26 boys, called Alphabet boys because their names are only the letters of the alphabet, have been raised since infancy in an isolated turret in the middle of a forest, with only D.A.D. and their male instructors (the Parenthood). They are part of a controlled experiment by D.A.D., who believes that if they are raised free of the distraction of the opposite sex, their natural genius should explode above normal levels. They are inspected daily for signs of bodily and mental infection. They live in fear of being deemed "spoiled rotten" and sent to the Corner. The boys are now 12-13, approaching the "Delicate Years" as they mature not only in body but in mind. What can possibly go wrong? Josh Malerman has created another unique story, this one more a psychological thriller as the boys come of age. I didn't love this story as much as I loved Unbury Carol, but I still marvel at the creativity of Malerman. The many unexpected and novel twists of this story kept me reading long into the night. Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine/Del Rey for the e-arc. I cannot wait to see what he writes next!

This novel is both, interesting and scary. How much time do humans spend thinking about the opposite sex? What would happen if that time was spent fostering creativity, learning science, making sculptures? Would we all become geniuses? This is the premise behind the experiment in Inspection. Raising boys and girls separately and isolating them so much that they don’t know the other exists. It truly made me wonder, what would happen? Would it be possible? Just the concept is fascinating but it’s the execution that earns its 5 stars. A lot of thought has gone into the logistics of such an experiment and it’s scarily plausible. The kids are known only by a letter and yet they are complete and rounded. The adults are maybe a little less defined, but this works with the concept itself, since the reader should probably identify with the children. The pace is a little slow at first, and it’s hard to figure out what exactly is going on but it speeds up once you understand what’s happening and it was impossible to put down. Inspection will make you think.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine!

Josh Malerman’s Inspection brings a different type of horror to the playground than Bird Box, and with it comes the idea of a world where only one gender exists–at least, that’s what the Alphabet Boys and Letter Girls are told. In this piece of work from Malerman, readers explore the depths of an abhorrently twisted coming of age tale. A place where fearmongering is the norm, where one’s genius is all that matters, and where the opposite gender is a distraction.

The Alphabet Boys and the Letter Girls are a group of kids, twenty-six of each, who are known simply by their name: a letter of the alphabet. And yet, each child has their own personality despite the controlled environment they’re raised in. I absolutely loved the way Malerman wrote the characters in this story: I felt disgust, I felt sadness, I felt hope. It’s rare that I make these kind of connections with characters lately. I also liked the use of an unlikely hero in this book, but I can’t really go into details beyond that without spoiling anything.

In Inspection, the goal is to raise children without knowledge of the outside world. The Parenthood wants these fifty-two boys and girls unsullied by the real world so their intellect takes precedence among all other things. In that regard, the plot works. Unfortunately, it’s also fairly predictable. After all, oppression leads to revolt and the manner in which the Alphabet Boys and Letter Girls are raised is more than enough for the reader to determine the outcome.

Malerman’s been a bit of a hit or miss with me, and though I love his writing, some of his work is difficult to get through. For instance, Unbury Carol was a DNF from me, where as A House at the Bottom of a Lake kept my attention throughout the story, even if in the end it was just alright. (Though that too is a coming of age story and definitely worth reading if you’re a Malerman fan.) That said, when I went into Inspection, I was wary. Of course I was stoked that I was approved for the galley, but I was also scared. In the end, that fear was pointless. This book is definitely one of my more enjoyable reads so far this year.

