Room in The Dusty Bookshelf

Jun 26, 2013 Rachel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club-reads

Seven years ago, a young college student was kidnapped walking across campus, locked up in a 11 by 11 ft room, rapped by her assailant and been held prisoner in that room ever since. Two years after being kidnapped, this woman got pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy. This book follows the life of this now five year old boy, Jack.

I am glad this book was chosen by my book club because it forced me to push through the slower parts in the first two sections. From the 1st page to the last page of t Seven years ago, a young college student was kidnapped walking across campus, locked up in a 11 by 11 ft room, rapped by her assailant and been held prisoner in that room ever since. Two years after being kidnapped, this woman got pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy. This book follows the life of this now five year old boy, Jack.

I am glad this book was chosen by my book club because it forced me to push through the slower parts in the first two sections. From the 1st page to the last page of this novel, my feelings toward this book did a complete 180.

The first third of the book, I was frustrated with Jack and the way the book was narrated from his point of view. Unlike his mother, Jack has only known the confines of this room and he has no inkling that there is a whole another world beyond the locked door so his outlook on the room is completely bewildering at first glance. It was amazing what Jack could comprehend and yet how little he actually understood of his situation. The second third I was frustrated with the mother’s selfish behavior. The final third was bittersweet as Jack slowly learns to cope with his ever growing world and life outside of the room. I love the strange but sweet interactions between "Steppa" & Jack and Grandma & Jack

Although the book is told through the eyes of a child the subject is tough to swallow. The book invokes such powerful emotions and reactions as I couldn’t help but relate it to the recent news story of those girls who were kidnapped and found in Ohio. The most frighten part is that this novel isn’t based in another country where you can close the book and wash your hands of it with a “that doesn’t happen here” mentality. This book tackles what those girls might have experienced when they were held captive and during the rehabilitation process after they escaped. Before reading this book, I never thought about what a person would have to mentally, physical and emotionally go through to assimilate back into the outside world after being kidnapped.

The Room is a riveting story about the power of mother’s love for her child and even more so the power of a child’s love for their mother. The ending brings the story to a full circle and provides hope that with time Jack and his mother will be able to recover from these unspeakable transgressions. I definitely would recommend this book, especially for a book club read.

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Dec 11, 2013 Casey rated it it was ok

Shelves: i-don-t-get-the-hype, quick-reads, the-not-so-serious-lit, your-book-sucked, grungy-shelf

Ugh, this book. It sounds pretty interesting, right? A mother and child are held captive in a room, which is the only place the poor child has ever known. The story is told from his perspective. But, you know what? Sometimes people with interesting ideas are terrible, terrible writers. If Stephen King had written this, it probably would have been terrifying and compelling and awesome (not that I think of King as, like, a paragon of good writing, but he's about ten thousand times more capable tha ...more

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Mar 20, 2012 Beth rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads-and-early-reviews

Because the first half of ROOM by Emma Donoghue is both maddening and irritating, I would not have read the much better second half if I had not felt guilty about it. I won the book from butterybooks.com and would have felt bad about abandoning it because I know many other people wanted to win that book.

The story begins with a mother and her son imprisoned in the backyard shed of a madman. The child is 5 years old and has never known anything outside that one small room. That, for me, was madden ...more

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Feb 03, 2012 Diana Varey rated it it was amazing

"Room is a book to read in one sitting. When it's over you look up: the world looks the same but you are somehow different and that feeling lingers for days."

I totally agree with this quote, which is stated on the book/author's home page. It makes you think about what we take for granted and makes you look at the world through different eyes. I loved the journey this book took me on. ...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Renna Mira (AKA Enna Isilee) added it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

This is one of those books that I just cannot give a rating to.

Listened to 7/23-7/27/2012

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Sep 26, 2010 MaryG added it · review of another edition

Amazing book!

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Mar 13, 2011 Suey rated it it was amazing

Wow, I can't stop thinking about this one. What a wonderful character she's created in Jack! This one will stick for awhile. ...more

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Nov 03, 2010 Jenn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I loved this book. I read it in a couple of hours and was mesmerized. I think Emma captured the voice of this very special 5 year old perfectly. While highly intelligent, there were telltale signs of how off he was with the social aspect. It will definately make me think twice when I hear of captives going free into the world and how horrible must be to try and adapt.

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