Book Bites: 3 Sentence Intro About What This Story Is

What is this mysterious, threatening entity that has suddenly arrived on Earth and causes everyone to kill themselves? Malorie, a pregnant woman in her twenties, as well as a few of the remaining survivors in this new uncertain world have to find a way to survive without really knowing who their hunters are. And the one thing they have to rely on to navigate the new world: their blindfolds.

*As usual, to see the official book teaser/summary of this, go to anywhere books are found and read up more about what this book is about.

Now on to My Commentary (**May Contain Spoilers: Read at Your Own Risk)

You thought this was just a movie? Psyche! It’s also a book. And a really entertaining, suspenseful quick read. Okay, “quick” may be relative to who is reading. Though, honestly, Josh Malerman does a wonderful job retaining your attention each chapter and curious for more.

When I found out that the popular Netflix movie Bird Box was originally a book, I jumped at the chance to read it. I don’t know about you, but I really love watching the movie and reading the book versions to compare and contrast the two works.

And let’s be honest, almost every (good) movie nowadays stemmed from a book – yeah, truth shots fired.

I’ll probably be comparing this book to the movie because that’s where my brain goes. Though I will try to focus on the book for those of you only interested in reading it because this is a book review. Either way check out the movie too. It was well made and I think captures the tone of the book well. But I’ll talk about how the book levels up in suspense and graphic images in a way that’s lacking in the movie.

Okay, Now We Actually Get to the Review

I found Josh Malerman to be a talented debut author. He created this interesting, ominous world where all its inhabitants can easily be overrun by this mysterious entity called the “madness”. Bird Box is a page turner! And I guess as I read it, I was mentally comparing the scenes to the movie. The first few chapters almost followed the movie exactly (I love when it does that)!

More Detailed Characters

However, a couple chapters in, we do start seeing some divergence from the movie’s plot. We delve deeper into the backgrounds of the characters in the book. For example, Tom’s character. We get so much more details about Tom through the pages and if you loved him in the movie, his actions, personality, intelligence, and courageousness shine in the book.

We also get a better idea of the day to day lives that Malorie and the others had to adjust to while being stuck in the same house. It could be boring to watch this on screen, but I think getting a peek of the daily routines of the household helps us understand each character’s development. We understand how each individual has been affected by the “madness” pandemic. And we see a clearer dynamic between the relationships of the members in the household, even those who were minor characters in the movie.

And Gary. Well Gary’s still Gary. Which is a good thing. Except like more maniacal. He’s always a joy to read.

The Horrors in the World of Bird Box

Oh and the best part – due to my morbid and twisted interests – the book has some disturbing and graphic scenes. Malerman sprinkles in a few scenes of the gruesome, unfortunate deaths of some victims infected by the madness.

I find this adds the realism to the apocalyptic, unpredictable world of Bird Box. It’s not only horrific because they are literally blind to their attacker, this invisible entity that clearly threatens them. But it’s horrific to see the consequences of their situation during times when they are able to remove their blindfolds. The ghostly streets of their once populated towns. The tragic ways in which people took their own lives. And the fear that continues to elevate in the survivors, knowing they might fall victim next. It’s like Final Destination. You never truly feel a sense of ease even though your mind knows you’re currently safe, that you’ve taken all precautions to ensure your safety, doubts and fears ravage your sanity and well-being.

In this way, I do find Bird Box similar to Stephen King’s style of unnerving, eery, psychological horror versus a more tangible, “monster” style of horror. And personally, I’m a huge fan of Stephen King’s style because I find what the mind imagines to be far scarier than what exists in the physical world. But again, I don’t know if the “madness” is a real or imagined threat.

Who Are the Real Monsters?

Which brings me to my next point. (The only reason why I was so eager to read the book was because there was something missing in the movie that I wanted to find. I thought this book might include this detail. I guess it kind of did.) And that was for a thorough explanation of the entity that’s making everyone go “mad”.

This really begs the question: was there truly a supernatural force harming humans? Or were humans just voluntarily harming themselves because of the hysteria and paranoia around them?

My verdict. It’s a bit of both.

As a whole, I admired that Bird Box really brought up the impact of the human mind. Just how potent our imagination can be. In some scenes, the characters truly believed they were about to be attacked or die only to find they were only hypersensitive to the environment around them. But they always had to be on guard as they never knew if the entity was present or not.

And it was cool to have a survival book where the characters had to adapt to giving up their most depended on sense (sight) and learn to live through their other senses.

I sympathized with how much of a struggle it was for the once-seeing characters to have to move through life blind. I don’t know about you, but I am wholly dependent on my sense of sight. And another question that Malorie and I had: if it affects you through sight, who’s to say it can’t affect you through your other senses? What then? How will you survive?

How very relevant I found it to imagine Malorie’s world while reading this book during COVID quarantine. Except for COVID, we knew what we were fighting up against. But it parallels the cautious behavior we’ve adapted and our dependence on a different kind of mask to protect us from a threat we can’t see with our normal eyes.

Personally for me, as a writer, I liked learning how to create suspense by meticulously analyzing and observing Malerman’s writing style. This is something I struggle with – being long-winded (as you can tell). So for me, it was like a mini writing class. Plus, I liked reading the book with my mental audiobook narrated by Sandra Bullock’s voice and portrayal of Malorie.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for story that takes your mind off of COVID quarantine by learning what a crappier world Malorie and the survivors have to live in, read this. You’ll definitely relate to Malorie and the others as they try to survive in a world now run by a madness-causing creature because 1) you’re basically locked indoors for your protection and 2) you gotta wear a mask – over your nose and mouth not your eyes but still, you get the idea.

Lovers of Stephen King and similar psychological thriller/horror suspense authors – *raises my hand* – will enjoy this book.

Check out this book if it piques your interest. Hope you enjoy it as your next read or a re-read!

And remember, “Every story is worth the read. Someone (some poor, overworked, ink-stains-on-the-clothes lovely soul) took the time to write it.”