O wow... this was really a captivating read. Right from the beginning there was this sense that something was "off" besides the obvious. It was in the tone and the settling. There was definitely a dark shadow hiding just beneath the surface of an already bleak setting. This really was a quite fresh and intelligent take on the whole zombie/infection apocalypse trope that's been so ubiquitous these past few years. 
 We follow the journey of a 10 year old girl named Melanie (aka Test Subject 1.) Going forward this won't be much of a spoiler fest since going in you already know it's a zombie story... Melanie is a zombie, or a "hungry" as the book refers to them. However, she and the other children are special hungries. They are somehow able to still retain normal brain function while fully infected. So obviously, they are being used for scientific research to try to find a cure. Trust me when I say there is a lot more to the story than just what I've just described but that's a good basis to go on if you're wondering what exactly this whole story was about. 
 The Girl with All the Gifts is told from several points of view and each one feels completely different that the next. All of the main characters (Sgt. Parks, Pvt. Gallagher, Ms. Justineau, Dr. Caldwell, and Melanie) have distinct personalities and they each have a different outlook on their reality. It was really interesting to get into everyone's thought process. It would be easy to just tell the story from Melanie's point of view. It was much more interesting to have the same story being told by 5 different people with their own viewpoint. It made the journey seem more multilayered. 
 If I had to find something to pick at it would be the pacing. As I was reading and things were getting exciting I thought they were gearing up for the big finale. Then I realized that I was only about 50% to 60% in so there were obviously many more events yet to come. Sometimes I just felt the pacing was a bit sluggish and the narrative would have benefitted from some additional editing. However, everything really paid off in the end and I was so thrilled with the story as a whole that the pacing issues weren't really all that big of a deal. Basically, I could go on and on about how refreshing the narrative was and how intricate and human the story was and how I have a million boners for this book. Bottom line is that it was amazing and I would definitely recommend it to everyone!