Name: Bird Box
Rating: 3.983870967741935 (62 reviews)
ISBN: 9780007529889

Josh Malerman

Most people ignored the outrageous reports on the news. But they became too frequent, they became too real. And soon, they began happening down the street. Then the Internet died. The television and radio went silent. The phones stopped ringing. And we couldn't look outside anymore.

Bird Box

Now a Netflix film starring Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson, Rosa Salazar and John Malkovich! Written with the narrative tension of The Road and the exquisite terror of classic Stephen King, Bird Box is a propulsive, edge-of-your-seat horror thriller, set in an apocalyptic near-future world—a masterpiece of suspense from the brilliantly imaginative Josh Malerman. 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? Interweaving past and present, Josh Malerman’s breathtaking debut is a horrific and gripping snapshot of a world unraveled that will have you racing to the final page.

A Novel

Chris Hilyer

I was more or less waiting for this one to end. I know that must be an unpopular opinion, but it just didn't grab me. 

The author set up a few great moments but as a whole I found it lacking. I really liked A House at the Bottom of a Lake and Incidents Around the House. Sadly, this one was a miss.

Arturo Hernández

The story on this one grabs your attention from the first chapter and it just doesn’t let it go. I appreciate the way they narrate the events on this, back and forth through different moments on specific timelines. The whole concept of the plot feels new and consistent. This is definitely a good thriller to pass the time on.

Amy Thibodeau

I'm not one for horror but this was well written, unique and absolutely terrifying. I wish there was a bit more character development in the housemates and the ending was a bit messy, but I loved this book and may even read it again.

Ryan LaFerney

In Malerman's chilling debut, Bird Box, an apocalyptic reality befalls a Michigan river community—and who knows how much of the rest of civilization—in the form of creatures that cause people who merely look at them to go mad and kill themselves.
Having lost her sister to this horrific fate, a young pregnant woman, Malorie, finds sanctuary with a group of strangers in a small house with covered windows. Malorie and her roommates lives in fear and when they go outside they wear blindfolds to protect themselves. But, what will Malorie do when this sanctuary is no more? How will her and her child survive?
Bird Box is slow build but the climax of the novel is absolutely gloomy, sorta gothic, and horrific in a manner that both reminded me of Stephen King and Alfred Hitchcock. 

It's worth reading considering all the buzz about it's adaptation on Netflix. Don't waste your time with that film. It's disappointing. Read this instead and you'll be presently surprised. 

I look forward to reading Malerman's follow up, Malorie, later this year.

Janice Hopper

I read the first part of this book on my iPod Touch, in bed, with the lights out. 

I don't recommend doing this. It seriously creeped me out. I had to listen to a Terry Pratchett book to clear the creepiness out of my mind. 

A world where just the sight of something outside makes people go crazy and kill themselves, violently. Holy crap. Imagine trying to stay alive in that. Living blindfolded, with the windows & doors covered, always worried that Something might get in. 

I read through it quickly. I hope I sleep ok tonight. Probably time for more Pratchett or some other unicorn chaser!

Laurel Yoder

The movie has got NOTHING on this book. I couldn’t read this (or more accurately, listen to this on audiobook) after dark because it made me think of a blindfold. It is FAR more terrifying than the yawn of a movie. Want Bird Box to go to a whole new level? READ THIS BOOK!

Ewan

Cheri McElroy

What a creepy book! 

This is a dystopian-horror novel set in a world where one look at whatever it is that's suddenly out there will drive you insane.

I loved the relationship beteween Mallory, the main character, and her sister. The relationships she had with her roommates, especially Tom. Her will to live that was stronger than her fear. 

I nearly knocked a star off because OF THAT ENDING! I wanted more closure regarding Gary, the creature, etc. But, in the end, it's probably good I didn't get it.

A 4.5 star creepy fall read.

Dee B. 

Suitably creepy and confusing and perfect

courtney garrison

I honestly don’t know what to say about this one. It was scary, gorey or even suspenseful. I had watched the movie on Netflix when it released and loved it. The movie at least was suspenseful and had a better story.

Your MC is Mallory, she has just found out she pregnant when a mystery things start happening all over the world. As these happenings keep occurring Mallory and her sister take precautions to block all the windows and stay inside. The news has reported that is you see them you go crazy and hurt others and eventually kill yourself. Soon Mallory is on her where she finds an ad in the paper leading her to go to Tom, don, Felix and the others in a house offering shelter.

BirdBox does flip back and forth to Mallory in the house with the others and Mallory on the river. So it can be easy to get confused, but the audiobook does make it a bit easier to keep up with the storylines in my opinion.

This one was honestly just boring for me. Maybe it’s just me and this wasn’t for me I don’t know. I don’t do suspenseful scary stuff very well so I was hesitant on picking this one up, but honestly there’s only like two scenes that have cringe to them and there really not even that horrible just gross 🤷🏻‍♀️.

I think josh is a great writer but there could have been so much more gore or at least suspense in this book. I also want to point out trigger warnings for death, suicide, giving birth(kinda descriptive in a scene) animal deaths, gouging of eye(mentions, not descriptive)

Overall this wasn’t bad, just not great in my opinion. I guess is just went in with high hopes and it disappointed. I do want to read josh’s other works and see if his writing improves. I do highly recommend the movie because it is way way better in my opinion.

3.5 stars
Wow, this is a world I would really not want to be a part of.
I mean aliens are fine, dinosaurs are okay but a world where you have got to keep your eyes closed is just too much for me.

I had a hard time reading this, it was just to heavy for me. But the writing is really good for this type of book. It is really fast paced and it sort of pulls you inside the story. Malory's a hero.

Emily Perkovich

I try to read books before I watch movies or shows because I have had too many poor experiences the other way. I find it is easier for me to enjoy a movie taking creative licensing than it is for me to enjoy a book with too many differences from the visuals I’ve already seen. This did not cause that disappointment. There were slight differences, but they worked favorably.

Bird Box

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