Bird Box by John Malerman

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Goodreads Synopsis:

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. 

[Amazon CA] [Book Depository]

My Thoughts

Whatever you do… Don’t open your eyes!

There were so many heart-pounding, suspenseful moments that I had a hard time just choosing: Where the birds start to go crazy chirping and making a noise to signal that one of the creatures is nearby. I remember gripping the book more tightly and hearing my heart pounding in my ears; I began to read faster wanting to know what will happen as quickly as I could. The whole book was super suspenseful, and I had a difficult time putting it down so I could go to bed.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time; I read it in almost one sitting. When I finished the novel, I kept thinking about it and I was eagerly waiting to see the Netflix film adaptation of the novel (I was deeply disappointed, the book was so much better!). This book scared the living poop out of me at times. One of these moments is when the group of survivors left the house to go to the grocery store in the car. They had to block all the windows so they couldn’t see out. I thought for sure the creatures were going to get them! I remember I had to ask my boyfriend to sit in the same room as me when I was reading this. It probably didn’t help that I was reading this at night in the winter. I had all the lights on, the curtains open and I was wrapped up in blankets drinking Candy Cane Green Tea (which paired excellently with this novel).  

The ending really wound me up and left me feeling decently satisfied. I thought that Malerman left the novel open-ended on purpose so the reader could think of how civilization could continue. I don’t have plans to read the sequel that is coming out soon. I believe that it will be similar to The Testaments in terms of how the viewers of the Netflix movie and how some readers wanted a nice conclusion.

I would 100% read this book again, with my Candy Cane Green Tea. I gave this book 5/5 cups of tea. I’m pretty sure I finished a pot of tea while reading this during my second sitting. There’s something satisfying about reading a good thriller with a warm cup of tea in hand.

On that note, I’m off to make a pot of tea and to read Dracula before I go back to work this afternoon. Let me know if you’ve read the book and your thoughts on it!