* A New York Times Book Review Best Book of the Year
The Gist
Five year old Jack has never been out of Room - the small space he's been enclosed in his entire life. All he knows is what's in Room; a toilet, a rug, a small TV, a potted plant, a trash bin, a stove, a bed with a blanket, a table, and a wardrobe. Jack doesn't know there's such thing as Outside. The pictures, the people, the shows he sees on TV are all fake, and made just for him and his mother. No one else exists. Except for Old Nick - the mysterious man who comes in Room the same time every night. Whenever Old Nick comes in - unlocks the door and locks it behind him - Jack's mother hides him in the wardrobe and won't let him come out until Old Nick is gone. Despite this, Jack is content in Room. But his mother's not. And she's determined to get them both out.
What We Think
Reviewed by Dream CatcherNumber of Pages: 336
I read this for school summer reading. I was glad to. I'd been meaning to read this book for ages. Ever since all the hullabaloo started about how great it was. And after reading it...eh. I don't particularly understand why everyone was so thrilled with it. Frankly, I found it disturbing that the whole thing was narrated by a five year old. Yeah. Little Jack was telling us the whole thing. Horrifying? Yup. But I'll get more into that later. Let's start the reviewing, shall we?
Let's start with something easy. Like characters. Jack. I don't know exactly how to judge him. He was so little and obnoxious. I didn't like his character at all. He was annoying. All he ever did was whine or yell or ask weird questions. Eh. Maybe that's just because he was a little kid, but it was so annoying to read. His mother wasn't any better, honestly. All SHE ever did was lie to the kid and annoy me. Ugh. Sigh. None of the other characters are all that important. And the ones that WERE sort of important I can't really talk about because that would give things away. So...that's characters for you. Wow. That is probably the shortest paragraph on characters I've ever written. You're all probably cheering.
Plot next. I found the beginning to be extremely slow and boring. Nothing really happened except for Jack watching his beloved Dora on TV and the mom telling "make-believe" stories of the outside world. About half way through the book things started to get a little more interesting, but by that point it was too little, too late for me. I think the author needs to improve on her pacing.
Cover and title are great. Perfect for the book, really. A crayon-written title is ingenious. It really makes the book seem as if it was written by a five year old - cover and all. The title is great, too, mostly because of how foreboding it sounds. Right? Room. It explains exactly what the book's about and it has a nice ring to it. Everything a title could ever need. Hooray.
Lastly I'll mention something about the writing style itself. This was the most impressive part of the book. Emma Donoghue made it sound like a five year old was narrating it. Which is really crazy. Not many people could do that, and of the people that could, even fewer would have the patience to. This is a sign of a good writer, and I have to give her props on that. It made the whole story seem a lot more real (and pretty disturbing. A five year old talking about living in a box. Creepy!) than if it had been written from a different point of view. This aspect of the book is why it's getting a semi-decent grade. It would be much lower if she'd been even a little off on the voice of her narrator.
So, basically, I wouldn't recommend this book. I don't really understand what all the hype is about. I don't get why it won so many awards or got so much attention. For summer reading, it's not the worst book I've ever read. But if I had known what it was going to be like beforehand, I wouldn't have even picked it up at the bookstore. I would have left it on its little pedestal for some unfortunate person to pick up and read. I honestly don't think it was worth the read. Others feel differently. I know the North Star thought it was good. But not me. Too boring, too bland, and too annoying. A waste my precious summer hours, if you ask me.
Real Teen Rating ~ C - : Read it if you're bored.
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