Bird Box by Josh Malerman

[Mary Pat]

This thread is to discuss Josh Malerman's book, Bird Box.

***Please remember to mark spoilers.***

Participants:
Mindy, Caro, Cassandra, Catherine

[Mary Pat]

Suggested break down of reading so that you can check in and let us know how you're going. The following breakdown is purely a suggestion and is therefore not set in stone.

Rather than putting dates for each section I've done it so that it takes into account that not everybody will necessarily have the book at the same time.

Week 1: 65.50
Week 2: 65.50
Week 3: 65.50
Week 4: 65.50

[Cassandra]

I just requested this from my library. It will probably take a few days for it to come in.

[Caro]

I am finishing other books first but I think that I can start the first days of October without any problem.

[Cassandra]

No problem if you want to start it a little later in the month. I'm flexible. :)

[Mindy]

Hi Caro and Cassandra! I have it on Audible and will start it soon. I hope I can follow it okay...some books lend themselves better to being read aloud than others. My husband is heading out on a business trip soon so I hope I don't get TOO scared. :-)

[Catherine]

I have this in my TBR pile, would like to join in also if that's okay!

[Mary Pat]

Catherine wrote: "I have this in my TBR pile, would like to join in also if that's okay!"

Of, course! Glad to have you join and have added you to the participants' list!

[Caro]

Ok 1st of October I start today!

[Catherine]

Cool, I'll start today too!

[Mary Pat]

I love your enthusiasm! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on this book!

[Cassandra]

I'll be picking the book up from the library on Monday and will start then. :)

[Catherine]

I'm on page 40 and all I will say is this book is already scaring me. I had to put it down, and then when I went to bed last night I had to put it in a drawer so I couldn't see it!

[Caro]

In page 84... And It gets more creppy... Afraid of going to balcony... Not sure what is outside

[Cassandra]

I'm about halfway through. The psychological thriller part of not being able to see is awesome. It feels pretty realistic, the way that it affects Malorie raising her children.

Where are you all at?

[Catherine]

I stopped for now at page 68. I'll read more later today!

[Caro]

Page 247... And I am happy is raining and dark...afraid of what can be outside....

[Mindy]

I'm only on chapter 5, but I love it. (No page numbers since I'm listening to it.) I have some gardening to do this afternoon and will hear more then. Totally agree about the blindfold stuff, so creepy! The premise is certainly imaginative.

[Cassandra]

So far it's not infecting my real life at all - I'm not scared walking around or anything.

It does remind me of the Weeping Angel episode of Doctor Who, which was so scary I couldn't finish it. I have a much easier time reading scary things than I do watching them.

[Catherine]

I'm a little over half done now. It's not quite as terrifying as it was at first. I think part of it is that there are children involved. That seems worse to me somehow, scarier. I am really enjoying this book. I agree with you, Mindy. It's imaginative and I've never read anything quite like it.

[Catherine]

Update: I just finished the book. I'm excited to see what you all think of the ending.

[Caro]

I also finish the book... Is nothing as I was expected I did not even realize that the pages pass so fast I was just totally into... Now I will put a few theories I had reading the book.... I will mark them with spoilers since maybe someone is not that far in the book or prefer to read them after they finish.
(view spoiler)[
1. When Malorie had the encounter with the man in the boat I was sure he is right and the creatures were not there anymore ... When the birds started to cry and kill themselves I found out it was not true, now I believe that the man in the boat was like Gary, probably he was just immune to them...
2. I always had the hope that Tom was alive.
3. When they were arriving to the facility I thought that nobody will save them and it will end with them in the river (kind of a terrify ending)
4. Since Olympia appear I was guessing that something happen to her and she decide to take care of both babies.
5 I was semi crying when Victor died... Never expect that... The dog was amazing
6. When she said she was thinking on Gary I was imagine she felt guilty, now I understand her fears.
7. I believed that the birds that Tom found were actually part of the creatures that were outside and at some point will enter to the house and several members will died. (hide spoiler)]

These is a great read for spooky october... I will now read A Head Full of Ghosts to continue my horror month and I may take a small break to put my nerves down after it...

Hope everybody like it! Waiting to hear other people comments and theories.

[Mindy]

Cassandra, I'm the same way; TV and film scare me more than books. And true crime scares me much more than any fiction genre.

I'm on chapter 20 now, so Caro, I haven't read your spoiler yet! In general, I like the writing a lot. I am fine with going back and forth in time as long the author lets readers know where the story is in time, and so far I haven't been lost.

