Scan barcode
A review by feliciarene
The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley
3.0
3.5*
The Authenticity Project starts with just that - a green notebook with the same title, mysteriously left behind by an older gentleman for Monica, a café owner, to find. Inside, it poses the question: What if we told the truth about our lives? From here, the notebook travels from person-to-person, from place-to-place, until it ultimately touches the lives of six people in the Fulham neighbourhood of London. From there, a group of Londoners - and one Australian - connect and form a group mismatched but loyal friends, as they come to grips with the secrets they have all entered into the little notebook.
One of the first things I noticed in this novel was the paragraph-jumping. From paragraph-to-paragraph, the narrative jumps through hours or days without much of an evident transition. For instance, instead of saying "later that day," the writing would just jump forward in time and as the reader, I felt that I was often struggling to keep up or determine when in time the scene is taking place. For me, that was really disorienting as it distracted from the overall fluidity of the story.
I wasn't sure if this novel took a feminist perspective or not, which was one of my primary issues. Monica's story was a little contradictory to me. On one hand, she idolizes Emmeline Pankhurst and speaks about being a strong female in a male-driven society. Then on the other hand, there's a lot of discussion on how Monica needs a husband. She doesn't regard her accomplishments as being very worthwhile, because they're not related to marriage or family, but the other characters are also unusually invested in Monica's romantic life. There's even mention of how Monica's strong personality traits are threatening or off-putting to men. Yikes. While I respected the message that Monica could have great ambitions and also have a husband and family, I think that essence was lost and rediscovered one too many times throughout the novel.
I thought the overall message of the novel, however, was lovely and thought-provoking. As a society, we've established a collective mindset where we feel we can only show the best version of ourselves and of our lives. The Authenticity Project challenges the idea that we need to keep all of our secrets to ourselves. And on the flip side of the coin, it challenges us to not be so quick to judge others for the version of themselves that they allow us to see.
This was a perfectly enjoyable novel! I had a few mixed feelings, but overall, I found it to be interesting and entertaining. The novel ended on what I thought was a good note. It wrapped everything up nicely and I think that everyone - particularly Julian - got the closure they needed.
I received this ARC for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Full Review: Link
Blog | Instagram | Twitter
The Authenticity Project starts with just that - a green notebook with the same title, mysteriously left behind by an older gentleman for Monica, a café owner, to find. Inside, it poses the question: What if we told the truth about our lives? From here, the notebook travels from person-to-person, from place-to-place, until it ultimately touches the lives of six people in the Fulham neighbourhood of London. From there, a group of Londoners - and one Australian - connect and form a group mismatched but loyal friends, as they come to grips with the secrets they have all entered into the little notebook.
One of the first things I noticed in this novel was the paragraph-jumping. From paragraph-to-paragraph, the narrative jumps through hours or days without much of an evident transition. For instance, instead of saying "later that day," the writing would just jump forward in time and as the reader, I felt that I was often struggling to keep up or determine when in time the scene is taking place. For me, that was really disorienting as it distracted from the overall fluidity of the story.
I wasn't sure if this novel took a feminist perspective or not, which was one of my primary issues. Monica's story was a little contradictory to me. On one hand, she idolizes Emmeline Pankhurst and speaks about being a strong female in a male-driven society. Then on the other hand, there's a lot of discussion on how Monica needs a husband. She doesn't regard her accomplishments as being very worthwhile, because they're not related to marriage or family, but the other characters are also unusually invested in Monica's romantic life. There's even mention of how Monica's strong personality traits are threatening or off-putting to men. Yikes. While I respected the message that Monica could have great ambitions and also have a husband and family, I think that essence was lost and rediscovered one too many times throughout the novel.
I thought the overall message of the novel, however, was lovely and thought-provoking. As a society, we've established a collective mindset where we feel we can only show the best version of ourselves and of our lives. The Authenticity Project challenges the idea that we need to keep all of our secrets to ourselves. And on the flip side of the coin, it challenges us to not be so quick to judge others for the version of themselves that they allow us to see.
This was a perfectly enjoyable novel! I had a few mixed feelings, but overall, I found it to be interesting and entertaining. The novel ended on what I thought was a good note. It wrapped everything up nicely and I think that everyone - particularly Julian - got the closure they needed.
I received this ARC for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Full Review: Link
Blog | Instagram | Twitter