With October here and Halloween vibes being super strong, I want to start a new series on my blog, Spooky Review...where I mostly want to review mystery/thriller/spooky books all month long! I will also be sharing some horror film recommendations as well.
To start off this series I want to talk about the latest horror novel I read- Bird Box.
Let's jump right into it.
Book: Bird Box
Author: Josh Malerman
Pages: 305
Publisher: Harper Collins
Read On: Kindle
How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days
Plot Summary:
General Thoughts: I have had this book on my Kindle since it first came out and it got so many positive reviews and generated a whole lot of buzz. I tried reading it a few times over the years but for one reason or another I never made it past the 5% mark.
A few days back when I was struck with a bout of insomnia, I scrolled though my Kindle and settled down with this book and this time I made it through the entire book in 2 sittings.
Things I Liked:
1. The world building in book is done phenomenally well. This post-doom (of sorts) world is shown so well and comes across as terrifyingly real.
2. I also enjoyed the writer's style of writing and story telling, which is even more impressive as this is his debut book.
3. The book is split in two time periods. The present time when Malorie and her kids are rowing blindfolded down a river and the time four years ago things started to go south in the world. The chapters alternate between then and now and this keeps the pace of the book swift and engaging.
4. The characters in the book, from Malorie who is our main protagonist and several other characters in the book- Tom, Don and the other inhabitants of the group house are all well fleshed out.
5. I liked that not all of the people living in the group home weren't shining beacons of love and light. Being a stressful and life-threatening situation doesn't always bring out the best in people, and some people are just jerks, the situation not withstanding. Bad people remains bad no matter how dire the situation in life. I liked that the house had a decent mix of good folks and bad folks.
6. Personally, my favourite bits of the book were in the past. I loved seeing how things started to go wrong and how the world went from normal to crazy and how people reacted to the scary things going on in the world.
7. The whole mystery aspect of the book was interesting too, what exactly was going on and why were people harming other and themselves? I kept reading to find out what the deal was. Another mystery in the book was what happened in the house and why is Malorie alone now with just her children for company. I was equally curious to find out the answer to this question as well.
8. The thing I loved best in this book was the fear infused in everyday actions. Going out to draw water from the well is terrifying. Driving five blocks is terrifying. Looking out a window could be potentially deadly. Simple, everyday things were turned into scary things so wonderfully well.
Things I Didn't Like:
1. I did overall enjoy this book. I will say though, horror books don't really do it for me. I much prefer a scary movie to a scary book. Somehow for me personally, scary books don't scare me at all. So this book didn't scare me. It made me uneasy and anxious when people were in danger, but it didn't scare me.
2. I wasn't the biggest fan of the present day rowing blindfolded on the river bits. I frankly, was a bit bored.
3. I am not a fan of a book ending without telling me about the main mystery. This is not exactly a spoiler but the book ends with giving no real answers as to what is wrong with the world. The focus of this book is very narrow, just Malorie and her little world, there isn't anything wrong with it but it would have been nice to see what is going on in the world outside. Plus we are never told what the big bad really is, I get that this is perhaps realistic but I would have liked to know.
Rating: 3/5
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