Reviews

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner

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ciara25's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Eye opening on what life is like in prison and how the system is always stacked against POC and the working class. However a couple of characters seemed irrelevant

cec1010's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

2.0

shimmery's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 stars.
Romy Hall is serving two consecutive life sentences in a Californian prison. Her crime was murdering a stalker who followed her when she tried to start a new life away from the strip club she worked in. In jail, with no visitors, she has no idea what has happened to her five year old son.

This is an insightful look at incarceration in America — Romy and many of the other characters she meets in jail are extremely vulnerable women, many of whom were not properly cared for as children, were abused, and didn’t get a good start in life.

I found myself really rooting for Romy, and yet for me the structure of this book was just a bit all over the place. One of my pet hates is when books have some sections in third person and some in first. This has sections from several different characters’ points of view which does add insight to different aspects of prison life but also makes it feel a little fragmented.

Overall a good book though, very readable and well written.

lildickies's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

vanessa10readsbooks's review against another edition

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Couldn’t do a prison story at the moment.

bexlrose's review against another edition

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4.0

Finished reading The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner. Finally a good book on the Booker longlist! Really enjoyed it. Mostly it's a book about prison life, told in a few voices. It reminded me a bit of The Girls by Emma Cline. It's not one where I was like 'wow, Booker winner', but considering the company it keeps, it's got a good chance. 4 stars.