I have some spoilers, too:

(view spoiler)[I was surprised when the second pregnant lady showed up at the house. Of course I was thinking Malorie would have twins. I guess using Boy and Girl as names is because Malorie wants to keep her distance? She's had to raise the poor babies to be so tough and obedient that life has been like boot camp for them.

I don't get the difference in how people die after they see the creatures...if it turns out that they ARE creatures. Why did Malorie's sister kill herself quickly and quietly, but George and the guy by the river try to take people down with them? Is it because the slower to die people didn't have immediate access to weapons? I feel like I'm missing something there. (hide spoiler)]

[Mary Pat]

Sounds like all of you are enjoying this read! Would you recommend it to others? Is it going by quickly? Have you been surprised as well as scared?

[Cassandra]

I finished this yesterday! It's definitely a page-turner.

I think the man in the boat was one of the scariest scenes in the whole book, Caro. I wasn't sure if he was right or not, but it was so suspenseful.

In general, I got less scared as the book progressed, but it was interesting to learn about how people try to survive in the new world.

Have you finished yet?

[Catherine]

I would recommend this book with a warning that it's scary! It's just kind of graphic in some parts. I'm loaning my copy to a friend, but she loves scary books so I know it won't bother her.

I think it went by very quickly. I was planning to follow the schedule and take my time with it, but since others were finishing it quicker I opened the book back up and just devoured it!! There were some parts that surprised me. Since this book goes back and forth from the present to the past, the reader already knows a few things that are going to happen in the past, but I was still surprised by other things. I'll be more specific once I know everyone has read it!

[Mindy]

Sorry, I'm the slowpoke! I'll try to finish tomorrow since we're not dragging it out.

[Catherine]

You're fine! It's only been a week since we started. I don't know how to do the thing where you can post a spoiler and make it hidden, so that's why my posts are so cryptic. LOL.

[Mary Pat]

Catherine, here is how you mark text as a spoiler.

Type spoiler in between carats <>

Type the text you want to hide.

Type /spoiler between carats <>

Give it a try!

[Catherine]

Okay, I'll try posting a spoiler, although this is one Mindy already talked about, so if I do this wrong it should still be okay even if Mindy sees it. (view spoiler)[ I was very surprised too that the "boy" and the "girl" weren't twins. I went through the entire book thinking that they were! (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Catherine]

It worked! Thanks, Mary Pat :)

[Mindy]

Okay, done! Do we still mark spoilers even though all of us have finished?

[Caro]

I think that we don't need the spoilers anymore.... I am good not using them.

[Cassandra]

Please mark spoilers still (because others might be reading this) but you don't have use the official spoiler tag, you can just write something like:

SPOILER !!!!!!!!!!

Whisper whisper that really cool thing happened at the end.

Does that help? We just want to flag it for folks who might want to avert their eyes. :)

What did you think, Mindy?

[Mary Pat]

I agree with Cassandra! Someone who hasn't read the book yet might look here to see what folks are saying about it! Wouldn't want to give away the punch line! (Hmmm, did this book have a punchline? From what I hear, there is nothing funny about it!)

[Mindy]

I really liked it a lot.

Spoiler! Spoiler! Spoiler!

I thought the whole story was so different and clever, and I loved the ending. Of COURSE school of the blind residents would make it through. I didn't see it coming, though.

One thing that bugged me was when they let Gary in. The housemates all acted like letting him in right that second or letting him in never were the only two choices. I thought at the time that they could have waited a while and discussed matters further, talked with Gary longer, etc. The foreshadowing of what a disaster Gary was going to be was pretty clear.

It was interesting that Gary looked down on others as being weak and gullible and himself as being strong and rational, when the truth was that Gary was simply lucky. I think there are plenty of people who are the same way. They think they've earned the privileges that they were born with.

I would recommend this book to anybody who likes a good horror story. I've already recommended it to my husband and to my friend. My husband always has a book going but we hardly ever read the same things. He ONLY likes suspenseful, page-turner type books. I like them, too, but only well-written ones. He's not quite as selective. haha But I think this is one we can both enjoy.

I was really moved at the end when Boy and Girl got their real names. I think Malorie didn't let herself really show the love she felt until she got the kids to a place where they could have a more normal life. And not naming them was part of that distancing.

I like that the book didn't have a perfect ending. Yes, life became more bearable and less lonely, but there wasn't some miraculous dying off of "the creatures".

[Mary Pat]

Looks like everyone enjoyed this read! I have added it to my TBR!