Month: October 2015
Bird Box by Josh Malerman – REVIEW
I read a translated Norwegian ARC of this book.
Publisher: Ecco Press
Publication date: May 13th. 2014
Pages: 262 (paperback)
Audiobook length: 9hrs and 8 mins
Synopsis by the publisher:
Something is out there . . .
Something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse 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 remain, 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 is 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. And something is following them. But is it man, animal, or monster?
Engulfed in darkness, surrounded by sounds both familiar and frightening, Malorie embarks on a harrowing odyssey—a trip that takes her into an unseen world and back into the past, to the companions who once saved her. Under the guidance of the stalwart Tom, a motely group of strangers banded together against the unseen terror, creating order from the chaos. But when supplies ran low, they were forced to venture outside—and confront the ultimate question: in a world gone mad, who can really be trusted?
The Review
“It’s been a long time since a book made me jumpy. Bird Box did just that in a frightening but excellent way!”
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The Writing
Malerman makes this world of his come alive in such an eerie way. His writing had me hooked to the story from page one and it still (even after finishing it a couple of days ago) has a hold of me.
The way he writes about the characters experiences when they’re not able to see anything was so well executed that it felt like I was the one with the blindfold.
He’s created a world so like our own, but so far from it as well. It’s terrifying!
The Characters
I really liked Malorie as a character. I thought her actions were realistic and very believable in a setting so unbelievably scary as this one.
She really did grow as a character throughout the story and I enjoyed the fact that she was a very normal person at the start of all. She had common sense and a strong personality, but was still very relatable.
The other characters we met along the way were really well written and it was hard to know where to put your trust.
The Plot
The storyline in Bird Box jumps in time from right at the moment where the world started to change, the progress from there and to the time where Malorie tries to escape with her kids. We go back and forth but it’s done in a way that doesn’t make it confusing.
The thing about the plot building in this one that makes it such an interesting read is the mystery and the never ending build of suspense. As soon as one suspenseful moment reaches its peak, another one starts right after. And so the story goes from beginning till end.
And I must say that I thought the ending was perfect!
Additional Thoughts
It’s been a long time since a book made me jumpy. Bird Box did just that in a frightening but excellent way! It had me thinking about how life would be without my vision. And if real life wasn’t scary enough in a scenario where you can’t look around, then adding dangers (and dangers that you don’t know what are nonetheless) makes it terrifying.
I’m not the one who gets super scared while reading, but this one was creepy enough to make me a little jumpy while reading it in the middle of the night.
Highly recommend Bird Box if you want to read something unique that will creep you out!
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Do you want your own copy of Bird Box? Click on the logos below:
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What is the scariest/creepiest book you’ve ever read? Let me know in the comments below so I can add them to my never ending to-read list!
Poetry Friday – Fall, Leaves, Fall
I’m doing it!!
For many years I’ve been intrigued by the concept of NaNoWriMo, but haven’t dared to participate. Well, 2015 is the year that’s going to change!
For the very first time I’m going to do National Novel Writing Month and I’m beyond excited about it!
I’ve been working on a novel for quite some time, as many of you do know. It’s getting there, but I needed to get some distance from it to let it process a little, so for NaNoWriMo I’m going to write on my recent Horror project.
It’s something that came to me late one night and for some reason I just can’t get the idea out of my mind. And when an idea as strong as that shows up, I just have to roll with it. So in a way the timing was just perfect!
I’ve started some notes and plot planning already just to keep the fire blazing and when November 1st comes around then I’m all in and there will be no turning back.
I’m hoping to document as much as I can throughout the month of November so that I can share my NaNoWriMo experience with you guys when it’s all over and my story will have hit over 50,000 words.
There’s no if here. I’m going to do this and I’m going to win!
Are you participating this year?? Let me know so we can cheer on each other 🙂
Let’s do this!
Top 5 Wednesday – Authors Discovered This Year
I was thinking about growing up…
Last week my son turned eight years old! EIGHT! In danger of sounding like an utter cliché: Where did time go?
