BOOK INFORMATION:
Book Title: Bird Box
Author: Josh Malerman
Publishing Date: May 13th, 2014
Publisher: Ecco
Page Count: 262 pages
Source: Purchased from Amazon
Something is out there, something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse of it, 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 remains, 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's 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. Something is following them all the while, but is it man, animal, or monster?
Interweaving past and present, Bird Box is a snapshot of a world unraveled that will have you racing to the final page.
Something is out there, something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse of it, 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 remains, 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's 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. Something is following them all the while, but is it man, animal, or monster?
Interweaving past and present, Bird Box is a snapshot of a world unraveled that will have you racing to the final page.
Links for purchase: Amazon // Barnes and Noble // Abe Books // Book Depository // Better World Books // Indigo
MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:
This review has tons of spoilers so if you haven’t read this book or watched the movie on Netflix and don’t want to get spoiled. I really suggest you not read any further. I don’t want to spoil everyone.
Remember Don’t open your eyes. In this story upon glimpsing something outside, people are just driven into a suicidal rage, that generally ends with taking their lives or occasionally hurting other people.
This book follows Mallory’s story. Which is told in two different pieces. The past and her current present. Four years ago, her life was changed. She was pregnant, scared, and alone. She strikes out toward a group’s safe house to escape whatever is causing this madness. Now presently she and her two children are beginning a blind, rough, treacherous journey down a river, toward a vague hope of security. She decides to leave what little safety her children and her have in the hope of a brighter future.
This book was so unique in many ways. I had never read a survival story like this. It wasn’t like the walking dead, because there weren’t zombies. It just took on a subject that I had never thought of before. The big focus was on the relationship and how surviving happens. What happens to society once it has reached the “apocalyptic” stage. It was just a rather interesting perspective.
There were many things I enjoyed about this story. I enjoyed the writing style so much. This story is told in small, short, even brief sentences that communicate the desperate atmosphere going through the book. I liked how the writing style was so eerie and grim. It made the story more real and exciting.
Connected with the writing style is the imagery in this book. I was able to see myself in this story. Surrounded by people trying to survive while others are trying to get you to look into whatever the fog or monster is making people kill themselves. While reading this novel, it’s almost like you can see the environment. It was just so very creepy.
Some things just didn’t work for me. The plot just doesn’t quite make sense. I couldn’t fully believe Mallory’s past or her present. Her behavior was just odd, and the past didn’t exactly explain it. She was nearly emotionless, but they never shared what made her this way. While she was living in the house with the group nothing felt real, it was almost like she was just going through the emotions and just exist. At the end with Gary, was kind of more engaging but still lacked a plot. The travel down the river was a bit more appealing but not exactly that interesting. It only makes up a small portion of the story, which makes for a slightly dull tale.
When you finally get some closure about Mallory’s past, it just kind of ends. It is too quick compared to the drawn out beginning. It feels included just to tie up a few loose ends. It just seemed unrealistic to be honest.
Like the movie, there isn’t a definite ending, which is the most disappointing aspect of this novel. I read it in an attempt to understand what created this nightmare situation. I wanted to know if it was aliens, monsters, or a fog? Why did it start? How can they make it end? Will humanity end? I need the answers to fill in the blanks. It was good, but I wanted to know all the answers. I can only hope there is a second novel to continue the story and bring a solution to the questions.
All in all, it was a pretty good book, it just left me asking more questions then when I began. I recommend the book because it is so well written but don’t expect to understand anything that is going on. I am glad the writing has an impact, but I just wish there was more included.
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