This review was first published in and is reposted with permission from Shelf Awareness.
Subtle horror intersects with generational conflict when Josh Malerman revisits the characters from Bird Box in the worthy sequel Malorie.
Forced to leave the community they found in the first book, Malorie has raised the two children, now called Tom and Olympia, in safety and isolation until the age of 17. A chance discovery gives her reason to set out with them again on a longer journey than they have ever taken, in search of the only thing that would make her leave: family. But Tom and Olympia, just as they now have names of their own, have grown into people with their own ideas about life that no longer fit within the discipline Malorie developed to avoid the creatures, the sight of whom drives people to deadly violence. Tom dreams of creating inventions that will allow people to go outside without the defense of a blindfold.
Although the creatures still loom, eerie in their lack of definition or explanation, this is a story about change. A generation is nearing adulthood with no memory of the old world, and as Malorie and her family connect with more people on their journey, they hear stories of communities where people have found ways to live in this new world. Alternating perspectives from Malorie and Tom, with the occasional interjection from Olympia, let readers feel their compelling faith in vigilance and innovation, respectively. The familiar unknown menace and the larger view of the world will please Malerman's fans. --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library
​Discover: The subtle horror of Bird Box remains although society has evolved in this engrossing sequel.

This review was first published in and is reposted with permission from Shelf Awareness.
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The anxiety of isolation and change takes menacing form in Wonderland by Zoje Stage.
Orla was facing challenges before the first signs something supernatural was happening. At the age of 41, she has retired from the ballet and agreed that it is her husband Shaw's turn to pursue art. But instead of leaving New York City for a smaller, more affordable city, as she had imagined, they and their two young children are moving to a remote house in the woods. "Orla tried not to think of it as an amputation, but that's how it felt."
Shaw has found his calling in painting surreal nature scenes, and their family has gone from a one-bedroom apartment in a crowded city to an old wooden farmhouse. Bizarre things begin to happen with the weather, and what has been calling to Shaw and, to a lesser extent, to their daughter Eleanor Queen, might be something more sinister than his metaphorical muse.
As Stage gave form to the harsher experiences of motherhood in her first thriller, Baby Teeth, here she masterfully depicts an unknown force that embodies the oppressive tension that can come with being trapped with one's family, cut off from the rest of society. Its release in the context of worldwide quarantine and stay-at-home orders during the Covid-19 pandemic is eerily timely, but Orla has much worse demons to face than the ones inside the mind. This story of domestic challenges and mounting horror will please fans of Shirley Jackson. --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library
Discover: A family's struggle to adjust to an isolated home in the woods becomes something far darker when mysterious forces inhabit their land in this gripping suspense story.