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The Project
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Expected 16 Jul 26Modern dating’s a mess. Unfortunately, so are they.
The era-defining romcom from Vogue dating columnist and author of Notes on Heartbreak, Annie Lord.
'Annie Lord is a phenomenal talent' DOLLY ALDERTON
‘If one person knows how to write about modern relationships… it’s Annie Lord’ VICE
Daisy and Maya bounce around the city like they own it, from all-night house parties to sticky-floored smoking areas, drinks in hand.
But after a particularly regrettable one-night stand with her annoying friend James, Daisy starts to look around and wonder why, in a sea of intelligent, gorgeous women, all their prospects seem so hopeless. It’s time for The Project, a radical reinvention of dating, and who better to start with than James?
James may be raw material, but he’s quite happy to go along with Daisy and Maya if it means a little more time alone with Daisy. But falling for James was never part of The Project - can she bring down her walls enough to let someone in? Because she might not find someone perfect, but she might find something real.
The era-defining romcom from Vogue dating columnist and author of Notes on Heartbreak, Annie Lord.
'Annie Lord is a phenomenal talent' DOLLY ALDERTON
‘If one person knows how to write about modern relationships… it’s Annie Lord’ VICE
Daisy and Maya bounce around the city like they own it, from all-night house parties to sticky-floored smoking areas, drinks in hand.
But after a particularly regrettable one-night stand with her annoying friend James, Daisy starts to look around and wonder why, in a sea of intelligent, gorgeous women, all their prospects seem so hopeless. It’s time for The Project, a radical reinvention of dating, and who better to start with than James?
James may be raw material, but he’s quite happy to go along with Daisy and Maya if it means a little more time alone with Daisy. But falling for James was never part of The Project - can she bring down her walls enough to let someone in? Because she might not find someone perfect, but she might find something real.
- GenresRomance
Kindle Edition
Expected publication July 9, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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January 10, 2026I ate this up with a spoon. It feels like a mixture of Dolly Alderton, Mhairi McFarlane, and Bridget Jones, but gen-z. I’m a sucker for a book about a British woman’s juicy crush and fabulous friend. Can you blame a girl?
The characters felt like real people I could meet. Daisy and Maya were fab, but James sparkled. It’s rare to see a fully realized male romantic interest, but here he is. That’s not to say that everyone in this book is perfect—they really, really aren’t—but that made it feel more believable. And the titular project felt breathable, more real-world, which was a relief. While there was a lot more TikTok-level discourse and lingo than I care for, I can’t fault it too much; I ripped through this at a rapid clip. The style was frictionless. And boy did I love that party scene (vision: standalone episode).
Thanks to Harper and NetGalley for the ARC. Writing the first review on here is bananas. I hope this gets buzz!
The characters felt like real people I could meet. Daisy and Maya were fab, but James sparkled. It’s rare to see a fully realized male romantic interest, but here he is. That’s not to say that everyone in this book is perfect—they really, really aren’t—but that made it feel more believable. And the titular project felt breathable, more real-world, which was a relief. While there was a lot more TikTok-level discourse and lingo than I care for, I can’t fault it too much; I ripped through this at a rapid clip. The style was frictionless. And boy did I love that party scene (vision: standalone episode).
Thanks to Harper and NetGalley for the ARC. Writing the first review on here is bananas. I hope this gets buzz!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Probably 3.5 stars. This is a difficult book for me to review because I have such conflicting feelings about it, and I am pretty sure all the things I didn’t like have nothing to do with the quality of the writing, plotting, etc. The author is definitely skilled. Everything in the book felt (painfully) real, including the protagonist’s infuriatingly self-sabotaging behaviour. The titular Project was just as much Daisy as it was James and it was satisfying to see her eventual character growth after becoming so frustrated with her choices for hundreds of pages.
But maybe I am too far removed age-wise to be able to connect with the characters’ lifestyle, because while I found many of Daisy’s insecurities relatable (sadly, they are probably timeless), I was also repelled by some of the uninterrogated lifestyle elements among her cohort: the fake tan and lip filler, the constant recreational Class A drug use, the complete absence of condoms or conversations about protection during casual sex, the expectation that casual sex encounters will mimic the choreography of pornography. It all just seemed so grim. Is this how people in their mid- and late-twenties live now? I too moved to London after my undergraduate degree, and never left, and the experiences of the characters in the book bear almost zero resemblance to my own at that life stage… but perhaps I just wasn’t hanging out in the same circles.
Overall, though, while the book horrified me in many respects, I found it compelling to the point where I read it voraciously over the course of two days. So objectively speaking, it’s probably quite a good book, albeit one that’s a strange blend of gritty realism most of the way through and romcom-style fluff toward the end.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance reader copy.
But maybe I am too far removed age-wise to be able to connect with the characters’ lifestyle, because while I found many of Daisy’s insecurities relatable (sadly, they are probably timeless), I was also repelled by some of the uninterrogated lifestyle elements among her cohort: the fake tan and lip filler, the constant recreational Class A drug use, the complete absence of condoms or conversations about protection during casual sex, the expectation that casual sex encounters will mimic the choreography of pornography. It all just seemed so grim. Is this how people in their mid- and late-twenties live now? I too moved to London after my undergraduate degree, and never left, and the experiences of the characters in the book bear almost zero resemblance to my own at that life stage… but perhaps I just wasn’t hanging out in the same circles.
Overall, though, while the book horrified me in many respects, I found it compelling to the point where I read it voraciously over the course of two days. So objectively speaking, it’s probably quite a good book, albeit one that’s a strange blend of gritty realism most of the way through and romcom-style fluff toward the end.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance reader copy.
December 3, 2025
Thank you Harvill Books & Vintage Books for a proof!
