This is the second book in the Don Tillman series. If you haven’t read the first one, this review may contain spoiler.
{Book Review}
The Rosie Effect
By Graeme Simsion
After completing both The Wife Project and The Rosie Project in the precursor to The Rose Effect, Australian genetics professor Don Tillman and wife Rosie move to New York where Don works at Columbia and Rosie is finishing her PhD and MD.
The pair are married less than a year. Don is still adjusting to the new way of life with Rosie – less planning, more spontaneity – when Rosie tells him that she’s pregnant. Don sets out to learn everything he can about pregnancy and being a father… hiding it from Rosie (who feels like he isn’t interested) and getting himself into a world of trouble in the process.
Review/Recommendation: I started The Rose Effect with high hopes. I loved The Rosie Project, but was disappointed in its sequel. I will admit that I had a hard time focusing on much of anything while reading this book – I was in the last weeks of my pregnancy and nesting; and my son was born when I was halfway through the book, adding fatigue and an influx of visitors to the mix.
All of that being said, I just wasn’t as into this book as I was The Rosie Project. Simsion introduced a new group of characters in this book – Don’s men’s group. Some of these characters appeared in The Rosie Project, but they have a larger role in the sequel. They are a sort of support group, offering advice (both good and bad) and sharing their lives. I enjoyed these characters, although I did feel that their role in the book surpassed that of Rosie.
For me, the Don-Rosie relationship was incredibly weak. Rosie withdrew from their relationship, and thus, her role in the story felt diminished. I have a hard time with the idea that one person in a committed relationship could withdraw so much, especially given that the couple were expecting a child, that they would scarcely be present.
I do wish that this book lived up to the expectations I had set, based on its predecessor. Have you read this pair of books? Am I the only one disappointed in the sequel? What did you think?
Grade: B/B-