I gotta be honest, this was... really disappointing. I was so excited to read this one after Sadie blew me out of the water, but this one really missed the mark for me. I actually read this twice, once via audio and then another time physically because I was really struggling to connect to or process the importance of things that were happening, but ultimately I came out of it both times feeling like the story was a little... undercooked? This wasn't terrible, but it didn't work for me the way I was hoping it would and I am real bummed about it.

CW: death of a loved one, emotional/physical abuse, gaslighting

"He tells me to stand."

I never thought these five words, written this way, would give me such chills, but after reading The Project, I will never look at them the same way.

Courtney Summers is a pro at writing complicated characters who have experienced a lot of pain and who push through that pain to get answers. To try to resolve or at least figure out WHY.

Lo knows that The Unity Project—a cult—has irrevocably damaged her family, and she needs to find her sister Bea, who disappeared into this cult years ago. But along the way, Lo gets caught up herself, and the danger and horror are so palpable that I wanted to slam the book shut while also furiously turning the pages.

Of course, I was screaming at Lo to stop everything, but then again, where would the story be if she had? Holy cow. Months later, I'm still thinking of those words. All those words.

From the very first moment that I heard of The Project by Courtney Summers, I knew I had to read it. Summers’ Canadian YA novels have always spoken to me. However, her last novel, Sadie, was better than anything she’d ever done, and I made an educated guess that her craft would continually improve with her latest novel. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Lo Denham is used to being on her own. When her parents died in a car accident, her older sister Bea joined The Unity Project, leaving Lo in the care of their estranged aunt. Thanks to their extensive charity work and community outreach, The Unity Project has won the hearts and minds of many in upstate New York, but Lo knows there is more to the group than meets the eye. And she’s spent the last six years attempting to prove it. When a man shows up at the magazine where Lo works claiming that The Unity Project killed his son, Lo sees it as the perfect opportunity to expose the group and reunite with her sister as well. Her investigation puts her in the direct path of The Unity Project’s leader, Lev Warren, and as Lo delves deeper into the The Project and the lives of its members, it upends everything she thought she knew about her sister, herself, cults, and the world around her—to the point where she can no longer tell what’s real or true. Lo never thought she could afford to believe in Lev Warren…but now she doesn’t know if she can afford not to.

The Project tells the story of two sisters, Bea and Lo Denham, in two main timelines. The one timeline runs from 2011-2013 and tells the story from Bea’s POV, and the other, from 2017-2018, tells Lo’s POV. Even if I wasn’t a huge fan of Summers’ writing, anyone who knows me would know I’d be interested in reading a novel about sisters who have been raised with the idea that “Having a sister is a promise no one but the two of you can make—and no one but the two of you can break.” Because like Bea and Lo, I’m a sister in a sister-sister relationship. Because of this, I can tell you that Summers demonstrates a fundamental understanding of what it means to be the sister of another sister. She also demonstrates how, when things change in this relationship, it is felt as a profound betrayal by one or both of the sisters. Even when the change, in the case of The Project, came about because of a desire by Bea to protect her little sister.

By weaving together two, parallel timelines, Summers puts her readers into the uncomfortable position of seeing how both Bea and Lo come under the influence of The Unity Project and Lev Warren. It’s especially poignant when it happens to Lo because she has, for years, been critical of The Project and the way they have isolated her from her older sister. When Lev Warren gaslights Lo to destabilize her sense of self and reality, she begins to question everything she thought she knew. As an outsider, the reader is able to question and see what both Bea and Lo can’t, but even when they can tell that what Bea and Lo learn to believe is flawed, they can empathize with why Bea and Lo believe these things. In this way, Summers brilliantly develops a delicate balance between making the reader uncomfortable seeing the characters she creates fall for the lies Lev tells, but also allowing us to understand and empathize with why they are susceptible to his lies. Readers may recognize that, like Bea and Lo, under the right circumstances, we might also be susceptible to a charismatic person like Lev.

