Room by Emma Donoghue

From Goodreads:
To 5-year-old Jack, Room is the world... 

It is where he was born. It's where he and Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. There are endless wonders that let loose Jack's imagination-the snake under Bed that he constructs out of seashells; the imaginary world projected through the TV; the coziness of Wardrobe beneath Ma's clothes, where she tucks him in safely at night, in case Old Nick comes.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it's the prison where she's been held since she was nineteen- for seven long years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in that eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But Jack's curiosity is building alongside Ma's own desperation, and she knows that Room cannot contain either indefinitely...

Told in the inventive, funny, and poignant voice of Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience-and a powerful story of a mother and son whose love lets them survive the impossible.

OK.Where to start? Emma Donoghue's Room has been on my radar since about the time it came out, but did not pick it up until quite recently. I read it in the course of a day (today) and I have conflicted feelings about it. Talking to my mom after reading it, I said, "It was both good and just OK." (I know it's very contradictory) I think it's great that Emma Donoghue decided to shed light on a very real problem in a fictional way, but it also falls flat in other aspects. I found the first half, when they were in the Room to be much more compelling and exciting. The escape and rescue bits were probably the best parts of the novel. 


At its core, Room is a novel about survival and endurance during and after a hardship, and coming to terms with a horrible experience. Room tells the story about how to move on after a bad experience and not letting it define you, especially for young people such as Jack, who has only known the Room. Emma Donoghue does a really good job at telling this story and letting both Ma and Jack, as well as their loved ones coming to terms with what has happened to them.

There are many good elements about this novel. Ms. Donoghue does not shy away from the more horrifying parts about being someone's captive, and she handles the scenes during the aftermath where Ma is being interviewed and questions well. The characters are realistically portrayed and I think it's great that she decided to have Jack, the five-year-old son to be the narrator instead of Ma, or in the third person as it opens up things to be left to interpretation more, and allows the reader to read between the lines a bit more. Emma Donoghue has a wonderful writing voice and both halves are well-written. I loved how she portrayed Ma and Jack's relationship, and the way she portrayed a mother's unconditional love for her child.

That being said, I found the second half to drag a little bit once they were settled in where they were. It would have been interesting to see a trial of Old Nick and Jack's perspective of that, or a flash-forward to a year or so later once they were re-integrated in society. While the first half was great, the second half was OK. I also found Jack's struggles to become repetitive after a while (as in, we didn't need to keep seeing them happening over and over. There is a happy balance). It worked better in the first half, but kind of added to the dragging on quality that the second half sometimes adopted. All in all, the second half wasn't as great as the first half, but it also wasn't bad by any stretch. The highlight of the second half of the novel is seeing how Ma and Jack interact and react differently to the real world. It really shows their relationship. I also really liked seeing how Jack responded to everything, and Donoghue portrays someone seeing the real world for the first time in a really unique and interesting way. 

All in all, this was a very interesting read. The first half of this novel was great, while the second half was just good, but was also a bit shaky in parts. I loved the portrayal of Ma and Jack's relationship, and found the writing style to be really unique. The novel doesn't shy away from the uncomfortable parts, but tells it in an almost innocent way. I am going to give Room a 3.5/5. It was overall a good but not fantastic read, and I look forward to reading Ms. Donoghue's other works.