Title: Room
Author: Emma Donoghue
Genre: Adult Contemporary
Published: September 13, 2010
Hardcover: 321 pages
Brief Synopsis:
Jack is a five year old boy who lives in a small work shed with his mother. He was born in the shed and has never left or had any interaction with the outside world. His mother was taken by a man named Old Nick seven years ago. Jack has never seen the outside world except what he sees on TV and through the skylight in his Room.
Thoughts:
One thing that makes this story very impactful is the way that this book is written. It is written only from the perspective of Jack. Jack has a very unique voice because of his circumstances. It makes a very horrific story bearable, because of his innocent perspective. The story would have not been the same if Jack was not the narrator. With that being said, at times, it was hard to read at his perspective. The writing took me a while to get into. Jack refers to everything as a proper noun in the book, which I actually learned to love. It gives such value to the few things that he has in his "world".
"I was four last night going to sleep in Wardrobe, but when I wake up in Bed in the dark I'm changed to five, abracadabra."
Things I LOVED About This Book
- I loved the relationship between Jack and his mom. She does an amazing job raising him in these terrifying circumstances.
- I loved the unique voice of this story. I thought it would not have been the same if the story was told from the mom's point of view.
- I loved the use of stories and books. For example, if you have ever read Goodnight Moon, you know the story is about saying goodnight to everything in the room. Jack and his mom do this every night and I LOVED it!
- I love that this story shines light on things that we take advantage of in our everyday lives.
- The perspective was so unique and powerful. Jack's world (to him) seems so normal even though you as a reader find it scary and unbearable.
Things I Did Not Like About This Book
- I am going to be contradicting myself a little. Even though I loved seeing the story through Jack's perspective, at times, it was one-dimensional and a little repetitive.
- In stories, I love details and I just wanted more. The author leaves a little too much to the imagination and I just wanted more insight.
- The pacing is a little slow, but it does pick up.
My Favorite Quotes
A LOT of my favorite quotes included spoilers and I don't want to give anything away. So these quotes do not contain any spoilers.
"People don't always want to be with people. It gets tiring."
"It's called mind over matter. If we don't mind, it doesn't matter."
"Scared is what you're feeling. Brave is what you're doing."
"When I was a little kid I thought like a little kid, but now I'm five I know everything."
The Movie
The movie comes out October 16, 2015. I am so excited to see this movie. When I saw the trailer I knew I had to read the book! If you have not watched the trailer- you need to watch it!
Goodreads Rating
Have you read this book??
Are you planning to read it before the movie releases??
I would love to hear your thoughts!!
Happy Reading!!
This book sounds heart wrenching and horrifying, all the more so because these situations are sadly all too real. Thanks for the detailed review, I think I'll have to check this out in book form as I don't know if I will be able to handle the upsetting content in cinematic form.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I think the movie is going to be harder to handle than the book. I still really want to see it! I hope you get to this one!
DeleteI remember when I read this I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I agree with the perspective - liked that it was from Jack but also it got kind of annoying. So I totally get what you mean. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Grace! :) Yeah- I definitely had a love/hate relationship with the narration. I know it was necessary, but I just found it a little one-dimensioal and I wanted a bigger picture of everything else going on. I think the movie will have a much bigger picture of the story.
DeleteIn love with this book! But I'll admit I agree with you about how in the dark you were because of reading in Jacks perspective but I think it brought a lot of inoccence to such a terrible topic. :)
ReplyDeleteIn love with this book! But I'll admit I agree with you about how in the dark you were because of reading in Jacks perspective but I think it brought a lot of inoccence to such a terrible topic. :)
ReplyDeleteIn love with this book! But I'll admit I agree with you about how in the dark you were because of reading in Jacks perspective but I think it brought a lot of inoccence to such a terrible topic. :)
ReplyDelete