What a superb book. I started it this morning and finished it around midnight. I put it down reluctantly to get quick meals and walk my dog. I know it will feature high in the lists of the best novels of 2020.
I can't recommend it highly enough. The whole journey of The Authenticity Project was a rollercoaster ride through so many emotions, both of the characters and of the reader. I can honestly say it is the first time I have wept when reading the Acknowledgements!
Clare Pooley .writes with such conviction as she looks at addiction, compulsion, loneliness. Don't let this lead anyone to think though that this will be a tortuous read - it is the ultimate 'feel good' novel that you will not want to end. It will be a wonderful choice for any Reading Group.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this wonderful life affirming book. I wait with anticipation for publication date to see The Authenticity Project leap off Bookshop shelves.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. It was a wonderful book, the story was brilliant and I loved all of the characters, I raced through the book because I wanted to know what happened to the characters, but I was sad because once I had finished I would not see them again. I will be recommending this book to everyone I know.

This was an excellent debut book with an original idea which I thoroughly enjoyed. The characters were well drawn and likeable and the storyline was realistic.

If you are looking for a heartwarming and enjoyable read about finding friendships in the most unlikely way then this book is for you.

Highly recommended!

A great idea, a great cast of characters - and an ending I didn't see coming. The Authenticity Project is a fantastic read - and reminder to all of us that being honest with ourselves is the best place to start.

I loved this book. What a great idea. That little green book . . . I would have liked more, but as it was, I loved how Pooley brought together a small group of people who became friends. There's not much else I can say except read it, you won't regret it. With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not often a book makes me want to copy the story line but when I finished reading my first thought was have I got a spare notebook to start one. Ther are so many lonely people you see them sitting in coffee shops all the time. Thank you Claire for writing this I'm I'm sure everyone who reads it can identify someone who needs a friend.

This was a really nice, character driven novel where we got to know many different characters. It was well written and an enjoyable read.
Thanks a lot to the publisher and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley and Clare Pooley for my proof copy of The Authenticity Project, written by Clare Pooley.

A delightful tale of strangers brought together by the one thing that often drives people apart - the disingenous way we live our lives. Julian, a lonely old man, longing for his glory days starts the Authenticity Project, a notebook where he has written his 'truth' and leaves it in the cafe of Monica, an ambitious go getter who's desperate to have a family of her own. Each time the notebook changes hands, it changes a life and brings people closer to each other and to who they're meant to be.

I loved Monica's character, the driven way she approaches her own optimism and her new found project. I love her coffee shop and the way it seems exactly like the type of place I'd love to hang out. With a few twists and turns in the story, loveable characters facing very real issues; this is a great read for the holidays.

What drew me to this book first was the cover. It’s really beautiful and, if it weren’t for this review copy, it would have certainly been a „cover-purchase“. But I did also like the blurb and the idea behind the „project“. I think every one of us pretends to be better than we actually are on a regular basis and all of us know the feeling of everybody else having the near-perfect life while you’re struggling to stay on top.
What I liked most were the protagonists and the way they interacted. I could sympathize with them and really feel whether they liked one another or not.
Each chapter is written from the point of view of either of the six protagonists. I really enjoyed the chapters about Monica. She owns a cute and cosy little café and is trying to make life a little better for the people around her. She’s also the one I understood best: the way she felt and worried about certain things and how she likes to look after other people.
One person I very mixed feelings about, on the other hand, was Alice. She’s very self-centred and judges other people easily. I got annoyed with her soon after she’s introduced in the book. She’s always looking at her phone, more worried about what her followers think and see than about her family. But I also felt sorry for her. Alice was very naive about what it’s like to be a mother and she is overwhelmed by caring for a baby on her own.
When it comes to the plot, I liked that a lot of it was unpredictable. I feel like in many books you do know quite early on what is going to happen and how it might end. But The Authenticity Project puts forward a few surprises – some of them really jaw-dropping.
This book is a cosy little read, encouraging us to be more honest with the people surrounding us. It shows how friendships and love can come from opening up. Also, it shows being honest takes a lot of pressure off one’s shoulders to uphold the appearance of having the perfect life.

This is a great book! Julien leaves the Authenticity project in a cafe, where Monica finds it. From there, we are introduced to a whole host of characters, each different and very realistically written. I could relate to them all in some way, as they were so well rounded.

I loved the way that you got some background about each of the new characters and they showed you what the others had written before them.

I don't want to offer any spoilers as this book is such a treat that you'll want to discover it for yourself. Its a nice easy read and I was NOT prepared for the ending.

I look forward to reading more by this talented author. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers for my copy of this book.

It was a good read. Well written and flowed well. You get sucked in right at the beginning and it was hard to put down until it was finished

An old man writes his story and a challenge in an exercise book that he entitles The Authenticity Project. It brings people together and is the spark that has them reassessing their lives, who they really are and what they want. The first of these people is Monica, who owns a cafe on the Fulham Road which becomes the hub of a new community.

I wanted to love this book. I was drawn to the idea of it. Then I was put off by how much it fell into the usual ruts and tropes of romantic fiction, which I know some love but I struggle to engage with. Eventually I enjoyed it for the characters and the cafe. The writing is highly visual and provides a vivid and engaging, if idealised, picture of an urban family and their Fulham home. It’s well-written, warm and feel-good. It’s a strawberry cream of a book. Personally, my taste is for something less sweet but it’s a very good strawberry cream.

The Authenticty Project tells the story of a group of people who are brought together after Julian, a flamboyant artist in his later years, tells his story in a notebook and leaves it for someone else to find. What results is an unlikely friendship group of wonderful, human, flawed people who are perhaps not being their authentic true selves after all. I loved this book. The characters are all so solid, so real, and their stories are all so believable. I found my selves warming to all of them and feel somewhat bereft now they’ve left my life.

I loved the novel idea of this book, that complete strangers would write their true feelings in a notebook and it would pass from an unknown person to person. I really enjoyed the various stories of the characters that wrote in the notebook and I loved how the author brought them all together. I think this could be a real breakout hit of 2020.