Given Carey’s history as a writer of chilling urban fantasy novels and horror comics it’s no surprise he wrote a dread inducing realistic take on zombies with The Girl With All the Gifts. Mainly told from the viewpoint of a ten year old plague survivor, he reveal the horrors of his concept of the infestation and its ramifications through her oddly wonder filled eyes. As the reality of this story predictably goes from bad to oh so much worse, the story really focuses on the characters inner struggles and  not just mere survival, giving its ending all the more strength. I can say this is one of the grimmer apocalyptic novels I have read, but it also manages to be the most oddly hopeful and uplifting. – Greg