The Reading Date

Room is a powerfully written, haunting book about survival, love, and the bond between parent and child. I am still disturbed by the book Living Dead Girl so I picked up Room with some trepidation, not sure if I was ready for another abduction story. However, once I picked it up Room I couldn’t stop reading, and finished it in one day. I started reading Room without knowing much about the story beyond the blurb. It’s hard to review this book without giving too much away. For this book in particular I think it’s best to be surprised by the story if you can avoid spoilers.Jack, a five-year-old boy who lives with his Ma in a small room where they are being held captive, narrates Room. Since he was born in the room and has never left, he thinks there is nothing unusual about their living circumstances. Jack and Ma have their daily routine of meals, reading, math, PE, sunbathing when sun comes through the skylight, limited TV including Jack’s favorite Dora, and Scream where they yell as loud as they can towards the skylight. Jack has a big vocabulary for five, and can read and complete math problems, but is of course lacking in social skills.It actually was easier for me to read this story as told by the innocent voice of Jack, rather than if Ma conveyed the horrific details. It is enough to be able to fill in the blanks with Jack’s narration. The reader is able to understand more of their heartbreaking situation than Jack. It takes a little bit of getting used to Jack’s voice, but I was quickly caught up in the story. The dialogue works very well and is believable for a five year old. As a parent, I could empathize with Ma’s situation and how hard it must have been for her to raise her son in an 11×11 shed alone for so long.This book appealed to me with the storytelling, and the descriptive writing made their situation feel terrifyingly real. Room is a very unique novel that I won’t soon forget.