I don't know why I ended up reading two post-apocalyptic novels so close to each other (The Handmaid's Tale was actually sandwiched between The Fireman and this one... but I mixed up the order of my blog posts). I have a tendency to feel bad about humanity's future after reading a book in the genre, especially if the writing was good. But I've had Bird Box by Josh Malerman on my reading list ever since I read a Book Riot article that included the title among its list of recommended scary books. And I read this some time after Halloween, so I was still in the mood for scary.
There is something terrifying roaming the streets... something that you shouldn't see. Because once you lay eyes upon it, you will end up losing your mind, and you will end up becoming violent and eventually killing yourself. So, Mallory keeps herself and her children, Boy and Girl, cloistered in a house where every window is boarded up to prevent them from seeing what lurks outside. And on the rare occasion that she has to leave the house, Mallory puts on a blindfold to protect herself from the visions of unspeakable horror. But the time has come to leave now that the children are old enough. Five years past, when they were still infants, Mallory learned of a place they could go to. Gathering courage and training the children to rely on their other senses other than sight, they finally set out to find the sanctuary, hoping that when they arrive, it's safety they find and not the creatures that have destroyed their world.
Bird Box features a non-linear storytelling. It begins with Mallory's decision to finally leave the house she has called home for five years. In between the chapters that chronicle their terrifying blindfolded journey on a river by boat, Mallory's narration switches to the time when the creatures started to appear, which also coincided with the realization that she was pregnant. After her sister committed suicide after seeing one of the creatures, she takes a terrifying drive to a house that posted an ad offering a safe haven. There she meets Tom, Don,Jules, Felix and Cheryl, and their group grows to include the also pregnant Olympia. With the overlapping narration of the two timelines, it's easy enough to understand that somehow Mallory and the children end up being the only inhabitants in the house.
By creating parallel storylines for readers to follow, author Josh Malerman weaves a narrative that offers different versions of dread. There is the sheer terror of Mallory, Boy and Girl traveling on the river, not knowing if they would encounter one of the creatures or another human affected by them. And then there's the slow growth of dread during her time with Tom and the others, the horror starkly punctuated after a short period of hope and peace. In reading Bird Box, it's hard not to squirm knowing that the worst could very well happen in one story, while an uncertain fate waits in another.
The book also gives us different versions of Mallory, her time with Tom and the others showcasing a more dependent Mallory, but one who is growing into the role of a decision maker and one who eventually learns to act on her instincts. The Mallory with Boy and Girl, however, is one who is hardened by experience, strictly and sometimes even harshly raising the children, training them to rely on senses absent sight to increase their chances of surviving when they do venture outside. You applaud her for her growth but also feel sorry that she had to be unapologetically tough, not just on herself but also on the children.
There isn't much more I can share without giving major spoilers, and Bird Box offers a much more rewarding reading experience when you read it without expectation or emotional preparation. It offers dread at every turn, but you can't help but read as fast as you can, because you feel as if you're there with Mallory at every major event... when she drives to the house for the first time, when she and the children travel by boat on the river, and when she makes a new discovery time and again. Bird Box isn't just about reading a story of a post-apocalyptic world and the woman trying to survive in it. It's great horror storytelling that transforms your reading into an experience.
Happy reading!!Labels: Bird Box, Books, Fiction, Horror, Josh Malerman, Post-Apocalyptic, Reading List
