The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Gut Instinct Rating - 5

Characters - 4

Believability for type and topics - 4.5

Similarity to other books - 4.5

Writing Style - 5

Excitement Factor - 5

Story Line - 5

Title Relevance - 5

Cover art - 5

To read or not to read? Definitely read this one before the movie excitement hits. (Despite many delays and drop outs, this film will be a hit, and it will ruin the book!)

Goodreads users gave this book a 4.01. I think it was more deserving of a 4.78.

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Published in 2013

Pages: 295

Publishing Company: Simon & Schuster

Number of books by author: 15 (But it appears only 2 are novels, one a sequel)

Genre: Contemporary, Humor, Chick-Lit, Adult, Fiction

Gut Instinct Rating - This is the first five-star rating of the year! And rightly so. Immediately, I was in love with Don. Because he's a little like me. Or I'm like him, or whatever is proper to say in this case. Don is a straight forward guy, and he likes fact, not intuition. (That's me, too.) He's looking for an ideal mate, so he draws up the list of eliminators in a survey-format which he releases to hundreds of women, and none of them meet all of his criteria. He's intellectual, but completely awkward in social situations; although, he learns to muster through with the help of the people he meets along the way. This book is relate-able, charming, and an awkward sort of comical.

The characters were a bit monotone. I mean, sure, we have Rosie, and we have a few non-doctor types we meet along the way, but almost all of them are in the medical field. I hear this isn't actually that strange when you're first coming out of medical school... you spend your time with others in their residency, you all take the same courses, and so on. So I chalked up the doctor-overload to be something of a reality. (I'm not a doctor, or in the medical field, so I'm not to say whether this is true or not.)

It was, however, incredibly believable. The time table seems a bit scrunched, but overall, people will go to great lengths to know their own, and I think that's just one of the things the journey Don and Rosie each take - it highlights that to a T. So much so, that you get just as involved with the journey Rosie takes, as you do on the journey that Don is taking.

The book is unique; but I had a moment where it felt like John Green and I had to suppress that feeling... deep down inside. (If you've been reading along for a while, you know I hate John Green. It just didn't work out between us.) The writing style makes this book super easy to read, despite the medical talk. It's smooth, but realistic.

For someone who isn't like Don, or who doesn't use logic over impulse, this book may seem a bit boring, but for me, it was intriguing. The story line was on point with reality; both engaging on a functional level as well as on an emotional one, which for us "literals," can be the highlight moment. This book won't have to earn it's spot as a 5-star rating. It will simply be that.

Both the title and artwork were sufficient. Anything other than "The Rosie Project," and this book could've come out with a misogynistic-like title that felt degrading, and really turned away from the culture of the book itself.

(Also, Ryan Reynolds will ruin the role of Don. I'm just saying.)