#the girl with all the gifts

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: the evil fungi did it

We all know of The Last of Us, but that franchise isn't the only example of fungal invasions. We've got zombies and apocalypses, we've got gothic horror, we've got fantasy, we've got romance, we've got space - no genre is safe from having their characters become the home of fungal organisms.

For more details on the books, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites. And as always, feel free to share your own recs in the notes!

If you want more book recs, check out my masterpost of rec lists!

The Girl with all the Gifts (The Girl with All the Gifts series) by M.R. Carey

Want another fungal zombie apocalypse? Then I come bearing great news! The Girl with All the Gifts is a post apocalyptic novel following a group of characters fleeing across an infested wasteland, trying to stay alive and hoping to find a cure. One of the characters is Melanie, a young girl who carries the contagion inside of her and hungers for flesh, but like many children of the apocalypse has kept her humanity. Is she and children like her the answer to the cure we are looking for? Or are they the start of something entirely new? This book has also been adapted as a movie!

Cold Storage by David Koepp*

Years ago, a quickly growing fungal organism capable of wiping out humanity came dangerously close to spreading. It was contained and kept in cold storage underneath a military repository. Since then, a larger storage facility has been built on top, the dangers on the lower floor being largely forgotten. That is, until it makes a new attempt at escape. Now, two unsuspecting security guards might be all that stands in the way of complete extermination. This book is both funny and genuine in its characters, and genuinely creepy in its portrayal of body horror.

Salvaged by Madeline Roux

Rosalyn Devar is on the run from her famous family, and has run so far she ended up in space. Now she works as a "space janitor", being sent off to clean up the remains of failed research expeditions. But in trying to cope with her problems, she has fucked up on her job multiple times, and is now close to losing her position. Her last chance is the Brigantine: a research vessel gone silent, all crew presumed dead. But when she arrives to salvage it, Rosalyn discovers the crew isn't as dead as presumed. But are they still human - and will Rosalyn be able to keep her own humanity?

The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed

Novella. Reid is a young woman living in a small community after a climate collapse. Resources are scarce, but Reid's biggest problem is Cad, a mind-altering fungal parasite that lives inside her body. When she is offered a rare chance at attending a far-away university in a secluded dome community, Reid must decide whether to leave or stay to help support her community.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia*

Noemí Taboada is a glamorous and well-off young woman, but when she receives a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin, Noemí must leave her glamorous life and travel to find out what is wrong. As she arrives at High Place, a mansion on the Mexican countryside, Noemí is met with mysteries and her cousin's new English family. As she tries to find out the truth behind High Place and its inhabitants, Noemí's only ally is the youngest son of the family. But will she be able to find out what so scared her cousin before it's too late for all of them?

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

A young pregnant woman flees a cult that left her body strange and changing in terrifying ways. Hiding from both a world wanting to oppress her and the cult seeking to force her back, she does her best to raise her children while trying to find out the truth of the cult and being pursued by a hunter in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Bleak and scary, Sorrowland is a book that will creep under your skin with horrors both fantastical and very, very real.

What Moves the Dead (Sworn Soldier duology) by T. Kingfisher

Novella. Alex Easton, retired soldier, travels to visit their childhood friends, siblings Madeline and Roderick Usher, after finding out that Madeline is dying. In the siblings' rural, ancestral home, Madeline walks in her sleep and looks to be fading away, while around it wildlife seems to be possessed by a strange force. With the help of a mycologist and an American doctor, Alex attempts to save Madeline and reveal the truth of her illness.

Wanderers (Wanderers duology) by Chuck Wendig

A strange illness has struck the United States: with no warning, random people with seemingly no connection simply get up and start walking. They do not eat, do not sleep, do not communicate, and they do not stop - and if you try to force them, they literally explode from the inside. Teenaged Shana isn't one of these sleepwalkers, but her little sister is. Unwilling to leave her sister on her own, Shana accompanies the growing flock of walkers, protecting them as one of many "shepherds". And this protection proves necessary, as the sleepwalkers is only the first step toward what might very well be the extinction of the human race. An 800 page epic, Wanderers is a slowburn apocalypse story with a multitude pov characters and plot threads, from fungal pandemics and all-knowing AI to the all too real portrayal of radicalization and bigotry.

