I read this based on my read of Bird Box, which wasn't bad. It definitely had its issues as did Inspection. I will say that I enjoyed it more and will look for more Malerman in the future.

Way too long. Forgot the ending already.

Josh Malerman's books are not consistently interesting for me. They tend to be hit or miss and this one was a miss. The premise of the story sounds interesting but it was just way too long in my opinion. If you like a slow burn you might like this one.

Not my type of book. I found it boring and I expected so much more, especially from this author whose books I usually enjoy. I wouldn't recommend.

The weakest of the four Malerman novels I’ve read (Birdbox, Mad Black Wheel, UnBury Carol, and now Inspection), this book was disappointing from start to finish. The characters felt poorly realized, the dialogue was stunted, and the pacing alternatively dragged and rushed. The story itself was vastly compelling by the execution didn’t live up to what I expect from this author.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

3.5 rounded up. I vacillated between finding the plot and writing quite compelling, and being somewhat bored (and at times exasperated). Overall entertaining and probably destined for a film version

I loved Bird Box. One of my favorite book in the last few years, so I was wholly disappointed with this book. Children being purchase from their parents and raised in groups separated from the other sex. I never felt like there was a point to the "experiment' and I didn't feel attached to any of the children. Just a complete miss for me.

Two strange schools. K (girl) and J (boy) neither has ever seen someone of the other sex. J is one of the 26 alphabet boys at this school run by D.A,D. K is one of 26 girls at her school, run by M.O.M. Confused? Yeah, I was also! This is a good book, but more confusing than Bird Box.

Fantastic book, fantastic world building. Malerman shows his range and creativity, and he's become an 'auto-buy' author, for each book he writes is stamped with his unique glances at humanity

I really loved both Bird Box and Unbury Carol, so I assumed this would be wonderful.

Sadly, this is a departure from the quality and originality that I’ve come to expect from Malerman.

The pseudo-dystopian theme of a group of people cut off by force from the rest of the world is never my favorite, but I was convinced Malerman would put a unique spin on it, as his other work has been exceptionally fresh. Unfortunately this felt like a book I’ve read 20 times before even though, um, I’ve never actually read it before.

In addition to the lack of originality, there’s an ickiness to this that’s hard to shake. The characters fail to engage to the reader, and mostly fail to evoke much more than vague pity. For all the “these kids are special geniuses!” chatter, most of them seem dull and even those we get to know best like J and K don’t have much of the magneticism that makes for a good literary character.

There’s some decent action at the end of the book, but it too is predictable and the narrative is far too slow leading up to it.

From Malerman’s past work, I expected something better, or at least something more unique.

This story is about an experiment that from first glance could turn spoiled rotten at any minute. The purpose is to raise children without any influence from the opposite sex. The idea is that this will make them more successful in life because the opposite sex is a distraction. But once J an "Alphabet Boy" learns about girls from K a "Letter Girl" everything J knew is flipped upside down and he starts to question more than just the existence of girls.

I absolutely love The Birdbox, so I was extremely excited to read Inspection. Unfortunately I was somewhat disappointed. The pace of the book was slow and even slightly boring at some times. I did not feel a connection with any of the characters, including J, the main Alphabet Boy. The premise of the book is really interesting, but I just could not get into the story.

Thank you for the advanced copy. While I loved the idea of the story, I just did not like the way it was written. Not a genre I typically read, I hoped to like it but it just wasn''t the book for me.

After reading Bird Box and seeing the film adaptation, I was intrigued to read the author's next work. While the central conceit requires a big stretch of the imagination, I was willing to go along with it. However, the plot jumps right out the window about halfway through and left me behind. The wild premise could have been salvaged by a thoughtful and subtle handling of the characters, which is what kept me reading to the end. I can't say much more without spoilers, but I will not be as quick to pick up the next offering by this writer.

I was really looking forward to this book based on the synopsis and I hadn’t read any of Josh Malerman’s previous books. It was going to be a whole new experience and well, it really was. It wasn’t entirely great either.

