funny

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Genre: humor. ⭐️Stars from Goodreads: 4. ⭐️Stars from me: 4. (Perfect match! )

The Rosie Project is a great book with lots of humour. It’s a story about a socially challenged scientist called Don who’s setting on a quest to find a perfect wife for himself. Don perceives the world in his own very special way, so his methods of looking for a wife are also very peculiar. During his search he meets Rosie who’s an absolute opposite of what he’s looking for, but Rosie is interested in Don for her own reasons. They team up and set off on a series of different adventures from little ones, like organising a crazy cocktail party, to huge, intercontinental ones.

If you are familiar with The Big Bang Theory TV show, Don will definitely remind you of Sheldon, the only difference is that Don is smoking hot.

What I liked about the book

The style of the narration

Don is the narrator of the story. You get to see the whole world through his eyes. His way of perceiving and interpreting things is unexpected and often heartwarming. Even the most banal things become curious and funny.

The book is very funny

In fact it’s so funny I constantly startled people with my sudden laughter. It was almost inconvenient but I couldn’t help myself.

Adventures

Don and Rosie constantly come up with ideas, one crazier than another. I was (almost) never bored.

What I didn’t enjoy so much

Too much drama at some point

The relationship crisis is inevitable and expectable but I think it is still slightly overstretched in the book. I would prefer there to be less drama.

The resolution of the mystery

I found the answer to the main mystery a bit disappointing.

One silly phrase

When Don is about to take some sleeping pills, Rosie gets surprised. Don explains to us that she’s surprised because “She thought I would have some objection to chemicals”.

No real scientist would EVER say such a phrase. The word “chemical” as something negative or opposed to “natural” is used by people who are far away from science. Any scientist would tell you that EVERYTHING in life (including nature) is chemicals. That gaffe yanked me from the story for a moment, reminding me that Don is just a product of someone’s imagination.

Final thought

If you are looking for something light, funny but not primitive, you should definitely read The Rosie Project.

21 thoughts on “The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion”

    1. Thanks Inge! It means a lot to know that I wrote something useful, both for potential readers and for the book. It’s a good read, especially if done between something dark and gothic (as it was for me 🙂 ) Have you calculated how many books are on your TBR? Top 20 sounds serious :))

      1. I have 776 books on my want to read list on Goodreads (484 I still have to buy though so that would be 292 in my possession 😅) I calculated it once via an app, only 12 more years of reading to get through all of these 😂

        1. Oh.my.god. Have you actually memorised all the titles? Well, I guess you are never stuck with “what to read” question. Also, I now see that top 20 is a very flattering position for a book.

  2. Great review, I enjoyed both reading your thoughts and the format in which it is written! I also liked this book a lot though I agree with you that there were certain phrases that gave the author away because they would never be said by a scientist.

    1. I’m happy I actually noticed that one phrase only, but I noticed it big time. I was really disappointed then because Don transformed into something else completely at that moment.

    1. Thank you! I heard there’s a sequel to this one but I also heard it’s not that good. To be honest, I also don’t believe in sequels of something successful.

        1. I don’t remember how she wrote the sequels. If they were planned ahead, or she started writing them when the first books got famous already. I think this factor plays a role in how good the sequel will be. When there’s already a notion of the next book, even if it’s just an idea of it, I think it can work out fine. But when a book is born ONLY because a previous one was a success, more often than not, it won’t be anything worthwhile. That’s why, by the way, I think the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale that has been recently announced won’t match the quality of the initial story.

          1. I’m really not sure about Handmaid’s sequel,.. certainly it will be successful though. Remember when Harper Lee’s ‘lost’ book was published… it was disappointing both as a book on its own and as a sequel. I know a lot of people enjoyed it, I didn’t.

          2. Here’s some awful truth, I have’t read To Kill a Mockingbird, and now it’s probably too late. I heard so much praise about it, there’s now way I will catch up and see it the way others did.

  5. Yayyy!!! So glad you liked this book! I love it so much. Do you know that I still think about ice cream flavors and if we really taste them after awhile? LOL. (Of course we do. At least, I definitely do.) That recounted dating mishap struck me as hysterical when I was reading, and it totally stayed with me. I also had my moments of laughing out loud–usually on a busy commuter train! Some guy looked at me once when it happened and was like “That must be a pretty funny book.” I was like, Dude, you have no idea! 🙂

    1. Yes, it is very funny, it’s funny in a perfect way. No silly, flirty humour, just the right kind. I have never noticed this about ice-cream flavours though, but now I don’t eat any ice-cream at all, so I can’t check. I’m sure they have different taste. Why would it be otherwise? 🙂

  6. I really loved The Rosie Project 🙂 yes, it has flaws, but it’s SUCH a good laugh. If you liked it, I can recommend Attachments by Rainbow Rowell – it had a similar vibe and some similar themes, but was maybe deeper in some of areas 🙂

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