Bird Box

A Novel

By: Josh Malerman

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Something is out there....

Something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse 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 remain, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, Malorie has long dreamed of fleeing to a place where her family might be safe. But the journey ahead will be terrifying: 20 miles downriver in a rowboat blindfolded with nothing to rely on but Malorie's wits and the children's trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. And something is following them. But is it man, animal, or monster?

Engulfed in darkness, surrounded by sounds both familiar and frightening, Malorie embarks on a harrowing odyssey - a trip that takes her into an unseen world and back into the past, to the companions who once saved her. Under the guidance of the stalwart Tom, a motley group of strangers banded together against the unseen terror, creating order from the chaos. But when supplies ran low, they were forced to venture outside and confront the ultimate question: In a world gone mad, who can really be trusted?

Interweaving past and present, Josh Malerman's breathtaking debut is a horrific and gripping snapshot of a world unraveled that will have you racing to the final page.

©2014 Josh Malerman (P)2014 HarperCollinsPublishers

It was going somewhere, in the dark as I was

What did you love best about Bird Box?

Overall storyline was ok, for awhile.

Would you recommend Bird Box to your friends? Why or why not?

Not unless they had nothing else to read

What does Cassandra Campbell bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Not much, sorry. I think the voice in my head would've sounded better

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Don't look now, okay don't look....now, I mean now...oh who cares.

Any additional comments?

tI was mildly interesting but I did find myself at time drifting off in thought while listening, it held my attention at first because I was curious how it all came to be, toward the end I just didn't care anymore.

A Well-Crafted Suspense

Bird Box generates fear without ever revealing the source of the fear. And through flashbacks you know greater terror is coming at the end but you can't know how-- just as the the characters cannot know what the madness will be like. And the characters have depth and arc throughout. Campbell's narration suits the main character well. All around a satisfying, skin-crawling horror story with a glimmer of hope and a lot of personality.

Creepy scenario that'll make your ears perk up!

Chilling story that made me take pause several times and grip the steering wheel. I enjoyed the back-and-forth style of storytelling, with the chapters jumping from present to past and vice versa. The story reminds me of a Shirley Jackson scenario, but I won't say more so as not to give anything away. Overall I enjoyed this.

Exactly what I was looking for

Last summer I read the book "the girl with all the gifts". I really liked it and wanted to find something similar. This book, dystopian, dark, and intriguing in its premise of experiencing the world without sight, was very enjoyable.

At times I was annoyed with the characters and occasionally Cassondra Campbell's tones, but nothing that prevented me from enjoying the book.

Not what I expected

The concept was definitely original, though I found the story line slightly garbled and the flashbacks we're at odd moments.

Bleak

Very bleak outlook of the future. Still left you wondering. So down and quite depressing.

Vert intence

The story is very well written and very much unexpected. This world is not a fairy tale land and super intense. I feel like there is no way to understand or explain this story. What if this happens? It has a way of drawing you in and will make you ask what if this could happen. I feel that this is an horror story.

Engrossing

Where does Bird Box rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is the first audio book I have been able to complete. It was a 20 hour trip and my husband and I both agree that it was an interesting story line, well developed plot and riveting suspense at times.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Bird Box?

Finding out what happened at the house was memorable, since we were so unsure of what had occurred. Dealing with the blindfolds would give too much away!

What about Cassandra Campbell’s performance did you like?

She was able to give a good impersonation of different characters.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I don't have that kind of attention span.

More scary and less horror. AWESOME!

4.5 stars!! So scary and creative.

I had this book on my radar for a while, but was unsure whether to actually read it because it’s mostly shelved as horror. Horror is not my cup of tea. This book was the exception to the rule. It was scary and intense, but not in an overly gory and bloody kind of way. It creeps up on you. It scares you with things you cannot see, unnerving sounds from unknown sources and many other details that go unanswered. There is something out in the world that drives people to kill themselves just upon seeing it. Those who are able to survive do so by covering up windows and keeping themselves blindfolded. This changes the survivors dramatically. Because even though they have learned to not look outside, they still have to keep their sanity in this new world.

What was very unsettling to me was that the main character, Malorie, has to do this with 2 young children. How does she raise children and keep on surviving when she is alone and has to be blindfolded much of the time? Not to mention that the children have to learn to keep their eyes closed when necessary. This book had some intense parts that made me gasp out loud. There were a few plot holes, but I was able to look over that because the story was so mesmerizing. I think what pushed the book over the edge for me into giving it 5 stars was that it had a very satisfying ending. A great finish to a book doesn’t come along too often. I hope this author publishes more books in the future.

I listened to this on audio and felt that the narrator, Cassandra Campbell, did a remarkable job in relaying the fear and emotion of the protagonist.

Good flowing story

I watched the movie first and realized the hard to be more to the story. I was right. It was a good book.