Malorie

by Josh Malerman

[Quirky Cat]

This may be hard to believe, but that hit, Bird Box, just got a sequel! Malorie, by Josh Malerman, follows the events of Bird Box, where those strange creatures drive people insane.

It's been a few years since Malorie and her children had found a safe haven. What they believed was safe, at any rate. Once again they're about to learn from their mistakes – and the mistakes of the people around them.

It is time for Malorie to learn that her two children have been keeping secrets from her. Secrets, which in the right hands, could save lives. In the wrong hands, could cost just as many. How will this one family continue to survive, despite all this?

“Shaking, she tries to closer her eyes a third time, behind her already closed lids, behind the fold wrapped tight to her head, closing her mind to the idea of what this all must look like.”

I honestly was not entirely sure what to expect from Malorie. I knew that it was a sequel, and obviously I already had an idea of the world itself. But beyond that, I had no idea. Were we going to see the monsters this time? Have some sort of resolution to their threat? What?

On the whole, I really enjoyed what was done here. It didn't try to explain more than it should have, and really just continued on the same path that Bird Box had been on. With a few exceptions, of course.

This novel did a great job of showing that there's no such thing as flipping a switch. Malorie is just as paranoid and harsh as ever. As much as she needed to be, given the world they live in now. She loves her children, but she has trouble showing it.

Getting a chance to know the children as more than just 'the children' was a major highlight in this book. As were several other pieces, which I won't mention here for the sake of spoilers. I will say that those details were pretty fascinating, on the whole. Though sometimes they did raise just as many questions as they answered.

“I was waiting for a literal message, I think. Waiting for a knock at the door, someone to come tell us it was over. It’s the ultimate fantasy for those of us from the old world, isn’t it? Word that the whole nightmare has come to an end?”

One thing I kept finding myself asking is how they were going to adapt this novel into a movie. Malorie includes a lot of close calls with the entities, and I can't imagine those scenes would be easy to portray. A part of me is really curious to see how they're going to handle that.

As for the ending? Well, that's another thing I'm still thinking about. I think the ending itself actually lost the book a star or half a star, in my book. I just didn't love the conclusion. It didn't fit as nicely as the rest of the story itself did. Maybe that's just me.

Regardless of how I felt about the ending, I will say that I overall really enjoyed this book. It was a better sequel than I had dared hope for. It lived up to the expectations set by all of the hype. And I'm admittedly looking forward to whatever adaptation it's going to get (because we all know that's going to happen).

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks