From the Bookshelf of SpecFic Buddy Reads…

Bird Box (Bird Box, #1)

Josh Malerman

Start date: November 1, 2015

Finish date: November 30, 2015

Discussion: Short Fiction Reads Archive

Why we're reading this: "Don't open your eyes!" Nothing scares a bunch of readers more than the thought of being forced to wear a…more
[close] "Don't open your eyes!" Nothing scares a bunch of readers more than the thought of being forced to wear a blindfold all the time.

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Short Fiction Reads Archive

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What Members Thought

Sep 21, 2015 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: horror

This is good modern horror. No SF or Fantasy mix at all. Oppressive and thrilling start, giving us thousands of questions and immediate care for Mallory and her two children. There are few good answers to be had by the end of the novel, but that doesn't matter. It's a thrilling and emotional tale set between the extremely harrowing present, lost in required blindness due to the unknowable tragedy that surrounds them, and the past, as we get to see how she survived up to then.

It's a simple tale m ...more

78 likes · Like · see review

Aug 01, 2014 Chris Haught rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fof-reads, specfic-group-reads, sk-group

Wow. Just wow.

Well, more than "just".

When I started this, I was immediately confuzzled and didn't see where it was going, what was happening, nor why any of it was happening in the first place. I was concerned that it might not be a book for me.

However, there was a thread of curiosity which piqued, a thread that was created by the tension described in that chapter. I was blind, but I could feel the horror already. Much like the main character, I imagine.

So I kept going, and soon I was well and ...more

40 likes · Like · see review

Oct 22, 2018 Emma rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, post-apocalypse

4.5 stars. This was a great creepy read, made even better by the fact we never get to know what the threat or creature actually is. I believe sight is the worst sense to lose or to not be able to use. Very well done.

22 likes · Like · see review

Sep 21, 2015 Amanda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4.5 stars for this super creepy thriller. I listened to the audio which was fantastic.

15 likes · Like · see review

Mar 08, 2018 Suzanne rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror

This was a great premise. I would have liked more closure, but at the same time, closure might have been an anti-climax.

12 likes · Like · see review

Jul 26, 2014 Justine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015-read

A delightfully creepy thriller.

11 likes · Like · see review

Oct 10, 2014 Linda rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio, 2015

Heart-pounding creepiness throughout.

9 likes · Like · see review

Apr 05, 2015 Sarah rated it really liked it

So it was more like 3.8 stars, but Goodreads doesn't have that option so I'm going with four :) This was a fascinating book and it was delightfully creepy. The atmosphere actually reminded me of the film The Village, with it's eerie feel. I think even the fact that she called her children Boy and Girl made it seem more like the usual laws were suspended. It added to that feeling of strangeness. I swear that on the trip down the river, you could practically hear the oars. The only thing that didn ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Oct 29, 2015 Lulu rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, books-read-in-2015

For the things you can't see to be more terrifying than what you can't, what a killer concept (ha). This was excellent - bags of suspense that kept me turning and turning those pages, plus characters I genuinely cared about. I wish the ending, though, had been left a little more open, and had felt a little less rushed. That's my real niggle with this. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Nov 05, 2015 John rated it liked it · review of another edition

A solid horror/thriller that kind of overuses its main gimmick ("there could be something...RIGHT...BESIDE...US!) and relies on a lot of forced tension between characters during the flashback scenes. The climax was sufficiently freaky, if a little silly. Bonus points for leaving a lot of the mysteries unsolved. Probably more like 2.5 stars, but good enough to round up. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Jan 01, 2015 Christina Pilkington rated it really liked it

A psychological thriller unlike any I have ever read before. If you've ever felt that authors rely too much on sight descriptions and ignore most of the other senses, you will love how Malerman creates the post-apocalyptic world of this story. People started killing each other and then themselves, and soon those who are left discover that something or someone is causing this. And if you look at this someone or something it drives you insane. So for a large chunk of the book, the characters must ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 20, 2017 Carrie rated it really liked it

Shelves: library, 4-and-a-half-to-5-stars, horror, science-fiction, suspense, strange, dystopia, post-apocalyptic, annoying-characters, blind

*Beware you could be spoiled, proceed with caution as I'm not using spoilers/hiding any content*

What? What? What?

Okay then...

Part of me wants to rate this book A+ then the other wants to go no no no no no no no you do not get high marks. You had me, had me, had me....then you went and ended and I'm still going what is it.??!!!?

This novel had me, I was on edge, it was so intense. Every step of the way this book was intense. The author's way of presenting this story only added to the intensity of ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 19, 2024 Vavita rated it it was amazing

Great! Full of action!

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 18, 2019 Hope rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019-reads

So...you're pregnant, the news is reporting what amounts to the end of the world, and there are creatures that, if you see them, you die, no take-backsies.

Sounds like my kind of book!

I guess it was, because I'm pseudo-slumping right now, and this still only took me two days to read. I literally couldn't put it down, was constantly reaching for it. It's a perfect example of the feeling of being watched by someone unseen, or unseeable.

I did have to take that one star away. There are a few silly er ...more

1 like · Like · see review