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kelly_e's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Title: The Authenticity Project
Author: Clare Pooley
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 2.50
Pub Date: February 4, 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Crass • Simple • Cliché
📖 S Y N O P S I S
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.
💭 T H O U G H T S
The Authenticity Project was chosen as my in-person book club pick for the month of May. And I was actually really excited by the synopsis and another story with an elderly main characters and about unlikely friendships - elements I typically love. Due to time constraints, I listened to the majority audio, and it 100% impacted my experience negatively.
The concept was so clever! There were so many aspects I should have loved, but it was honestly a struggle to get through it. None of the characters were all that likeable and it felt like the author simply chose some of her favourite stereotypes and tossed them together to produce this novel. Then through in one flawless character to tie everyone together. Some of the scenarios were just so unbelievable.
I expected the notebook to play a larger role. It is what gets the ball rolling, yet eventually its more about the relationships between the characters than people revealing their painful truths. For me, it would have worked better with smaller glimpses into the lives of a larger number of characters. The character development wasn't all that great with the smaller cast, so I don't see how a larger cast would have changed anything. There's a lot of book here and so much room for emotional depth, but it never went there.
One of my biggest issues was the romance. It felt so grossly contrived and the lack of communication and unhappy relationships drove me to speed things up to simply get through it. I honestly didn't care about the romance, at all.
And that brings me to the audiobook which was cringey. With so many characters, it was a lot to ask of one narrator. I had a hard time differentiating between whose POV I was listening to and the characterizations were that good at all. I honestly wish I hadn't listened to it because it ruined a lot for me.
The Authenticity Project was such a clever idea, yet the execution was poor. I am definitely in the minority, so if it's something that sounds interesting to you, I highly suggest finding out for yourself. I should have switched to eyeball reading, and maybe, I would have liked it better. Although I didn't love this one, I'd definitely give Clare Pooley another chance.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• slice-of-life stories
• endings tied up with a bow
⚠️ CW: mental illness, addiction, drug use, drug abuse, alcohol, alcoholism, death, death of parent, grief, cancer, outing, homophobia, infidelity, cursing, sexual content, suicidal thoughts
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"The truth often isn't pretty. It's not aspirational. It doesn't fit neatly into a little square on Instagram."
"Surely it would be better to live a messy, flawed, sometimes not very pretty life that was real and honest, than to constantly try to live up to a life of perfection that was actually a sham?"
Author: Clare Pooley
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 2.50
Pub Date: February 4, 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Crass • Simple • Cliché
📖 S Y N O P S I S
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.
💭 T H O U G H T S
The Authenticity Project was chosen as my in-person book club pick for the month of May. And I was actually really excited by the synopsis and another story with an elderly main characters and about unlikely friendships - elements I typically love. Due to time constraints, I listened to the majority audio, and it 100% impacted my experience negatively.
The concept was so clever! There were so many aspects I should have loved, but it was honestly a struggle to get through it. None of the characters were all that likeable and it felt like the author simply chose some of her favourite stereotypes and tossed them together to produce this novel. Then through in one flawless character to tie everyone together. Some of the scenarios were just so unbelievable.
I expected the notebook to play a larger role. It is what gets the ball rolling, yet eventually its more about the relationships between the characters than people revealing their painful truths. For me, it would have worked better with smaller glimpses into the lives of a larger number of characters. The character development wasn't all that great with the smaller cast, so I don't see how a larger cast would have changed anything. There's a lot of book here and so much room for emotional depth, but it never went there.
One of my biggest issues was the romance. It felt so grossly contrived and the lack of communication and unhappy relationships drove me to speed things up to simply get through it. I honestly didn't care about the romance, at all.
And that brings me to the audiobook which was cringey. With so many characters, it was a lot to ask of one narrator. I had a hard time differentiating between whose POV I was listening to and the characterizations were that good at all. I honestly wish I hadn't listened to it because it ruined a lot for me.
The Authenticity Project was such a clever idea, yet the execution was poor. I am definitely in the minority, so if it's something that sounds interesting to you, I highly suggest finding out for yourself. I should have switched to eyeball reading, and maybe, I would have liked it better. Although I didn't love this one, I'd definitely give Clare Pooley another chance.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• slice-of-life stories
• endings tied up with a bow
⚠️ CW: mental illness, addiction, drug use, drug abuse, alcohol, alcoholism, death, death of parent, grief, cancer, outing, homophobia, infidelity, cursing, sexual content, suicidal thoughts
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"The truth often isn't pretty. It's not aspirational. It doesn't fit neatly into a little square on Instagram."
"Surely it would be better to live a messy, flawed, sometimes not very pretty life that was real and honest, than to constantly try to live up to a life of perfection that was actually a sham?"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, and Outing
Minor: Sexual content and Suicidal thoughts
littlelights_xx's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Absolutely adored this book. I could sympathise with all of the characters, even the more unlikeable ones, and it kept me hooked so strongly I had to finish it the same day I started it. And a twist at the end I was NOT expecting but LOVED. The writing style felt real and varied by narrator. The People of Platform 5 was also one of my fave books, so I can't wait to hear what Clare writes next.
(Edit after reading other reviews)
I agree with bookph1le's review of Monica and Hazard's convenient romance, and about Riley's treatment. For someone upset that his stereotype is that he is a happy-go-lucky person with no depth, he is given the least deep ending he couldn't have possibly been given.
(Edit after reading other reviews)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction and Cancer
viwilliams's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Homophobia, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent
books_withblooms's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Death of parent
toves_bokhylla's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Tyckte om den på det stora hela, men blev frustrerad över slutet!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Outing, and Gaslighting
joensign's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Grief, and Death of parent
melancholymegs's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, and Alcohol
Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Outing
librariangeorgia's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is such a beautifully written book!
It’s not something I thought I would enjoy but I was completely wrapped up in every characters story.
It’s a lighthearted, easy read whilst exploring tough topics like addiction, loneliness and mental illness.
I highly recommend this, even if it’s not your usual type of book!
It’s not something I thought I would enjoy but I was completely wrapped up in every characters story.
It’s a lighthearted, easy read whilst exploring tough topics like addiction, loneliness and mental illness.
I highly recommend this, even if it’s not your usual type of book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Mental illness
Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, and Death of parent
annir's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Outing
therobinjoyce's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I loved the multiple POVs that we got to follow and how diverse in age, gender, nationality, sexuality and background each character was. Watching the relationships grow between them all and the found family emerge throughout the pages of the book was just wonderful and Clare Pooley’s writing style just tickled me sometimes, really adding life and soul into these characters.
I will say, I wasn’t a fan of Julian even from the start, but the whole cast together was just lovely. I especially adored Monica, Hazard, and Betty Wu. Alice’s story really struck me on a personal note and just made the whole experience that much more touching.
I would definitely recommend this read to anyone who loves a cosy contemporary fiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia