M.R. Carey has done it again. The Girl With All the Gifts was a terrific example of post-apocalyptic zombie fiction and this book is (mostly) the prequel. The problem with prequels is that you know what is going to happen. But that’s not the case here, and despite obvious similarities to the previous book, this is an entirely original story set in the same imaginary world. While The Girl offered a relentlessly bleak view of that world, this book offers a ray of hope, which I appreciated. Carey is a terrific storyteller and this book gripped me from the first page.