The Dawnhounds (The Endsong series) by Sascha Stronach

The Dawnhounds is a book where you just kind of have to let the story and the world wash over you. It skirts the line of scifi and fantasy, with a futuristic world of environmentally friendly mushroom houses and deadly fungi bio weapons next to literally god-given superpowers and near-immortality. It’s really cool and unlike anything else I’ve ever read, but also a bit confusing. Bonus: it’s also sapphic!

Agents of Dreamland (Tinfoil Dossier trilogy) by Caitlín R. Kiernan

Novella. A government agent known only as the Signalman; a cult preying on the young and vulnerable, promising to usher in a new age; a woman who exists outside of time, searching for a way to save humanity. Agents of Dreamland is short, but includes many spooky elements, among them an alien and possibly world-ending fungi. The narrative is non-linear and a bit strange, but also fascinating.

The Genius Plague by David Walton

Soon after landing his dream job at the NSA, things get weird for Neil Johns. His brother Paul, a mycologist, returns from a trip to the Amazon, carrying a nearly lethal fungal infection and a strangely sharpened mind. At work, Neil starts picking up mysterious messages originating out of South America, where cases similar to that of Paul starts occurring. And strangest of all: all the infected seem to be working towards the same goal. Recommended with the caveat that, while the fungal stuff is really cool, The Genius Plague is also happy to idolize American intelligent agencies and demonize environmentalism and anti-imperialism.

Little Mushroom: Judgement Day (Little Mushroom duology) by Shisi

An Zhe isn’t human. He’s a mushroom who absorbed the DNA of a dying man, allowing him to take on human guise and leave the wilderness. Entering one of the last human bases, a place struggling to keep out the mutated and dangerous creatures of the wilds, An Zhe must keep his identity secret as he searches for something which was taken from him. While not my cup of tea (frankly, I need more female characters), Little Mushroom is an undeniably unique m/m romance novel.

Bonus AKA these don't technically involve any fungi but have similar vibes of parasites and nature corrupting the human

Parasite (Parasitology trilogy) by Mira Grant*

In the near future, a great leap in medical science has improved human health by leaps and bounds: a genetically engineered tape worm. Within a few years, almost every human has their own personal parasite implanted. But now, something is happening to the parasites - they want more, whether their hosts want to share or not.

Annihilation (Southern Reach trilogy) by Jeff Vandermeer

For decades, Area X has been completely cut off from humanity. The only ones to enter are small organized expeditions, many of which never return, or return... wrong. We follow the latest expedition, its participants known only as the anthropologist, the psychologist, the surveyor, and our narrator, the biologist. As they enter into Area X to try to find out its secrets, only one thing is for sure: they will never be the same again.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Young adult. Over a year ago, the Raxter School for Girls was hit by the Tox, a strange disease that killed off many and left the survivors' bodies slowly changing in terrifying ways. The island the school is on has been in quarantine since then, and the girls dare not leave the school grounds lest they become victims of wild animals changed by the Tox. But as they wait for the promised cure, one of the girls goes missing, and her friends are willing to do anything to find her. Unsettling, spooky, and sapphic, this is a unique read featuring body horror and messy, dangerous girls.

(Second) Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

City of Saints and Madmen (Ambergris trilogy) by Jeff Vandermeer

Ambergris, a city created by a mushroom-like people, is now the home of humans, but the original inhabitants are still there, residing beneath the city.

Creatures of Want and Ruin (Diabolist's Library series) by Molly Tanzer

It’s the prohibition era, and while Ellie does fishing during the day, at night she bootlegs moonshine in Long Island. But unbeknownst to Ellie, some of the booze she smuggles has a strange source: distilled from mushrooms by a cult, it causes those who drink it to see terrible things, such as the the destruction of Long Island.

Bloom by Wil McCarthy

The inner solar system has been overtaken by fast-reproducing, fast-mutating technogenic life. Humanity has fled to the outer solar system, hiding beneath the ice of Jupiter's moon, but even here they aren't safe from possible incursion of mycospores, which lead to deadly blooms. Now a group of astronauts venture back to an infected Earth.

