THE ROSIE PROJECT
Series: Don Tillman #1
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary
Author: Graeme Simsion
Release Date: June 3, 2014

An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love.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.

“The Rosie Project” is a moving and hilarious novel for anyone who has ever tenaciously gone after life or love in the face of overwhelming challenges.

AMAZON | iBOOKS

All the Stars in the Universe!!!! This book will be on my shelves forever and I will read it over and over and over again.

(This review will take 2 minutes and 32 seconds to read.)

Love is a powerful feeling for another person, often defying logic.

For the Love of Books!
This book is like eating all of the ice cream flavors at once.
This book was MADE…FOR…ME. I’m a huge nerd, and this book was the epitome of nerd. This book IS MY BRAIN….sometimes. It’s science AND psychology….in one book! What else could I ask for?! Oh yeah, ROMANCE! Done. I loved every word. Every moment. I literally read this book twice in a month before doing this review. Beat THAT, every other book in the world!

My Don: (I can ONLY picture Zachary Quinto!)

The hero of this story…..Take all of the swoons, wrap them up, and throw them at my face….and you have the hero of this book.

You are the world’s most perfect woman. All other women are irrelevant. Permanently. No Botox or implants will be required.

“It would be unreasonable to give you credit for being incredibly beautiful.”

Don has Asperger’s, but he doesn’t really know it or acknowledge that he has it in the whole book. There are a couple of hints, but he never actually comes out and says it. He knows that he wants a wife, so he creates The Wife Project, a survey….a large survey with lots of questions in order to weed out the women with which he would not want to spend the rest of his life. He basically creates his own match.com, except he’s a genius scientist with Asperger’s so some the questions on this survey are completely absurd….and hilarious.

My Rosie:

I have heard the word stunning used to describe women, but this was the first time I had actually been stunned by one.

Rosie is sent to him by his only friend as a joke. Rosie is the complete opposite of him. This is an opposites-attract book. He sees the logical benefit of keeping her around as an experiment, and after a discussion about Rosie’s biological father, Don creates The Father Project to help locate her biological father. Thus begins the adventures of Rosie and Don as they work together in the mysterious pursuit for The Father Project.

“Where do you hide the corkscrew?” she asked.

“Wine is not scheduled for Tuesdays.”

“Fuck that,” said Rosie.

There was a certain logic underlying Rosie’s response. I would only be eating a single serving of dinner. It was the final step in the abandonment of the evening’s schedule.

I announced the change. “Time has been redefined. Previous rules no longer apply. Alcohol is hereby declared mandatory in the Rosie Time Zone.”

Rosie comes into his life and turns his entire world upside down, and for a while, he doesn’t like the change very much. In Don’s mind, everything is logical and emotions just get in the way, but I loved the journey of how Don falls for Rosie. He doesn’t even know what love is, but I loved learning the definition of love along with him.

“I want to spend my life with you even though it’s totally irrational. And you have short earlobes. Socially and genetically there’s no reason for me to be attracted to you. The only logical conclusion is that I must be in love with you.”

Don doesn’t understand social cues and doesn’t catch onto sarcasm. I found myself laughing so much in this book….not at him, definitely not that. Don is just so endearingly adorable. Sexy without being sexy. Charming without knowing he is charming. The author of this book probably had no intention of this book being sexy. But I am just utterly attracted to this man. He has the best confidence, and confidence is so sexy. I found him fascinating, and I just wanted to know more about him. I am so glad there is a sequel waiting for me so I can dive into more of Don and Rosie to see where they go from here.

Review by Jennifer, age 32, BMI 22.