The Rosie Project
Written by Graeme Simsion
Narrated by Dan O'Grady
4/5
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About this audiobook
The art of love is never a science: Meet Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially inept professor of genetics, who’s decided it’s time he found a wife. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers.
Rosie Jarman possesses all these qualities. Don easily disqualifies her as a candidate for The Wife Project (even if she is “quite intelligent for a barmaid”). But Don is intrigued by Rosie’s own quest to identify her biological father. When an unlikely relationship develops as they collaborate on The Father Project, Don is forced to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie―and the realization that, despite your best scientific efforts, you don’t find love, it finds you.
Arrestingly endearing and entirely unconventional, Graeme Simsion’s distinctive debut “navigates the choppy waters of adult relationships, both romantic and platonic, with a fresh take (USA TODAY). “Filled with humor and plenty of heart, The Rosie Project is a delightful reminder that all of us, no matter how we’re wired, just want to fit in” (Chicago Tribune).
Graeme Simsion
GRAEME SIMSION is the author of the #1 bestseller The Rosie Project, which has been optioned for film by Sony Pictures, was a Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year and won the Australian Book Industry Association Book of the Year. The Rosie Effect was also a #1 Globe and Mail bestseller, an instant New York Times bestseller and a People magazine Pick of the Week. Simsion’s most recent novel, The Best of Adam Sharp, has also been optioned for film. This is his first novel co-written with his wife, Anne Buist. Follow him on Twitter @GraemeSimsion.
More audiobooks from Graeme Simsion
The Rosie Result Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best of Adam Sharp: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rosie Effect Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for The Rosie Project
3,549 ratings334 reviews
What our readers think
Readers find this title to be a phenomenal, smart, and funny celebration of diversity and humanity. The characters are lovable and the plot is intriguing. The book provides interesting information about research procedures, genetics, and Asperger's syndrome. Although some readers did not appreciate the profanity and obsession with sex, overall, this is a wonderfully written and narrated love story with a bit of mystery and quirk. Highly recommended for those who want an entertaining and educational read.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Quick read. The story is fine but it didn't leave me any lasting impression.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I listened to about half the book and gave up because there's so many f-bombs. Why do authors think they need to put in all of those f-bombs? Otherwise it would have been a good book. Really funny at some parts
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lightweight, fun read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Smiles all round :)
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I laughed so hard. I loved it! It was an amazing book to listen to!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Warm and funny and very well written, with a unique first person narrator. I loved it and I'm now on to the other two books!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A really lovely, beautifully told love story with a bit of mystery and an adorable amount of quirk. Highly recommend!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Incredible plot, believable characters. Totally intriguing and entertaining, I love Don and Rosie!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The progression of the characters self-awareness throughout the book was well written and timed. The characters were eccentric and lovable.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Not awful but still disappointing. Rosie was undeserved and Don was frustratingly inconsistent. He seemed like a Marty Stu for much of the novel, having no difficulty mastering any skill. His autistic spectrum symptoms were also negated for too easily. His issue changes from whether he can't process normal social cues to just being disinterested in them. The author stated that this was originally a film script that he rewrote into a novel. There's a lot of subtext and development that he never wrote in, given the opportunities the novel format afforded him.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is a sick twisted book.... ironic and sarcastic, but damn funny for the most part.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5So funny and delightful! Loved these characters. Perfect pick-me-up for a dreary November day.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I loved the socially awkward, scientific character of Don Tillman - the way in which he viewed the world was so charming and refreshing.
The first half of the book was really good but the remainder of it lost its way, I hated how Don went on and on about analysing himself, his behaviour and emotions - it really started to become dull. Rosie's 'father project' could have been cut way down, it seemed a bit long.
I liked the ending for sure as predictably Don got the girl in the end but it was not an interesting enough of a story to make me want to read further in the series; which is a shame as it held a lot of promise. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book is purely for entertainment and does its job well, that is, if you like Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory, which I do. It drags out a little at some points, but still, I’d recommend it (again, specifically to Sheldon fans!).
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great read. I loved the character development and getting insights into the mind of someone with Aspergers. The ending seemed a bit rushed, especially when Gene changed his behavior based on a single comment. But it was still a satisfying ending.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Smart, funny and heartwarming. A celebration of The diversity and richness of humanity.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Professor Tillman wants to get married. There are a few obstacles though. He doesn't act the way people expect him to. He is completely honest and he can't see the damage he makes with his honesty.
Next, he can't seem to get a break with women. He always does something unexpected that makes them leave.
You see, the professor is autistic. His days and activities, from how many hours (minutes) he gets to sleep to what he buys and cooks on a particular day, are all planned.
Since the book is written in the first person, you get to know the professor quite well. So, in order to get himself a wife he makes a questionnaire. Enter Rosie and the comedy of errors can start.
