Ok I gave this book another try. For some reason I had a hard time with some of the content in this book and kept comparing it to her first book.

I tried again and found it really interesting. The cult storyline is fascinating and how family will do anything for one another. I think I just needed to be in the right spot for this book.

This story follows Lo in the present and Bea in the past. After Lo was in a tragic car accident that left both their parents dead, Bea’s grief causes her to join The Unity Project. 6 years later Lo is working for SVO (a magazine) and sees a project member commit suicide at a train station causing her to dig in to the Project and resume her search for her sister.

As with most books that have multiple perspectives, I did favor one over the other, however that said, I enjoyed reading from both sisters’ POV. It was easy to see and understand their motivations even if some of their decisions were frustrating.

The end felt a little unfinished. By the end I mean the transition from part 4 to part 5. It felt like there should have been more in there, like a whole chapter was missing before part 5 started. The way it just scoots over to part 5 was a bit jarring and kind of lost the gravitas of what we just read at the end of part 4. I will say though, that regarding the ending, the final line left my heart in pieces.

At it’s heart this is a story about the bond between sisters and the decisions grief can cause you to make. This is a book that will make you angry and break your heart. I’m thankful for the ride it took me on.

The first 10% of the book pulled me in, but then it hit a point where I just couldn’t get into it again. It started to get weird and I got a bit confused and couldn’t recover my reading experience.

I feel like this book definitely has it’s audience, but I am not it.

Courtney Summers new novel The Project is a glimpse on a modern cult. Lo is desperately searching for information on her sister, Bea, who joined a cult, The Unity Project, after their parents died in a car crash. A wanna-be reporter, Lo is longing to not only prove to her boss that she can be a big time journalist, but also reconnect with the only over living member of her family.

Courtney Summers are always great mystery/crime reads! She does an amazing job of keeping the reader interested while also providing relevant background information on characters and relationships. I loved this novel so much! It felt like I was binge-watching a Netflix thriller!

Hey book lovers! I'm here with a book review for a new Mystery Thriller by Courtney Summers called The Project. After enjoying Sadie, I jumped at the chance to get an ebook ARC for The Project, particularly after seeing this awesome cover. This might become one of my favourite covers of 2021.
Publication Date: February 2, 2021

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Suggested Reader Age: New Adult

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Cult

Triggers: abandonment, grief, abuse, murder, depression, captivity, cult, death
› "1980, Indiana. A boy is born.
His mother doesn't love him; she shows him so with her fists.
He's hurting, angry and alone. He yearns to be seen."

In 1998: Bea is six-years-old when her sister Lo is born. Gloria: Latin, meaning Glory. Beatrice: Italian/Latin, meaning bringer of joy.

"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."

› In 2011 Bea, 19 years-old, is at the hospital. Her sister Lo is on life support and her parents are dead after a car accident.
› In 2017 Bea is 25 years-old. She has a thick scar running down the left side of her face from eyebrow to jawline. A young man recognizes her at the subway station. He even knows her name and tells her, "Whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it", before jumping in front of the train. That's a horrendous death to witness, but what makes it even stranger is when she discovers who he is, that he knew her sister, and that Jeremy's father, Arthur, is friends with Bea's boss. Bea has been working as an assistant to SVO magazine founder Paul Tindale for one year.

› The leader of The Unity Project, Lez Warren, has a theory of "Atonement and Redemption". He believes and teaches that "the sins of humanity have cut us off from God's grace, and the collective good works of The Project will atone for our sins and bring salvation to the ends of the earth."

› Lo joined The Unity Project and Bea hasn't seen her sister in years. After Jeremy's death Bea is wondering what's really going on with the Unity Project. She pays Lev a visit and says she'll write a story unveiling all their secrets if he doesn't let Lo talk to her. Bea wants to prove herself to her boss Paul just like Lo wants to prove her worth to Lev. The Project will take you on a wild ride as Bea finds herself, uncovers the truth about the cult, and what happened to her sister.
› I use the CAWPILE method to rate books.
0-3 Really bad
4-6 Mediocre
7-9 Really good
10 Outstanding

› Characters: 9
› Atmosphere: 10
› Writing Style: 9
› Plot: 8
› Intrigue: 10
› Logic: 9
› Enjoyment: 10
Average 9.3

1.1-2.2 = ★
2.3-4.5 = ★★
4.6-6.9 = ★★★
7-8.9 = ★★★★
9-10 = ★★★★★

My Rating ★★★★★

› Final Thoughts
• As an older sister this book hit me in the feels big time. The Project is a hart-hitting story about forgiveness with many twists and turns that will leave you wanting to call your sibling or best friend.



