by Kat Musselwhite

Created on: November 30, 2010   Last Updated: December 01, 2010

Title: Room: A Novel

Author: Emma Donoghue

Length: 321 pages

Read this if you loved: Anything based on real-life events.

"Room" is the story of Jack, a little boy who has just turned five, and for whom Room is his entire world-literally. For his Ma, however, "Room" is nothing more than a prison, within which she and her young son have been forced to live, by her captor.

The story might sound familiar, and that's because it is. Over the past couple of years, several stories have made the headlines of young women emerging from captivity where they have been repeatedly abused by their captors, and their struggle to handle the move back into society.

I've said before that I really hate gimmicky books that jump on the big media bandwagon by writing about subjects that have shocked the world in recent years. And yep, this is exactly that. I also found it a bit gimmicky that it was written by the kid, instead of the girl who was kidnapped.

However, I also know that gimmicky can actually work very well for a novel, if done properly (I just need to point toward The Book Thief as a prime example of that one!)

I think one of my main issues with the book, was that Jack, for me, wasn't particularly likable. I certainly don't agree with the quotes on the back that state him to be "endearing". Seriously, if you want to be put off having kids, read this book.

I also found some of the things that he talks about as being a little creepy. I know this was probably supposed to be conveying the idea of Jack not knowing boundaries and such, but it was incredibly unnecessary.

Another issue I had was that I think that there was a lot more scope for "Ma", in the sense of her struggle to accept life on the outside, and in ways I think both she and Jack adapted a little too well, a little too quickly. That is of course only my opinion, from someone who has never been in this kind of situation, but you have to remember that neither has the author!

At the end of the day, the idea is an interesting one, and although I did find myself skipping pages from time to time, I never felt that I didn't want to continue reading. This is a big deal for someone like me, who if I don't like a book, I typically can not force myself to continue reading.

I wouldn't say that I disliked the book at all, but I'm just not convinced about the amount of praise that this book has received from critics, the media, etc. I often felt that the subject matter, rather than the actual quality of the writing, is the reason everyone is heaping so much onto the book, which is quite sad. But, it's evidence that we've moved into a world where shock-value has more credibility on a writer's career than their actual ability to write well (for evidence of this, I just need to point towards writers such as Jodi Picoult!)

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