In bookish circles, Summers is known for destroying her readers. Her books have many difficult situations, and not gonna lie, it’s hard to see Bea and Lo go through the things that they go through. Some of the things that happen in The Project are absolutely devastating and horrifying. These are things that no one should ever have to go through. Yet, even as Summers takes her readers to some really dark places in The Project, there is a sense of hope at the end of it. It’s not the kind of thriller with a WTF moment at the end that makes you feel uncomfortable and unsure of how to feel. It is a story where characters go through some horrendous things. Yet there is a sense that those who make it to the other side have a chance to heal and have a hope of a full future, which isn’t the case in many other novels I’ve read before.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Summers also demonstrates a complex and believable representation of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, through Lo’s character. Throughout the novel, there are scenes when Lo wakes up from terrible nightmares about a shadowed man in her room at the hospital even though her accident happened six years earlier. It represents the way that past traumas will continually affect those who have experienced it in the present moment. Similarly, there are some difficult scenes in which Lo experiences a traumatic event that closely parallels some of her past traumas. Through these scenes, Summers demonstrates how Lo finds herself psychologically in both the past and the present simultaneously after being triggered by something that is reminiscent of her traumatic past. While this may be triggering to some readers, I’m certain that others will find this representation of PTSD relatable.

If you’re looking for a book that will surprise you while being a compelling and fast read, then you need to pick up The Project. That is, if you haven’t already.

I have read about 15 religious cult type fiction novels in my life and they just get cringier and cringier. While this book did have the cult, it also had a mystery/murder aspect to it. Sometimes I was confused but for the most part I really actually enjoyed this book.

If you have any interest in cults, READ THIS BOOK NOW! I had never read any of Courtney Summers's work but I will be reading everything she has written now. This book would even work well for adults but is not to violent or vulgar for teens. I did not see any of the plot twists coming and I caught myself starting to fall for Lev. Summers is a magnificent author. READ HER.

<i>Sadie</i>, the 2018 novel from Courtney Summers, is a gripping novel about an older sister out to avenge the murder of her younger sister. I’ve recommended <i>Sadie</i> to many young readers who have been just as captivated by it as I was. Summers’s new novel <i>The Project</i> also deals with two sisters, but it is a less satisfying reading experience.

Sisters Bea and Lo are orphaned early in life. After yet another tragedy strikes, the older sister Bea falls prey to a charismatic religious cult leader. Lo wants to be a writer, and is eventually embroiled with an erratic magazine publisher. As Lo investigates Bea’s involvement with The Project, she discovers that the seemingly altruistic cult has some dark secrets.

<i>The Project</i> suffers from a lack of atmosphere and clarity. Except for one episode near the end, the novel doesn’t really have a mood, just a sequence of events with a needlessly muddled timeline and indistinct narrative voices. If this book is intended for the young adult market, it misses its target with main characters who are first too young and then too old to connect with teen readers. Maybe there is a niche audience for <i>The Project</i>, but I can’t think of a single young reader who I would suggest read this book, especially when <i>Sadie</i> is such an appealing alternative.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an early look at this novel in exchange for my honest review.

The Project is a YA novel I'd recommend to anyone who is interested in reading about cults. Courtney Summers weaves a gripping, emotional tale about two sisters, Lo and Bea, who have not spoken to each other in years. This book moves at just the right pace, drawing you in with both the mystery of the Unity Project and the reader's growing hope that the two sisters will find their way back to each other. This is a darker story of trauma and manipulation that will stay with me.

I found this book tedious. Very slow to get started. Around halfway through the plot picked up and it at least captured my interest, but I didn’t find myself caring much about the characters. Most of the plot twists were pretty predictable. Did not live up to my post-Sadie expectations.

I absolutely loved Sadie so when I heard Courtney Summers was coming out with another book, I couldn’t wait. Particularly when I found out that it was about cults. Unfortunately, The Project didn’t quite work for me. I was expecting a more action-filled, propulsive thriller when this is really more of a character-based novel.