The premise of the book is that there are these two giant, Barad-dûr like towers in the middle of the Michigan woods. I think it was Michigan anyways – does it really matter? One is composed entire of males and one of females, with twenty-six children in each, raised to believe the opposite sex didn’t exist. They’re down a few kids in each because some unfortunate child will catch a glimpse of someone they shouldn’t, but no big deal right? It’s not totally murder or anything.

Yes, actually it is murder and it’s kinda messed up because all the other kids fear being sent to the Corner, where their brothers or sisters were sent and never returned from. And they’re basically being raised by ex-cons because they needed the large sums of money offered by the orchestrators of this whole twisted experiment. D.A.D and M.O.M each ruling their own separate little domains, trying to create the ultimate genius, undistracted by the appeals of the opposite sex.

SPOILER – IT DIDN’T REALLY WORK OUT. That’s all that’s to be said really. I felt sorry for the kids and it was fun to watch the experiment unravel around M.O.M and D.A.D’s ears.

I was glad when I finished this book and it wasn’t an entirely unexpected ending. I almost DNF’d this until I got to the girl’s chapters and the story kind of picked up pace, making things more bearable. I probably won’t pick up any Malerman books in the future unless I see some truly excellent reviews pop up from trusted sources.

This was definitely an interesting story. The first part there were times I felt a bit meh-ish, but I was totally all in by the second half.

When an author comes up with such an original concept as Josh Malerman's Inspection, it's just plain refreshing to read. There are only so many times I can read about secrets in marriages and the like before I start to get bored with the same old topic again and again. It's nice when you can say as a reader that you've read NOTHING like a particular book. That's not to say I loved Inspection, but it definitely had its positives.

If you want characters with actual names, you better turn elsewhere. The story revolves around the "Alphabet Boys," who are students in a school deep within a forest. They know nothing about reality. All they know is what D.A.D. and the Parenthood have told them, namely that they came from trees and need to be careful not to get fake diseases. Oh yeah, they also do not have a clue that a species called "girls" exists either.

We are told their story through the eyes of "J." J begins to have some suspicions, and these suspicious are increased a hundredfold when he meets "K," a girl. Where did K come from? What secrets about the world are being kept from all of them, and how will they react when they find out they have been deceived?

Other readers have commented that they found the plot slow and the ending great. I, however, am completely the opposite, which is why I couldn't rate this a 4. Unfortunately, I can't reveal much about the ending lest I give it away, except to say that I just found it way too much. But major props go out to Malerman for creating something here that we really haven't seen before.

MY RATING - 3.5

Another Malerman title full of potential. Enjoyed the idea of the story and the characters, but unfortunately, the style of writing just lost me for large chunks of the tale.

The author just isn't my cup of tea, but if you've enjoyed his past works, you will probably enjoy this one.

What is it that keeps people from ever reaching their full potential? If you were to buy in to the experiment presented in Bird Box author Josh Malerman’s new novel Inspection, it would be the opposite sex. That is why 26 boys and 26 girls are being raised since birth isolated from the world ... and each other. They have no knowledge of the opposite sex. The thought is that without these “distractions,” they will reach genius potential. But even the best planned experiments can’t take into account all the variables, which is just where this project starts to go wrong ...

I had high hopes for Inspection after reading and loving Malerman’s Bird Box long before it took the Netflix world by storm. However, despite its quite interesting premise, this book was poorly executed. It reads as if you are on the outside, looking in on this weird little experiment. Everything feels murky, foggy, which doesn’t help with comprehension because this novel is hard enough to follow as is. If Malerman had been more direct in explaining to his readers just what was going on in these Towers, my opinion might have been more favorable. Instead, I had to expend all of my energy just trying to understand the story instead of enjoying it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the concept of Malerman's newest book, separating males from females in their formative ages, however, it fell a little short of my expectations. I was hoping for more thrilling and/or psychological consequences to this experiment. The author does develop the main characters nicely and makes the reader really care for them, which is also something I always look for in a good book. While the book took quite some page turnings to get into, it does become exciting and makes the reader want to finish quickly.