Title: Room
Author: Emma Donoghue
Pages: 401
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Picador
Published: September 13th 2010
Goodreads

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.

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.

The first time I picked up Room i was in my creative writing class. We had a print-out of the first two chapters. I had never heard of it before. I started to read and I hated it. Trying to read through a five year old’s narrative voice was annoying.

But by the end of the two chapters I wanted more. I was hooked. Addicted! After class I ran straight out to the bookstore and purchased a copy. I didn’t mind the child’s voice after all. I was captivated by every word and ever scene. Donoghue is an amazing writer and I began to see that more and more as I read on.

Jack is a five-year-old boy that has grown up in a room and has never been outside it. He lives with his Ma and has a wonderful imagination of his world.

I had no idea what I was in for reading this book. It was an emotional ride. Once you begin to realize what is really happening, you will not be able to put it down.

If you give it a chance, you will love it. Don’t do what I was so easily prepared to do and dismiss it. The voice in the book grows on you and in the end without it the book would not be as gripping and heart wrenching.

5 Stars: Amazing! I loved it and could not put it down. I highly recommend it.