Not what I expected. This was a book told from the eyes of a 5 yr old.
You find out that his mother was abducted when she was 19 and forced to live in a 1 room shed. There she has Jack and you follow him from his 5th birthday on.

It was jarring to read from such a young perspective, I honestly don't think that he would be quite so simplistic about certain things. Here again, it has been quite a while since I was 5, so it might be accurate and I just have no recollection.

It was hard for me to get into this book; I was afraid what I would read. I started reading it for a book club not knowing that there is a movie out based on it. I wouldn't mind seeing the movie to get a better idea of Room and the life that he and his mother lived. ( )

Beautiful, I cried at the end. Heartwarming and heart wrenching at the same time. ( )

I was riveted from page one, and right through the very last sentence, this book surpassed my expectations.

Narrated in the haunting voice of five year old Jack, [b:Room|7937843|Room|Emma Donoghue|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1282778933s/7937843.jpg|9585076] is the story of a mother and her son held captive in an 11'x11' shed. Jack was born in Room two years after his mother's abduction, and believes everything on the outside to be pretend. Surrounded by his friends (Table, Bed, Rug, Remote... all proper nouns), Jack lives day after day while his Ma does all she can to keep him safe and healthy. She creates games and routines, including phys ed and schooling, and she keeps Jack hidden from the eyes of his biological father, the captor who has created this hell.

But the thing that is so amazing, so astounding, is that it's not really hell at all to Jack; it's home, it's Room. The tale is both horrific and tender, both touching and terrifying. Jack's story is dark and disturbing, but Jack's voice is innocent and endearing. The poignancy of his understanding is simply heart-breaking. Donogue's writing is spectacular; I am amazed by her ability to create something that is so many adjectives at once, and yet they are all at odds with each other.

I will not soon forget this story, and I suspect I will carry Jack with me for a long while. I usually pass on my books after I've read them. But I will look forward to rereading this again someday. I think this one is a keeper. ( )

This is a wonderful book.
For the people who rated it down because she "stole" the plot (a silly notion when most book ideas come from outside the writer's head) here is what the author had to say: http://www.bookpage.com/books-10013638-Room and http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/13/emma-donoghue-room-josef-frit... ( )

An unsettling, moving book. It's told in the voice of 5 year old Jack, who lives with his mum in a locked room, 11' x 11'. He's never seen another human being: and his mum, besides Jack, has only seen her captor, who keeps her imprisoned for sex, in seven years. The book describes their day-to-day life with convincing immediacy. It tells how they escape, and how this sudden emergence into the ordinary world brings with it huge difficulties in adjustment. Ma has not lived freely since she was kidnapped aged 19. Jack didn't know there was a world outside to discover, despite his exposure to television. It's tough. Very tough.

This is a moving, convincing and utimately uplifting account of an almost unimagineable life. Well worth reading. ( )