1/24: 2 stars. Josh Malerman is just not for me. I don't think I will read anything further by him. 

Bela is supposed to be 8 but developmentally she reads more like a 4-5 year old. The adults around her speak to her like she's a friend. Since it is told from the child's perspective she spends sooooo much time pretending to be asleep so we can hear conversations between the parents in order to move the plot forward. And the parents talk TO her while they think she is asleep almost like she's a therapist. I don't know any parent who actually does that. It felt like lazy writing because that is the only trick Malerman uses to allow us the parents' perspective (Bela pretending to be asleep and them talking to her). It's just so weird and didn't make sense to me. There were lots of plot holes and unanswered questions in the end. I can appreciate an open ending but making this story open-ended felt lazy to me.