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Even someone who appears kindhearted might glance out a window. Even someone abrasive might never. The old constructs of good and bad have long been replaced with safe and unsafe. Are you a safe person? She thinks she is. She knows she is.
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Despite the behavior by some that she considered unfathomably dangerous only fourteen days ago, she also gets it. People in the new world fall into two categories: safe and unsafe. But who’s to say which lives the better, fuller life?

I found Bird Box to be original, quite absorbing, and genuinely scary in places. So when I heard there would be a sequel, I was nervous, fearful that a new book would just be a cash grab so Netflix could make another hit movie. I’m delighted to say I could not have been more wrong.

After a short prologue that takes place two years after the end of Bird Box, this book picks up a full ten years later. Malorie and her two now sixteen-year-olds Tom and Olympia have found a camp where they can live in relative isolation and safety. But “live� is a strong word. While Malorie’s afraid of seeing one of the creatures and going new school mad, she’s got so much PTSD that she’s already basically old school mad. Then one day, a man comes to the camp with word of the outside world, and Malorie learns that her parents might still be alive and close enough to risk traveling to try to find them ....

Bird Box was told largely through flashbacks, and mostly from inside Malorie’s claustrophobic perspective. This book regularly moves back and forth between Malorie, Tom, and Olympia as narrators. Each character views the world quite differently, and these shifting perspectives give the book a different, less internal feel. While this book certainly touches on themes from the first novel (“man is the creature he fears�), it also hits some different themes from this first book. How do we deal with isolation? What is the right balance between safety and risk? To say these questions felt topical during a pandemic would be an extreme understatement.

One can easily imagine this book being made into the Netflix sequel it will surely become. There are a couple of small but key points here that don’t line up with the first movie. But if Michael Crichton could figure out how to bring Ian Malcolm back from the dead in The Lost World because Jeff Goldblum had been hired to star in the movie, I’m sure Netflix will figure out how to adapt to those minor differences.

This book is a really strong sequel. It goes in some unexpected directions, and manages to build upon—while still staying true—to the first story. It builds to a strong climax, with some good twists and a cathartic final scene. It’s probably not as scary as the first book, but it’s a surprisingly good story. Recommended.