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    Bird Box: A Novel
    Bird Box: A Novel
    Bird Box: A Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    Bird Box: A Novel

    Written by Josh Malerman

    Narrated by Cassandra Campbell

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    “A book that demands to be read in a single sitting, and through the cracks between one’s fingers. There has never been a horror story quite like this. Josh Malerman truly delivers.” — Hugh Howey, New York Times bestselling author of Wool

    Written with the narrative tension of The Road and the exquisite terror of classic Stephen King, Bird Box is a propulsive, edge-of-your-seat horror thriller, set in an apocalyptic near-future world—a masterpiece of suspense from the brilliantly imaginative Josh Malerman.

    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, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now, that the boy and girl are four, it is 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. 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 motely 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, Malerman’s breathtaking debut is a horrific and gripping snapshot of a world unraveled that will have you racing to the final page.

    Editor's Note

    On the screen…

    Instead of walking around blindfolded for the “Bird Box” challenge, read the original novel. Josh Malerman’s chilling, apocalyptic debut has been favorably compared to the likes of Stephen King. It’s no wonder the Netflix adaptation starring Sandra Bullock has become such a craze.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMay 13, 2014
    ISBN9780062331908
    Author

    Josh Malerman

    Josh Malerman is the acclaimed author of Bird Box and more than three dozen books, as well as the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band the High Strung. He has been nominated for multiple Bram Stoker Awards and lives in Michigan.

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    Reviews for Bird Box

    4/5

    2,160 ratings170 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a mixed bag. Some reviewers found the book boring, drawn out, and shallow, lacking depth and resolution. However, there are also positive reviews praising the book for its suspense, emotional impact, and clever storytelling. The book is described as engaging, riveting, and thought-provoking, with a great premise and interwoven timelines. The narration is generally well-received, although some reviewers found it slow. Overall, the book is recommended for its suspenseful and entertaining story, despite some flaws.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      You can't look outside, you have to keep the blindfolds over your eyes. If you don't you will go mad and die. This is the life Malorie knows now, follow these rules and she and her children will be safe. I sometime struggle with books set in times after a disaster of some sort whether it's the bomb, plague, or the unkown. This book intrigued me after seeing the trailer for the film version. I have to say that I quite enjoyed it.The story follows Malorie before the problem, during the early part and four years later. I found the story very easy to read and fled through it. For me there was plenty of tension building and a lot of a claustrophobic feeling due to the circumstances.My only niggle is that I didn't get to really understand what the thing was that created the 'problem' and as a reader didn't get to know what the creatures were. However for me it was the characters that mattered and how they bonded and coped with the new world they were facing.I wouldn't say that this story was a horror and it wasn't scary but it was more about the unknown and what was going to happen next and to who. I quite enjoyed this book for what it was and maybe it's a good starting point for somebody to delve into dystopian fiction.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Wow! I haven't flown through a book this quickly in a long time. I picked this up about three, maybe four days ago, and I just finished tonight. (For me, that's pretty fast.) I'd seen a few things about the movie, but as it was on Netflix, I wasn't able to watch it. I'm so glad I read the book. This is an edge-of-your-seat, who-can-you-trust kind of book!!! I LOVE that the protagonist is a woman and a mother! This book had me mildly frightened most of the time, and at times I was exclaiming out loud in fear! Loved it!!!!!
    • 5/5
      I like the book more than the Netflix movie, while the Netflix movie is great, i found it easier to understand Malorie and her choices in the book. Definitely recommend for a quick read or listen.
    • 4/5
      Very good book! First time I think I can say the movie was actually better than the book but it was also a pretty great movie.
    • 5/5
      I adored how the reader was about to capture such emotion and give such life to each of the characters, It made me feel for them deeper than if I just read it myself, I adored Tom, Felix and Jules and wished they could have lived!
    • 5/5
      This is a phenomenal book. Emotional. Visceral. Cleverly constructed. I saw the movie first so I sorta knew how things would play out. But it didn’t take away anything for me from the experience of this. The narrator performed excellently as well. Great novel.
    • 4/5
      From the beginning the story drew me in. After getting hooked, I was compulsive about listening. I listened in the car, in the bed and even in the shower. I was spellbound.

      I can sometimes be a hard sell when it comes to horror/suspense stories. They are all too often more flash (gore) than true substance (suspense). Bird Box, however is a stand out, in that it kept me on the edge of my seat, often feeling my heart rate rise and fall with the stories peaks and valleys. The author achieves this by holding back in fully illustrating the peril the characters face. Rather than demanding the full stage, the menacing threat the characters encounter is unseen and unheard, making it all the more dramatic in the listener/readers mind. In this scheme of fight of flight, the simple brush of a cheek in the dark or sound of a crushing leaf strikes terror. This method is employed to full affect throughout the horrifying drama.

      The story is complimented well by the impeccable performance by Cassandra Campbell. She lends an honest sense of fear and anxiety to the already eerie prose.

      If you enjoy disturbing, psychological horror, then Bird Box is for you.

