The Boy on the Bridge

[b:The Girl With All the Gifts 17235026 The Girl With All the Gifts (The Girl With All the Gifts #1) M.R. Carey https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403033579s/17235026.jpg 23753235] was a once-in-a-lifetime sort of book: smart science, interesting existential quandaries. The Boy on the Bridge is the Girl With All the Gifts redux. But unfortunately, literally: the smart but loving female scientist, and the precocious but different kid and they travel with a small crew who are deadset against them, all together exploring a land laid waste by the zombie plague. Unfortunately with all of the clever twists done already in The Girl, there wasn't much new and I felt like The Boy largely dragged. That's not to say there weren't well-drawn characters and emotional beats – there were, but it really hit basically all the same emotional, plot and character notes as The Girl did.

I received a free copy of this book courtesy of the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I haven't read “Girl With All the Gifts,” and I am only vaguely aware that there is a movie for it. However, I found that “The Boy on the Bridge” can stand alone just fine. It is technically a prequel, but the way that it is written makes it very accessible to readers not familiar with the series. I enjoy Carey's writing style quite a bit being a big fan of Lucifer and Hellblazer and again he doesn't disappoint. This book could easily fall into the realm of mindless horror, but it doesn't. It has heart and I care about the characters. I definitely recommend.

I enjoyed this more than the first book in the series.