themes in the novel is the idea of duality and that fine line that separates two sides of the same coin. It asks classic questions like what separates monsters from humans? What separates a deranged sociopath from a selfless Samaritan? And more importantly, how do we define these seemingly opposite ideas that nonetheless can converge dangerously close to each other under certain circumstances? There's finally a kind of dramatic irony to the ending of the novel, a circle made whole, that wraps both this theme and the story up pretty nicely.
From an execution standpoint, there is a good mix of tenser, high-octane action chapters and more thoughtful, pensive chapters focused on character exploration. Plot and characters both get developed in equal measure, although there are some portions of the novel that are more dedicated to one or the other and some chapters that combine both. The worldbuilding supports the plot and setting in an understated but appreciable way: it pretty much always remained topical and never overwhelmed the rest of the narrative by diving too deep, but there was still enough to make the setting feel corporal and meaty.
The big stand out for me was the dedication and effort given to the characters. The cast is small but diverse and well-written. Everyone gets a chance to reveal more sides of themselves to the reader, everyone has points about them that are flawed or can be praised. No one is plainly "bad" and even initially sympathetic characters will do things that are blatantly dumb and selfish. Certain facets of characters are unlocked to the reader by their interactions with other characters. By the end of the novel, it's hard to describe any of the characters (except maybe one, arguably) in a singular way. This was definitely the highlight of the novel for me.
My one nitpick however is that there are occasionally plot points and character actions that feel a bit too contrived or too absurd. They're pretty rare and I enjoyed everything else enough that they didn't bother me but they definitely exist.
All in all, The Girl with All the Gifts begins as a pretty atypical zombie novel that does eventually fall into some tropes common to this genre (like an ensemble cast and a desperate cross-country journey) but remains consistently well-executed and thought provoking throughout. It balances well-written characters and an exciting, dystopic plot and is wrapped up in a bundle that is smooth and enjoyable to read. I'd recommend this novel if you're a fan of zombie novels but looking for something that isn't just cranked to 11 action all the way through.
One of the overarching reoccurring themes in the novel is the idea of duality and that fine line that separates two sides of the same coin. It asks classic questions like what separates monsters from humans? What separates a deranged sociopath from a selfless Samaritan? And more importantly, how do we define these seemingly opposite ideas that nonetheless can converge dangerously close to each other under certain circumstances? There's finally a kind of dramatic irony to the ending of the novel, a circle made whole, that wraps both this theme and the story up pretty nicely.
From an execution standpoint, there is a good mix of tenser, high-octane action chapters and more thoughtful, pensive chapters focused on character exploration. Plot and characters both get developed in equal measure, although there are some portions of the novel that are more dedicated to one or the other and some chapters that combine both. The worldbuilding supports the plot and setting in an understated but appreciable way: it pretty much always remained topical and never overwhelmed the rest of the narrative by diving too deep, but there was still enough to make the setting feel corporal and meaty.
The big stand out for me was the dedication and effort given to the characters. The cast is small but diverse and well-written. Everyone gets a chance to reveal more sides of themselves to the reader, everyone has points about them that are flawed or can be praised. No one is plainly "bad" and even initially sympathetic characters will do things that are blatantly dumb and selfish. Certain facets of characters are unlocked to the reader by their interactions with other characters. By the end of the novel, it's hard to describe any of the characters (except maybe one, arguably) in a singular way. This was definitely the highlight of the novel for me.
My one nitpick however is that there are occasionally plot points and character actions that feel a bit too contrived or too absurd. They're pretty rare and I enjoyed everything else enough that they didn't bother me but they definitely exist.
All in all, The Girl with All the Gifts begins as a pretty atypical zombie novel that does eventually fall into some tropes common to this genre (like an ensemble cast and a desperate cross-country journey) but remains consistently well-executed and thought provoking throughout. It balances well-written characters and an exciting, dystopic plot and is wrapped up in a bundle that is smooth and enjoyable to read. I'd recommend this novel if you're a fan of zombie novels but looking for something that isn't just cranked to 11 action all the way through.
The Fisherman by John Langan
3.0
enjoyable read. some very beautifully written chapters. the structure is a bit weird and i'm not entirely convinced it added a lot to it. the pacing ebbs and flows, and goes from slow burn to quite fast. i enjoyed the core story a lot, but felt kind of eh towards the "wrapper" story, which i felt revealed too much of its hand and made some things that i enjoyed being more vague, too explicit.