To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world… It’s where he was born, it’s where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. 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’s the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But with Jack’s curiosity building alongside her own desperation, she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.
Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating–a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child.
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Room was one of the two books I picked up from my local library. I had seen in stores but whenever I read the book jacket I was apprehensive to actually buy it. I put it on hold at the library and a few days later it was available to pick up!
The story of Jack and his mom (Ma) is told through Jack’s eyes, a sheltered 5-year old who has lived in “Room” all his life. His mom was kidnapped by “Old Nick” when she was 19 and is kept in a garden shed-turned-makeshift house/shack.
To be honest, it took me a while to catch onto Jack’s unique language. Because he’s only ever lived in Room with just his mom, he has no sense of the “real” world. To him, Room and the things in it are the only thing that’s real. Once I got used to the way he describes things, it was a lot easier to follow along.
I don’t know if I loved the book, but I didn’t hate it either. It was definitely a lot different than books I normally read, and it had quite a few shocking and “REALLY?” moments. Really, I kept reading to see what happens in the end because the story of Jack and his mom and what they go through together is pretty amazing.
If I were to rate the book, I’d give it Three out of Five. It was good, but it wasn’t amazing.
Have you read Room? What did you think of it?
Do you plan to read it?