I read this book because of the hype associated with it, and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. Malerman takes the fear of going blind and runs wild with it. The main character, Malorie, faces the challenge of being pregnant and then raising her child more often than not blindly, because there’s something outside that if seen makes a person go mad, driving them to suicide.
I must say that for me Malorie wasn’t a particularly likeable character. That is, I never felt that I was rooting for her all that much (I preferred some of her housemates). But she was pretty grounded, given the situation, and kick-ass enough to succeed as being the protagonist nonetheless. She satisfyingly carried the story from beginning to end.
I did worry how an entire novel could be written about blindfolded people, but it works surprisingly well. The storyline jumps from past to present, so it never loses pace.
I kept thinking while reading that I wouldn’t have made it far in the developing situation, because curiosity would have got the better of me. I’d have definitely peaked out the window to see what was out there!
Malerman creates a tense atmosphere for a dynamic group of people who are all sheltering in the same house. It’s a highly claustrophobic piece and I like that he leaves a lot to the reader’s imagination.
Overall it was a quick, easy read which effectively tapped into some fundamental fears of mine, so Bird Box gets a solid 4.5* from me.
R. H. DIXON 
Interesting. I’m sitting here debating on whether to add this to my list. There’s something intriguing about the characters being blindfolded.
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I felt the same way. I was definitely intrigued by how an entire book could stand the pace with the characters being blindfolded for most of the time. It was an interesting concept and, to his credit, Malerman managed to pull it off.
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