In the “fast-paced, frightening” (The New York Times Book Review) sequel to Bird Box, the inspiration for the record-breaking Netflix film starring Sandra Bullock, bestselling author Josh Malerman brings unseen horrors to life.NOMINATED FOR THE BRAM STOKER AWARD • “Malorie is even more of a psychological thriller than Bird Box, and all the scarier for it.”—The Wall Street JournalTwelve years … the scarier for it.”—The Wall Street Journal
Twelve years after Malorie and her children rowed up the river to safety, a blindfold is still the only thing that stands between sanity and madness. One glimpse of the creatures that stalk the world will drive a person to unspeakable violence.
There remains no explanation. No solution.
All Malorie can do is survive—and impart her fierce will to do so on her children. Don’t get lazy, she tells them. Don’t take off your blindfold. AND DON’T LOOK.
But then comes what feels like impossible news. And with it, the first time Malorie has allowed herself to hope.
Someone very dear to her, someone she believed dead, may be alive.
Malorie has already lost so much: her sister, a house full of people who meant everything, and any chance at an ordinary life. But getting her life back means returning to a world full of unknowable horrors—and risking the lives of her children again.
Because the creatures are not the only thing Malorie fears: There are the people who claim to have caught and experimented on the creatures. Murmerings of monstrous inventions and dangerous new ideas. And rumors that the creatures themselves have changed into something even more frightening.
Malorie has a harrowing choice to make: to live by the rules of survival that have served her so well, or to venture into the darkness and reach for hope once more.
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Earlier this year, the sequel we didn’t know we wanted but were thrilled to get showed up: Victoria Helen Stone’s Problem Child. It was a snarky and tantalizing follow-up to the outstanding Jane Doe. I read it the day it was released.
Then we heard about another unexpected sequel, this one to Josh Malerman’s terrifying Bird Box. YES YES YES! As with the next Jane Doe novel, I pre-ordered Malorie the minute I knew it existed, and read it first chance I got.
And oh, how worth it! Malorie was a highly satisfying continuation of the claustrophobic story of people, just like you and me, struggling to survive and share a world with mysterious and deadly creatures we must not see.
I haven’t read any other reviews, but I know I can’t be the only one who saw the “folds” everyone had to wear (and many resisted, with horrifying consequences) as a parallel to the masks we are being asked to wear in this pandemic-filled world. The children Malorie vowed to protect, Tom and Olympia, are now rebellious teens and their arguments against “all her rules” sounded all too familiar. (Seriously, like copy pasta out of Twitter) It was a fascinating look back at ourselves. In a time when many don’t want to acknowledge the potentially dire consequences of failing to wrap some cloth around our faces, Malerman eagerly shows us that often survival requires us collectively to Suck It Up, Buttercup.
Starts off with a bang and keeps moving at a fast clip. Liked a lot of the character beats; it’s not simply a repeat of the first book, there’s new territory and new scares. Felt like the work of a more mature writer, as well.
In fact, I was fully on board until [DIVISIVE PLOT TWIST NEAR THE END] drove me madder than if I’d looked at one of them damn creatures. How can you [SPOLIER] for [SPOILER], and never [SPOILER]?! Now I want you all to read this, just so we can discuss.
Well… he did it… Josh Malerman did not disappoint.
You know how it goes, when you hear there’s a follow-up to one of your favorites, and immediately you get excited, but then quickly worry comes creeping in.. “will it be as good as the first?” YES folks, it is… it’s as good as the first. In some ways, I found it more satisfying than Bird Box.
It starts at The Jane Tucker School for the Blind. Two years have passed, Malorie realizes it’s no longer safe, it’s time for her and the children to go. Time passes and we discover that Tom and Olympia are no longer children, they’re teenagers, and they along with Malorie are now living in a remote camp in northern Michigan. Isolation has it’s advantages, but it also has it’s disadvantages. As Tom matures, he finds himself becoming more and more anxious and lonely. When a stranger comes along and offers them a reason to leave and head further north, the decision, while difficult for Malorie is one that she must make.
This journey not unlike the last is full of danger and deception, and soon long kept secrets are revealed.
I was satisfied with the audio narration of this book. The narrator provides with listener with tone inflection for varying characters, and provides emotion when necessary. I was able to connect to the level of fear necessary for Malorie at given times.
In summary, this is one 2020 read you don’t want to miss folks!
The perfect ending to the BIRD BOX saga, MALORIE had me on the edge of my seat, wondering how the characters were ever going to escape. Malerman is masterful in his pacing and realistic descriptions of a dystopian society, crippled by an enemy that can’t be seen.
This sequel is as tense and harrowing as the original, with a new depth that raises the stakes.
I really enjoyed this sequel! It went places I didn’t expect and ended in a way I didn’t foresee. The characters were realistic, not like someone’s idea of how they should act, but a recounting of the idiosyncrasies of ordinary and extraordinary people who found themselves in a horrific situation. I could understand their motivations even if I didn’t agree with their solutions. And the ending was everything it should be. Thank you Mr Malerman. Could you write another sequel please? Thanks!
A great sequel to Bird Box. I would have been happy to leave the story where it was but the author had more to say. And wow, what a fantastic story. I think it might even be better than the first.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book for an honest opinion.