Book Review: Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Ok, I'm not even going to build up to this. This is the best book I've read all year.

I read it.
My partner borrowed the book from me and read it overnight.
My father read it and got it back to me within a day.
This is the most difficult book to pale down.
I found myself reading it around my work shifts, rushing out on my break to devour the final chapters.

The book follows Malorie, a woman who starts the novel on a crucial day in her survival. Today, for the first time in years, she is going to have to leave the house. She doesn't say why. She doesn't say where they're going. All we know is that she, and her two children, have to wear blindfolds because, once they leave the house, they cannot open their eyes. Something, some great event, has happened and most of the global population have died because of it. This is how the novel opens.

Malerman so skilfully moves us through the story. This book so perfectly encapsulates a sense of hysteria on a personal and wide-scale level. I love post-event style books and films where people are trying to get by, to survive, and adapt to the new world in which they live. The book hops around in time to explore events years apart. This novel is perfectly pitched and sustains suspense with marvellous success that it's hard to believe that this is Malerman's first novel. It is an absolute triumph! I can't remember the last time I read a book by a new author and craved a sequel so desperately.

This is THE BEST BOOK I'VE READ ALL YEAR.
Here's a link to where you can buy it.
Trust me: