This one has been on my bookshelf for a year or two. I picked it up at my local library’s annual book sale because I heard it was a great novel and a great movie. So when I accidently picked up a book I had already read, I went to the shelf and Room caught my eye.

Book Read: Room
Author: Emma Donoghue
Number of Books Read: 15

Most probably know of it… Room, the Oscar nominated/winning movie based on the novel about a woman, Joy “Ma,” who is being held against her own will, and her young son, Jack, who knows nothing but the Room they are in, and their journey to see the outside world.

Told from Jack’s point of view, Room is his world. To Ma, it’s a prison. Ma is doing what she can, creating a world for Jack inside the Room, where he can grow, play, and be a kid. But she is thinking, constantly, of the outside and world and how to get back to it.

They have routines, phys ed where they run track around the room, do crafts, and ask for a “Sunday treat.” But Ma has hidden a secret from Jack to protect him - the things they see on TV are real and there’s a heck of a lot going on outside of Room.

Ma has been held captive for seven years, abused at the hand of her capturer, and has done her best to give Jack a normal childhood, despite their situation. When Jack turns five, she begins to tell him stories of the outside, her family, why they are in Room, and how the world is so much more than they see on TV. That they should experience it together.

Together they make a plan, they practice, and when the day comes, Jack uses all his brave to save his Ma.

When their world expands beyond Room, there are consequences they didn’t anticipate, experiences to be had, and a huge appreciation for the small things, like jumping in a puddle.  

I expected Room to be intense, expected it to be heartbreaking, and expected it to be a great novel. It was all of the above. Donoghue writes from the perspective of a 5 year old experiencing things for the very first time in a way that will keep you reading, as if you’re experiencing the world with Jack for the first time.

You’ll be moved, your heart will break, you’ll be terrified that this happens in real life, you’ll be in awe of bravery. All while reading about a mother-son bond that is unbreakable, and the lengths each would go to keep it that way.

Next Read: Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala