While the writing on this was great for a debut, I really struggled with connecting to a character like Bennet. I found her too unlikable from the get go and I wasn't interested in seeing where her story went. However, Henry was great and I loved the NYC vibes. This ended up not being for me, but I think it was personal preference and can see this book finding its audience.

This book!! It is beautifully written and the characters are so charming and you feel so deeply for them you will find yourself having a hard time moving on after you finish this book. Highly recommend and cannot wait to read more by this author!

I simply was not prepared to cry the way I did reading this book. One thing about me, a story about grief and healing is always going to get me.

Bennet’s grief was realistic and relatable, as was her healing. Neither are linear, nor are they always pretty (or comfortable to read). And Henry – sweet, lovable Henry! I loved them, their banter, their adventures.

What I didn’t love? That third act conflict. I was so deeply anxious and uncomfortable reading it, I actually wanted to crawl out of my skin.

Bonus points for the Pride & Prejudice and Criminal Minds references.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking for the eARC, even if I did read it after it was published. 😅

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC copy.

I really enjoyed this so much. It gave such a good look into what it is like to grieve but also have to get up and continue to survive at the same time. I think we can or will all relate to that at some point. I found this to be such an endearing love story filled with hope and pain and romance. It was a genuine slow burn, friends to lovers (so glad more people are doing justice to that trope in romance) that made me laugh and swoon and also feel very emotional.

Wow, what an incredible debut from London Sperry! She tackles the difficult subject and feelings of grief so beautifully, weaving in such a lovely romance between Harry and Bennett. I adored this book and can't wait to see what comes next!

I really liked this book!! At times it was predictable, but that’s why I love these types of books because I know that it’s always going to work out. I really enjoyed only having the main characters point of view and it not switching back and forth. I would recommend this!!

I enjoyed this so much more than I expected. I thought both main characters were super relatable and I wanted to keep turning the page to see what happened!

Passion Project is the kind of book that wraps you in charm and emotional honesty from the very first page. Bennet Taylor is an achingly real protagonist—grappling with grief, stagnation, and the quiet heartbreak of feeling disconnected from the vibrancy everyone says your twenties should bring. Her self-deprecating humor and quiet yearning make her easy to root for.

Enter Henry Adams, the literal “right guy at the wrong time,” whose reaction to being stood up is not frustration, but empathy and generosity. Their “passion project”—a weekly challenge to try something new in New York City—is both hilarious and deeply moving. From messy pottery to adrenaline-pumping rappelling, each activity peels back Bennet’s layers of numbness with care and delight.

What makes this story shine is its refusal to rush Bennet’s healing. The romantic tension simmers naturally alongside her personal growth, and when feelings start to deepen between her and Henry, it feels earned. The banter sparkles, the pacing is just right, and the emotional arcs are handled with grace.

My problem with this book is that Bennet is so deeply unlikeable. But Henry is sooooo lovable. So I kept it at 3 stars for Henry. But man, the way she is completely unable to consider other people’s feelings is ROUGH and a hard POV to be reading. I do understand what grief does to a person, but I kinda think Henry deserves better (and so does everyone else). I hope she really does heal! I don’t understand all the hype for this one.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a great representation of grief and how it changes parts of who you are as a person.
I loved the chemistry between the mmc and the fmc. They had a great friends to lovers arch. I thought they both grew in a great way, She was able to move past her loss in such a healthy way

I devoured this book, it gave me all the 2000s romcom feels while also touching upon on the effects of grief. I loved how the FMC grows and heals because the MMC gives her the space to do so, how he's so patient in meeting her where she is even if that means just being friends ;) I will say I had to deduct .5 stars for the way the conflict was handled I feel like the FMC put the MMC in a tough position and instead of communicating like she had been at this point in the story; she willing sabotaged their relationship under the guise of her still grieving. I was expecting her to realize her mistake and just confess right then and there. But overall I absolutely loved this and will definitely be adding this author to my list of favorite authors.

If I were to base my rating solely on the characters and their interactions, this book would be 1 star. But I did like the author's writing style and the idea behind the story. It was an interesting premise: trying to help someone that is stuck in life due to grief, by finding thins that she can be passionate about. So, they go to little adventures and she starts openning up more.
But I hated Bennet. I can understand her being depressed about what happened and lashing out on people. But even when the book indicates that she's starting to heal, she keeps being mean, selfish, and unbearable. And I'm so done with the quirky characters; they just don't feel real. She's just so quirky, special, and unique when she's not in pain! Isn't she wonderful? Oh, no. She feels like a little kid trying to get everyone's attention all the time. I just couldn't stand her and her inner monologue. By trying to make her lovable by amping up the quirk to 2000% she just annoyed me a lot. Just be a person, a whole one, with some quirks but also with other characteristics.
Henry is just there. Yeah, he's written to be extremely charming and helpful. But that's it. I didn't feel anything for him. I just wanted for him to get away from Bennet and find someone better.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

This book felt like it was written for me. It was everything I didn't know I needed! I absolutely adore Bennet and Henry and am so thankful that the author brought these characters into my life. It was such a good slow burn romance and had many tender moments that had my heart bursting! Bennet was frustrating at times, but in a way that felt painfully realistic for anyone who has had to figure their life out unexpectedly.

Passion Project is a debut romance novel about navigating prolonged grief, opening yourself to new possibilities, and the hopefulness of finding a spark and igniting passion. Bennet is struggling to move past the death of her former boyfriend and begin dating. After standing up a date, she runs into the ditched date, Henry, at the restaurant where she was hiding out. Henry decides to help her (as a friend) find her zest for life again, calling it a “passion project.”

I am always happy to encounter a unique plot in a romance novel. Passion Project promised an uplifting, hopeful journey moving past grief and into love. However, I did not feel like the execution quite hit the mark, resulting in a less-than-convincing courtship.

