Discover the word-of-mouth phenomenon (The Girl With All the Gifts series)

Perfect follow up to THWATG! I could do nothing else once I sat down to read. Loved Stephen, Foss, and McQueen and the final showdown. I'm not writing a spoiler review but if you loved the first book this one will return you to that world and have you trying to keep from reading too fast to find out how it ends. The epilogue basically assures a third book...

I loved this book, especially the epilogue. I got hooked on this world that M.R. Carey has created when I read the Girl With All the Gifts, and I will read any other book he publishes based on these characters. However, I sincerely hope they don't make a movie out of this one after what they did to the first book.

Like The Girl with all the Gifts, it's refreshing to read something in the zombie genre that is a classy piece of contemporary fiction. There's no B grade, awkward predictability in M. R. Carey's post apocalyptic world. Just authentically fleshed out characters and a compellingly solid story. Even the hungry flesh eaters avoid becoming the usual cartoonish joke that most zombies end up. A brilliant read, I highly recommend.

A very disappointing read after reading the imaginative and adventurous book The Girl with All the Gifts. The characters were so one dimensional and nondescript that they should have been given numbers instead of names. Not sure how a book about the zombie apocalypse could be boring.

I was enamoured with The Girl.... This book took it to a whole new level. This is my newly treasured and favorite book of all time. The epilogue sums it all up. Page turning brilliance. I will miss this book now that I'm finished. As a voracious reader, I haven't read anything this well written and emotionally gripping in a very long time. I hope the movies do the books justice. Both books are recommended for everyone. Make sure you read the other book first. The ending will be that much more meaningful.

I ripped through this, devouring every moment. Sure, I was hoping it would be on par with "The Girl", but I didn't want to get my hopes up. And my hopes are exceeded.

Carey has moved this world forward with the second book. I can't give any details without ruining *something*, so I'll simply say this,

"If you liked the first one, go. Run. Read this now."

It falls well short of its predecessor. Most of the characters are poorly developed. Moreover, the choices they make are mind bogglingly stupid. All just to service the plot as it hurtles towards a destination that we all know is coming.

For all its glaring flaws I still thought it was a decent read. Just lower your expectations a bit and turn off your stupid meter.

I absolutely love “The Girl With All the Gifts.” It’s such a fresh and compelling take on the zombie genre. Naturally, I was excited about finally reading the second and final book in the series. Sadly, it was a miss for me. Its saving grace is the epilogue, but even that cannot save this lackluster prequel.

The prequel takes place on the Rosalind Franklin (Rosie), which is the special tank, RV, and lab that was seemingly lost to time and shrouded in mystery when it was discovered in “The Girl With All the Gifts.” We follow the lives of a group of scientists and military personnel who were specially selected and sent out to collect and study samples from the “hungries” a decade into the zombie apocalypse. Living in close confinement for several months, the crew of the Rosie is pushed to their limits before things start to go south, which is where the story begins.

Unfortunately, lightening does not strike twice with this prequel. One of the main problems is that there’s a classic stereotypical mystical autistic character, Stephen Greaves. He’s the smartest person present on Rosie. At some point he was actually fixing a part of Rosie based on a manual he once read and some questionable instructions from another character. Not only did he fix it, but he fixed it so fast that he had plenty of time to collect samples and return before anyone knew he was up to something. Stephen is a scientist, mechanic, midwife… you name it and he’s probably it.

The other problem is that so much of what goes on doesn’t make sense for a group of highly intelligent characters living in a small space. So much could’ve been prevented by simply communicating with one another. Plus, everyone but Stephen is unbelievably unobservant. I find it hard to believe that so much would go unnoticed, especially in such a small living and working space. I believe that they would get on each other’s nerves, grow sick of one another, and start fighting over petty things. What actually occurs doesn’t even make sense for these characters.

There are some good things about this story, such as the group of second generation hungries. The story expands on the social structure, how they operate, and how they are also friends and family rather than a random cluster of zombie kids on the move. However, it was slow going and I wish that Carey devoted more time to this since we were revisiting the second generation. It would’ve been interesting to have a couple chapters from the perspective of one of these kids.

I also enjoyed the epilogue, which sends us twenty years into the future, and let me know the fate of some of the surviving characters I grew to love in both installments of the series. Again, I wish that we could’ve seen how the second generation hungries, who are a combination of human and zombie, evolved over time. I’ll settle for the epilogue, which gives us a glimpse of how both species of humanity have survived and evolved over twenty years.

"How many lives is my life worth?"

Maybe my expectations were too high because I loved the GWATG but this book felt like more of a slog to me.

