Paula G. (Paulathegreat) reviewed on + 145 more book reviews
Spoiler alert
Overall, it was well written.
There were a few places where one had to work to continue to suspend disbelief, the most glaring being the escape. In real life Jack would have ended up buried in that rug (because he had been firmly instructed not to speak until he ran, and because he couldn't have gotten out), the person on the city street would not have been that involved, etc.
Some characters (the grandmother, the people at the shelter, old nick, even ma) were much less well drawn than they deserved to be.
Jack can be a brat, and he obviously is too much of an equal to his mother (the candles on the cake v pain killers discussion.
Ma is somewhat one dimensional. Maybe because it is the perspective of a small child. In Room she is The Perfect Mother. Outside she is neurotic and defensive, but there is no greater depth than that.
Finally, I think that the psychological aspects were greatly exaggerated. For a small child what matters isn't the number of people, but that the people they have love them. Once Jack acculturates, he will probably be socially and academically ahead of his peers for all the time his mother was able to give him.
Overall, it was well written.
There were a few places where one had to work to continue to suspend disbelief, the most glaring being the escape. In real life Jack would have ended up buried in that rug (because he had been firmly instructed not to speak until he ran, and because he couldn't have gotten out), the person on the city street would not have been that involved, etc.
Some characters (the grandmother, the people at the shelter, old nick, even ma) were much less well drawn than they deserved to be.
Jack can be a brat, and he obviously is too much of an equal to his mother (the candles on the cake v pain killers discussion.
Ma is somewhat one dimensional. Maybe because it is the perspective of a small child. In Room she is The Perfect Mother. Outside she is neurotic and defensive, but there is no greater depth than that.
Finally, I think that the psychological aspects were greatly exaggerated. For a small child what matters isn't the number of people, but that the people they have love them. Once Jack acculturates, he will probably be socially and academically ahead of his peers for all the time his mother was able to give him.
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