However, I did enjoy reading The Project. The relationship between Lo and Bea was beautifully written and I loved how both characters grew over the course of the novel. Plus, Summers did a great job of writing a charismatic leader for the cult and showing how people were slowly sucked into that life. And I loved how she showed the darker side of cults and how difficult it is for people to leave.

Overall, I liked The Project as a book, but I think I would absolutely love it as a movie/TV show since so many of the scenes would translate beautifully to the screen.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

Although I would recommend this book to students who are interested in reading about the impacts of cults on familial relationships and on ones ownself, I did not finish this book because of the narration style.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. There were times I couldn’t put it down, times it felt as if it was dragging on, times I was disgusted and times I was happy. Feeling all over the map doesn’t make it easy to decide if I loved it or hated it. I did read it in a day, so there’s that!

*Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to read a review this ARC*

I'm a little late on my ARCs but I definitely think a review is better late than never. The Project by Courtney Summers is about two sisters, Lo and Bea that get caught up in what appears to be a religious cult called The Unity Project. When Lo was young, she was in a horrific car accident leaving her fighting for her life. When leader of The Project, Lev Warren, visited her in the hospital and miraculously healed her, Bea leaves to join The Unity Project. Years later, after a story in regards to The Project crosses Lo while at work, she decides it's time to take the story and find Bea.

This story had great promise, unfortunately I felt it was slow, boring and anticlimactic. I had high hopes for it because I absolutely loved the book Sadie also by Courtney Summers, but this one just didn't do it for me. I'm giving it 3⭐ because it left me with just enough curiosity to push through.

As with her other titles, Summers writes this tale in a unique voice. Tortured, sad, and very real - the story winds its way through a plot that you know will not end in a happily ever after, but will leave you satisfied all the same.

While I wish we readers could get the details that are left out, you know it's purposeful. It's part of the experience that is The Project. You must rely on a little faith, a little imagination, a lot of wonder. And it all just feels right.

This book was a struggle for me. I didn't love the writing style, and I found the characters to be so unlikeable. I didn't like, but more importantly, I didn't understand their choices. I was truly happy to be finished with this one. I think there are readers out there that will enjoy it, but it wasn't right for me.

Unfortunately, I was unable to read this before it was archived. As a fan of Courtney Summers, I'll definitely be purchasing and hopefully be able to provide a review once finishing it.

SADIE gripped me and wrecked me and Summers’s latest followed in the same vein. I’m a sucker for a good cult story and I love how well Summers can put together a believable and yet, unresolved, ending. She’s officially an auto buy author for me. I can’t remember the last time I devoured a book like this. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Project follows Gloria “Lo” Denham as she struggles to discover the truth about a group (cult) that her sister is involved with.

This book does a good job at showing how some organization may mean well, can still be bad and do bad things to people. It also did a good job at showing how organizations gaslight the “vulnerable” and what vulnerability can look like to different people.

This was by no mean my favorite Courtney Summers book, but I do think that she did a good job explaining how a modern-day cult could work without going to the extremes of one like in Midsommar. She wrote a realistic modern-day cult and showed how even the best and brightest people would struggle to not want to believe in it.

A good takeaway message from this, is to always check in on friends and loved ones. One thing abusers and “cults” and cult-like organizations like to do is make sure people are separated from those they love through trivial acts. It was sad to see all of the things that were happening to Lo that could have happened in real life that she got blamed for.

I wasn't familiar with this author, but the cover was very intriguing. Unfortunately, this one was a little too slow-moving for me, and I DNF the book. Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to check it out!

I picked up this book because any time there is a mystery with a cult at the heart of it, my interest skyrockets. I wouldn't say that I didn't like this book, but I think I went in with extremely high expectations and the book just wasn't what I expected. I didn't have a strong connection to any of the main characters, and I think this led to feeling less connected to the book overall. I was never bored reading it, and I very much wanted to find out the secrets behind what has become of Bea, but it was primarily to get a sense of closure rather than caring about what happened to the characters. I was also somewhat puzzled by the ending, which I believe was intentional, but overall didn't leave me feeling any more connected to the story and the characters. I think there is absolutely an audience for it, and I just might not be one of those people this time around!