Book Review: Bird Box by Josh Malerman

It is a gloomy, thundery day, so I figured I write this book review while the time fits the genre. I have to admit, this book was not my typical read - horror - but I'm glad I read it. This week was also a period of time filled with rainy weather, and with nothing entertaining to do inside the house, I read Bird Box by Josh Malerman in less than 24 hours. I heard wonderful reviews of this book, and I must say, it is not exactly what I expected.

Yes, this book was Malerman's debut novel, and for being a musician, I applaud his work. However, I was not entirely convinced by his writing.

The plot was genius: the story revolves around Malorie, a young woman who struggles to survive with her two children in a desolate post-apocalyptic world.. The story follows two time lines, one when Malorie was pregnant and encounters the other survivors, and the other when she tries to escape her current situation with the children. In this new world, there are "creatures" that roam around, but nobody knows what they look like. Apparently, if a person sees these creatures, they turn mad and kill themselves. Because of this, Malorie and the other survivors live cautiously, covering all of the windows and never going outside without a blindfold.

Despite being a grappling story, Malerman did not satisfy me with the connection of the reader to the characters. I was never really "pulled in" to the book, and I felt like the vague descriptions of the setting left a little too much to the reader's imagination. The writing style was blunt, and although this type of writing suits certain novels or authors (such as Camus), I felt like this writing did not match some of the scenes. I expected more description of the characters and their personalities, but was disappointed when all the author provided was dialogue or indistinct emotion. Nevertheless, I did experience intended moments of suspense and terror.

Also, maybe this is a coincidence, but the day after I finished reading this book, I went to the cinema to see John Krasinski's A Quiet Place for the first time. I was astonished to find the similarity between Bird Box and this new popular movie. Much like the setting in Bird Box, A Quiet Place also takes place in post-apocalyptic America and centers around a family that struggle to survive. There are creatures in this world that hunt by sound, which forces the family to live in silence. While the medium of survival in this movie is sound, the characters in Bird Box have to restrict their sight to survive. To my surprise, Bird Box is also being made into a movie that will supposedly release at the end of this year. Looks like apocalyptic movies with mysterious creatures are in high demand!