February 15, 2015

The Room by Jonas Karlsson 1/5 stars

*Note: I received this book in exchange for an honest review*
Hello, everyone! I recently read The Room by Jonas Karlsson, and I was disappointed.
Let's go ahead and just to the cover:

The Cover:
Cool cover, right? It shows the protagonist going into the room that was the center of this book.  However, the cover gives the impression that he is disappearing or crossing dimensions or something interesting, which was not the case. This was an A+ cover on a D- book.

Official Description:
Bjorn is a compulsive, exacting bureaucrat who discovers a secret room at the government office where he works--a secret room that no one else in his office will acknowledge. When Bjorn is in his room, what his coworkers see is him standing by the wall and staring off into space looking dazed, relaxed, and decidedly creepy. Bjorn's bizarre behavior eventually leads his coworkers to try to have him fired, but Bjorn will turn the tables on them with help from his secret room. Author Jonas Karlsson doesn't leave a word out of place in this brilliant, bizarre, delightful take on how far we will go--in a world ruled by conformity--to live an individual and examined life.

My Review:
I was incredibly disappointed by this book.  I had high expectations and was severely let down.  There are some books that I simply would not recommend, but this book made me so frustrated that if I saw someone pick it up at a bookstore, I would tell them that they really should rethink their decision.
The plot didn't really develop as the book proceeded.  Most of the book was Bjorn standing around thinking about how much better he was than anyone else.  This book was not, by any stretch of the imagination, plot driven.
The main character, Bjorn, was the most unlikable person that I have ever had the displeasure of reading about, and I am including villains.  Bjorn was a know-it-all, sexist, creepy man.  For example, one time he hovered over the receptionist, the receptionist was creeped out and asked what his problem was, and Bjorn assumed from that interaction that she was on drugs.  That is a great representation of his character.  I understand that he possible had a mental disease, but I HATED him with a passion. 
I spent the entire book alternating between being confused, angry, and bored.  All that being said, the writing style was decent, and I am sure that some people might like it, though I did not.  I strongly do not recommend reading this.

Phrase:
Indoor shoes

Happy Reading!

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