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Mark Lawrence's Reviews > The Girl with All the Gifts
The Girl with All the Gifts (The Girl With All the Gifts, #1)
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The last book I read (which was very good) took me 16 weeks to get through.
This one arrived yesterday morning. My wife got her hands on it first and finished it by the evening. I took over and have finished it 8pm on the next day (today). It's not a short book, 460 pages of reasonably small font. It *is* a very compelling book. The opening is the strongest I've read in an age.
It's the first book I've bought in a long time. Publishers and authors send me free books in the hope I'll read them and say something nice, so I've a stack of books waiting that I didn't pay for. However, I only manage 10 or 12 books a year and once in a while it's nice to pick something myself.
A friend, whose tastes I trust, has recommended this book forcefully and frequently for a couple of years ... so I caved and got it.
It's the sort of story that's best come to cold. If someone spoils if for you it ... spoils it. It's not that the whole thing rests on some massive twist (I see dead people), just that it's so much nicer to experience it the way the author wanted you to, a slow reveal widening from claustrophobia to agoraphobia.
It's a book set in modern times, written in the present tense, and moving quite frequently from the main character's point of view to those of several others around her. The prose is of very high quality, powerful, direct descriptions that put you there, understated emotional scenes that drag you in, and violent action scenes that get the pulse racing. It's also clever and well structured enough to suspend what disbelief needs suspending.
I'm not going to say more than that other than, believe the hype, read it.
I've now seen the film too. Very good, I thought.
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This one arrived yesterday morning. My wife got her hands on it first and finished it by the evening. I took over and have finished it 8pm on the next day (today). It's not a short book, 460 pages of reasonably small font. It *is* a very compelling book. The opening is the strongest I've read in an age.
It's the first book I've bought in a long time. Publishers and authors send me free books in the hope I'll read them and say something nice, so I've a stack of books waiting that I didn't pay for. However, I only manage 10 or 12 books a year and once in a while it's nice to pick something myself.
A friend, whose tastes I trust, has recommended this book forcefully and frequently for a couple of years ... so I caved and got it.
It's the sort of story that's best come to cold. If someone spoils if for you it ... spoils it. It's not that the whole thing rests on some massive twist (I see dead people), just that it's so much nicer to experience it the way the author wanted you to, a slow reveal widening from claustrophobia to agoraphobia.
It's a book set in modern times, written in the present tense, and moving quite frequently from the main character's point of view to those of several others around her. The prose is of very high quality, powerful, direct descriptions that put you there, understated emotional scenes that drag you in, and violent action scenes that get the pulse racing. It's also clever and well structured enough to suspend what disbelief needs suspending.
I'm not going to say more than that other than, believe the hype, read it.
I've now seen the film too. Very good, I thought.
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Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes
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Jun 10, 2016 12:20PM
This has been sitting on my "to read" shelf for months. Guess I need to get on it, right after Wheel of Osheim.
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I'm listening to this right now. So good!
Next up on my "to read" list.
This is a brilliant book. And right now it is only $2.99 ! Buy it, and be happy.
In deleting a spoiler comment I accidentally deleted an innocent one too. Apologies.
I loved it! Though the most important plot element was unfortunately already spoiled when I started in on it. GRR
if you want Zombies and emotions tryr Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion.
This review is perfection, and this book has just moved up several notches on my to read list!
Great review,and a great read.
Great book,film was a disappointing but loved the book,great review.
Absolutely agree! Excellent book, a very good follow up in 'The Boy on the Bridge' also, if anyone is keen on seeing an extension of the world this is set in..
I have it sitting on my shelf for several months, but after reading this review I think I might have to pick it up asap! Thanks!
Andrea wrote: "I have it sitting on my shelf for several months, but after reading this review I think I might have to pick it up asap! Thanks!"The system works!
This is a great book; I devoured it one day last June.
I love, love, love this book so much it hurts.
I loved this book as well amd i am not a fan of this genre at all. I agree. Any spoiker of any type can wreck the mystery for future readers.
One of my favourite books. Took zombies to a whole new level. I loved the ending and I held my breath during most of the book with the characters as they snitch around. Was an extremely quick read for me.
Is this the same Carey that wrote 'Lucifer', the spin-off from Gaiman's Sandman, and 'The Unwritten'? Both of those were pretty good - I actually preferred Lucifer to the Sandman.
I thought the film was good. I was surprised that the film had a short theatre run and thought maybe it was the leads fault, but everyone nailed it in my opinion. In the US it is Listed in Prime Video and worth a view. Also yes he is the graphic novelist Mike Carey.
I hope you will feel accomplished today by knowing that this review was convincing enough to get me to buy the mentioned book on the spot. Hopefully I’ll enjoy it as much as you did!
Alice wrote: "I hope you will feel accomplished today by knowing that this review was convincing enough to get me to buy the mentioned book on the spot. Hopefully I’ll enjoy it as much as you did!"I hope so!
I recently finished the prequal/sequal The Boy on the Bridge... Just as good as the first book.
I added it to my read list just based on your review. It sounds compelling. Thank you.
Don't miss The Boy on the Bridge!
And just like that, this book has easily made it on to my “books to read” list.
I thought it was really cool the author wrote the screenplay too!
Really enjoyed this one too, Mark!
I read it after seeing the movie, and I can definitely see how it's best to come into the book cold. Really masterful work in the reveals. Bought the sequel last year. Thanks for the reminder to bump it up my TBR list.
Read the review, took a book, and finished reading in the space of twenty five hours, preparing few meals for the kids in between. I have never read anything about the zombies as it's never was any interest to me, after all the movies you've seen, what's there left to write more about? I was very wrong....
If you liked this one, his best work is the Rampart Trilogy, which starts with the Book of Koli.
A fantastic review for a fantastic book. I started listening to it on the way to work at 6am one morning and I couldn't stop, except when I had to talk to someone, until it was done that late night. Made me late for work the next day because I didn't get enough sleep! Until then, only Roland, Eddie, Odetta and Jake were able to keep me locked into a story like that. Wow.
Thank you for this excellent review!! I appreciate you holding back pertinent information so I could’ve worked it out on my own, had another reviewer not totally ruined it for me!😅
Probably one of the best description of the book. No spoilers, but explaining the kind of narrative. I found the eve though considering the kind of plot, the way it is written is quite high, in the sense that there are a lot of analogies and cultural bits, but without being pretentious.
This book stayed in my mind for a long time. So captivating and thrilling.
