My fourth novel by Carey in the last three years, Someone Like Me is a really interesting look at what we do and do not control in our lives.
The book follows a woman named Liz Kendall, who in the very first chapter is being attacked by her ex-husband Marc. But as he begins choking her, something different happens; Liz loses control and quickly defends herself, incapacitating her ex and saving her own life.
Unlike the post apocalyptic setting of The Girl With All The Gifts, Someone Like Me takes place in modern-day Pittsburgh and although there are a number of genre elements (I don't want to get too specific to avoid spoilers), and works all the better for it. The novel feels like a ghost story mixed with a thriller and had me fully invested in the lives of Liz and her family almost immediately.
Although the violence may be an issue for some, in the end I found the book to be really hopeful and powerful in its look at how we deal with trauma and how it can affect ourselves and those around us.
A really great read.
M.R. Carey's 2016 follow up to The Girl With all the Gifts is a ghost story set in a maximum security women's prison called Fellside, and although it doesn't feel even a little bit like the previous novel, it really worked for me in telling a sprawling story that kept me invested the whole way through.
The novel follow Jess Moulson, a heroin addict who begins the novel in a hospital after having survived an apartment fire, and brings the reader along on her discovery of just how awful the fire actually was. Without going into specifics, Jess is convicted to Fellside and the majority of the novel focuses on how she deals with the consequences of her actions.
The novel does include some elements of both fantasy and mystery, and works quite well at developing a large cast of characters (compared to the less than ten focus characters in The Girl With All The Gifts). Although I didn't enjoy it in the same way as the previous novel, it was definitely well worth the read.
I actually came across The Girl with All the Gifts not because I'm a fan of the author (Mike Carey's The Unwritten being one of my favourite comic series), and not because the trailer for the film adaption just came out (starring Glen Close - HOLY CATS!), and no, not even because I spent a year reading largely only zombie-themed post-apocalyptic fiction, but instead because my wife read it and thought it would be my thing.
The Girl with All the Gifts is an incredibly well written in-depth character look at a small military base existing in the UK after an (mild spoiler) Extinction Level Event involving zombies. The novel focuses on a ten year-old girl named Melanie and that's just about all I want to say about it, plot wise.
Having read a LOT of zombie fiction over my life, what I really love about this book is the different way it went in concept and just how much it made me care about (or at least relate to) all of it's characters.
Totally worth the read, even if Horror books are not really your thing, and yes, this book will absolutely find it's way onto my shelves at home soon.
