A review by zakcebulski
Bird Box by Josh Malerman

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


I cannot stress how badly I feel for those people, like me, who saw the godawful movie adaptation of this book before reading the source material.
I usually take umbrage with people shitting on movie adaptations, but, holy fucking hell, I understand why people shat on this on in comparison to the book.

The book starts with Calorie and her sister Shannon who are noticing the gradual spreading of a hellacious new epidemic wherein if a person looks outside, a unseen creature will cause them to commit suicide.
There are two plot lines to this book. One takes place four years in the past and one takes place in the present day and age.
First, I have to say that for me, the two time line stories where one takes place far in the past is a hard sell for me.
This is because I find it immensely hard to give a shit about any characters when they are not in the future or present section of the book. I am usually able to deduce that those who are not there are more than likely dead. This is not an issue solely with this book, but, rather, all books with a diverging plot lines.
In one storyline it deals with a group of survivors- Malorie, Olympia, Tom, Jules, Cheryl, Felix, Don, later on Gary and VICTOR the dog. This plot line mainly takes place in showing the survivors trying to adapt and survive in this new world wherein their own sight is weaponized against them.
The second plot line is when Malorie and her two kids- Boy and Girl (later renamed to Tom and Olympia) are traveling to salvation by traveling down a river.

I have to say that I found the past portion of the book much more interesting to read. This is in no small part because of the grappling of issues and different philosophies from each of the survivors. I thought that the constant threat of the creatures outside was such a good antagonist., This was exacerbated by the robbing of sight whenever a person had to go outside for whatever reason. Every single mundane task becomes a fight for life. I like that though it is a hard life, people are still realistic- there are votes on whether to let people in or to keep a door locked. I thought that these were very interesting and complex issues that really accurately put on display the character's beliefs. This was some great writing in a horror novel.
I loved the twist when it was revealed that Don, who was previously the most rational character, revealed that he was harboring Gary who has manipulated Don to coming to his side.

The boating scenes were well done as well, but, I found myself being more drawn to those in the past. The idea of navigating a river while blindfolded is so tense and nerve-racking. I thought that this was such a tense scene, but, I think a big part of my enjoyment of this book is how each of the characters are dealing with the stress from the fallout of this event. And, with the subsequent deaths of all of the characters, we are with Malorie, who is a great character, but, I longed for more interactions with other characters to get to know them, which I will talk about soon.
I thought that the arrival at the blind school was such a tangible and prolific conclusion- I felt like we had witnessed Malorie arrive at the end of a truly long journey.

Now, looking at the characters, it is evident to me that the best characters in this book are Malorie, Don and Gary in terms of how well they are written. Malorie is shown to be a very dedicated and determined character from the start. I like how she gradually becomes more and more militant in her motherhood toward Boy and Girl when she is the only survivor of the housemates. She is very well written, in my opinion, and shows an aptitude toward doing what needs to be done in spite of bodily restrictions.
Don is the character who at the beginning of the book I felt was the most rational. He looked at things from a perspective that comes off as cruel, but, it is actually a very well rounded character because he says the difficult things from the start.I found his regression in to a believer in line with Gary to be well done because he still retains much of the rationality which he starts with, but, it is perverted to become weaponized against the survivors.
Lastly is Gary. The mystique around Gary is why I found this guy to be so fascinating from the start. He comes to the house under suspicious circumstances and upon arriving, sews discontent and a divide that undoes the house. I thought he was expertly written as a campy horror villain.
The other characters did not at all click with me. I didn't really give a shit about Tom, Jules, Felix or Cheryl, or goddamn Olympia which sucks because there was a lot of time to have these characters develop. But, their character development is relegated to the author telling us what they are like. Or, they do something and then the author tells us why they did it. I would have preferred the actions just to speak for themselves.

The atmosphere in this book is exquisitely well done. The slow reveals of what is happening are so well done. I have to commend the author's patience in this book as I actually experienced a bit of unnerve. Especially when it was revealed that Gary was loitering outside of the house for weeks to observe the house and that he was watching Tom and Jules on their first outing. 
The violent deaths in this book are stomach churning and are absolutely not something for the faint of heart. These deaths are bordering on comical with how out of left field they are, but, they are played perfectly straight, which is something that aids the atmosphere, of this horrific and volatile world. 

Overall, I am disappointed that I saw the movie adaptation of this book before reading the book. I would highly recommend the book as it fits comfortably in the realm of horror writers like King. 
This book is a great romp into a horrific world that I think reads very easily and is definitely worth a go through.
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