For today’s review, I thought we’d go with a book that’s a children’s story—if you’re a terrible parent—seriously, while “Room” by Emma Donoghue is an excellent novel with a five-year-old protagonist, don’t give it to your kids to read.
***The Non-Spoiler part of this review***
What I love about this book:
Donoghue’s skill with establishing and maintaining a consistent character voice is unparalleled. Writing this entire novel from the perspective of and narrated by a five-year-old boy and make it feel authentic while telling a story that isn’t just good but gripping—is nothing short of amazing. I’ve never seen anyone do character voice better, and honestly, you should read this novel for just that reason. Sure, there are seams in the illusion in any creation, but her characters are so good any defect in believability is barely noticeable.
This book is an emotional tour de force from start to finish, and I love that it never lets up. I mean that it doesn’t end where you would naturally assume it would, and a lesser book would have. I’m tiptoeing around here because I don’t want to spoil too much yet. Suffice to say, for a book about a kidnapped young woman being held against her will while raising her son, the narrative addresses the obvious emotional struggles and some not so obvious.
The sense of tension in this novel is masterful. It waxes and wanes, ebbs and flows, but it’s always present in every scene. Since this story is a character study of this little boy and his mother obviously going through an incredibly tragic circumstance that is also quite unique—as life experiences go—those two characters are the center of focus, the whole world of the story. For me, this endeared them to me quickly and made me want the best for them, which made me incredibly uncomfortable—in an excellent narrative way—when their happiness and even their very lives were being threatened.
Specific to the audiobook version of this story, the version I have has a full voice cast, which is something I’ve brought up before that I love.
What I don’t love about this book:
In the second half of the book, there are many characters where I feel like their emotional intelligence—or hell, even their imagination—seems to be awfully stunted. There were a couple times where I was like, you’re medical professionals, how can you be this bad at getting what these people have gone through?
All of the side characters beyond the primary pair range from O.K. to above average, which is good—but for a book with a protagonist whose characterization sparkles—it’s a bit odd that the secondary cast of characters just does their job. This is a tempered complaint, though, because I didn’t feel there was a weak link amongst them. I certainly didn’t like grandpa, but you’re not supposed to like grandpa because he’s terrible. I did like step-grandpa or steppa, as Jack calls him. He genuinely seems to be doing his best, which isn’t true for everyone.
I’m no fan of the rape in this story, which, you know, is essential to the narrative—but still, it makes you feel icky. That is the point, though. So I wouldn’t have suggested removing or even changing that aspect of the story.
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Author's Website:http://www.emmadonoghue.com/
***The Spoiler part of this review***
***Ye be warned to turn back now***
The quick and dirty synopsis:
“Room,” starts with Jack talking about his and his Ma’s day in room. He describes their lives together, and it’s clear pretty early on that something is odd about this situation. It’s pretty amazing that the fact that Jack, who has just turned five at the beginning of the story, is so upbeat because it’s apparent that he’s spent his entire life from birth to his fifth birthday in this one room.