Josh Malerman has done it again! Having devoured two of his other novels (Bird Box and Unbury Carol), I have been a long time fan of his work. Needless to say I was more than excited to receive an advanced copy of his upcoming novel, Inspection from Netgalley.
Inspection is a novel about a boy named J who has grown up knowing certain things as truths, while not realizing he and his friends (all boys) are completely sheltered from the existence of the outside world. This concept was very reminiscent of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. This novel at first, feels like a dystopian novel but as you get into you realize that it is more related to what I imagine a person who was raised in a cult would feel like. The boys in the tower only know what their elders (The Parenthood) teach them are truths, while not knowing that almost everything spoken to them are lies. The novel is riddled with tropes of fear and paranoia, especially from the perspectives of The Parenthood.
As I delved further into the novel I realized my pre-conceived notion of someone in a cult to not as accurate as a rat in a cage. This whole world, this shroud of lies is an experiment meant for one purpose: genius without the distraction of the opposite sex.
Malerman gives us the revelation that this experiment divides boys and girls into two separated towers completely segregated from society with the notion that this will create geniuses. Enter K. A brilliant young girl in an opposite tower of only girls. Her curiosity and brilliance leads her to question the established order and to venture outside of the towers boundaries where she discovers the other tower and J. From here the story spirals into a whirlwind of events that will brutally sweep you off of your feet.
I wanted to note that I felt like the author was trying to make some messages out of the events that transpired in the novel. There are so many lies in this novel, that a deep feeling of paranoia and distrust is established early on. With this I feel like the author was trying to state that an establishment (physical or emotional) is doomed to fail if it is erected on a foundation of lies and deceit. Possibly a connection to our current political climate?
Furthermore I would surmise that the author was trying to establish the significance of a name. All of the characters in this novel are named after a letter (the children) or they go by a pseudonym (The Parenthood). I think there is something to be said about the significance of name. A name represents identity, a characters' individuality, personality and purpose. But The Parenthood, or better yet, the author has stripped all of these characters of a name. Leading you to believe that these characters are lost or seeking to discover their identity in an almost other-worldly coming of age tale. These children are trying to discover their purpose in a world that is not at all what it seems. They have been raised in this world with a blindfold over their eyes as to all else around them.
All-in-all I was very pleased with Inspection and cannot wait until Malerman releases another gripping work. I would recommend this to fans of his other work Bird Box, fans of mystery and fans of psychological experiments.

OHHHHHHHHHHHH, what happens when you are running an 'experiment' that keeps the boys from the girls and the boys and girls are only referred to as letters? Do you think that it is all going to turn out w/o consequences?

Run don't walk to your nearest book store and pre-order this one today!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for this advanced readers copy.

Inspection is based on an intriguing concept and is well written. It seems more like a Young Adult read, and came across as a story meant to head straight to film.

In Malerman's latest novel, a group of unsuspecting twelve-year old boys are part of a large social experiment with the hopes of each developing into the perfect genius. Since they were babies, the young men have been taught science, art, athletics and writing while never having any awareness of the opposite sex. This dystopian-like coming-of-age tale is one part Lord of the Flies, one part Dead Poet's Society and a two parts creepy.

This was my first book by Josh Malerman and was ecstatic to get this approval!

I have heard amazing things about Bird Box... and I'm pretty sure I'm about the only person in the world that hasn't read Bird Box yet haha ;).

What happens when parents keep their children away from everything? The alphabet boys are being raised by D.A.D. and his staff members. The boys are very smart and only know what is being "taught" to them at school. The boys fear diseases like no ones business! One of the boys J is starting to mature even more and ask questions. What could possibly go wrong?

This book was a serious slow burn for me. I put it down multiple times in the beginning and had a hard time picking it back up. Finally... the story picked up and was crazy at the end. I gave the author absolute kudos for his creativity! I definitely will have to say this is something that I've never read before!!

I would say that this is a steady 3 star for me due to the slow pace of the book. I think this would be fantastic for a book group to read together. I was intrigued throughout the story and it kept me turning those pages to see what would happen with the alphabet boys.

Huge thank you to Random House Publishing Group Ballantine and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date: 3/19/19
Published to Goodreads: 1/31/19

Best laid plans and all that......

What happens when good old D.A.D and M.O.M keep their "children" in the dark? That really is the question! J is one of the 26 Alphabet boys. They are being raised by D.A.D. and his "staff". The boys are smart, they are being raised to be prodigies. They only know each other, their school, their D.A.D. and the people who work at the school. They fear disease almost as much as they fear becoming spoiled rotten and being sent to the Corner. *shivers* J has always been happy with the status quo, but he like the other boys are getting older, they are maturing, and they are beginning to ask questions. Meanwhile, another school exists. A school run by M.O.M who raises 26 girls, one of whom is named K. She has questions as well.

This book was a slow burn for me. Very different from Malerman's books such as Bird Box and Unbury Carol. Kudos for him for originality and creativity. Seriously, my hat is off for him thinking outside of the box and being unique. But this was a little slow for me until, well, it wasn't. The end of the book really kicks things into high gear. What happens when people are kept in the dark? What happens when you learn about the existence of others? What happens when those you trusted kept secrets and lied to you? What happens when you learn the truth?

