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I feel compelled to defend The Girl With All the Gifts. Those of you who have not read it are IMHO really missing out. Whilst it is of course not without its flaws it is an exceptional book. The ideas explored are fascinating and it defies genre to some extent. It is not a traditional horror book. Dystopian Science Fiction is perhaps the best description, but not YA. Very character and idea driven, it explores some quite uncomfortable aspects of human nature. To the extent that the girl in the title (Melanie) is a monster, she is a very sympathetic one, to the point that you will likely find that your sympathies lie with her despite her real and threatening differences.
With the current prominence of arguments about race, cultural appropriation etc. it is interesting to note that the title character in the book is a blonde Caucasian girl. However, in the excellent and reasonably faithful movie based on the book the girl was black, played superbly and very believably by the talented Sennia Nannua. Sometimes I find changes between the book and the movie adaptation very jarring. For instance, I was never able to fully enjoy the award winning movie of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" because I could just not see Jack Nicholson, a superb actor, as the McMurphy of the book. Yet I found Melanie's race inconsequential, perhaps because it has little or nothing to do with the themes involved. The sequel, The Boy on the Bridge, is also an excellent read and a worthy prequel/sequel.
To those who are turned off by books of the type referred to above in the Spoiler section, I can't guarantee that you are going to enjoy the book. I do, however, think that you owe it to yourself to give it a try, even if you only read a chapter or two.
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