Also by Courtney Summers
Cracked Up To Be
Some Girls Are
Fall For Anything
This Is Not A Test
What Goes Around
Please Remain Calm
All The Rage
Sadie ★★★★



Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.



*Quotes taken from an ARC copy and subject to change*

I could not stop reading this book. It’s super intense in all the best ways. And it seemed like with every chapter, the stakes only got higher. I really needed to know what would happen.

The beginning confused me a little bit. It begins with Bea’s point-of-view, told in third person present tense. Then alternates between her point-of-view and Lo’s (first person present tense), and once I got that far, I felt like I found a rhythm.

THE PROJECT has so many great things. I loved the juxtaposition of the zeal for writing news at SVO, the magazine where Lo works for a charismatic, energetic boss against the magnetic change-the-world attitude of the Unity Project. It felt like a sly contrast showing the difference between a cult and a passion project, if that makes sense??? And also a great way to show some important things about Lo’s character that make some of the events late in the story make sense.

So the Unity Project… at first I was a little creeped out because the leader uses a lot of bastardized Christian ideas (which some cults do, so it’s pretty real). As a Christian myself, it’s always icky to see something be twisted like that, but I felt like as the story went on, it was so clear that the Unity Project not only wasn’t preaching Christian doctrine, but wasn’t pretending to, either. For some reason that made a difference to me.

Anyway– Lo and Bea. Okay, so I’m a huge, ginormous fan of sister stories, and this one is no exception. I loved that their relationship wasn’t perfect, and that they always seemed kind of like seesaw sisters? You know, where one is up when the other is down, never really synced up with each other. But through the narrative, you see that they love one another and how their lives impact each other, even through the time they’re not close.

One note on age range: Though I think this is billed as young adult fiction and Lo is seventeen (I think Bea is in her early twenties), I’m not sure I’d put it on the shelf with YA. I think the themes and attitudes of the characters place it more solidly in a new adult age group.

On the whole, THE PROJECT pretty much swallowed me whole. I felt like I read it all wide-eyed, barely blinking because I didn’t want to stop reading even long enough for that! It’s got some heavy content, so be aware, but if you enjoy darker suspense novels, this is a top notch one.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.

While I really enjoyed this story, I found the format super confusing. I'm hoping that it is just the structure of the ARC instead of what the printed copy will look like. There were moments when the time in the narrative changed drastically from one sentence to the next with no transition to clue the reader in. Same with flipping between Bea and Lo being the narrator.

Overall the story was interesting, and I was invested in Lo's digging into The Unity Project's background. I was definitely hooked in finding out what was really happening and if Lev was running a cult or not. I wasn't fully expecting the story to take the dark turn it did, but it does make sense.

This was my first Summers novel and I can see why Teens love their books. I purchased this for my library and I'm sure patrons will enjoy it.

I was able to access this new title in two formats--both text and audio. It is INCREDIBLE in both formats! I have been a fan of Courtney Summers for a while and was excited to be able to review this one.

The Project is a creepy, mysterious cult story that starts out a slowly but builds with perfect pacing. The author does an excellent job of reflecting trauma and how a single event can have such divergent impacts on those involved. An excellent read and a must-purchase for public libraries.

I obtained a review copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and also an audiobook preview from Libro.fm.

Interesting thriller - 3.5 out of 5

Lo, a 19-year-old aspiring writer, works as an assistant at a news outlet. She’s looking for her big break when she gets involved with The Unity Project, a religious group that her older sister Bea has been in for the past few years. Lo hasn’t heard from Bea in years and continues to suspect that The Unity Project is no this ‘do-good’ organization that it portrays, but truly a dangerous cult that she is looking to expose. Will Lo get the exclusive scoop on them or meet a fate worse than expected?

I went into this book expecting to like it more than I did. The dual POV between Lo & Bea works well and keeps the book moving along. It did get confusing sometimes though of who was in 1st person. Definitely twists & turns, but not as compelling as I’d hoped.

