Don and Rosie are great parents and it's fun to see them in this role, definitely a strong finish to the series. ( )

The final novel in the Don Tillman series sees Don, Rosie and their son Hudson back in Melbourne. Don is a Professor of Genetics teaching at a uni, while Rosie is working in medical research, battling with her supervisor Judas for the right to be taken seriously as a senior researcher. Meanwhile Hudson is struggling in primary school, and his teachers want him tested for autism. When done is stood down after a complaint about racism, he takes the opportunity to commence the Hudson Project, and resolve his sons social, academic and sporting challenges.

In the previous novels, Don’s personality traits have been central to the plot, narrative voice and characterisation, but Simsion has never actually specified any cause. In this novel, autism is front and central, with the medical and social controversies attached to it put under the microscope. What does it mean to label an 11 year old as autistic, especially when the labellers are not qualified to make that call. Do presumptions about a person become self-reinforcing, with behaviour attributed to the condition which might be passed off as normal in other children? As Don comments at one point, neurotypical people say that those with autism lack empathy, but how many of them try to develop greater empathy towards the autistic ?

As always, Don’s narration of the story is brilliantly done, and there are quite a few laugh out loud moments along the way, but Simsion is concluding his series by making some serious points about the mentally ill and how we treat them, albeit in the nicest possible way. ( )

Having read the first two of the trilogy a year or more ago, I had high hopes. An anal retentive genetic researcher finds his ideal partner using psychological and genetic approach. When they have a child the story becomes more like a text book on human malfunction then anything. Droll, filled with medical terms it lacks the humor I remembered from the first two. Characters are one dimensional and the story is predictable. While most who have read it feel differently, I found it dull and not worth finishing. Enough said. ( )

This is set eleven years after The Rosie Effect. Don and Rosie have returned to Melbourne and their son Hudson is not coping with the move. His school is pushing for an autism spectrum diagnosis. Don is unconvinced that such a label would be accurate -- or helpful.

I enjoyed seeing Don as a supportive father, trying to work out what is best for his kid. Much like The Rosie Project, this is such a warm and optimistic and inclusive story.

The [school’s] diversity included females -- essential in Rosie’s opinion. “I don’t want him regarding women as some other species.”
I pointed out that I had attended a co-educational public school and had ended up regarding the majority of the human race as another species. ( )

I think I loved this one the most, definitely better than book 2. Maybe because I am a mother but I felt like the addition of the son gave it a more fragile, deeper angle or maybe I was just in the mood for this kind of book. Either way, I loved this installment and am now rather sad that it is the last one but better to leave on a high note. Really fun and recommend all 3 books. ( )