Reviews - The Upper Room | The StoryGraph

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36 reviews for:

The Upper Room

Mary Monroe

4.07 AVERAGE

knit_the_resistance's review against another edition

1.0

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I have so many thoughts. I actually hated this book and would have given it a zero, but the narrator was great. Apparently in Christian theology, "the Upper Room is a room in Mount Zion in Jerusalem, just outside the Old City walls, traditionally held to be the site of the Last Supper, the final meal that, in the Gospel accounts, Jesus held with the apostles. According to the Christian Bible, the Cenacle was a place in which the apostles continued to gather after the Last Supper, and it was also the site where the Holy Spirit alighted upon the eleven apostles on Pentecost.[1]

I don't know if that is widely known, but as a Jewish reader I had to look it up.

The story follows Mama Ruby's truly terrible life and all of her many misdeeds, which she proudly flaunts as Christian. Murder, mayhem and dismemberment are called "chastisement." She gets away with literally everything including ripping a man's arm off his body and burying multiple men in the bayou, because she has gaslighted the entire town into thinking she is sanctified. Her son runs away to fight in Vietnam to get away from her and seems to prefer ten years in a prison camp to living with her.

The casual racism and antisemitism was painful to listen to. I tried to contextualize it. Mama Ruby is an uneducated, impoverished Black woman in the South who needs someone to look down on. She hates everyone who isn't Black.

The most difficult part to understand is a major chapter in which the unthinkable happens to Maureen (Mowreen? Moreen?), the thing that Mama Ruby has been warning her of all her life, and Maureen doesn't tell anyone and no one even notices. And then... time passes.

The worst part about the book is that, like, nothing happens. Or rather, terrible things happen, but there are no consequences. There is no arc of redemption. It just plods along with one tragedy after another but it's ok because she's a devout Christian. Who is also the devil?

Am I missing the Gospel lens, or am I missing the Southern Black lens, or what? another review called it hilarious and said she laughed til she cried. So I must be missing something.

I read it for the Seattle Book Bingo 2024. Do Not Recommend.

Content Warnings

shareena_'s review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 22%

Couldn’t get into the story

deja_anae's review against another edition

5.0

This book was hilarious. Mama Ruby is quite the character and crazier then anything in this world. Monroe is gifted, making this tale flow so fluently with all the country banter, historical background, and constant surprises. It is no wonder I can't stop laughing or rereading my favorite quotes. This one right here is a classic! I can't wait to get started on part two. There were times I could not hold back my laughter in public, one time I laughed so hard I was in tears bent over. The characters in this book are unique, cooky, and something to talk about but nobody compares to Mama Ruby! Now as she would say: Let the church say amen for Mary Monroe!

minabean's review against another edition

3.75

medium-paced

tiffanis29's review against another edition

2.0

Strangely entertaining. Didn't quite link up with Mama Ruby prequel. Disappointed that of the 3 Maureens Upper Room only visited 2 of them. Othella and Virgil kept the secret. We are just dangling at the end.

soulnius_reads's review against another edition

5.0

funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

When I first discovered and read this title in 2022, I was under the impression that it was a new release. I was absolutely shocked to find that it was first published in 1986. Either way, I had a ball reading it, despite how bizarre and grimy it could be at times.

There was so much complexity and it pretty much embodied a lot of what I love when it comes to the books I read. To be quite honest, I don't even know which genre I would categorize it as. There was comedy, community, religion, crime, gore, romance, and even some supernatural elements. I'd never read anything like it.

I'm planning to read the series in order as this is book #2 so I'll be doing a reread, soon. I started #1, Mama Ruby but lost my progress. I cannot wait to immerse myself back into Mama Ruby's world and all of her outlandish shenanigans! This was one of the best books I've read in a while.