Review: Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Title:  Bird Box 

Author:  Josh Malerman
Publisher: Ecco

Publishing Date: May 13th 2014

Pages: 272
Genre: Adult Psychological Horror

Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audio

 

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.

I came across this book by accident. I am not sure what I was searching but this book came up. I don't do many adult books for various reasons but when one sounds so awesome its a must read... I take the chance and read it. I am so glad I took the chance on this book. It was pretty awesome. Exactly the kind of read I needed and wanted and wow  it was good. Very creepy and disturbing and dark. 

The world has changed. There is danger outside. Dangerous creatures that if you look, you will go crazy mad and kill others or yourself or both. No one knows exactly what they are or what happens because no lives to learn about it. It's been about 4 1/2 years since the dark started and Malorie and her children have not seen the outside in this long. Now she and her kids will venture outside, down a river, to an unknown place on the promise of a stranger. They have to do this blindfolded in order to stay alive. Throughout the journey Melonie remembers it all from the very beginning to the present day and in those memories she finds the will and the determination to keep herself and her children alive on this dangerous and long journey.

This book wasn't at all what I expected but was everything I wanted. I really really enjoyed it. It was a slow burn kind of read. The first page really caught me but it wasn't a quick paced page turner. It was the page turner as I wanted more but it felt like a slow and deep read. I was really into it. 

The book is written in present POV and memory POV. I love these kind of reads. I don't know what it is but I do just love them. Probably one of my favorite type of formats. It makes the story so much more mysterious. I just can't wait to find out the while truth. Kind of like doing a puzzle. You get the beauty of the picture piece by piece and its fun but the appreciation of the beauty  comes once its finish. This was this book exactly. It was worth the time to finish the puzzle. 

I really loved Malorie. She was a strong woman. She was fearless in some ways but so fragile in others.. but no matter what she was she was determined. Determined to keep her children safe, to teach them, the secure them. to survive. She was smart and she was kind. She was a good mother but a scary mother. She did what she had to with no regret. Very likable character with flaws and all. 

The story was just creepy and dark. It was hard to feel anything but apprehension with every new chapter. With the present I didn't know what danger that Malorie and her children would need to face. With the past I knew Malorie survived but that is all I knew. I didn't know how she ended up alone or with children. I didn't know if I would find out what was causing the crazy or what the creatures were. I was as blind as Malorie's was in the beginning. Slowly it all came together and made sense and it was nice in the end because it felt like a calm after all the nerves and anxiety. Truly though everything between page one and the last page had me biting my nails and hiding under my covers at night. This is what nightmares are made of. 

The only thing that kind of made me roll my eyes. The author didn't know pregnancy that well. I could tell he got it from a book (being male and all) but I am not sure where he got some of the info. Some of it was just off to me and not right. But it didn't take away from the story as it was something to focus on. So I let it slide but I did giggle and roll my eyes at it.

It was everything a psychological horror should be. Read it if you like creepy and dark.

                                  Josh Malerman is the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band the High Strung. He lives in Ferndale, Michigan.

His novel BIRD BOX came out in May 2014.