Published Feb. 5th, 2019
376 Pages
Don and Rosie are back in Melbourne after a decade in New York, and they’re about to face their most important project.
Their son, Hudson, is having trouble at school: his teachers say he isn’t fitting in with the other kids. Meanwhile, Rosie is battling Judas at work, and Don is in hot water after the Genetics Lecture Outrage. The life-contentment graph, recently at its highest point, is curving downwards.
For Don Tillman, geneticist and World’s Best Problem-Solver, learning to be a good parent as well as a good partner will require the help of friends old and new.
It will mean letting Hudson make his way in the world, and grappling with awkward truths about his own identity.
And opening a cocktail bar.– Goodreads
It has been some time since I completed a series. I am one of those readers that avoid reading the last book of a great series because I don’t want it to end. The reason I decided to read this is simple. It was an ARC lol and I wanted to read it, soak it in and share my thoughts.
I thoroughly enjoyed this series. Graeme has a way of opening your eyes to people you would have never given a second thought to. Or to people that you’re like huh . . . I wonder what they are about but you never talk to them. This series isn’t overly complicated in setting or even characters. It is simple but with an explosion of emotions and thought.
This particular book, the last one to the series, goes through several topics including parenthood, platonic and intimate relationships, race (just briefly) and happiness. What stuck out to me was something that Don and myself almost missed.
Sometimes you get caught up in saving others that you forget what is most important. Yes, your true priority will always be in your mind but there can be several different reasoning for what you are currently doing that will distract you from it. When this clicked in my head, when it clicked in Don’s head, I knew instantly what Graeme was doing with this book and I was all for it.
Was this read slow? Yes, it was. Was it, sometimes, painfully detailed? Yes. However, Don has always been that character to provide more information or think more deeply than others and it only made sense that he stayed this way. I was so glad to see that after getting married, raising a child that Don and Rosie did not change who they were but made it fit for each other because they loved each other and the life that they built.
However, as much as I think this book was a solid read. Something was missing. Like the two previous books, this focuses on Don and how he navigates life and the people that are in it. But the interactions with his son and Rosie did not feel genuine in a way. There wasn’t enough Rosie in the book. There wasn’t enough care on their relationship and this was huge for me as she is the cause for the entire series. Yes, it focuses on their son but there were very specific topics that included her and yet she wasn’t present. I wanted more Rosie.
Overall, solid book, great series that I would recommend to anyone that is looking to step out the box a bit.
3 Pickles
Motif by Tanya 