Rating: 5 stars
Dark and creepy... opposite of my normal reading preferences, but I was wrapped up in this one. Yes, I did decide to read this because of the hype/memes from the Netflix adaptation, and depending on how brave I am I may go on to watch it. I knocked this book out in 1 day, and I really enjoyed it.
The story is based on a dystopian/post-apocalyptic America. There's a thing out in the world, that drives people into madness and causes them to murder those around them and ultimately commit suicide in the most gruesome ways. No one really knows what the things are since no one who sees one survives to tell about it, the most prevailing theories say that they are "creatures" that are so far beyond human comprehension that it drives humans into madness. Our story focuses on Malorie, a young mother surviving in this world 4 years after the apocalypse begins.
There are a lot of elements of this book that just really worked for me. The first is the alternating timelines. I've learned recently that I really love alternating timelines. It's really intriguing to be in the character's present while they reference their past, knowing that later in the book you're going to find out about those references and be able to complete the entire picture. In this case, the story alternates between Malorie's present, 4 years after the "things" started showing up, when her two children are 4 years old and she's trying to escape to a safer area, and Malorie's past, basically just the story of the events starting 4 years before and how Malorie got to where she is. There is a really intricate layering of the memories and nostalgia throughout the book.
The creatures of her mind walk horizonless, open fields. They stand outside the windows of former homes and gaze curiously at the glass. They study. They examine. They observe. They do the one thing Malorie isn't allowed to do. They look.
The second thing I enjoyed about this book is the depth of the characters. Now, I'll admit that not all the characters were profound. I felt that Cheryl, Felix, and Jules definitely could have been more developed. But I loved reading about Malorie and Tom and Don and Gary (I mean, screw Gary, but his bits were still interesting) and Olympia. I've found that I usually feel disappointed with third person POVs; I just haven't found a lot of books lately that do it well, but this was really impressive. I loved how we saw Malorie as an outsider, but the narration still included her internal monologue, plus the third person POV allowed us to see other characters when it was relevant. The storytelling format just really worked for me.
The last main thing I want to praise in this book is the horror/creepy/mystery factor. Basically, how much this book gave me the "heebie-jeebies". Disclaimer: I actively avoid horror books/movies; I do not think getting scared is fun so I don't torture myself with them. This book did creep me out at a lot of points because I thought it was very realistic. Not maybe in the actual supernatural aspect, but in the way the world was affected and how inhuman humans became, I could definitely see that happening in a post-apocalyptic future. Another thing that really kept me going was the mystery factor. We're set up with so many questions, and I just wanted them answered. Why does Malorie have two children? What happens in between her pregnancy and the 4 years later? What are those things??? There were just a lot of questions that made me want to keep reading, both relating to the world and to the character's personal life. I will say that I was not 100% satisfied with the answer to the last question (what were the "creatures"?), but I definitely see where the author was coming from. The book kind of turns into a "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" story, and I can appreciate that metaphorical significance, plus with how much I liked the other parts of the book it was something I was willing to overlook in my overall rating of the book.
This is a good book to read if you don't normally read horror/suspense but would like to try it out. It is creepy, but not absolutely horrifying like I know some horror books and movies are. This is also just a good book if you like dystopian science fiction.
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