The Rosie Effect (Don Tillman, #2)

Author: Graeme Simsion

Rating: ⭐ 2/5

Date Read: 2016/02/19

Pages: 368

I don’t know why I consistently pick up popular books and then get annoyed while reading them. There’s a part of me that wants escapism, but there’s another, stronger, part that rolls my eyes at the plodding plots and bare-minimum characterization that so often mar bestseller type books (including, unfortunately, this one).

The first book was idiotic in a charming way. The titular project was amusing, the plot didn’t feel terribly contrived, the setting was interesting. The second book threw all of that out the window, most notably with the lack of a real plot. Rosie’s going to have a baby. Don treats it as a project and is not emotionally supportive. That’s not really a plot, because having two married people have a child doesn’t exactly involve conflict. That’s exposition. Conflict is necessary to drive a plot; without conflict, there’s nothing to build towards a climax. If you want to get away with writing a book without a plot, you better be James fucking Joyce.

Anyway, this book finds our characters treading water in New York City, starting small-yet-contained fires so that they can put them out a few chapters later. The poor attempt at rising action is punctuated by bougie wish fulfillment. The characters befriend a rock star! The characters go to Momofuku Ko! The characters cook fancy dinners and eat them with expensive wine! Now, I’m an oenophile and foodie and I love good food writing, but this does not read like M.F.K. Fisher. Instead, this reads like a writer who wants his characters to seem “cool” and “hip.” Readers who are actually hip are engaging in some dramatic eye-rolling behind those thick, plastic-framed glasses.

I can’t recommend this book, even if you liked the first. If you want to turn off your brain with something light and funny and charming, just turn on your tv and watch a marathon of The Big Bang Theory. Grab the Momofuku cookbook, cook yourself some noodles, pair with a nice bottle of wine (may I suggest German Riesling labelled Beerenauslese; these sweet wines are often affected by Botrytis and pair nicely with many asian cuisines, especially dishes on the spicier side). That would be a much more satisfying experience.