REVIEW: Room

Book: Room by Emma Donoghue
Release Date: September 13th 2010 by Little, Brown and Company
Pages:  321
Source: Friend

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

First word that comes to mind when I think about this: innocent.

If you read the description of the book, you'll know its from the point of a five year old. The way he narrated the book was very cutesy and creative but mostly innocent. He used many words that are very creative (meaning cute but not real words). His sentences have very bad grammar in that innocent way when you don't know any better. Not like those annoying people who think they are all that and purposely talk like a kindergartener. I think that the author was pretty good at making it sound like a five year old if you can ignore the spots where it gets frustratingly overboard with the lack of grammar. WARNING: NOT FOR A GRAMMAR NAZI.

This book has some interesting 5-year old wisdom in it.

What I dislike about this book is how it has a lot of unnecessary parts (in my opinion). The last 1/4 of the book made me feel like the author was just dragging the story. It wasn't bad, it was just unnecessary. Sometimes making it boring.

What I like about this book is how it is really sweet. The mom is a bit confusing at times but its obvious that she loves her kid. It gets sad in some parts and happy in others. Since this is from a 5-year-old point of view, it does get frustrating at times when Jack acts bratty towards his mom.

The end, was pretty good. It ends like one of these types of books should. What I was kind of hoping for was *SPOILER ALERT* that when his mom got ill, she would pass away or have to be taken away from him and then 10 or so years later he reflects on those moments. Something like that. But *YOU CAN LOOK AGAIN* it doesn't include that. I think that would have ended better but the original ending fits well with the character.

Final Rank:

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