Book Review: Bird Box by Josh Malerman
Bird Box by Josh Malerman
Publisher: Ecco
Paperback Release Date: February 10, 2015
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Something is out there…
Something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from.
Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remain, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now, that the boy and girl are four, it is time to go. But the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat—blindfolded—with nothing to rely on but her wits and the children’s trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. And something is following them. But is it man, animal, or monster?
Engulfed in darkness, surrounded by sounds both familiar and frightening, Malorie embarks on a harrowing odyssey—a trip that takes her into an unseen world and back into the past, to the companions who once saved her. Under the guidance of the stalwart Tom, a motely group of strangers banded together against the unseen terror, creating order from the chaos. But when supplies ran low, they were forced to venture outside—and confront the ultimate question: in a world gone mad, who can really be trusted?
A strange phenomenon has taken over the world. It started with just a few people in Russia and quickly spread to the rest of the world. People are looking at something – we don’t know what – and then after they see it they go crazy and savagely murder whoever they’re with before gruesomely killing themselves.
Malorie is pregnant, which somewhat complicates living in this new world where one must keep their eyes closed at all times when outside to avoid becoming a victim of the mysterious, unknown thing. Luckily, she finds refuge with a group of strangers who live in a house where they have meticulously covered all the windows with blankets or cardboard. They close their eyes or wear a blindfold whenever they need to go outside.
Bird Box alternates between the time period in which the phenomenon started and four years later, when Malorie is rowing blindfolded down a river with two children that she calls only Girl and Boy. Where is she going and why?
This book was so scary! At one point, I was so engrossed in the story and so worried about these people that when my husband walked in the room and tried to talk to me, I just about jumped out of my skin.
I thought about Malorie and her friends’ predicament for days. I can’t imagine keeping my eyes shut for long trips outside without even reflexively peeking a little. Clearly, I would not last very long!
I rarely read horror but my bestie, Nerdy Apple, recommended it to me and we have pretty much the same taste in books. She said that if I liked The Girl with All the Gifts, then I would like Bird Box. And she was right! I thought it was a unique twist on a zombie apocalypse type scenario. I only have two complaints. One – the author, described labor pains as occurring at the waist. I think he should have asked a woman about the location of contractions to write about them more realistically. Secondly, the ending was not neatly wrapped up and I like resolution. I can see why Malerman wrote it that way though. It made it creepier and left room for a sequel, which I would definitely read. Highly recommend to horror fans or anyone who enjoys the thrill of being scared.
