Romance isn't my sort of thing. I used to lap it up when I was younger - Nicholas Sparks and his tales of true love that would suck you in and inevitably break your heart when a character died, or was diagnosed with a deadly disease? Yeah... So I soon grew out of the habit of reading romance novels. It just felt cliche and predictable and boring, I guess. But when I started my Mass Market Fiction module for university, I was told I had to get back into it. I had to choose a contemporary romance novel (of my choice) and read. The Rosie Project is a book I first picked up a few years back. It didn't really grab my attention and the opening pages bored me, just as i expected they would. I put the book down and lost it in my ever growing collection of unread titles. I always knew it was there, and I convinced myself that I'd get back around to reading it, eventually, and now I have.
The Rosie Project tells the tale of Don Tillman, a quirky protagonist with a few peculiar traits. Though it's never stated whether he has Asperger's or not, I read the character as though he did have autism and it doesn't poke fun at the idea of Don's situation, either, which I love. The book will make you laugh out loud, though. Don is a really special man. He's obsessed with the idea of finding the perfect life partner and goes on a quest to find her, though his high expectations and his thorough demands mean he'll never really find his perfect woman - because he's asking far too much of women. However, the introduction of Rosie into his life sends Don into a frenzy. He is all too convinced that himself and Rosie are absolutely not compatible and that made me will their romance on. Romance isn't the only plot strand in this novel, though. In fact, it's barely even detectable and that's probably why I enjoyed it. There are huge emotional elements and plot strands running throughout and it kept me intrigued and excited for the ending. I managed to read this book in just a few sittings and it put a few grins on my face along the way.
All in all, I ended up really enjoying Graeme Simsion's debut novel but I won't be reading the sequel, The Rosie Effect, any time soon. Romance is a genre that to me is all about the chase and happy ending, and this book had the happy ending I was after. I don't want to read of any troubles that could come after the happy ending that was given in The Rosie Project, and I didn't enjoy the book enough to want to delve more into the story. It was a nice light hearted read though, so if you're into romance, or after an easy read I'd recommend picking this up!
Em x
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