Room

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.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

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.


I've noticed that on GoodReads lately, I have been pretty stingy with my 5-star ratings. And to be honest, I think that it's a good thing, I feel that top ratings should be those books I can't stop talking about (like The Rosie Project, seriously, READ IT!), books that are the best of the best. This book is a total 5-star rating (although I will admit, I hovered over the 4-star for a little bit... maybe I'm too stingy? But there is no turning back now. 5 STAR!)

I loved this book because of it's ability to take an absolutely horrifying situation and show how it could be seen as "normal" or "everyday life". When you have experienced nothing else, how you can still gain comfort from consistency and regular day things. How "normal" things would seem scary if all you have known is abnormal. The innocence that is brought to this awful situation is enlightening. It really is an interesting perspective on kids that have actually lived this life. The most recent one being Amanda Berry and her daughter as well as the other 2 women that were kept prisoner in a basement in Cleveland Ohio for several years. I feel that much more awful for that little girl now having read this book. I see how exponentially more difficult being saved would be for her.

Often after I read a book I feel strongly about (either negatively or positively), I read the opposite reviews on GoodReads to see if they change my mind or if I agree with any of them and may alter my opinion. One of the greatest complaints about this book was the language that was used to tell the story. Told from the perspective of Jack, a five-year old, he uses immature grammar and made up words like "meltedy" (for his favourite melted plastic spoon). I found this actually enhanced the story significantly. I felt it made me get that much more into the head of a five year old, and really understand what he was thinking. Had this five year old been using proper adult grammar, something would have been lost. 

Jack's mother is amazing, which is something I can appreciate in a novel. This amazingly creative woman that was able to enhance her son's development with such limited means is a woman to be in awe of. I don't think I could have been nearly as creative if I were in her shoes. I probably would have plopped in front of the TV and rotted my brain as well as my sons. 

I can't say enough good things about this book, but I can't say anymore without giving things away and ruining this book for anyone else who chooses to read it. Seriously pick this one up. You won't regret it.