Book Review: Room

I have been delinquent in blogging. We got back from Maine (awesome trip) and I have yet to post any of my gorgeous pictures or share what we did. It’s coming, I promise. Plus, then there was a hurricane, so things have been a little crazy lately.

But in the meantime, I figured I would share with you another book review. I seem to be on quite the roll this summer – just devouring books left and right. Ok – in all fairness, they aren’t long or difficult books, but still, I secretly smiled last night when Hubby called me a big nerd. 🙂 Now for my review of Room…

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Room

By: Emma Donoghue

I had heard about “Room” a looong time ago from a few different people. It was always on my list of books to read, but I never got around to buying it. And then thankfully one day my mom lent it to me. As I finished “The Hunger Games”, I decided to try to take a break before diving into the next book in the series “Girl on Fire.” So I picked up “Room” and started to read it.

Now I know I said I had heard about the book before, but I was not at all prepared for the story really. I don’t want to give too much away for people who have not read it, so I will sum it up by saying that a young woman (no name ever given) is trapped an 11×11 room and ends up having a baby while there. The baby (Jack) then grows up knowing nothing but his life in that room. The story develops and grows from there – that’s all I can really say.

Yes, it sounds weird. And it is. When I first started the book, I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue reading. But I stuck it out and I’m very glad I did. The story and the characters drew me in and pretty soon I couldn’t put it down. I began hoping the story would move in the direction I wanted – almost willing it to go that way. And although I found several things strange in the book, overall I really enjoyed it.

Again, it’s weird to say I enjoyed this book. And you won’t understand what I mean until you read it. It’s a book that is hard to enjoy in many ways. I guess I will say that I’m glad I read it – that seems more appropriate. And although the fact that it is narrated by a child initially put me off a bit, I quickly adapted to the style and then began to really like it.

Overall, “Room” is an emotionally charged, intense and unique book. I whole-heartedly recommend it, with the caveat that the reader must be prepared to be jolted a bit. But it is certainly a story you will never forget.