#the girl with all the gifts #cold storage #salvaged #the annual migration of clouds #mexican gothic #sorrowland #what moves the dead #wanderers #the dawnhounds #agents of dreamland #the genius plague #little mushroom #parasitology #annihilation #wilder girls #nella talks books

[swdefcult]

#gemma arterton #helen justineau #the girl with all the gifts #zombies #horror

[meimeikyu]

Hii tumble site i have to write an essay about anything i want so pls vote on the topic for me

notes; the essays has to be as unbiased and objective as possible, which is why im leaving things like fnaf lore out. Id have fun doing pretty much any of these so i cant decide-

#yes im trusting tumblr with this #fnaf #five nights at freddy's #ddlc #doki doki literature club #utmv #undertale multiverse #underverse #geno sans #error sans #ink sans #the girl with all the gifts #will wood #portal #portal 2 #polls #tumblr polls

[meat-wentz]

Gerard Way x Cinema (and Television): The Skin I Live In (2011) Dir. Pedro Almodóvar// Hannibal (2013-2015) Season 2 Episode 5 “Mukōzuke” Dir. Michael Rymer// V/H/S (2012) segment “Second Honeymoon” Dir. Ti West// Alice, Sweet Alice (1976) Dir. Alfred Sole// American Psycho (2000) Dir. Mary Harron// Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Dir. Philip Kaufman// Black Christmas (1974) Dir. Bob Clark// The Girl with All the Gifts (2017) Dir. Colm McCarthy

#gerard way x cinema #gerard way #mcr #my chemical romance #the skin i live in #hannibal #vhs #v/h/s #alice sweet alice #American psycho #invasion of the bodysnatchers #black christmas #the girl with all the gifts

[fandomsideworks]

horror movies/shows based on books II

x the girl with all the gifts

x the terror

x the ritual

x bird box

x the hellbound heart (hellraiser)

#the girl with all the gifts (2017) #the girl with all the gifts #the terror #the ritual #bird box #the hellbound heart #hellraiser #movies #horror #tv shows

[talefoundryshow]

NEW VIDEO!

Just how horrific does life have to be for death to become a welcoming embrace?

#tale foundry #writing community #writing inspiration #writers of tumblr #writers on tumblr #story ideas #youtube #the thing #the girl with all the gifts #i have no mouth and i must scream #ihnmaims #hellraiser #clive barker #john carpenter #mike carey #body horror #zombie horror #zombie fiction #horror scifi #writing scifi #scifi horror #science fiction #scifi #surreal horror

[ramyeongif]

"She doesn’t know the words for this. "You’re my bread," she says at last. "When I’m hungry. I don’t mean that I want to eat you, Miss Justineau! I really don’t! I’d rather die than do that. I just mean… you fill me up the way the bread does to the man in the song. You make me feel like I don’t need anything else."[ The Girl With All The Gifts ]

#TheGirlWithAllTheGifts

#the girl with all the gifts #books #horror #bread #love #lucy dot txt

[kazz-brekker]

finally got around to finishing the movie of the girl with all the gifts and it was so fucking good. why should it be us who die for you…it's not over, it's just not yours anymore…wow that girl who played melanie really knocked out of the park.

#i think in a post tlou tv show world most people will just go watch that instead #but i thought it was VERY good enough though i accidentally took a several month break from watching it #pie says stuff #the girl with all the gifts #movies #the girl with all the gifts 2016 #idk i liked that in the end it was not a zombie movie about destroying the world but more about the world becoming something new #that's cool i liked it

[melancholiaenthroned]

oh god. in a perfect world he would have been one of them

#i still think i prefer the movie but the elaboration on gallaghers character and the fact that he was born post breakdown LIKE THE KIDS is. #so fucking. AUGHHHHHGHGGGHHH IN A PERFECT WORLD HE WOULDVE BEEN ONE OF THEM!!! I DONT WANT TO HURT YOU!!! #poison.txt #.jpg #the girl with all the gifts

[autisticheadcanons]

Melanie from The Girl With All The Gifts is autistic

- Hyperempathy! She has an interest in animals and can overcome her zombie like traits to protect people who are important to her

- Special interest in greek mythology, specifically the tale of Pandora

- Repetitive phrasing, she counts to 100 every night

- Recognition in patterns, she was immediately on the uptake that her choosing a number would cause one of her classmates to disappear

- Change aversion, the ending of the film and book speak for themselves

#character has no last name #submission #actually autistic #autistic headcanon #the girl with all the gifts

[grouchydairy]

Have you ever had a "blind date" with a book? It was popular a while back with book shops, where books would be packaged in brown paper and twine with a simple genre description. The idea would be that shoppers and readers would pick a book up, not knowing exactly what they were getting into, like a blind date.

