I have another book club read for you today. My real world book club met last weekend to discuss this fun and lighthearted read! Read on to find out what I thought of The Rosie Project.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: October 1, 2013 (first published January 30, 2013)
Format: ebook
Pages: 295
Source: Scribd
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Humor
Review Date: July 18, 2016
Rating: 4 bookmarks
Synopsis: Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.
Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.
Release Date: October 1, 2013 (first published January 30, 2013)
Format: ebook
Pages: 295
Source: Scribd
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Humor
Review Date: July 18, 2016
Rating: 4 bookmarks
Synopsis: Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.
Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.
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Don is the sole narrator of this story, and that in itself makes it worth the read. Don is one of the more memorable characters that I've read in a long time. He’s classic Asperger’s, with all the intelligence, bluntness, and lack of charisma that entails. It's comical at times and yet mind numbing when he fails to understand basic social ques. He's so ridiculous, you just want to like him.
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The story is a charming and yet odd at the same time. Don and Rosie embark on a wacky and unconventional romance of sorts. Don sets out to find the perfectly appropriate mate via the "Wife Project". As a result the date survey was crated. Lots of women filled out the survey, but none fit the bill. Enter Rosie. Does she meet the requirements? Nope, not even close. For that reason alone, Don should count her out. But as a his best friend challenge him, he asked Rosie out. The date is pretty hard especially because Don is a very black and white kind of man, No grey area at all...until he meets Rosie. Soon he's making lots of compromises and doing things he never thought he'd do in the name of helping Rosie solve the mystery of who her father is.
Sadly, I didn't find Rosie as endearing as Don. She was just a means to push Don's character development. Overall, they were cute together, but it could have been any woman who had a lot of opposite tendencies. Besides Don and Rosie, we have a few other characters that add to the antics of the story. Don's best friend Gene (who doesn't come off as a good guy) and his wife who seems like she's in a miserable marriage. The couple lend their opinions to Don in an attempt to help his dates not become a total disaster.
I heard somewhere that this book was originally a screenplay. I can see how this could be a very fun and quirky movie! Total Rom-com date night material. I hope that they make a movie adaptation because with the right actor and actress for the leads, I'd be on board to see it.
Can you imagine, nine ladies in a restaurant drinking cocktails, eating, and laughing about Don's antics. The book also lead the conversation into the subjects of open marriages, online dating, and more. I feel that I know the book club ladies even more than I did before thanks to this book.
Originally I wanted to jump right into the next book, but a reliable source (with similar taste in books), told me that the follow up isn't as good. Not by a long shot. As the saying goes- so many books, so little time. While I'll be putting off reading the follow up novel, I fully recommend The Rosie Project for an all around fun experience.
Happy Reading,
~Tamara
Sadly, I didn't find Rosie as endearing as Don. She was just a means to push Don's character development. Overall, they were cute together, but it could have been any woman who had a lot of opposite tendencies. Besides Don and Rosie, we have a few other characters that add to the antics of the story. Don's best friend Gene (who doesn't come off as a good guy) and his wife who seems like she's in a miserable marriage. The couple lend their opinions to Don in an attempt to help his dates not become a total disaster.
I heard somewhere that this book was originally a screenplay. I can see how this could be a very fun and quirky movie! Total Rom-com date night material. I hope that they make a movie adaptation because with the right actor and actress for the leads, I'd be on board to see it.
Can you imagine, nine ladies in a restaurant drinking cocktails, eating, and laughing about Don's antics. The book also lead the conversation into the subjects of open marriages, online dating, and more. I feel that I know the book club ladies even more than I did before thanks to this book.
Originally I wanted to jump right into the next book, but a reliable source (with similar taste in books), told me that the follow up isn't as good. Not by a long shot. As the saying goes- so many books, so little time. While I'll be putting off reading the follow up novel, I fully recommend The Rosie Project for an all around fun experience.
Happy Reading,
~Tamara
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