The Girl with All the Gifts is a zombie novel with a twist. We start by meeting Melanie, a 10 year old girl that for reasons unknown is kept locked away in a cell on a military base, and is taken to class by armed guard where she learns lessons about history and nature and other normal middle grade subjects.

From there the story switches point of view to the many different characters. We meet the school teacher that Melanie adores, we meet one of the armed guards, the scientists, and others. Each holds a piece of the puzzle that leads to the realization of what Melanie and the other children mean for what is left of society.

The second half of the novel moves more towards the typical zombie novel affair, the group of characters escaping the base after a zombie attack and making their way towards perceived safety. The end of the story was quite different from the norm however.

I quite enjoyed the story. The characters were likable, despite some of their motivations and the pacing was pretty good as well.