#books

#The Girl with all the gifts #books #blind date #bookworm #bookstagram #lucy dot txt

[anonaverse]

I really love The Girl With All The Gifts. Why should we die for you?

#the girl with all the gifts

[swdefcult]

#sennia nanua #melanie #the girl with all the gifts #zombies #horror

[incorrectthegirlwithallthegifts]

Caldwell: I’m the smartest person here by far.

Justineau: Really? Then why is your hand stuck in a vending machine?

Caldwell: I paid for my Mars Bar. I’m getting my Mars Bar.

#the girl with all the gifts #caroline caldwell #helen justineau

[alexlaurybooks]

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars

The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey

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 a wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite. But they don’t laugh.

Where to begin…

This book follows five different characters from their own individual points of view (a seemingly common theme in the books I pick off the shelf to read). Caught in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, the five characters find themselves escaping together when their base is under attack. The zombies (or “hungries”) are a unique take on the otherwise overused horror trope. The defining difference? They’re conscious.

M. R. Carey does a phenomenal job at giving a unique voice to each of the main characters. I always fear that books with multiple POVs will end up with characters that all sound the same. This is absolutely not the case in The Girl With All The Gifts. Each character has their own personal motivation to everything they think do, say and think.

Melanie, a little girl who is unaware of the fact that she has contracted / been infected by a zombie virus, lives and breathes for knowledge and for the person that gives it to her, Miss Helen Justineau. In the beginning, her life consists of two things, Miss Justineau and the soldiers that strap her into a wheelchair to take her to a classroom from her locked cell room. She has no idea why people around her fear or dislike her, but is glad that Miss Justineau treats her kindly. To say that Melanie loves her teacher more than anything would be an understatement; she worships her.

Miss Justineau is not only Melanie’s teacher, but also the psychologist at the base that is holding Melanie and all the other hungries. Her genuine care, and compassion not only for Melanie, but for the others stuck in a hellish journey with her becomes very apparent as the story unfolds. Miss Justineau is a beacon of hope for Melanie and a great example of human kindness.

Dr. Caroline Caldwell is a scientist determined to study the infection in search of a cure. Her medical knowledge is a noteworthy difference from the other characters when reading her point of view. She conducts basic experimentation on the hungries in the name of science. Her determination to discover the truth sometimes makes her apathetic, or rather unwilling, to acknowledge the more human attributes that Melanie retains. Her true ruthless character is further revealed as the story continues.

Sergeant Parks is a military man with a long experience in hostile territories. He has a very “no B.S” attitude. His ingrained military background is most apparent when reading from his perspective. He is definitely an action man, to say the least. Being able to read his doubts and insecurities about the situation was eye-opening. It reminded me that even the strongest man questions what’s around him. I can’t say I like them all that much though.

Last but not least is Private Kieran Gallagher, a young man, at the beginning of his military career. I feel bad for his lack of experience as a soldier. He was definitely not prepared for the dangers that the outside world held. I don’t think any of them were.

 Although the gore depicted is kept to a minimum for a book in the thriller genre, the horror is chilling. I found myself heavily invested in nearly every scene, action, or otherwise. I cried. More than once. And after taking the journey alongside each of these characters, I can honestly say that I didn’t know who I wanted to win at the end. It is safe to say that the movie did not do it justice and I cannot wait to get my hands on the prequel.

#book blog #book review #books #alex laury bookshelf #the girl with all the gifts #m r carey #m. r. carey

[destyni-is-me]

It's finally time to start the 2024 book count, guys!!! Woohoo!

1/16/2024

A few years ago I saw the movie The Girl with all The Gifts and I remembered really enjoying it. Then I found out it was based on a book, so I added the book to my reading list. It was one I wasn't sure I would ever get to but then as fate would have it I found it at a thrift store for less than $2 so obviously I had to buy it.

The book had such a unique and interesting take on the zombie concept, especially in the use of a real life fungus as the vector. I think there was also something to be taken from the story reading it now during a plague of our own as well, of course. It was also really cool getting to jump around into all the other character's perspectives and see how they viewed themselves and the world around them. The book also didn't shy away from tragedy or brutality, either.

The movie was great and the book? Also great. I think I might have to watch the movie again before I recommend it but I give the book a full 10/10 do read this.

What a great one to kick off 2024!

#2024 book count #des recs #the girl with all the gifts #that ending though #what a good book tbh #i didn't mention it but there's blood and gore and violence in the book #and some sad parts that really get to you