From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge…

Room

Emma Donoghue

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What Members Thought

Aug 06, 2011 Melissa rated it it was amazing

I don't know why I took so long to start reading this, but when I finally did, I couldn't put it down! At first, I wasn't sure what to expect, but once I got used to Jack's "voice," it flowed quickly and became really intense. My heart was racing during one part, that's how high the level of suspense was. There is such interesting psychological exploration throughout the story.
What seemed a bit strange for me was that Jack was able to read really well for a five year-old, yet he still talked li ...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Dana Berglund rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-for-grown-ups

I think Emma Donoghue is a very talented author. Her books span such a wide variety of time periods, situations, styles, and categories, that I can't help but let that color my view of the current book I am reading. She doesn't write formulaic books that allow her to be easily pigeon-holed; each Emma Donoghue book is a new experience.
I have had Room sitting on my shelf since I bought it as a holiday gift to myself in December 2010. I knew the basic premise, but I wouldn't read too far into a rev I think Emma Donoghue is a very talented author. Her books span such a wide variety of time periods, situations, styles, and categories, that I can't help but let that color my view of the current book I am reading. She doesn't write formulaic books that allow her to be easily pigeon-holed; each Emma Donoghue book is a new experience.
I have had Room sitting on my shelf since I bought it as a holiday gift to myself in December 2010. I knew the basic premise, but I wouldn't read too far into a review or summary. Each time I picked it up, though, I put it back down, thinking it would be too dark and depressing. Summer vacation provides the perfect time to delve into something I can't handle during the school year.
Room is told from the perspective of an unreliable 5 year old narrator. His mother was snatched from her college campus at 19 years old by a monster who deserves to rot, mirroring some cases around the United States that have shocked communities. (MILD SPOILER ALERT, but you can handle it) He set her up in a Fort-Knox-like 12x12 garden shed in his backyard, surrounded by a high hedge. Several years later, our narrator, Jack, is born and grows up (slowly) in Room, the only world he knows. He has never been Outside, and divides the world into 3 categories: things that are real (in Room), things that are Outside (not much--just Sky), and things that are TV (like birthday parties, schools, cats...).
Some reviewers have commented that the book felt flat to them, that Jack's egocentric detachment from the horror of the crime made them, the readers, feel removed and cold to it as well. I disagree. Jack's fairly well-depicted 5-year-old-ness was what allowed me to read this story. I would not have been able to handle the raw emotion of a book written on this topic from the perspective of the woman who had been kidnapped, or her friend, or anyone else with an adult perspective on the world and the evil within it. (Maybe I would be able to to handle it, but would choose not to.) Listening to it from Jack-- for whom Room is home -- allowed me to access the content of the story without being overwhelmed by the emotion. Jack doesn't understand his mother's struggles because he is 5 and she has protected him to the very best of her abilities. We can look past him and see how much pain must have been involved for her, even if Jack can't see that yet. I think that's okay. I think that's what makes this a compelling and readable book.
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Dec 27, 2010 Martin rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2011books

Presumably it's not a spoiler to give away the setup of Room? (If it is, then: spoiler alert!) The tale of a five-year-old trapped with his mother in a 12x12 room, it is a novel every bit as claustrophobic as it sounds. While the horror is omnipresent, the five-year-old, Jack, narrates the story, which gives the misery an innocent -- and at times almost comforting -- gloss. Yet reading this book felt more like an act of desperation than anything else. The frantic need to know what happens next a ...more

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Jan 08, 2011 Julianne Dunn rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2014-friends-recommendations, 2016-read-harder

I recently finished "Room" by Emma Donoghue, recommended by Heidi Patterson Justice for my #2014ReadingChallenge and on my Read Harder list (Read a book that was adapted into a movie, then watch the movie). A truly compelling read, the story is half about life in the shed where Ma and Jack are kept hostage and the other half about life afterwards. Donoghue provides so much detail of not only the pain of being kept prisoner but the disappointed joy and unexpected struggles of adjusting to "normal ...more

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Jan 04, 2011 Linnea rated it really liked it

I couldn't put it down, really an interesting story and told from a unique perspective ...more

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Jun 15, 2011 Lori rated it liked it

Shelves: audio

Harrowing story about a woman trapped in a room, and the child born in captivity. Although the subject matter was compelling I was very distracted by the audio. If the child grew up only being talked to by his mother and television, why did he speak like English was his second language? I understand limited vocabulary, but his mom didn't drop pronouns, and TV doesn't, so why does he? All. The. Time.! I think this could be something I would gloss over or forgive in print form, but was just so dis ...more

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Aug 24, 2011 Jess rated it liked it

Shelves: family, fiction, fairy-tales, horror

Creeptacular!

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Dec 09, 2010 Jennifer rated it liked it

Shelves: literaryfiction, tob

Like many readers before me, I found the voice of the narrator frustrating about halfway through. Despite that, I found this a really entrancing read. Can you call a horror show entrancing?

Thanks, Sara, for lending me your copy! I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. ...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Martha rated it it was amazing

I read this in its entirety tonight. Holy smokes! I've been reading Donoghue's books since Hood and Kissing the Witch. Slammerkin blew my mind. The Room is simply astonishing. ...more

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