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A review by alex_readsbooks
Passion Project by London Sperry
4.0
As far as debut novels go, this was a rebound: almost a slam dunk, but something hit a little wrong that prevented it from making it in the basket. (I don't play basketball so that could be totally off lmao but you get the idea.) Bennet's struggle in trying to work through the grief of her first love is the part that really shines in this book. The romance was lacking just a little but Henry was a great love interest; great communication, good banter, and truly just doesn't beat around the bush.
The beginning of the book is so relatable as I feel like every 20-something year-old has been in the situations where you just can't seem to keep it together. And when Henry is introduced? Man the banter and chemistry was off the page. The friendships she was learning to cultivate in Jamie and Sal as well as nurturing the friendship with Sonya that had fallen to the wayside were some of my favorite parts of the book.
The end of the book is where it gets a little ehhhh for me. The last 25% of the book I just couldn't understand Bennet. Perhaps it's because I've never had to deal with the loss of a partner, but it just felt like she had done so much growing up to that point that the end didn't make as much sense to me. POSSIBLE SPOILERS NOW. By the time for the big wedding happened, I just felt Bennet was almost purposely making decisions that she knew would hurt everyone around her and herself. I get her grief was probably blinding her judgement, but none of it felt like the right call in any scenario.
While I'm glad that Bennet and Henry found their way back to each other the way that they did, I do think Bennet needed to give them both more time after the falling out. I think she should've taken more time to really build herself back up again after finally acknowledging and starting to move on from her grief before chasing after Henry. I think they just needed a bit more time (um like maybe at least a few months instead of a couple of weeks?) for her to really grow.
The beginning of the book is so relatable as I feel like every 20-something year-old has been in the situations where you just can't seem to keep it together. And when Henry is introduced? Man the banter and chemistry was off the page. The friendships she was learning to cultivate in Jamie and Sal as well as nurturing the friendship with Sonya that had fallen to the wayside were some of my favorite parts of the book.
The end of the book is where it gets a little ehhhh for me. The last 25% of the book I just couldn't understand Bennet. Perhaps it's because I've never had to deal with the loss of a partner, but it just felt like she had done so much growing up to that point that the end didn't make as much sense to me. POSSIBLE SPOILERS NOW. By the time for the big wedding happened, I just felt Bennet was almost purposely making decisions that she knew would hurt everyone around her and herself. I get her grief was probably blinding her judgement, but none of it felt like the right call in any scenario.
While I'm glad that Bennet and Henry found their way back to each other the way that they did, I do think Bennet needed to give them both more time after the falling out. I think she should've taken more time to really build herself back up again after finally acknowledging and starting to move on from her grief before chasing after Henry. I think they just needed a bit more time (um like maybe at least a few months instead of a couple of weeks?) for her to really grow.