This was a solid 3 star read for me. The slowness brought it down a little for me. It is thought provoking. A great book for discussion. I love the premise but would have liked more intensity throughout. I can almost see this played out as a movie. There is a sense of dread throughout the book. As a reader, I wanted to know what would happen when the "truth" came out. What happens when those who were never supposed to meet, do in fact meet? Plus, I really wanted to know how one became spoiled rotten and got sent to the Corner? What was the corner?

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and NetGalley for proving me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I couldn't wait to read this book after Bird Box and it was worth the wait! Totally a new idea for a book that keeps you thinking how did he think of this! It's amazing good with a suspenseful ending. I didn't see it coming and I bet they make it into another movie. Don't read the reviews or any details about the book, just start reading and you will enjoy it much better.

Imagine growing up, having never met someone of the opposite sex—in fact, never even knowing a gender besides your own exists. Would you have more focus? Could you achieve levels of success, unattainable when the distraction of attraction is there? That’s what The Parenthood is betting on in Josh Malerman’s latest novel, Inspection.

Inspection is a dystopian novel reminiscent of Lois Lowry’s The Giver and Hugh Howey’s Wool. Like all good dystopian novels, Inspection was very thought-provoking. As a parent of teenage girls, I’ve spent a lot of time questioning how much I should shield my daughters from certain things (boys included). The Parenthood is no different. Like The Parenthood, I also want to see my children achieve their maximum potential. But how far is too far to go to turn these dreams into a reality?

Josh Malerman wrote one of my favorite books: Bird Box (now a film starring Sandra Bullock). So I was excited to read his latest work. His writing is again, excellent, particularly his ability to give a unique voice to each of the characters in Inspection. I found that I could relate to all of them in some way.

The book’s pace was perfect. And although the scheme hatched by The Parenthood was complex, Malerman unfolded it in a way that was easy to follow. I was completely intrigued by The Parenthood’s idea to raise boys 24 boys and 24 girls separate from, and without any knowledge of, one another. Add to it the fact that they were just hitting adolescence, and I was hooked. After all, no one questions the rules like a teenager. It was also interesting to see how boys interact with one another and their world, vs. how girls do.

I thoroughly enjoyed Inspection throughout 90% of the book. Unfortunately, the ending took a turn that I didn’t see coming; one which I wasn’t comfortable with. It was so out of the blue, that I felt blindsided. I don’t wish to spoil the book for anyone who would like to read it, so I won’t go into specifics. I will say that the ending felt rushed. The actions of the Alphabet Boys and the Letter Girls were so completely out of character (especially considering how sheltered they had been throughout their lifetimes) that I found it difficult to believe.

I always disclose any language, sexual content, or violence, which might offend readers. There were a few instances of vulgar language, there was implied (but no explicit) sex, but there was a disturbing amount of graphic violence.

Until the last 10% of the book, I would have highly recommended it to anyone. The ending took away my ability to do so and turned a 5-star book into a 2 1/2-star book. Because the vast majority was wonderful, I am nudging the half star up,

I give Inspection 3 stars.

Inspection will be released on March 19, 2019. It is currently available for pre-order.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Known only by an initial, 25 boys have grown up in isolation around only men and led by D.A.D. In another place, 25 girls known only by an initial, have grown up in isolation around only women and led by M.O.M What do you think will happen when they discover the lies? A grand experiment goes sour in this horrific dystopic thriller. Perfectly paced and a bit off kilter this book tops the don'ts lists in parenting - just don't tell M.O.M or D.A.D Fans of HANDMAIDS TALE, VOX, and of course Josh Malerman's BIRD BOX will relish this in one sitting. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Josh Malerman always holds my interest with his imagination, and Inspection is no different. A unique and mysterious story, the story keeps you wondering what is going on. You get just enough information to keep you guessing.
I guess you could loosely call it an experiment in parenting, in a Handmaid’s Tale type of way. Hard to explain without giving away too much, but safe to say it is a mysterious and slightly creepy story!
I’d hate to think everyone is going into this expecting another Bird Box. Yes, Bird Box was fantastic. Yes, we could read books like those all the time. But Josh Malerman proves that each story he comes up with is unique and different, and it is unfair to compare the two. This book deserves your time and attention whether you are a new fan or an old one.

