Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

9 reviews

sbgage's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Gore, Blood, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcohol

nickoliver's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I am actually pleasantly surprised by this? I read it for the first time in 2018 and found it a bit underwhelming and not scary at all, which I wouldn't agree with anymore. I don't know if it's because I last read it while I still lived at home, so there was always someone home, while this time, I read it alone in my own apartment? Or maybe I'd stressed through the book last time, since I seemed to have read the majority of it in one day. 
Who's to say. Though I do think that reading this book post-2020 gave it a certain realism that reading it pre-2020 wouldn't have done.
In any way, I found a lot of the scenes quite intense, and still remembering the majority of it (or at least a mix of the book and the movie) didn't change that at all.
The only thing I'd still criticise is how unexplained a lot of it was. It didn't bother me too much that the creatures themselves weren't explained, I felt that made sense. But there were other things that confused me - like the animals, for example, who all seemed to go crazy only when it was plot-relevant but could otherwise spend hours outside with no problem. Or

Gary's ability to see when no one else could.

That also could've been explored a bit better. While again, it technically made sense to not have an answer to those things, since the whole world was confused as to what was going on and had differing opinions, it did hinder my enjoyment at a certain point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Suicide, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Alcohol

Also technically CW for child abuse, but it's not being seen as such -

Malorie hits the children, but it's in the name of training them to be her ears

sinsandscares's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Some books leave a mark so deep, you can’t imagine life without having read them. For me, Bird Box is one of those books. It’s a terrifying, masterfully written story that has quickly secured a spot among my all-time favorites. I can’t believe it took me this long to pick it up—but maybe, just maybe, it arrived in my life at the perfect moment.

From the very first page, Bird Box grips you with its unsettling atmosphere and doesn’t let go. The alternating timelines were a stroke of genius. Even though you know from the beginning that Malorie ends up alone with her two children, I found myself desperately hoping for a different outcome for the earlier timeline. Spoiler: it doesn’t end well.

What makes this book so terrifying isn’t any single “scary moment.” Instead, it’s the not knowing. Malerman taps into the most primal of fears—the fear of the unseen, the unknown. Every noise, every shadow becomes a threat. Is it a creature that can drive you mad with a single glance? Or is it just a harmless leaf brushing against the window? You never know—and that’s where the true horror lies.

This ambiguity is also what seems to divide readers. The fact that the creatures are never revealed, never described, leaves much to the imagination. For some, this might be frustrating. For me, it was perfect. No author could craft something scarier than what my own mind conjured up while reading. It’s this brilliant use of the reader’s imagination that makes Bird Box such a standout piece of horror.

The open-ended conclusion may also polarize readers, but I found it fitting. This isn’t a story that wraps everything up neatly with a bow—it’s raw, unsettling, and reflective of the chaotic world Malerman has created.

Malorie, the protagonist, is another highlight. She’s cold, determined, and impossibly strong. Her love and dedication as a mother navigating an apocalyptic world with two small children were both heartbreaking and inspiring. Despite everything she endures, she still finds room for love and hope.

If you’re a fan of psychological horror, post-apocalyptic stories, or books that leave you questioning everything, Bird Box is a must-read. Josh Malerman has crafted a chilling masterpiece that lingers long after you’ve turned the final page. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence

smilereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Absolutely gripping

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Stalking, and Pregnancy

Minor: Excrement, Vomit, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

brooke_pearson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book is written so beautifully!! From his wonderful description (other than the people's appe rances, I'll admit those weren't awesome) to how well he blended the past and present together in this book, Malerman has to be one of my new favorite authors. I can't wait to read the sequel and any other books he has in store.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Vomit, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol

This might technically count as a spoiler, but I'm really just using this as a trigger/content warning. Pages 180-184 have a dog going crazy and killing itself, and while Malorie can't see it, the sounds are descriptive and you may need to skip it if that's not something you can handle (I personally could barely do it). If you do decide to skip this chapter, here's a happier version of what happens so you don't miss out on anything:

Malorie paints the windows of Cheryl's car black and, using a map and the cars odometer, she eventually finds her way to the bar (with a lot of trial and error). While Victor, sadly, saw one of the /things/, she is able to take some supplies like microphones and likely some speakers off of the bars stage and take them back to the car. She then returns home and is able to use those things for the security system.

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This really had me on the edge of my seat, and it's so courageous that someone thought to make a movie about a book where everyone is covering their eyes! Very creepy. I did wonder about some of the pregnancy-related facts though. Those bits seemed less plausible. Definitely extremely heckin gory though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child abuse, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

ghostlyprince's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcohol

-There's a scene where the main protag considers and almost does brutally blind her children, Main protag mentions continually hitting or refusing to feed her kids until they did a skill correctly, Main protag at the beginning of the book threatens to harm her children if they disobey- however this could be taken as a literal warning of what could happen due to the nature of the monsters in the book

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

indiaautumn's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Alcohol