Room - by Emma Donoghue

This is an amazing book, which was very hard to put down.

The story is told by Jack, who is 5 years old and has spent all his life in an 11 foot square room with his mother. It quickly becomes apparent that they are being kept prisoner and we can see how his mother has evolved ways to handle the situation. The author had a big challenge to firstly put herself in the position of such a young child. She did a very convincing job of showing how different [and odd/illogical] the world would seem. She also had to consider how these very unusual living circumstances would affect that view and, again, her attention to detail is excellent.

Looking at the premise for the story, one might expect it to be rather grim or shocking. At times it is both. At other times it is very funny. What it is never is boring. The book has an amazing pace that kept me turning the pages right up to the end. It also does have an ending; it doesn't just stop. However, I don't think I'm giving anything away when I say that there is not something horrendous waiting to bite you late in the story.