      I look forward to future novels by this author.
    • 5/5
      I like how it created a clear image in my head like watching a movie. this is a great book to sit back and listen to. ?
    • 5/5
      The movie took the title and a blindfold and--nothing else. This book blew me away. I went in after seeing the movie fully expecting a rip off of "The Mist". I was completely wrong. There's more suspense in each sentence than an in entire chapters of other books I've read. Mallory isn't a hard-ass-baby-hater like the movie, she's a woman who's scared and is doing her desperate best to protect two children. She calls them "boy" and "girl" because in a world where she, or they could die any moment, naming them and getting attached is no longer a luxury. The narrator does an amazing job (her girl voice is a little annoying though) conveying each individual speaking and the tension in a situation. I went in to listening to this book with no expectations and was pleasantly thrilled.
    • 4/5
      Great book and great narration, however the narration was a bit too slow for me, so sped it up with about x1.2.

      I did fear that the lead character might get a bit flat and boring, but she never did. Usually, I am not too fond of shifting between present time and flashbacks, however, it was done great here without getting confusing or ruining the flow of the story.

      As a huge horror fan, I got this recommended since people were saying that this book was genuinely scary. I might just be immune, so I never really felt scared, though the story is suspenseful and entertaining.

      I didn't get the scare that I was looking for and the narration was a bit slow, but the book is still really good and I do recommend it.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed the way the story was interwoven between past and present so that the reader was able to better understand how Malorie survived...and thrived...in a world where so many perished.
    • 2/5
      Audiobook cuts out often, ruining suspense of story often.

      Otherwise the story was enjoyable and the narration itself was very good.
    • 5/5
      YES! it's dystopian, it's thrilling, the end is brilliant. I did not know where this was going, but it's genius! Must read, great to listen to as well.
    • 4/5
      Quite the page turner (actually I did this as an audio, the narrator was awesome). I hope the movie does it justice because I will go see it. I also see a sequel in the making.Yeah, I liked it. Not my normal reading genre but worth the venture.
    • 2/5
      I really like the premise of this book, and the flashbacks were good, but gods! I cannot stand the lead female and the way she treats her children. She has psychologically and physically abused them in order to “train” them like dogs for when she decides to make her way down the river. AND in 4 years she hasn’t even had the common decency to name them! Instead she calls them boy and girl as if they are just objects. Yet supposedly she loves them? I understand she’s terrified, but I honestly just couldn’t sympathize with her. It completely ruined the entire book for me.

      Additionally, the fact that we never even get a basic understanding of what people see just adds insult to injury. The villain states he’s seen the creatures, but never says anything else about them. She freaks out every time she suspects the creatures are around, yet she is never given any inclination that these creatures are actually dangerous. She yells at them to go away and they do. Just seems like they are curious, but whatever they are people’s brains can’t handle it. One thing I just can’t get past is that there was sooooo much news coverage, and we are told that people can see them through video, yet the hours the lead female watches the news, they are never glimpsed? I just can’t believe that.
    • 3/5
      I liked the plot, but I found the main character to a bit whiny. To much at some points, making me angry, thus ruining the story.
    • 5/5
      Nothing has unsettled me this much in a very, very long time. Definitely one of my new favorites! Make sure to read the sequel as well!
    • 5/5
      Amazing storytelling. Tense from start to finish. What a ride!
    • 2/5
      Excellent story, performed well. Many gaps/silences in playback that cut out sections of the story.
    • 5/5
      A chilling and frank end of the world book that leaves just enough to the imagination.
    • 5/5
      I saw the movie when it first came out, I thought Malory to harsh. The book is different I felt like I grew to understand her. I really enjoyed the book and can’t wait to start the sequel.
    • 5/5
      So captivating, it kept me even more on edge than the movie.
    • 3/5
      I know there is a movie out and I wonder if that would have been better.

      I was quite on edge in the beginning. Then I got bored a bit.

      I did like the two lines of story that ended up intersecting with each other. Great way to write. The woman who read the story was just perfect for it!!

    • 4/5
      I would recommend reading the book rather than listening to the audio book. Something about the narrator really bothered me, especially when speaking as Mallory, our protagonist.
      Also, you can hear small squeaking noises like a rusty chair every few minutes. I'm listening with headphones so it may be stronger with than without. Still an excellent story!
    • 1/5
      Absolutely terrible character writing, dull and boring atmosphere and bad voice, do not recommend at all.
    • 5/5
      This book was amazing. There are times It had my shocked and times when I laughed my butt off. I'd read it again. 5 stars. The narrator did read really slow though but he voice characters were good.
    • 5/5
      Awesome audiobook. I had seen the movie and it was very good also but the bike are always better and this was.
    • 5/5
      Definitely better listened than watched, maybe even better listened than read. Let you imagine how the only sense that matters is listening.
    • 1/5
      Boring. It dragged on and on. I kept listening hoping the ending would make up for the slow “build up”, only to be thoroughly disappointed. It had no depth. Almost like what was even the point? I haven’t seen the movie and didn’t know anything about it before listening to this, so that didn’t have any bearing on my opinions about the book. It’s just a boring, drawn out, shallow book for absolutely no reason.
    • 5/5
      Amazing. I had already seen the movie but the book is worth it!!! So worth it. And the author deserves all the awards he has won. Well done!!!!