Beyond the book’s concept, I enjoyed the adventures Bennet and Henry embarked on as part of the passion project, although I was skeptical how a few of them would help Bennet find a passion. London Sperry leads readers through Manhattan and expertly describes how the city makes you feel. Yet, I felt like the physical descriptions of locations are a bit lacking, making it difficult to picture them if you are unfamiliar with the locales. (Also, Passion Project is seemingly supposed to take place in the summer. Where was the sweat and stink? Depicting New York in the summer as romantic and not sticky is laughable. The biggest romance happening in the summer is between New Yorkers and either air conditioning or their summer getaways (Fire Island, the Hamptons, etc.). IYKYK.)

My qualms about Passion Project really come down to the romance and the characters. I never found the romance believable since it felt like a small subplot, pushed aside by Bennet’s grief, guilt, and personal growth. Consequently, when the romance did take center stage, it seemed force between two people who were mismatched and not at the same place in their lives. This is partially because the resolution is incredibly rushed. The conflict is resolved very suddenly, without showing the emotional work it would require. A dissatisfying resolution led to an underwhelming ending with no emotional payoff.

This brings me to Henry and Bennet’s characterization. I had no issue with either as characters, but there were several points where I asked myself if they were well matched. Bennet was quite selfish and closed off while Henry was exceedingly nice and mature (which is also difficult to buy into knowing single men in this city). I would have preferred dual points-of-view to at least understand how Henry was falling for this self-absorbed woman who needed therapy. (I will admit to being a bit judge-y about her grief and her protracted inaction regarding working through it.) The result was that I never emotionally invested in the characters or their friendship-turned-love-story.

Overall, Passion Project is a decent debut novel with a unique premise that fell short on execution. I would recommend it for those who are about enjoying the journey more than the ending and who can look past a character’s flaws.

Kinda sweet, but mostly unremarkable.

Since PASSION PROJECT had already published when I read my ARC, I ended up physically reading about half the time and listening to the audio version for the other half. Although this is an ARC review, I need to mention it because I never would’ve made it through this book if not for the audio. The plot is slow and there are no surprises.

One thing PASSION PROJECT does have: angst. Our FMC, Bennet, is a mess. Not the usual “I’m so quirky, what is my life” FMC I’m used to seeing in romances, either. Homegirl is an actual trainwreck. In the years following the death of her boyfriend, Sam, Bennet has pushed away everyone she loves and is barely scraping by. She self sabotages in a way that actually makes this uncomfortable to read, which was refreshing at first, but ultimately tanked the book for me. It took far too long for her to experience any growth, and imo the “third act conflict” goes way too far. The way she treats Henry is so awful that I had no desire to see her get a happy ending, and I really had to force myself to finish.

Which brings me to our MMC. Henry is the best thing about this book, and it’s not even close. He’s a bit of a manic pixie dream boy, if we’re being honest, but I’m gonna let it slide because without Henry this would’ve been a one-star read. JUSTICE FOR HENRY.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was so unexpectedly emotional and powerful. I anticipated romance and a message that will stay with the reader but I wasn't expecting to be so immersed in the story that I felt present. I don't know much about NYC but the train/travel aspect was fun to experience in this way too most of the time.

I really tested just how water resistant my kindle is while reading this. I cannot believe this was a debut, it was so freaking good!

This book was so sweet! Another book about picking yourself up after terrible grief, I found this one to be really lovely with its descriptions of New York. I really enjoyed the friend characters, the premise and the ending. Highly recommend this romance!

this book is a phenomenal debut, accurately going through the 5 stages of grief, bennet frustrated me but I also saw so much of myself in her. the rough parts were truly handled so well. passion project being about letting in light and love and new things is such a beautiful message. this was funny, romantic and deeply emotional. I adored the audiobook, it added such an immersive different layer. alex finke is so talented.

This book had me in a chokehold from the very beginning. I couldn’t put it down—it broke my heart and gently stitched it back together. Passion Project is the beautiful, emotional story of Bennet and Henry... and in many ways, also of Bennet and the love she lost.

Bennet is navigating deep grief and depression, compounded by anxiety and a sense of aimlessness. She’s lost her passion and is simply existing—until Henry enters the picture. Henry is a naturally empathetic guy, someone who needs to help others feel better, partly because he can’t always do that for his own father.

This book doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff—it dives headfirst into grief, depression, and anxiety, but still manages to be a profoundly real romance filled with tenderness, healing, and hope. At times, it felt so emotionally raw and intimate, it almost stopped being a romance and felt like women's fiction (BTW I hate that term).

Now, fantasy girlies, listen up—especially if you’re a fan of the "Throne of Glass" series. I’m not spoiling anything by sharing part of the blurb:

“If your twenties are supposed to be the best years of your life, Bennet Taylor is failing miserably . . . with a big emphasis on the miserable. Where’s that zest she keeps hearing about? She’s a temp worker in New York City with no direction, no future, and no social life. And at the painful center of this listlessness is grief over the death of her first love.”

Okay before you continue ***this here is a spoiler for Throne of Glass, if you haven’t read it skip***


I warned you.


Bennet’s lost love is named 'Sam'. Yeah, that Sam. If you know, you know. I was crying from page one. For me, this book felt like a grounded, real-world fan fiction love letter to the Sam-Celaena-Rowan dynamic, and it hit me in the best and most bittersweet way.

So please, run and get a copy—you’ll thank me.

This book is for you if you like:
- Friends-to-lovers dynamics
- He falls first
- Exploring grief and emotional healing
- Deep character development
- A love letter to New York City
- Found family and meaningful friendship
- That TOG's *Sam-Celaena-Rowan* energy in contemporary form

Thank you to Penguin Books and the author for this ARC