I remember it like it was yesterday that he was just a little baby without words to express himself. But now he’s rapidly growing into someone that I get to know a little more everyday.
I catch myself thinking back to when I was eight, trying to remember my biggest worries and joys. Some are easy and others not. As I get older it seems that a lot of my childhood memories get smooshed into one and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly which memories are from what age.
So what did I really know when I was eight?
I knew I wanted to be a writer, and I think I already was one. I made tiny books out of coloured paper and I wrote stories and gave them to people I loved. I still write and I still love it just as much!
I knew that I wanted to be like the grown ups, because everything seemed so easy and accessible to them. I was wrong. Now I find myself wishing I could be that kid again. Knowing how complicated it really is to live a grown up life. To climb those trees and believe fairy tales.
I knew that by the time I would turn twenty-five I would have found Mr. Right, be married and maybe think about starting a family. I was so wrong! Things rarely go according to plan. We all learn that the hard way.
I knew that I loved books! That love has grown and grown and grown into something so big that I find it hard to put it into words.
So I guess I knew some things, but I was obviously clueless and naive about others, but I think that’s sort of the beauty of growing up. Finding those things that expands and take roots inside of us. Those little seeds that are inside of us as children that actually starts to grow and refuses to leave. The branches that guides us to a place that we need to be. On a journey we need to go.
But along that journey, some branches die. Some seeds never sprouts, but maybe there’s a reason for that. It might hurt (like hell) but we learn from the pain as well if we refuse to let it defeat us.
So now I watch my little boy whenever he’s caught up in his own thoughts and I wonder just where he travels. If some of his thoughts and adventures will be the same as mine. If some of my dreams and hopes will be shared with him.
I wonder what he knows. Sometimes I ask him, but I think he likes to keep some of it to himself just like I did.
I hope he dreams big and even bigger than big. I hope he reaches for them. I hope his inner tree of dreams grows so big that it almost doesn’t fit him, and that he climbs it all the way to the top and sees the world differently.
I hope he grabs hold of a good branch whenever another one dies and breaks off. And if he do falls down I hope that he climbs right back up again and sees it as nothing else than a little setback.
I hope that his life is filled with journeys that he will never forget.
But most of all I hope to be a part of it. If not by being there, then I hope he’ll want to share them with me. Tell me the stories of his life. The joys and the sorrows. I will never know all the answers to all of his questions, but I will always try to help. I will tell him about my climb up my tree, not for the purpose of telling him which branch to go to next. He’ll have to make those decisions for himself, but maybe my stories can help him to see the warning signs of a bad branch from time to time.
Creepy October TBR
Poetry Friday – Do Not Stand by My Grave and Weep
I was thinking about fall…
Fall is a special time for book lovers like myself and for the last couple of days I’ve been walking to and from work, thinking about why I love this season as much as I do. So I ended up making a list.
The Colours
There’s something so incredibly beautiful about the world around us changing into red, yellow and brown tones. I love all the seasons, but fall is definitely the one the prettiest of them all.
Even though the temperature drops, the new beauty in my surroundings puts the warmth back in me.
Warm Clothes
On Sunday I packed away summer dresses and made room for knitted sweaters and warm skirts. The fact that I can get warm and comfy when I’m LEAVING the house is pure perfection in my mind!
And I’m very lucky to have a mom that loves to knit and knits beautiful clothes (like my Marius-sweater in the picture) so I get to have a personal and lovely piece of my family close to me whenever I want 🙂
Hot Beverages
I drink coffee (and other hot beverages) all year round, but my hot beverage intake increases when the temperature drops for sure!
On the go or at home in my pyjamas. Any time is a perfect time for a hot cup of something!
Sunsets and Darkness
Winter depression? Never had it! I love the dark time of the year. It’s the time to explore in the dark, read good books, write good books and be creative in general.
Every year, the darkness brings an extra dose of creativity my way and I think that’s one of the main things that makes fall the perfect time of year for me, only topped by Christmas, because…. Christmas!!
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Just a few of the things that make me happy about fall! There’s so many more, and I would love to hear yours!
Have a wonderful and creative fall!!
Christina de Vries 