It's a very different kind of story. GWATG is plot based and this story is much more character based. It raises moral questions and goes back and forth briefly before making a very clear decision. The story very much hinges on the characters and since I wasn't super invested in them I found it difficult to keep reading at times.

The story does pick up for probably the last third of the book. That's when the characters have to make difficult decisions and we get to the crux of the story.

It's not scary the way the GWATG is either. The scary in this book is psychologically horror based on the implications of the decisions the characters make but even at times I felt those decisions were removed from the wider consequences of their world. I think I was hoping this book would resolve some of the questions that the GWATG raises instead of expanding the world in a different direction.

It's an interesting look at the world of the hungries but it wasn't quite the book I was hoping for.

Update - tldr; I bailed on this and instantly felt better. Why suffer through tripe like this? Save yourself and skip it.

I'm over half way through the book (listening to the audio version), and writing a review now because I don't think I can finish it. Rarely do I abandon a book, and I've never quit on a zombie book before, but this is just too painful. Oh heck, I hated this tripe. Apparently the story improves somewhat toward the end, but waiting for an end can't make up for the awful slog until one gets there. Reading is zombie book is supposed to be fun or redeeming in some way, but this one......

Saying that this book moves slowly is an understatement. It bogs down at the beginning and doesn't change; it's little more than an unpleasant morass of feckless words. Filled with unlikable (detestable?) characters engaging in petty bickering while making stupid decisions, and a presenting a general obtuseness that's hard to accept, let alone ever overcome. What surprises me most is that people actually like any of the characters, because I've found none that I like.

Rina Khan is so annoyingly whiny, self-centered, and combative that I'd gleefully ask three others to each grab an arm or leg so we could toss her out to the "hungries"; swinging her before tossing her on the count of three of course because we want her to land several feet from the tank. After we'd done the world a favor by turning her into zombie-chow, I'd congratulate the others on a job well done, smile, and never look back, Khan being eaten is the only thing that could redeem this book for me, but I'm afraid that's not going to happen and I don't think I can suffer any more waiting to find out.

As for Greaves, the autistic/Asperger/abnormal/unlikable "robot", he may be the smartest of this sad lot of cardboard characters, but his limitations more than offset his worth. I don't find him sympathetic nor do I care what happens to him. His behavior has - so far - been consistently inexcusable. I suppose one could overlook some of his faults some of the time, but in the purported life-threatening environment these people exist in, having this guy on board is an untenable liability. He's already been the primary cause of one man's death and his continued presence is exacerbated by knowing that his "protector" is the worthless and petulant Khan, a.k.a, zombie-chow..

What about the other characters? They're simply too shallow to discuss. In short, the author lost me in the surfeit of boredom and detestable characters. Waiting for Khan to chewed into little bits like zombie kibble is not enough of a reward and I can only assume those rating this a four or five star book read a different book, are being kind, or even extending a halo effect from his other book. I'm not talking about another book though, this book is bad. it's so bad I'll not read his "better book". Better can be utter garbage though, so I'll not take the chance. Fool me once.. and all, There are also more honest reviews at Goodreads dot com. Most definitely NOT recommended.

I believe Girl With All The Gifts was marketed as a YA novel. For some reason, we have been under the impression this means suitable for 10-12yr olds, but YA doesn't mean that. I started reading Girl With All The Gifts to my tweener, not realizing there was late teen/adult content in that book. So we stopped reading it together. When I saw there was a movie version of the story, I picked up the audiobook and finished the story on my own before watching the movie.

+ Is this really a prequel?
Yes, it happens about twenty years before the events of Girl With All The Gifts.

> Is this still a YA novel or strictly an adult novel?
Based on the keyword categories and sale rankings above, this is an adult novel...no marketing to YA audiences.
There is a hefty amount of profanity in this book compared to Girl With All The Gifts (mostly F-bombs in various forms).

> Does it make sense for the content?
Possibly, but it isn't needed as the story is strong on its own.
Gore and violence didn't seem that much, in the sense that bodies in pieces are referred to, but I've read some horror novels that go to extreme detail on the gore, which again wasn't needed here (strong storytelling) and was not included, thankfully.

+ Characters that you could root for and others you cannot wait till they meet with an unfortunate demise?
Yes, there were definitely a good mix of characters -- all flawed -- but those that you want to live and those you hope die horribly.

+ Characters one-dimensional?
No, I think not. Yes, there are some tropes/stereotype characters in here. But it is more about the need for them to play a specific role in the story versus feeling one-dimensional and uninteresting.

