The Mars Room

The Mars Room (Rachel Kushner, 2018)

How I stumbled upon it: My local bookshop AND Book of the Month!

What it's about: The Mars Room follows Romy Hall, a mother who is serving two consecutive life sentences in prison. The novel follows her time inside prison coupled with flashbacks of her life in San Francisco and her life with her son. The book also follows a few other characters (inmates and prison workers).

What I thought: This book has excellent reviews and I was so excited, but I just could not get through it. I’m confused why there were so many narrators and so many storylines that felt unfinished or haphazard. I wish they had detailed more about prison life or about her past - not just a sprinkle of both. It was so dry and more about the writing style than the plot (which can be fine, but I didn't care for the writing style in this case). The reviews are awesome and the cover is so cool, but I barely made it through and finished only based on the principle of finishing something I paid more than $10 for.

You can get it here OR you can sign up for Book of the Month here.