Book Review - Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Title: Bird Box (Bird Box # 1)
Author: Josh Malerman
Genre: Horror/ Fiction/ Thriller
Published: 2014
 
Description: 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 ar 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?
 
Review: Malorie takes care of her two children. Unlike normal, they have to be dead quiet and are never allowed outside. The windows are covered and the curtains are always closed. It all started with vague news stories on television. People ignored reports of madness because it was happening far from their homes. But it comes closer. And all television went black, the radio went silent and the internet was down. And the outside was no longer safe. All Malorie knows is that, whatever it is outside, it must never be seen. Because opening your eyes will kill you.
 
I saw the film a few years ago. It was fine, enjoyed it, never thought it was very scary. At the time of viewing I didn’t know it was based on a book, let alone written by Josh Malerman. I had never read from Malerman before, I thought this would be the perfect book to start with. And I’m so glad I read it.
 
The book is so much scarier, it gets under your skin and keeps you on edge. The story captivated me. You know just as much as the characters, you have no clue what they are actually afraid of that is out there.
 
The story alternates between the beginning of this apocalypse and the present day where Malorie and her two children are fleeing their home for safety. I can understand why people define this as one of the scariest book they’ve read. I could feel the suspense constantly, because they don’t know what they fear. Like a classic horror rule is, that it’s the things you don’t see that scare you the most.
 
I was only a bit disappointed by the ending. I expected more from this. But overall, “Bird Box” is an amazingly suspenseful horror novel, that I could recommend to any horror fan.
 
Rating: 4/ 5