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johnlynchbooks 's review for:
Malorie
by Josh Malerman
DID NOT FINISH
Malorie, as I assume you know, is the sequel to the smash hit birdbox. A book that was one of the first that I read when I started reading primarily horror, and struck out looking for more than the typical King, Koontz, Hill shelves. I enjoyed birdbox quite a bit, It was one of my favorite books the year that I read it. When I first discovered Malorie was coming out, I was cautiously optimistic, as I am when the sequel to any smash hit is announced. At some point, Malorie was delayed almost an entire year, and it was at this point I went from cautiously optimistic, to worried.
I'll be honest, I didn't finish Malorie. I got about 90 pages in and just decided to call it quits. The opening started off great. I thought to myself wow, this is how you open a book. After that first chapters great opening I didn't feel like the book slowly went down hill, it was like it jumped off the cliff. We then skip an entire decade forward, but stay with Malorie, Olympia and Tom. Alot of the beginning of the book both felt repetitive in story, and the way the sentences themselves were written. It was difficult for me to get into the writing here for some reason. The "inciting action" that gets the ball slowly creeping forward felt like a bridge to far for me to believe. I just couldn't see how it would even be a possibility. I read horror, all sub genres, and for me to say that I couldn't suspend the belief to get behind it is alot. And maybe thats a credit to Josh, that he crafted a world that seemed so real that I couldnt think of suspending belief for this particular point. I also found Malorie, the character, not the book, to be annoying.
From what I gather reading other reviews, this book seems to be one where people either love it, or they don't. I'm sad to say I fall in the don't camp. However, I do think enough people love this book you should give it a shot if you're a fan of the original. Malerman is a great writer, and as I put this one down, I'm getting ready to pick up his latest, Goblin. Sometimes a book just doesn't work for people, and this one just failed to grab me.
I'll be honest, I didn't finish Malorie. I got about 90 pages in and just decided to call it quits. The opening started off great. I thought to myself wow, this is how you open a book. After that first chapters great opening I didn't feel like the book slowly went down hill, it was like it jumped off the cliff. We then skip an entire decade forward, but stay with Malorie, Olympia and Tom. Alot of the beginning of the book both felt repetitive in story, and the way the sentences themselves were written. It was difficult for me to get into the writing here for some reason. The "inciting action" that gets the ball slowly creeping forward felt like a bridge to far for me to believe. I just couldn't see how it would even be a possibility. I read horror, all sub genres, and for me to say that I couldn't suspend the belief to get behind it is alot. And maybe thats a credit to Josh, that he crafted a world that seemed so real that I couldnt think of suspending belief for this particular point. I also found Malorie, the character, not the book, to be annoying.
From what I gather reading other reviews, this book seems to be one where people either love it, or they don't. I'm sad to say I fall in the don't camp. However, I do think enough people love this book you should give it a shot if you're a fan of the original. Malerman is a great writer, and as I put this one down, I'm getting ready to pick up his latest, Goblin. Sometimes a book just doesn't work for people, and this one just failed to grab me.