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A review by diannastarr
Room by Emma Donoghue
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Emma Donoghue's Room is, dare I say it: a modern marvel.
Told from the very limited perspective of 5 year old Jack, we as an audience are immediately thrusted into his world, and that world being: "room." Jack's world and everything that he knows is compacted into a renovated storage shed, and his only companions are inanimate objects, "Old Man Nick," and Ma: his mother and kidnapping victim. The novel follows Jack's evolution, from Ma's reveal of their circumstance, their escape from the storage shed, and their collective struggles to cope with the vastness that is the outside.
Donoghue was fantastic in developing her limited and well rounded cast, especially through her characterization of Ma and Jack. There is genuinely so much in this piece that I could sit here and unpack, but the star of this story is most definitely Jack's voice. Donoghue's ability to put us as an audience into the shoes of a five year old was an feat in itself, but limiting his entire frame of knowledge to a singular space truly deserves a medal of some kind. The author wrote Jack in a way that didn't make him seem pretentious or like a petulant child; he felt real and his reactions to the world were raw.
I am truly ashamed that I haven't picked this up sooner and it's one of those pieces I plan to recommend to everyone who asks. As of this moment, this is my 5 star read of 2023 and to whoever is reading this review: please do yourself a favor and grab a copy!
Told from the very limited perspective of 5 year old Jack, we as an audience are immediately thrusted into his world, and that world being: "room." Jack's world and everything that he knows is compacted into a renovated storage shed, and his only companions are inanimate objects, "Old Man Nick," and Ma: his mother and kidnapping victim. The novel follows Jack's evolution, from Ma's reveal of their circumstance, their escape from the storage shed, and their collective struggles to cope with the vastness that is the outside.
Donoghue was fantastic in developing her limited and well rounded cast, especially through her characterization of Ma and Jack. There is genuinely so much in this piece that I could sit here and unpack, but the star of this story is most definitely Jack's voice. Donoghue's ability to put us as an audience into the shoes of a five year old was an feat in itself, but limiting his entire frame of knowledge to a singular space truly deserves a medal of some kind. The author wrote Jack in a way that didn't make him seem pretentious or like a petulant child; he felt real and his reactions to the world were raw.
I am truly ashamed that I haven't picked this up sooner and it's one of those pieces I plan to recommend to everyone who asks. As of this moment, this is my 5 star read of 2023 and to whoever is reading this review: please do yourself a favor and grab a copy!