Room

Given that I have an entire shelf for adult literature with child protaganists, the concept of a child narrator was not the novel part of this book for me. But what really stood out was that Donoghue made Jack a very normal five year old. He was in no way a prodigy or wise beyond his years. Instead, we were given access to the routine-oriented rigidity of a five year old. The description of Jack's life inside of Room was interesting - with his routines and his properly named personified objects and his perceptions of events that were much darker than he could understand. However, what made the book was his perception of the world following his rescue and his adjustment to the world outside.

My only objection was the occasional detour into preachy land - Jack notes how tired adults are in the outside world and how they don't have enough time to spend with their kids and I wonder what the author's trying to imply? That women would be happier if they were locked in a room with nothing to do other than play with their kids? I don't think that's her point, but it comes uncomfortably close to reading that way.

I'd give this 2.5 stars.
The good: Interesting subject matter, I couldn't put this book down.
The bad: So much potential was skipped over in favour of keeping the plot moving. I feel like the book was overly focused on the ‘what' (events happening during the course of the book) and not the ‘why' (psychological aspects and character exploration).

I found this book challenging in a number of ways. The empathy I felt for both the narrator and his victim mother left me emotionally rung out through most of the book. As observed by others, the author often attributed to the 5 year old narrator more adult comprehension about his circumstances. I really did like the book and have recommended to many people.