Room

     Room, by Emma Donoghue

Amazon Blurb -

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

*****

Jack is five.  Yesterday he was four, but today he's five.  He lives in a room 11x11 with his Ma who was kidnapped seven years ago at 19 by Old Nick and repeatedly raped by him.  I guess you can say Jack is THE only bright spot in this torturous situation.  Jack is her sanity, her security blanket, her sunshine.  For Jack Room is his whole world.  No windows, but for a skylight on the roof, he has no concept of the outside world at all.  Ma has told him that the little of it she allows him to see on tv is all fake.

I had a rough time with this book.  Not just the subject matter but the verbiage.  Narrated completely by Jack who's speech pattern really got annoying after awhile.  I would have liked to have it go back and forth between him and his mother just for a break.  Dealing with being at the absolute mercy of her captor was excruciating.  If he was angry at her he shut their electricity as punishment, she had to worry that he might not come back with food and supplies for them.  

This isn't an easy read by a long shot, it made me feel queasy and I couldn't stop thinking about Jaycee Dugard and the Ohio girls.  If you can get past the subject matter and baby banter give it a go.

3 1/2 cannolis

We Are The Goldens

 

We Are The Goldens
Dana Reinhardt
Netgally review
Available May 27, 2014

Amazon Blurb -

Nell worships her older sister, Layla. They're one unit, intertwined: Nellayla. As Nell and her best friend, Felix, start their freshman year in high school, on Layla's turf, there's so much Nell looks forward to: Joining Layla on the varsity soccer team. Parties. Boys. Adventures.

 But the year takes a very different turn.

 Layla is changing, withdrawing. She's hiding something, and when Nell discovers what it is, and the 
consequences it might have, she struggles. She wants to support Layla, to be her confidante, to be the good sister she's always been. But with so much at stake, what secrets should she keep? What lies should she tell?

*****

Lovely!  Wonderful YA read.  This book narrated by protagonist Nell is a gem.   Two sisters, so very close, Layla and younger Nell.  Nell adores her older sister and this school year is going to be awesome.  She's starting high school and who's luckier than her?  She has an ace in the hole with super popular sister Layla at her side no awkward freshie teasing to deal with.  Her best bud in the whole world, Felix will be with her too, life is good.

Nell notices Sam right away, he's beautiful, she can't breathe when she's near him, but of course he has eyes only for Layla.  Funny thing is Layla doesn't notice him.  Layla doesn't seem to notice or have time for anyone.

Nell doesn't know what's happening at first, but when she finds out she's confused on what she should do.  Are some secrets meant to be told, even if it means hurting the one who means the most to you?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It never got boring for me.  Nell is a great character, and Felix is awesome :)  Reinhardt captures the mood of two sisters perfectly, the feelings of hurt and anger are right there so the reader feels it too.

Highly recommend this book for both the teenager to adult who enjoys YA. 

4 cannolis