+ Is this a standalone novel or must you read Girl With All The Gifts at some point?
Standalone. Unlike the 2011 movie The Thing, which is a prequel to the 1982 Thing, that 2011 prequel connects the two stories together and flows from the credits right into the beginning of the 1982 version. This story can be read and end there, which leaves room for future books that further connect The Boy on the Bridge with the Girl With All The Gifts. The fact that both are good, entertaining stories, means you'll not want to stop here but pickup Girl With All The Gifts immediately after finishing this one. But...if you don't pick it up after reading this one, you're okay as this story wraps up nicely.

+ Suspense and Pace
Yes, there is a good amount of suspense in this story...a big part of that due to the great pacing of scenes. For example (non-spoiler), there is a scene toward the end that you know is going to happen, but getting to the actual "event" takes the scenic route, leaving the reader in a sense of suspense as you are waiting for the next sentence to reveal what you already guessed.

OVERALL:
The Passage by Justin Cronin is my favorite post-apocalyptic vampire story series.
I haven't read many zombie stories, but this is my favorite post-apocalyptic zombie story to date.

Recommend This Book

Yes
‘This book was provided to me from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review with gratitude.

4.5 Stars

This review is long in coming. You know how work just loves to eat up good, attentive reading time (don’t you just hate that!). Consequently, my first read through was all in fits and starts, which is not a good way to read this book as others may be. So, I had to reread it in a leisurely setting to be able to grab all the wonderful nuances that this author seems to be quite apt at. And WOW!!!! So glad that I did.

This was a superb follow-up for “Girl with all the Gifts”. Though not exactly a sequel as it reads beautifully on it’s own until the surprise last chapter, it still has all the thought provoking ideas/ideals as it’s forerunner. And therein lies it’s attraction. This author will, once again, make you think, a true power in this particular genre, and evaluate what is true humanity. Though you may approve of most of the main characters reactions to what they think are ‘monsters’, what about the treatment of the very human young man among them who just happens to be different...so once again, this book like its’ predecessor asks; what’s human and what’s monster. If humanity cannot take the time to see the brilliance of someone who is believed to be different, how can we possibly see any brilliance beyond ourselves?

This author has the deft hand to wrap thoughts into words so poignant as to induce an emotional response, as well as, provoking an inner dialogue long after closing out the final chapter. Some of his passages were so poetic that I found myself going back to reread them just for the pure pleasure of savoring his words. This is not always the case for me, who usually reads a lot of books in those stolen bits and pieces that I mentioned at the beginning of this review. So don’t let the catalogue of this book throw you off because of its’ zombie classification. This is a very thought provoking work that shouldn’t be missed.

An excellent prequel to Girl With All The Gifts.
This story begins 10 years before Girl and its epilogue takes place 10 years after the events in 'Boy' conclude and its a nearly flawless conclusion.This isnt an end of the world zombie apocalypse and in fact isnt even an end of the world scenario at all .... to add more to that statement would be to drop a spolier so Ill stop save to say , it ends on a bright note.
Like with any fiction , there are questions that arent addressed and if you pay more attention to them than the story magic , the tale will stall out and you'll lose interest in it.
I would really like to have this story continue ; from where Boys epilogue ends or even with a jump of 10 ,20, or even 50 or 100 years forward , as I wrote , this isnt an end of the world or end of humanity scenario but the beginning of a new hybrid species , perhaps one that will have no use for the gun. This is a story worth exploring.
Both Girl and Boy audiobooks were worth every cent and I plan on listening to them again sometime ,

The Boy on the Bridge takes place approximately 10 years after the book "The Girl with All the Gifts". It is about a group of scientists and military that are assigned to go out and find a possible cure for the plague that turns humans into what they call "hungries". The main two characters are Dr. Samrina Khan and a young boy she took under her wing, Stephen Greaves. Stephen is on the spectrum and is probably around 15 years old. He is the one who developed the scent blocker that allows humans to mask their scent from the hungries. He is a genius but nobody knows the full extent of his abilities. Dr. Khan feels that having him with the group may give them insight into a cure for this disease. The crew is in a vehicle affectionately nicknamed Rosie. It is the same type of vehicle that we see the teacher, Miss Helen Justineau, surviving in from the first book.
We find out almost immediately that Dr. Khan is pregnant which will likely get her into trouble with the military since that type of fraternization was not allowed. It also presents many problems in the future about how a baby will affect this group and their directive. On one of the first stops they make to collect samples, Stephen sees an anomaly. A hungry that does not behave the way a normal hungry should behave. He does not share this information with the rest of the crew and sneaks out the next night to do his own research. What he finds is astounding and could affect the world and it's very survival.
For some reason I did not expect to like this as much as the first book but it is seriously just as good. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys the zombie/apocalypse genre. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read the book and give my review.

