"Room: A Novel" Review

Room:  A Novel

By Emma Donoghue

10/10

Synopsis:

Room by Emma Donoghue is the story of Jack and his Ma.  Jack is a typical five-year old boy.  The only difference is Jack was born inside Room and has never left.  He knows nothing of the world outside of Room’s four walls.  Jack and his Ma share a very special bond.  Shut away for seven years, Ma yearns to let Jack experience the outside world as well as her own longing for those things she remembers from her past.  Jack is content in their small world created for them by their captor, Old Nick.  When Ma comes up with a plan to accomplish their Great Escape, Jack is called upon to be the hero of the story.  Will he discover freedom and rescue Ma?  What you think would be the end is just the beginning.

My Opinion:

Told from five-year old Jack’s point of view, the language of the story takes a bit of time to adjust to but it is an adjustment that is well worth making.  While both entertaining and disturbing, the tale of Jack and Ma’s confinement is a quick read.  I thought this was going to be a rather monotonous book without much action.  I couldn’t imagine what there would be to describe and what plot could progress from within the four walls of Room.  I was wrong and delighted to be wrong at that.  The world from Jack’s point of view isn’t small because he knows of nothing beyond Room to which to compare it.  Just when you get settled into Jack and Ma’s routine, things take a turn.  With a surprise in the middle of the book, there are lots of adjustments to be made.  I found the book very worthwhile.  The subject matter is so twisted and gruesome that the only way to survive reading the story is through the author’s use of Jack as the narrator.  He is the fresh voice of innocence in a world that is anything but normal.  I really grew to love Jack.  Usually, even when I love a book, I always find the ending leaving me wanting more but the ending of this book was superb.  It brought everything to a point where I was left content.  A dark though wonderful and very enlightening read.  10 out of 10!