Discussions
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Lee M
I wouldn't use the word "cute" at all. It's actually disturbing on many levels.
posted 2 years ago.
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ComaCalm (YA)
Yeah it's very cute! No idea what lee m is talking about, it's narrator is a five year old, how could it not be cute? It is disturbing too, I guess. :)
posted 2 years ago.
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Susan A
No, it is not cute. Heartbreaking then hopeful is a better description. There is nothing cute about the voice of this book.
posted 2 years ago.
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Michele E
This book tells the story of a young woman who's been kidnapped, confined, tortured, and repeatedly raped over a period of seven years. CUTE?!? Read the book before discussing it, please!
posted 2 years ago.
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Sunny
scarhead this is not a "cute" book. It's heartbreaking. Where can you find anything cute about it?
posted 2 years ago.
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Leah W. Perdue
I've got to agree with the comments already posted. There is nothing cute about this book. There may be brief moments of innocent and loveliness, but mostly it's chilling and upsetting.
posted 2 years ago.
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Shannon S
Great book! I would definitely recommend this to all of my friends and family!
posted 2 years ago.
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SiobhanD
I really disliked this book, I couldn't get used to the style. Very disapointing, as I loved her other books.
posted 2 years ago.
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Shelly W
This was my first Emma Donoghue book and while I did not love it I really liked how she wrote from the perspective of a child. I found the book really disturbing and couldn't put it down until Jack had escaped. However, I recently read another Donoghue book - Slammerkin, and found it almost impossible to continue reading. You mentioned other Donoghue books, were they similar to either Room or Slammerkin? I don't want to discontinue reading altogether.
posted 2 years ago.
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kelly r
I actually found the style very refreshing. I thought it was nice to get a completely different voice. I really loved this book. Looking back, however, I do think there were certain parts of the book where the 5-yr old's thoughts seemed unrealistic. The author was trying to convey some of the more adult concepts through the 5-yr old and I think there are some things Jack just would not have picked up on, so I do think there is a little contention there. Overall though, I didn't even mind that.
Like Shelly's reply, I am curious to Donoghue's other books if you mention the style is different. I have not read any of her other works yet but feel inclined to check them out.
Thoughts on her other books?posted 2 years ago.
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Laura T
Wonderful book! The five year old narrator is very believable. Room is hopeful and heartbreaking.
posted 2 years ago.
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KellyG
I loved this book. took awhile to get use to the five year old telling the story, but after awhile it started to grow on me.
posted 2 years ago.
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Donna S
I loved this book! I read it in two days and had trouble putting it down. I think it was a very moving story. Do other readers agree?
posted 2 years ago.
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cha2cha
Yes, this was a very engaging tale, well-told. The voice of the child was so authentic that I soon began to tire of him and wanted to ask him if I could please speak to his mummy. I think the entire story was very moving indeed and believable. Lots to discuss in this book, including the child being breast-fed up to age five -- controversial, but very life-like under the circumstances. This is a small quibble, but since the story took place in the US, I thought the author could have tried a little harder to get rid of some of the British-isms, such as the overuse of the word "bit." I know she is Irish, so she probably is not even aware that we don't use that word as much as she has the child do. There were other "bits" as well, but this one jumps to mind.
posted 2 years ago.
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Lisa R
Absolutely agree! I had a hard time deciding if I would read this book or not, but I'm so glad that I did. I just fell in love with little Jack, so much so that often I wanted him to just be quiet, just like I would a real 5 year old!
I thought i might have a heart attack during the execution of plan B!
I just finished today and can't seem to get it off my mind!posted 2 years ago.
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Naomi J
I disliked this book. I couldn't get into the book...had a hard time finishing it.
posted 1 year ago.
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FSW
I waiting to read the book. and don't know how i can hold my self till the end of "The next 100 years" which I'm reading now.
posted 1 year ago.
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Berri
Reading this book now, love the narrative by Jack. You fall in love with him and his Ma from the very beginning. If you're having trouble getting into it, all I can say is 'keep going'. The first 30 or so pages are tough, but once you get used to the idea of being 'spoken' to by 5 year old Jack you lose yourself in the book. Once you close the book, you are whooshed back to reality but somehow it all feels different. You find yourself looking at and feeling the world differently, start to take the little things for granted.
All I can say is, read it. You'll be pleased you did.posted 1 year ago.
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Library Goddess
We generally know the premise of a book before we read it, but it would have been very interesting to have NOT known and let the horror of the situation unfold. I really appreciated the point of view from which the story is told, and I loved the voice of Jack. SPOILER ALERT. The rest of this post is for people who have already read the book. About 2/3 of the way through, there were some things that didn't ring true for me, beginning with the ill-fated TV interview. Although the vulture-like attack of the media is true-to-form, given the high-profile nature of this case, I believe that the mother and her lawyer would have chosen someone with a higher degree of compassion and professionalism (like Oprah) than the fluffy-haired dimwit who conducted the interview. Also, I found the mother's suicide-attempt to be out of character. Most people would suffer post-traumatic stress after an ordeal such as this, but this very strong-willed mother centered her existence on giving her child a sense of security. I don't believe that she would bail out on him when he needed her guidance in navigating his brave new world. I was also outraged at the part when her dumbass brother and sister-in-law are taking Jack on his first public outing to the natural history museum to see the dinosaurs, but stop off at a shopping mall for their own self-centered purposes. The results are actually pretty humorous, but my anger at these two idiots overrode my urge to laugh.
I listened to the audio version, and I enjoyed the first half when there were two readers portraying Kack and his mother. Later, two more readers, a male and female, read all of the other roles, and this got a bit annoying. The female reader had a distinctive, low-register voice, which was hard to disguise. She had characters of several different ethnic backgrounds to portray, and she wasn't particularly good at it.
I enjoyed the ending when, despite the pain it causes her, the mother taskes Jack back to visit "Room" to help him put the past behind him.
posted 1 year ago.
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Library Goddess
I forgot to mention that I also liked the secondary character of "Steppa," Jack's step-grandfather. Despite his not having children of his own, he seemed to understand them.
posted 1 year ago.
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