First line: Today I’m five.
Why I read this: I’ve had this on my tbr list for a while now and was glad that my book club picked it for our June read.
From the back cover: To five-year-old Jack, Room is the world. It’s where he was born, it’s where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. At night, Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where Jack is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.
Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it’s the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But Jack’s curiosity is building alongside Ma’s own desperation – and she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.
Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating – a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child.
My thoughts: This was my book club’s pick for the month of June and I was really excited to read it. It was the case yet again of me seeing the book around, hearing great things about it, but just not being able to get to it yet. Once book club picked it, the book shot up to the top of my reading pile.
I found this book to be a riveting read, very unique in it’s approach and quite an intense story. The novel is narrated by a five year-old boy, Jack, who has spent his whole life in one small room, with his mother. Jack does not even know that life exists outside that room. The only other person he has ever seen is Old Nick, their captor, in his nightly visits. Jack’s mother works to make his upbringing as “normal” as possible in spite of their horrific life of captivity.
This is a story that will absolutely take your breath away and it’s one that you want to read without knowing too much about it beforehand. The suspense and effects of this psychological thriller will keep you glued to the book until you finish and will stay with you long after reading the last page. Room is undoubtedly a hard book to read, and yet it is at the same time a hopeful story, a story about unwavering love between a child and a mother, and about new beginnings.
(I purchased this book.)
Great review Kristin! I have been afraid to read this book – the whole mother and child living in captivity… It might end up being one of the books that I have to put in the freezer! I don't know. I've heard that I have nothing to worry about and it is a fantastic read so I really should just pick it up!
Bonnie @ HandsAndHome
Sounds quite interesting to me.
@Bonnie Bonnie…it is such a phenomenal book on so many levels.
@Ondrej from James Patterson Book List It's definitely a book you can't stop thinking about once you finish it.
I also liked this book (my thoughts: manoflabook.com/wp/?p=820) however the second half lost me. I found the way the way Ma and Jack were treated by society unrealistic.
I absolutely LOVED this book. At times i cried or just burst out laughing. Great review by the way! Check mine out if you like: blogabooketc.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/room-by-emma-donoghue/
I loved this book, though it was absolutely terrifying in places (more than some pure horror novels even!) A lot of people hated the second half though, so I wrote a defense of sorts of it here:
theoncominghope.blogspot.com/2011/02/books-you-must-read-emma-donoghue-room.html
I am very happy to read such good reviews, I have been thinking of reading it. thanks!
I just got a copy myself and am looking forward to reading it. Good review!
I reviewed Room today on my blog. I really enjoyed it.
Girl Who Reads