26 boys, known as The Alphabet Boys, have been raised since birth by D.A.D.; prodigies, excelling academically, athletically, and creatively. Daily inspections ensure that the children have not become "spoiled rotten", a condition that requires being sent to the corner, a mysterious place the children fear above all else. One student, J, begins to question everything he knows when he spots something unusual beyond the pines...
A few miles away as similar school houses 26 girls, known as The Letter Girls, overseen by M.O.M. One girl K, an art prodigy who draws photorealistic renderings, has a secret...a special tree that appears in all of her drawings. K isn't exactly sure what she saw that day but she is unable to stop drawing it. To solve the mystery, she must travel past the pines that border her world...

Inspection is an exciting new horror novel by Josh Malerman in which two schools of children are raised separately by an organization known as the parenthood. Any knowledge of the opposite sex is forbidden. In the first part of the novel we are introduced to the Alphabet Boys and learn about their backstory. This part of the novel allows the reader to explore the existence of the Alphabet Boys, as they know it. We follow J, an inquisitive young man who begins to question the parenthood and D.A.D, an act that could have dangerous consequences. As the novel continues we discover another school exists, only a few miles away, housing the Letter Girls. We meet K, a young girl who finds M.O.M.'s interrogative nature about her special tree to be troubling. The novel really picks up here and I found it difficult to put down as J and K set out to seek the truth and in doing so discover each other. In this novel the author creates two separate worlds, completely void of the opposite gender, and detached from reality. I love that each of his novels are so completely unique, offering a variety of styles for all types of readers. I may not love all of his books but I found this one to be fresh, unique, and really enjoyable with a shocking yet inevitable ending.

From the author of Bird Box comes an inventive, Original story definitely written with the screen in mind. What would happen if boys and girls were raised completely separate with no knowledge of the others existence? Would they thrive academically and career wise because there are no “distractions”? It reads a bit young, and could be an excellent YA crossover.

My main issue with the book is the assumption that people are ONLY attracted to the opposite sex. With almost 50 children, a handful of them are bound to be attracted to the same sex. It bothers me when i can’t tell if a problem was intentional or not. Since it was not addressed, this just seems like a glaring flaw to me. Other than that i enjoyed this almost modern fairy tale like novel.

*Advanced Reader Copy courtesy of Net Galley for review.

Set in current-day America, 26 male and 26 female pre-teens are raised and educated in separate towers in rural Wisconsin. Neither group knows that the opposite sex exists. In fact, each group of kids believes that they are the only people who exists at all. They are subjected to daily inspections by their respective leaders (D.A.D. and M.O.M.) and any potential bad behavior is curbed through the threat of “being sent to the corner.” You may be wondering why these children are being raised this way…good old M.O.M. and D.A.D. are the brain trust behind this idea. They believe that true genius (in males and females) is thwarted by the “distraction” of the opposite sex. Their experiment is to raise these kids separately and to nurture their genius so that they can…I’m not really sure what the whole point of the genius training is – it wasn’t made abundantly clear.

Soooo…I have a bunch issues with this book by an author who I usually adore.

1. The “distraction” of the opposite sex is such a tired way to think about gender and sex and genius and education. Here are just a few of the ways “distraction” is used to excuse men’s bad behavior. Sorry elementary-school girls, you can’t wear tank tops because the boys will find it too distracting. Sorry college ladies, you can’t wear sports bras during your workouts because the boys will find it too distracting. Sorry ma’am, getting raped was your fault because you looked so pretty that the guy couldn’t help himself.

2.. At the start of this book, which is initially set solely in the boys’ tower, I was super excited because I thought maybe, just maybe, Malerman would not focus on the old-school, super-boring, overdone boy meets girl scenario. I was like, “OMG there is definitely going to be some boy crushes and make-out sessions and wet dreams and pre-teen boys discovering masturbation! Maybe this book will be about the spectrum of sexual attraction/desire! We need more books like that!” BUUUUT, no. No late-night jerking off sessions. No boys kissing. Nothing. I’m the mother of one teenage boy and one preteen boy and, let me tell you, they all go through that “holy shit, masturbating is AWESOME” phase. Not in this book’s world, though. Such a disappointment.

3. The first time one of the girls and one of the boys meet (late night, clandestine), they make out. UGHHHHHHHH. Sexual attraction and sexuality in general does not appear the minute two members of the opposite sex come into contact with one another. Plus, the way Malerman wrote the making out scene was so, so creepy. It’s like they’re two 12-year-old adults getting ready for some super sexy times. I remember my first kiss at 13. It was super awkward and I was really nervous and it was not super sexy.