Annie Lord’s The Project examines modern dating through a female perspective as we follow Daisy and her best friend Maya, who navigate their 20s in London. After a regrettable one-night stand with her friend James, Daisy begins to question why she and the intelligent, capable women around her face such limited romantic prospects. This leads to The Project: a structured reinvention of dating, with James serving as her initial test case, as he’s a stereotypical guy with laddish behaviour. As the premise unfolds, Daisy is forced to confront her feelings that intensify during this period.
Daisy is a compelling central figure who often reminds me of a younger Bridget Jones, and the interactions with Maya are marked by feminist discussions and candid exchanges that add depth to their friendship. James is also a great character as he is portrayed as a typical mid-twenties lad, shaped by common gendered assumptions.
This book reminded me of Everything I Know About Love as it’s similar in tone and theme as they both explore feminism, relationships (romantic and platonic), sex, and wider social attitudes. I really enjoyed the fun makeover and ‘friends to lovers’ tropes in this book, especially how it functions more as a mechanism for exploring emotional growth than as a traditional romance plot. An underrated part of the book was when Daisy went back home, and we saw more of her relationship with her mother, which added a lot of warmth to the story for me.
Overall, The Project offers a distinct and refreshing contribution to contemporary fiction. It’s a modern take on a rom-com as it’s a blend of humour and emotional honesty, and if you’re a fan of character-driven narratives that explore the complexities of modern relationships, you’ll love this book, which comes out in July 2026.
For a more in-depth review, here’s the link to my blog: https://sophslibrary.com/2025/12/03/t...
Annie Lord’s The Project examines modern dating through a female perspective as we follow Daisy and her best friend Maya, who navigate their 20s in London. After a regrettable one-night stand with her friend James, Daisy begins to question why she and the intelligent, capable women around her face such limited romantic prospects. This leads to The Project: a structured reinvention of dating, with James serving as her initial test case, as he’s a stereotypical guy with laddish behaviour. As the premise unfolds, Daisy is forced to confront her feelings that intensify during this period.
Daisy is a compelling central figure who often reminds me of a younger Bridget Jones, and the interactions with Maya are marked by feminist discussions and candid exchanges that add depth to their friendship. James is also a great character as he is portrayed as a typical mid-twenties lad, shaped by common gendered assumptions.
This book reminded me of Everything I Know About Love as it’s similar in tone and theme as they both explore feminism, relationships (romantic and platonic), sex, and wider social attitudes. I really enjoyed the fun makeover and ‘friends to lovers’ tropes in this book, especially how it functions more as a mechanism for exploring emotional growth than as a traditional romance plot. An underrated part of the book was when Daisy went back home, and we saw more of her relationship with her mother, which added a lot of warmth to the story for me.
Overall, The Project offers a distinct and refreshing contribution to contemporary fiction. It’s a modern take on a rom-com as it’s a blend of humour and emotional honesty, and if you’re a fan of character-driven narratives that explore the complexities of modern relationships, you’ll love this book, which comes out in July 2026.
For a more in-depth review, here’s the link to my blog: https://sophslibrary.com/2025/12/03/t...
Review of advance copy received from Author
I've been describing this book to everyone I know as a "a chick flick but nuanced", and after finishing it I still believe this to be true. The story is exactly as "girliepop" as you could possibly want from a book titled The Project, but it has so much more substance than your average, surface-level, 3-star rom-com and really makes you think about the state of modern dating, the patriarchy and the emotional labour of women. Annie Lord writes her fiction exactly as she writes her non-fiction - with her instantly recognisable voice, surprising humour and oodles and oodles of relatability. I have rarely read a fiction book that has made me reflect more deeply on myself and that has sparked so many conversations between myself and my own partner about our dynamic, and with my (female) friends about their relationships too.
Reading this also made me realise that I've never had an original thought and I feel comforted in the knowledge that all of the things I struggle with about myself and in my relationships are truly normal and that I am walking the same well-trodden path that many women navigating their 20s have walked before me. Thank you Annie, this was a genuine delight and I can't wait to read more wonderful books by you in the future!
Reading this also made me realise that I've never had an original thought and I feel comforted in the knowledge that all of the things I struggle with about myself and in my relationships are truly normal and that I am walking the same well-trodden path that many women navigating their 20s have walked before me. Thank you Annie, this was a genuine delight and I can't wait to read more wonderful books by you in the future!
January 12, 2026
Fair warning: The Project really got me. I went into it already knowing how much I absolutely loved Notes on Heartbreak. the flow, the honesty and the way it felt like Annie Lord had somehow crawled into my brain and this just confirmed it for me. All her books are painfully, beautifully relatable.
The high expectations I had.. it delivered. Reading it genuinely felt like I was scrolling through my own memories, my own thoughts, my own patterns, as if my life had been laid out on the page but written better that I ever could. That mix of vulnerability, self-awareness, longing, and reflection is just so her and it works every time.
There is something about the way Annie writes that feels intimate without trying too hard, you're not just reading a story, you're inside it. Inside her head, but also weirdly, inside your own. If you ever loved deeply, lost yourself a bit, questioned everything or just sat with your feelings for a little too long then this will resonate! Another Annie Lord book, another reminder of why her writing feels like being understood. Highly recommend.
The high expectations I had.. it delivered. Reading it genuinely felt like I was scrolling through my own memories, my own thoughts, my own patterns, as if my life had been laid out on the page but written better that I ever could. That mix of vulnerability, self-awareness, longing, and reflection is just so her and it works every time.
There is something about the way Annie writes that feels intimate without trying too hard, you're not just reading a story, you're inside it. Inside her head, but also weirdly, inside your own. If you ever loved deeply, lost yourself a bit, questioned everything or just sat with your feelings for a little too long then this will resonate! Another Annie Lord book, another reminder of why her writing feels like being understood. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews