Julie's Review: The Rosie Project

Author: Graeme Simsion
Series: Don Pittman #1
Publication Date:October 1, 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
#of Hours: 7 hours, 32 minutes
Narrator: Dan O'Grady
Obtained: purchased via Audible
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Sweet journey about a man with Asperger's learning to be social
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Library

Summary: 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.com

Review: The Rosie Project is a sweet story about a man who in the search for a wife, finds an unexpected candidate and journey. It is about unexpected outcomes for someone who needs to have order in his life. Don Tillman is an interesting narrator for his journey because he's afflicted with Asperger's. It is fascinating how Don goes about changing his life without really making an effort until the very end because he understands what it means to change.

The Rosie Project is a group effort, with a cast of characters that is both heartwarming and funny. I adored Rosie. I loved her personality, her ability to understand Don and to appreciate him for who he was. He definitely had his quirks but no more or less than us without Asperger's. Rosie held her own with him and by doing that allowed him to see who he wanted to be. It allowed him to get out of his pigeon hole and experience life. While the story begins as a project to find a wife, morphs into the Father/Rosie project, it really becomes the Don metamorphosis.

If you are looking for a heartwarming, funny and lovely story for your summer vacation, then look no further than The Rosie Project. I listened to it and Dan O'Grady was a fantastic narrator.


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