The Mars Room Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize

Killing your stalker: Cold-blooded murder or self-defense? Romy Hall has been sentenced to two consecutive life-sentences for ending the life of a man whose obsession with her had grown exceedingly troublesome. She could have accepted the consequences, if she didn't have a son to think of. But with her behind bars and noone to care for him, she's determined to get out of there. Most of my knowledge about prisons comes from watching shows like "Orange is the New Black" and "Prison Break". So, going into "The Mars Room", I expected it to be something along those lines. But it isn't at all and that's by no means a bad thing. I think it's great that Kushner goes into a different direction here, but I still could not quite get into the story. To me, the book felt all over the place at times and I didn't connect with the characters at all. I don't know if it was her intention to alienate the readers from the characters, but that's what happened in my case. I like that the book is told from multiple points of view, but there's one narrator who has no connection to any of the other characters (that I picked up on) at all, which I found quite confusing. I did enjoy the ending, however. I am kind of on the fence about "The Mars Room". To me, neither the story nor the characters were outstanding, but just okay. However, reading this you inevitably have to think about what's right and wrong, how the system deals with criminals and if the sentences are always justified. And that's what I enjoyed - I just love it, when a book is thought-provoking and forces me to ponder things that I usually don't have a reason to think about.