The Project

Unfortunately anything I read from Summers will always be compared to Sadie, which was excellent, and this didn't quite measure up. I'd also say this isn't technically YA, as the main character is 19, her sister is 25, everyone else is an adult. Perhaps New Adult, though that designation doesn't seem to be taking off. This book is about cults & religion & their intersection and finding a sense of belonging with a (less than compelling) through line about sibling bonds, but I didn't feel like this story had anything new or fresh to say about any of these topics. Like in Sadie, the story is told in 2 timelines - Bea's sections, which are used to give background to Lo's main story, are told in 3rd person about a year before Lo's sections, which are in first person and present day. The sections for each sister are labled by time, but the transitions within the sections were really jarring with no textual separation, though hopefully that is a fault just in the eARC (read thanks to Netgalley!) text and won't be true in the print edition. I think the main problem was this story hinges on your ability as the reader to be really emotionally invested in Lo and Bea's story and it's outcome as they fall into and out of (maybe) The Unity Project, but I was never emotionally invested and never felt compelled to find out what was happening, because it all seemed inevitable or too convenient/unrealistic. I read through to the end to finish the eARC and not because I was invested in the story, and that's not how I want to feel about a Summers book. I'll will still booktalk this, because I'm very interested to hear teen reactions.

closer to 3.5

This was my first Courtney Summers and wow. The Project is a story about two sisters who get involved with a questionable group which changes both of their lives.

What I adored about this book is how much Summers captivates you. From the beginning, you know something is up with The Project but they remain out of the public eye. Lo is a young journalist trying to connect with her sister while also trying to bring to light the horror of The Project.

We are told the story through both Bea and Lo's eyes.

Overall, I found this to be a really fun book. I mean, as fun as a book about trauma & cults can be.

3.5 stars. A cult. Yes A CULT! Any book that has a cult in it I'm there for. It's a morbid fascination I have with misplaced faith and belief - and The Project started out strongly. A missing sister, a cryptic bible verse, a tragic suicide.

And then the middle fizzled out. Nothing much happened. I could see what was happening to the main protagonist and felt like shaking her just a little bit. It was slightly predictable, and then ......

That ending! Once again, strong and satisfying. I preferred Sadie, but will definitely read Courtney Summers future works.

The Project by Courtney Summers is an interesting book that explores how a cult can destroy families. The main characters' lives are greatly impacted by the influence of a charismatic leader. The book reveals how appealing membership in one of these organizations can be to individuals seeking love and acceptance, but that acceptance comes with a cost.

The main characters in this book are sisters. One sister, Lo, is in a life-threatening accident as a child. Her older sister, Bea, struggles to deal with Lo's accident and its aftermath. She turns to Lev Warren, leader of The Unity Project, to find healing and purpose. By joining the Project, she severs her ties with her sister. Lo does not understand why her sister has left her life and blames the Project for taking Bea from her. Therefore, Lo sets out as a young woman to learn and reveal the truth behind the Project. To do this, she must get close to its leader, which is a risky endeavor.

The premise of this book is interesting and engaging. The delivery is a bit chaotic, though. The story is told in two different timelines from the perspectives of Lo and Bea. It is often not clear at first which sister's storyline is being told at a given moment in the book. Some aspects of the story do not get explained well, either. Overall, I just found myself often confused.

This is one of those books that I find it hard to really like any of the characters. That's not necessarily a problem in the writing. Not all characters are meant to be likable. It just lowers a book's appeal to me in the sense that I will not likely want to pick it up again. I will admit, however, that the cult leader character is very interesting to read and well portrayed. I wish I had enjoyed the two main characters more.

I would recommend this book to fans of fiction that is focused on cults. It portrays that lifestyle and its members in a very engaging and fascinating manner.

I LOVE Courtney Summers and I love cults so when I got an ARC of The Project I was super stoked to check it out. It's definitely a fast-paced thriller–I'd like to re-read this because I was flipping (e)pages so fast to get through it that I would sometimes miss jumps in time and have to circle back. I might wish it had been told a bit more chronologically actually? I hate 2 say it but I think some character development/relationship development was missing in lieu of mystery-building. STILL: extremely engaging!! aaa!

This is a thriller different from others I've read lately and I loved it. It's slower-paced and you know who the villain is, but following Lol as she digs into The Unity Project is interesting.

I've always been intrigued, as I'm sure a lot of us are, with religious cults and how they seem to trap people within their walls. David Koresh. Jim Jones. Charles Manson. Just to name a few. They somehow managed to charm people into their world and people suffered for it.

This was a well thought out and intriguing read of two sisters...one most to The Unity Project and one trying to save her. There were a lot of parts that had me chilled and ice was creeping up my spine ...

I really wanted to love this book. A cult novel by one of my favorite authors? I was so stoked. However, I felt like this book fell flat, especially in the final act. The last third didn't have nearly enough development and it seemed like a series of summarized scenes rather than a fully fleshed-out ending. I did love the characters, the writing and a lot of the emotional exploration in this book but there was so much missing by the end.