The Rosie Effect

I find the character of Don so endearing and I read this in almost one sitting, like the first book. I was quite frustrated with Rosie who made no attempt to sit down and have an actual conversation with Don at any time during the story. They were more like flatmates. I also love the men's group and how they try to help each other and end up in worse trouble but eventually it all works out.

Lacks the fun quirkiness of the first book. Instead of being charming and endearing, the characters just annoyed me.

3.5 stars.

If you read The Rosie Project, odds are you fell in love with Don and Rosie. This mismatched and unlikely couple made me laugh and warmed the cockles of my heart. So I was extremely excited to get an ARC of Graeme Simsion's latest instalment – The Rosie Effect.

Don and Rosie are newlyweds living in the Big Apple (that's New York if for some bizzaro reason you think this has turned in to some science fiction alternative reality thing). They seem to be happy and settling into life in America, until Rosie drops a bombshell that turns Don's safe, predictable world upside down – she is pregnant!

As you would expect, hilarity and confusion ensues as Don tries to come to terms with impending fatherhood, and the changes to his and Rosie's relationship. Don is as he has always been. It is Rosie that suddenly has the personality change.

Maybe it is because I have been pregnant, or maybe it is because I am a control freak, but I found Pregnant Rosie very different from Project Rosie. She just seems so irresponsible. I know I am probably sensitive about this subject, but she has such a careless attitude towards her baby. She continues to drink alcohol, fails to schedule important doctor's appointments, and although she seems to want the baby, she is not prepared to make any sacrifices for it.

Her attitude towards Don was also disappointing. I expected her to be more in tune with his...oddities, rather than expect him to act like an average expectant father. He is not average, and that is why we love him.

However, I am happy to report that both Rosie and the book redeemed themselves in the end. I could see things from Rosie's point of view and could forgive her, a little.

I still laughed out loud in a few places, and overall enjoyed the Don Tillman Ride.

[rating stars=”three-half-stars”]