Review: Room by Emma Donoghue

Absolutely everyone has been raving about this book ever since it first came out. And for once I will join that chorus. I really enjoyed this book. As with “The Dumbhouse” by John Burnside it wasn't a pleasant or cozy book to read, but it was well written and dealing with an interesting topic. 

If you haven’t heard about this book it deals with kidnapping and sexual abuse so do be aware of triggers if/when reading it. The story is told from the point-of-view of a five-year-old boy named Jack. He lives in Room with his Ma, and they have lived there his whole life. We soon learn that Jack’s mother is the victim of a kidnapper who is keeping her locked up in the garden shed and sexually abuses her on a regular basis. She has chosen to tell Jack that Room is all there is in the world, everything they see in TV is pretend. But one day she learns something from the captor that makes her question whether or not their lives can continue as they are. She fears her captor will want to get rid of them, and she decides to make an escape. They succeed and we follow the two as they are reintroduced into the world, still seeing everything from Jack’s perspective. 

I really liked this book. The plot was very interesting and I thought it was kind of fascinating seeing it from Jack’s perspective. He definitely is very much a kid, I could recognize some of the situations from myself dealing with small children, but of course there is the unusual situation of him having lived his entire life in one room with one person that gives rise to a whole new set of difficulties. I thought it was really interesting to see how Jack dealt with everything, and the book raises the question of what is better for kids like Jack, who for some reason or other haven’t had a “normal” upbringing. Should they just be thrown into the world and deal accordingly or should they be somewhat sheltered and learn to adapt gradually? I also thought it was interesting to follow the aftermath of the escape. When we hear about kidnapped people being rescued we often don’t stop to think how hard it must be to rejoin the world. We just figure everyone must be so happy, but as this book shows everything is not necessarily great. And I think that is an important point to take with you. 

I gave this book 5 stars out of 5.