I'm not really a romance novel kinda gal, as a teenager I think I overloaded on books about quirky teen girls looking for love with the too-cool-for-school guy and ever since my interests have been more in the fantasy or sci-fi genre. That's not to say that I don't like a nice love story, one of my favourite books is One Day by David Nicholls, I just prefer it when the writer brings something new to the genre. Otherwise it's just a lot of 'Will they, won't they?' and 'Do I even care that much? I know they're going to get together, anyway.'
To put it plainly I like contemporary love stories to either be unconventional and unique or to be surrounded by a great futuristic battle or the like. The Rosie Project was the former and did it brilliantly. Our protagonist, Don Tillman, is a socially awkward genetics professor who wants to find a wife but doesn't really possess the life skills needed for such a venture and so begins something called 'The Wife Project.' Unsurprisingly, Don has a very strict criteria of what he wants in a potential mate and no one seems to quite match it. In comes Rosie, a young woman in search of her biological father who doesn't tick a single one of Don's boxes but manages to turn his world upside down. What could possibly happen?! I won't spoil the ending for you but I'm sure anyone who has ever read more than one book can figure it out. Although the ending is pretty clear from the get go the journey to arrive there is great fun. Don's various unsuccessful encounters with the opposite sex are both hilarious and heart breaking. As I said, the ending is obvious, so when he goes on these many dates it's best not to get too frustrated with him and just enjoy the ride. Simsion's words are always spot on and caused me to smile at the text numerous times. In addition to the lovable but sometimes infuriating Don, there is a brilliant cast of secondary characters that provide him with the situations to woo Rosie without him realising, most notably on their quest to find her biological father. Even though the plot may seem a bit far-fetched Simsion weaves in his cast of extras perfectly so that you don't question the story too much. I read one review that labelled this book as 'Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory looks for a wife' and I think that is the perfect way to sum up this book. It's silly, it's funny and, yes, it's romantic in its own way. Love may be one of the major themes but, thankfully, due to Don's character it's not described with long, overly descriptive poems or screaming out in anguish in the middle of a thunder storm. It is approached in a fairly clinical way and yet, somehow, the book doesn't reduce its importance. If you're looking for a straight forward approach to love with a few laughs along the way then this is definitely the book for you.
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