4. Malerman completely ignores same-sex attraction, gender fluidity, and LGBTQ kids.

When I was about 80% done with this book, I decided that I didn’t want to finish it. I’m really disappointed by it.

This author has the absolute craziest imagination. All his books are so crazy and so imaginative. This one was no different. Parts of this lagged for me and the ending was a little out of character for the entire book, but overall a very good read.

In Josh Malerman's upcoming novel Inspection, readers are introduced to the Alphabet Boys, a group of 26 boys each named a letter of the alphabet who live and go to school in a remote tower simply called the Turret.  The founder of the school is known only to them as D.A.D. and the boys do consider him to be their father.

D.A.D., along with a group of men that keep the Turret running, are known as the Parenthood.  Their goal is to raise the Alphabet Boys to become the greatest engineers, scientists, and mathematicians in the world.  

The boys are isolated from the real world; all that they know is the tower and the Parenthood ...and the threat of being sent to the Corner if they become spoiled rotten.

One boy, J, begins to think that maybe there is something beyond the forest.  The more he questions everything around him, the more he realizes there are dangerous secrets being kept.

Meanwhile, only three miles from the Turret is another tower with another Parenthood whose leader is known as M.O.M. and it is where a group of 26 girls known as the Letter Girls reside. The Letter Girls have no idea the other tower exists.  In fact, they have no idea that the Alphabet Boys, or any boy for that matter, exists.

When a girl named K begins to question her life, she takes action.  What she finds could get her sent to the Corner.

Inspection is an incredibly unique coming of age story that tackles important topics like gender roles, relationships, oppression, and nature vs. nurture.  I love the phrases Malerman assigns like "spoiled rotten" and "sent to the Corner", which takes common harmless phrases and makes them feel creepy and sinister.  As the vague information builds and the symbolism becomes more apparent, so does the readers unease.

While I enjoyed this book and can say it was certainly worth reading, I honestly feel it would've worked better as a short story.  The world building is impressive and original but the amount of action and resolution given would've worked better and packed a far bigger punch for me as a short story.  As a novel with all the mounting suspense and tension, the conclusion of Inspection felt rushed.

Thanks to Del Rey Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.  Inspection is scheduled for release on April 23, 2019.

Josh Malerman successfully weaves a webbed tale of a flawed human experiment and the deranged individuals known as the Parenthood that run the living experiment in his latest novel Inspection.

Set in the middle of nowhere, 24 of the remaining ‘Alphabet Boys’ (that is B-Y) are what are left of mastermind Richard’s attempts to cultivate the most brilliant, uninterrupted minds in existence. Richard’s experiments live under the supervision of the Parenthood. Their lives revolve around their morning Inspections, visits with D.A.D. (aka Richard), their studies, and their free time where they are allowed to read novels by Warren (pseudonym Luxley).

What the Alphabet Boys don’t know about is the existence of the remaining 25 Letter Girls four miles away in a similar compound run by an all female staff including M.O.M. Both the Alphabet Boy and Letter Girls live similar lives including the fact that neither knows about the opposite sex. Both groups of boys and girls are part of ‘Genius Breeding’ experiment aimed to prove that without distractions, children will grow into the innovative intellectuals of the future. The novel reminds me of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro in that everyone but the children learn the truth of their existence until the very end even though they spend much of the novel questioning their reality. I really enjoyed Malerman’s ability to bring different character narratives into the story and the way he illustrated the complexity of emotions that everyone involved in the experiment have about running it and participating in it. My only wish? I wish that the last few chapters of the book were a bit more drawn out because I really wanted a little more gore in the twisted ending.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and will definitely recommend to thriller/horror fans. Can’t wait to see what Malerman has in store for us next!

Coming off from the overwhelming hype around Bird Box comes Inspection, a tale about 26 boys and 26 girl grow up without knowing the other sex exists. We can all agree that Bird Box is a character story, not heavily relying on the story, but instead on how the characters develop and grow to reach the end-goal. In Inspection, I assumed that I would be getting this same type of structure.

I felt like I didn't get that.

Inspection didn't have any characters that made me CARE. It felt really bland for all the things Malerman was trying to accomplish. When something terrible would happen, I felt absolutely nothing. No remorse, no empathy. Nothing. The plot itself is one I questioned many times as well. I almost DNFd this many times throughout, but I kept going thinking that the best part would be coming up.

While there were few parts that were enjoyable, I found myself remembering nearly nothing of this. It was a forgettable story with forgettable characters.