V171 reviewed Bird Box Lib/E by Josh Malerman
Review of 'Bird Box Lib/E' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I don't often read suspense/horror books because I'm not a huge fan of extreme violence/gore, and while this book did include an amount of that, I did enjoy it. As opposed to some other reviews I've read, I really appreciated, the fact that the creatures are never revealed to the reader. It was evident that the creatures took a back seat to the common zombie/dystopia/horror trope of "man is the real monster," and that theme was emphasized by not distracting with the nature of the cosmic horror. In fact, I found the scenes with Gary far more tense and suspenseful than, say, the bar scene or the river scenes. It would have been easy for the author to acquiesce the readers by throwing in an Annihilation-esque reveal, but I applaud him for holding back. While the book wasn't anything groundbreaking with regard to apocalyptical horror, I found it an enjoyable …
I don't often read suspense/horror books because I'm not a huge fan of extreme violence/gore, and while this book did include an amount of that, I did enjoy it. As opposed to some other reviews I've read, I really appreciated, the fact that the creatures are never revealed to the reader. It was evident that the creatures took a back seat to the common zombie/dystopia/horror trope of "man is the real monster," and that theme was emphasized by not distracting with the nature of the cosmic horror. In fact, I found the scenes with Gary far more tense and suspenseful than, say, the bar scene or the river scenes. It would have been easy for the author to acquiesce the readers by throwing in an Annihilation-esque reveal, but I applaud him for holding back. While the book wasn't anything groundbreaking with regard to apocalyptical horror, I found it an enjoyable read.
