This book definitely lived up to all expectations! I started reading it two days ago, and I finished it at lunch time today. It was one of the best books I’ve read for a long time, I couldn’t put it down. The book was written in such a way that you felt like you were connected to the characters, so there were more than a few teary moments.

The book is written from the perspective of 5 year old Jack, who has lived in ‘Room’ all his life. His mother was kidnapped by ‘Old Nick’ when she was 19, and rather than tell Jack, she let him believe that Room was the world, and everything else was just TV. The way that Emma Donoghue described the relationship between Jack and his Mum was simply wonderful, I could almost feel the love coming off the pages.

About half way through the book, they hatch a plan to escape. I started reading this part while I was on my lunch break at work, and I was so annoyed when my  hour was up. During the escape and after, I couldn’t stop turning the pages, I just had to know what was going to happen next. I had my heart in my mouth more than a few times!

Once they had escaped, I was unsure about how the story would go, but the book was so well written that it felt like you were on the journey with them. All the new experiences that they have to go through are so well voiced through Jack, all the new people he has to meet, and getting to know ‘Outside’.

When it got to about 30 pages away from the end, I was really intrigued to see how the book would end, as this is where I am usually most disappointed by books, but I loved the way that Donoghue chose to end the book. The trip back to the room and Jack saying goodbye to everything totally made me cry like a little girl, but for me, that’s the sign of a great book!