In a complete coincidence, I managed to finish reading this book 7 years to the day that I finished reading The Rosie Project (or so Facebook memories tells me). I still remember being given an advanced reading copy of that first book and loving it so so much.

And here we are, the third and final book in the series, and I have to say, it did not disappoint!

We join Don more than 10 years after the conclusion of The Rosie Effect, and his son Hudson is now in his final year at primary school. He’s showing signs that he might be autistic, and Don desperately wants him to fit in at school, and so starts the ‘Hudson Project’.

Without giving away too many spoilers (because like the previous books in the series, I think this one was fantastic and you should go and read it), we know from the previous two books that Don’s plans never go quite the way he wants them to.

I have to say, this book to me felt a lot less ‘light-hearted’ than the first two – I don’t know if it’s just these weird Covid-times that we’re currently living in, but I felt much more of an emotional pull towards Hudson, and while some of the things that Don did were a bit off the wall, it made me a bit sad that he felt like he had to change Hudson at all.

Perhaps it’s because it’s a child involved, but in previous books I found myself laughing at the crazy situations that Don got himself into, but not so much in this one. That’s not a bad thing though, because my emotional involvement with Hudson made me so tied to this book that I couldn’t stop reading.

In the previous two books, Don never really acknowledges that he has autism (although as readers, it seems pretty obvious to us), but I appreciated how this book tackled the subject a bit more head-on, addressing some of the stereotypes that are commonplace and delving into the topic of trying to change to fit in – why should he?!

After following Don and Rosie’s relationship from the start, it was really nice to see them together 13 years later, and looking at how their relationship has grown. How much they both care for Hudson and are willing to give up so much to see him happy – even if they don’t quite know what that looks like.

I’m at risk of just going on and on and spoiling the book, but all I’ll say is that if you haven’t read this series – seriously, go out and buy it. It’s such a lovely read and if you’re anything like me, you’ll definitely find yourself wanting to be best friends with Don.

I’m just really disappointed to know that this is the final book in the series, but I think it definitely finished in the best way – no third book blues for this book!