Publication: May 13, 2014, by Ecco
Genre: Adult Fiction, Thriller, Dystopian
Pages: 262
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Rating:
Something is out there, something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse of it, 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 remains, 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's 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. Something is following them all the while, but is it man, animal, or monster?
Interweaving past and present, Bird Box is a snapshot of a world unraveled that will have you racing to the final page.
My Thoughts:
I've owned Bird Box for years, probably since the book was initially released, however, from my eyes, it didn't gain any hype until the Netflix movie was about to be released. And for one of the first times in history (for me), the book was not as good as the movie. This could be because of the mistake I made of watching the movie first, but nevertheless, this was a little more disappointing. Some chapters/moments dragged on a little too long, and I felt like Malorie's character was really different from Sandra Bullock's take on her in the film.
You see, in the movie, Malorie was an angry, definitely not light-hearted character. In the book, she didn't quite have the same attitude. Instead, she was more kind and it was more easy to read her. But I honestly appreciate when characters have their own complexities and aren't too easy to crack. The story was told from her perspective at times, however, I still feel like I didn't to get to know her and her struggles that well. Additionally, I must admit that this book did not frighten me as much as the movie did. This lacked a sort of eerie feel that I would have appreciated much more.
In general, thrillers tend to have a different kind of writing that keeps me interested and going for the whole time. With Bird Box, I felt the constant ability to put the book down and return to it in a few days; it did not keep me interested. For the most part, I was just not able to form connections to the characters. Oh well.
Bird Box was lacking, but not terrible, as I have always been in love with the concept and what the story has to share. Maybe if you haven't seen the movie yet, you'll fall in love with this. But as someone who went crazy over the film and the connections I formed to the characters, this became underwhelming.
You see, in the movie, Malorie was an angry, definitely not light-hearted character. In the book, she didn't quite have the same attitude. Instead, she was more kind and it was more easy to read her. But I honestly appreciate when characters have their own complexities and aren't too easy to crack. The story was told from her perspective at times, however, I still feel like I didn't to get to know her and her struggles that well. Additionally, I must admit that this book did not frighten me as much as the movie did. This lacked a sort of eerie feel that I would have appreciated much more.
In general, thrillers tend to have a different kind of writing that keeps me interested and going for the whole time. With Bird Box, I felt the constant ability to put the book down and return to it in a few days; it did not keep me interested. For the most part, I was just not able to form connections to the characters. Oh well.
Bird Box was lacking, but not terrible, as I have always been in love with the concept and what the story has to share. Maybe if you haven't seen the movie yet, you'll fall in love with this. But as someone who went crazy over the film and the connections I formed to the characters, this became underwhelming.
