#BlogTour: The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley @cpooleywriter @TransworldBooks @annecater #TheAuthenticityProject #RandomThingsTours

Book Synopsis:

Six strangers with one universal thing in common: their lives aren’t always what they make them out to be.

What would happen if they told the truth instead?

Julian Jessop is tired of hiding the deep loneliness he feels. So he begins The Authenticity Project – a small green notebook containing the truth about his life.

Leaving the notebook on a table in his friendly neighbourhood café, Julian never expects Monica, the owner, to track him down after finding it. Or that she’ll be inspired to write down her own story.

Little do they realize that such small acts of honesty hold the power to impact all those who discover the notebook and change their lives completely.

The Authenticity Project is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

This was an absolutely wonderful book, with a unique and original storyline which manages to be very thought provoking.

Firstly I loved the idea behind the book so much that I quite fancy trying it out for myself. We are all so keen to have this picture perfect life that we end up stressing ourselves out when things don’t go perfectly. I’ve often wondered how much better life would be if we were just honest about things as it would save a lot of trouble. I therefore found it very interesting to explore this idea through the characters and see how things could be changed.

The story is written from the point of view of six characters, which may sound confusing but they are each so different to each other that it’s easy to keep track of them all. I grew very fond of them throughout the book and so enjoyed going on the journey with them. Each of the characters are dealing with a difficult problem which they were struggling with and trying to work through. I thought this done in a very clever way as the author manages to bring up the subjects in a relatable way which made the characters seem more realistic.

Overall I really enjoyed this book which manages to be both heartwarming and funny but serious at times as there are some quite poignant moments too. The characters felt like old friends by the end and I found myself feeling quite sad when the book finished and I had to leave them behind. I’d love a sequel to this book as it would be great to visit all the characters again.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Transworld for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

About The Author:

Clare Pooley graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge and spent twenty years in the heady world of advertising, where the line between authenticity and fiction is constantly blurred, before becoming a full-time mum. She is the author of the hugely popular blog, Mummy was a Secret Drinker, under the pseudonym Sober Mummy and her memoir, The Sober Diaries was published in 2017 to critical acclaim. Her blog has had over two million hits and her TEDx talk, Making Sober Less Shameful, has had over 110,000 views.

Clare’s debut novel The Authenticity Project is inspired by her decision to expose the rather grubby truth about her seemingly perfect life in her memoir.

Clare writes from her kitchen table in Fulham, London where she lives with her long-suffering husband, three children, dog and an African pygmy hedgehog.