I love Careys work - from the Felix Castor series (The Devil You Know (Felix Castor (Paperback)),Vicious Circle (Felix Castor Novel Book 2)) to the brilliant House of War and Witness, his writing is always unique and breathtaking. I was a little skeptical of this prequel to The Girl With All the Gifts, but again I was very pleased with his writing and the development of both plot and character.

If you haven't read _The Girl With All the Gifts_, I do recommend do so before _The Boy on the Bridge_, as there are some connections, overlap and context that might be helpful here. The plot is a group of scientists and soldiers are frantically working to find a cure to the disease that is turing people into virtual zombies - "Hungries" as they are referred to here, loosely based on Cordyceps fugus. The protagonist here is a boy (who clearly has Asberger's Syndrome - magnificently imaged and written, by they way) who may have stumbled on a cure. The similarities in character and plot with _The Girl With All the Gifts_ are a bit mundane, but the direction and interaction of this story relative to the other are different enough to provide several suprizes. The conclusion, as with many of his books, was bitter-sweet - but I enjoyed it tremendously.

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy:

The events of THE BOY ON THE BRIDGE overlap with what happens in THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS. It isn’t necessary to have read the first book, there are definite points that will be less fun if you’re not caught up on what happened in the first book.

What I loved best about THE BOY ON THE BRIDGE was the the way the military and scientific communities played off each other. It was my favourite aspect of the original Day of the Dead film by Romero, and Carey perfectly captures the different outlooks and goals the two communities have, even when they are forced to work together for months at a time. They’re trapped inside an armoured vehicle for months, occasionally going out to collect samples (of flesh and brain from the hungries outside). The feeling of helplessness and claustrophobia are nearly overwhelming as the reader is taken along this ride.

The first book featured a very clever child with a twist, and so does this one. Stephen is brilliant, complicated and either autistic or suffering from PTSD. He was found on the way out of London, the corpses of his parents wrapped around him like a pair of parentheses protecting him from the hungries. He’s been taken in by one of the scientists and has since made multiple discoveries to protect humans, such as the gel that blocks sweat and body odor, allowing people to go out into infested areas without attracting attention. Some of his discoveries have also been claimed by other scientists, but he doesn’t care. He’s looking for a cure, not glory.

One of the best things about this series is that no one is sacred. With such a small cast of characters, readers feel each death profoundly, but there is no room for hurt feelings; just a plot that runs along, springing discovery or disaster one after another.

It’s hard to describe post-apocalyptic fiction as hopeful, but this book has so much good in it (and of course, evil to offset it). The entire thing had me gasping and clutching my hands as I read it, as powerless to resist the pull of the story as a hungry getting a whiff of a human being.

JUICY!!! This book has so many components to it!!! The characters are a pure representation of a cross of people. The smart one, the kind one, the instigator, the weasel (and a first class one, he is - always looking for a way to save his own A double S) (SMH), the really smart teenager with no common sense, included with lots of power struggles. And this is just what's going on in the all terrain RV like tank that the people from Beacon are traveling in. That doesn't even mention the danger of the living dead (Hungries) that are everywhere outside.

I loved the first book, "The Girl With All The Gifts" and this one????? OMG, it was even better!!!! I am soooooooo looking forward to the next one!

Kudos to the author on an even better second book!!!

Thanks to Paola Crespo, Orbit Books and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Received this book for free, from a Goodreads giveaway, for an honest review. I have read a few post-apocalyptic books, and have not been very impressed....BUT this book impressed me! I really enjoyed the whole premise of this book. I felt like the author balanced the humanitarian aspects and survival struggles very well. The characters were well developed, some I became very attached to, while others I truly felt disgusted by the things that they did. What kept this book believable for me, was that the author found a fungus that exists and has that fungus mutate into the disease that has turned the world upside-down. A realistically chilling read! Looking forward to reading more from this author.

Apocalyptic books are not a genre I enjoy, yet this book grabbed me and kept me reading to the satisfying end. The characters are complex, with a believable mix of generosity and orneriness that made me care about their fate in the precarious world of Hungries and Junkers. Now I want to go back and read the prequel, to learn more about how the planet ended up in such a precarious state.

I'm still not going to be a big fan of the genre, but I will always be a fan of good writing. So, thanks, M.R. Carey, for challenging my reading prejudices.