The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Penguin, 2014

Somethings in life are unexpected….

Don Tillman likes routine and he has pretty much accepted the fact that he’s not going to be in a relationship. That is until he stumbles on the idea for the Wife Project. Using a series of questions, he is sure that he will be able to find himself the ideal woman. Then we meet Rosie. She is not who he had in mind at all. She smokes, is never on time and is not at all acceptable to the Wife Project criteria but little by little, Rosie and Don become friends and he becomes aware of a life he could have – a life that he previously thought was for everyone else.

I loved Don. He’s a very endearing character. Told in the first person narrative, his voice took me a few pages to get used to as he is very matter of fact but there is something so lovely and warm about him that I wanted to give me a big hug. I liked he and Rosie together and her character did a lot to bring Don away from his completely structured life and into something different.

The Wife Project, The Father Project and the The Rosie Project offered intrigue – enough to keep me reading and wanting to know what happened next to the point where I couldn’t put the book down. I did have a theory all the way through the book as to certain answers at the end (there was one answer that, I wish in a small way I’d been right about,) but I was pleasantly surprised and happy that everything ended the way it did.

The supporting characters were great. I sometimes wanted to shout at Gene, I felt sorry for Claudia and the sub plot with Don’s family was a valuable lesson in how misunderstanding can get in the way. I am looking forward to seeing what they do with the film version as this did start out as a screenplay.
Overall, I really recommend this book. I hope you love Don as much as I did.

(The Rosie Project, published by Penguin and is now available in paperback and e-book.)

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.