Book Review: The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley

Book: 13/100

Rating: 3/5

Summary: [From Goodreads]: Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren't really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes--in a plain, green journal--the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It's run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves--and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica's Café.

The Authenticity Project's cast of characters--including Hazard, the charming addict who makes a vow to get sober; Alice, the fabulous mommy Instagrammer whose real life is a lot less perfect than it looks online; and their other new friends--is by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life. It's a story about being brave and putting your real self forward--and finding out that it's not as scary as it seems. In fact, it looks a lot like happiness.

Thoughts: My first ARC (advanced reader copy) of 2020! This book has been on my radar since last year. A unique premise with a motley cast of characters, The Authenticity Project is a rare little beacon of positivity that shows you can live a more fulfilling and wholesome life if you try to be your most authentic self.

My one issue with this read was that I had a hard time feeling a connection with the characters. I find with fiction, I enjoy it a lot more if the characters are well developed. Some of these characters had great arcs, but I didn't have a connection to them. I think this would make a great TV show adaptation as a quirky British comedy!