I liked the occasional humour. His thoughts can be quite entertaining. On dating: 'the probability of success did not justify the effort and negative experiences.'
I loved his rare relationships. He took care of an elderly neighbour Daphne until she stopped recognizing him.
But I hated this: 'It was unlikely that her profession as waitress and barmaid was consistent with the specified intellectual level. There was no point in continuing?'
Rosie is a cardboard character. I don't know much about her after reading this book. Now I see there is a second book with added drama, and it is possible she would be better developed there, but I have no desire to read it. There is a happy ending, move along. Don't create additional problems. Write about someone else.
Most women don't have any depth here. The characters mention feminism a lot, but they are more mildly mocked than anything.The academics don't fare any better either.
What I disliked the most is that Don Tillman changed in a course of a few days as if those were just his quirks. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was a fun story with lots of details about autism (specifically Asperger's syndrome) and genetics. Personally, I did not appreciate all the profanity and the obsession with sex.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I thought this was fun, but it was built up too much so I was a little disappointed.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I've had this book on my #tbr pile for a while but just got around to reading it recently. Oh how I wish I read it sooner! This is such a hilarious read, made me literally laugh out loud. Don Tillman is a flawed yet endearing protagonist, a perfect match to Rosie's no-nonsense but tender-hearted character. Brilliantly written with a plot that will take you on a wild ride, The Rosie Project is definitely one of my favorite books this year.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This audiobook made me laugh out loud so many times. After reading the book years ago, the audio was just as good.
I had to leave this review because I was so appalled at the three-star rating, as this was easily one of my favorite lighthearted reads of all time. And I have read thousands of books. In the two-ish years since first reading, I STILL found myself missing the characters. I came to love them and deeply empathize with them. I can’t think of a sweeter or more satisfying nerd romance!! - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Every so often a sweet book crosses my path and it becomes the type of book I recommend to everyone. The last book similiar was "the guernsey potato peel pie and literacy society".
It is a book club book, it is lovely, it is an easy read but it is still well written. It probably isn't award winning but the story is lovely and the writing doesn't offend.
I just enjoyed this story. I heard the author discussing the novel on the radio and bought a copy when I saw it in my supermarket (which has a rather large book section, for a supermarket).
Grab a copy and a cuppa. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hilarious and well written!! Very interesting information about research procedures, genetics and Aspergers.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spoiler alert -- this brief review also covers the sequel!When I learned that Bill Gates' favorite recently-read novels was this one (The Rosie Project) and its sequel (The Rosie Effect), I was intrigued. I read both back-to-back and enjoyed both immensely, although the sequel seemed to be more written with a movie in mind (lots of madcap mishaps, more so than in the first book). The first is about Don Tillman, a geneticist with Asperger's traits, meeting a woman (Rosie) who is the complete opposite. The second is about their struggles as newlywed expecting parents. Don sincerely wants things to work out but due to his lack of social graces, finds himself in constant hot water. I predict a third book will come out eventually, in which Don and Rosie learn how to be parents with yet more hilarious mishaps. Both books were easy reads and I'd recommend them highly.(Note: this review covers both The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect, both of which I give 4 stars).
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Rosie Project is a unconventional love story between Don (a Sheldon-like personality and Rosie). The two meet, while searching for Rosie's biological father. Don is a genetics professor, and as he works on finding Rosie's father, he falls in love with her.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This one was just outright fun. Don, the protagonist, is very endearing. I felt privileged to follow along with his self-discovery.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I was initially amused that Don Tillman, genetics professor, set out to find his wife in such an empirical way, that his criteria was SO specific. Also I found his systematic approach to life and thought patterns fascinating. But I didn't like him all that much. Enter Rosie. I liked how she reacted to his honesty and wouldn't allow him to maintain his independent ways. I enjoyed their antics as they collected DNA samples of the various men she suspected could be her father. Seeing Don's character change as his relationship with Rosie continued and his narration processing how he was changing as he tried to find what was rationale in his love for Rosie kept me interested.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wonderful book so well written and narrated it seems as if I know the main character
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Saw this book on Bill and Melinda Gates's recommendation list, so I decided to see why. Don, on the autism spectrum, but an intelligent professor who sees all of life's questions in black and white. There's no room for gray. This proves challenging and humorous on his quest to find the perfect wife. His character was particular reminiscent for me of many of the socially challenged men I've worked with in technology over the years. However, I appreciated his recognition that there are strengths that those "on the spectrum" or "aspeys" have and his unique ability to reformulate his "rules" about how he felt about things was intriguing. I like how he determined that his inability to feel empathy didn't affect his ability to love. It was a fun read... and particularly I think people who like Eleanor Oliphant will find a male version of the similarly likable quirky character.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I didn't want it to end. I cared deeply about the characters an# their happiness.