CURRENTLY READING (#42): THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS by M.R. CAREY

"You can't save people from the world. There's nowhere else to take them."

"Every adult grew from a kid who beat the odds. But at different times, in different places, the odds have been appallingly steep."

Official Book Trailer

"She’s lived in Plato’s cave, staring at the shadows on the wall. Now she’s been turned around to face the fire."

Facts:

Title: The Girl With All the Gifts

Author: M.R. Carey

Publisher: Orbit

First Publication Date: 14th January 2014

Format: Paperback

Pages: 460

Genres: Horror, SciFi, Dystopia, Post-Apocalyptic...

First Lines:

"Her name is Melanie. It means "the black girl", from an ancient Greek word, but her skin is actually very fair so she thinks maybe it's not such a good name for her. She likes the name Pandora a whole lot, but you don't get to choose. Miss Justineau assigns names from a big list; new children get the top name on the boys' list or the top name on the girls' list, and that, Miss Justineau says, is that."

Synopsis: 

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr. Caldwell calls her "our little genius."

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children's cells. She tells her favorite teacher all the things she'll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn't know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad.

"It's equinox, with the world balanced between winter and summer, life and death, like a spinning ball balanced on the tip of someone's finger."