Thank you Courtney Summers, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. #TheProject #NetGalley

OVERALL: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s everything I was hoping it would be. Courtney Summers has a unique way of writing where she gives you a bunch of details and you think you understand it all, but then suddenly towards the end everything clicks together in a completely new way.
PLOT: There were so many twists and turns in this book. Every time I thought I was at the height of the action the pace would pick up more. And it all climaxed in this horrifying, breathtaking moment when everything fell into its place.
STRUCTURE: The non-linear timeline was really effective for this book. The way different details were revealed from the different POVs was really interesting! Summers basically had two timelines going at once and yet it never got confusing.
THEME: Obviously this book explores a lot of themes about cults, but it also explores family and authenticity and truth and legacy and trauma and identity...Summers wove it all together beautifully.
CHARACTERS: This book contains my most hated character and yet he is also a really good character. Lev is one of those characters who you absolutely despise as a person but are intrigued by as a character. And I really liked the character development present in Bea and Lo. Both girls are complex and layered and not “likable”/palatable but I love them so much.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I was underwhelmed by Sadie and The Project. I typically am interested in stories involving cults but this one didn't seem to be that unique to captivate me. It's hard to imagine a girl who just lost her parents would leave her surviving younger sister. I know the whole point of cults is that they prey on weak individuals who feel alone in the world but I couldn't wrap my head around this particular scenario. As a journalist, she wanted to expose and exploit this organization but as a reader I still felt very confused.

If you are interested in a story about cults and more importantly what they do to families and relationships, definitely pick this up! Courtney Summers writes a heartbreaking story about two sisters and their search for belonging.

Lo Denham is on her own after her parents die and her sister Bea joins a cult. Most people believe that the Unity Project and it’s leader Lev Warren are incredible - but Lo is not in agreement. After a man claims that her son’s suicide was the fault of The Unity Project, Lo decides that it is time to prove her suspicions about the cult that took her sister from her. Instead, Lo finds herself struggling to determine what is real and true about herself and her sister.

The story is told alternating between the two sisters, making you always want a little more from them. Courtney Summers is an incredible writer and she manages to make you feel for both of the characters as if you know them.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my Advanced Reader Copy.

When I saw Courtney had a new book coming out I was ready! Had to request it as soon as it was available on NetGalley, hoping I get it. Not knowing what it was about as I didn’t care, I loved Sadie so much! Safe to say it was one of my most anticipated books of 2021 and I was approved on NetGalley!

I found out it was about a girl looking for her sister that got tied in with a cult before I started reading. That is what made me keep reading, sounds very promising and interesting but it was not executed well at all.

I really couldn’t get into the story in the beginning but I don’t like giving up right away. I feel like I missed the whole main reason as to how the sister even got tied up with the cult but I didn’t care to go back because I’m sure it was going to be repeated again and the book was so boring I did not want to go back and re-read. It was told in past and present POV’s which was confusing at times and made the story even more boring. I don’t think I have ever been this bored throughout a story I was truly waiting for it to end. Which, the ending was very predictable, I don’t know who wouldn’t have seen that…

I wish this could have gotten more into cults. Maybe it didn’t because it is YA, but as the cult being the main part of the story, I felt like it could have been way better, more descriptive.

With that being said, I still will pick up anything this author writes in the future! I also love this cover! I did buy a copy to support the author and publisher!

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read The Project!!

Courtney Summer has done it again! This book was GREAT! I loved how we were able to take in Lo and Bea's story in such a roundabout way as bounced between their two stories. I think this book was almost perfectly crafted. Our knowledge about cults told us that we couldn't believe anything Lev told Lo but he did it in such a way that you almost couldn't blame her for wanting to believe them. It was crazy to watch Lo fall deeper into their clutches while Bea was fighting desperately to leave.
I'll tell you, I'm normally pretty good at spotting the ending from a few chapters out, but that "phone call" between Lo and Bea threw me. I guess that's a testament to the mental state Summers was able to put us in.
This was a great read. I've already ordered it for the librarians of CT. I look forward to reading her next book!

Courtney Summers has devastated me again—I read this book in essentially one sitting, it was so gripping and immersive. The dual timeline is executed flawlessly, the characters are messy but fully human and relatable, the twists unexpected, and the investigation into cults fascinating and nuanced. One of my best reads of the year so far!

THE PROJECT by Courtney Summers
3/5

Netgalley Review Copy

Lo Denham has not had any easy life, after surviving a fatal car crash that left her parents dead her sister Bea abandoned her to join a special group that call themselves ‘Unity Project’.
When a man shows up at the magazine Lo works for claiming the Unity Project killed his son, Lo sees the perfect opportunity to expose the group and reunite with her sister once more.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I have to say it was good, despite our main character Lo being low key annoying. This story is told from the past in Bea’s perspective and present day from Lo’s perspective. And we really got to see how quickly both sisters got caught up in this group and how easily they were manipulated. It was almost maddening but had a good time reading this

Courtney Summers is a very talented author and I look forward to every book of hers. This was no exception.

I loved the book. I find books about cults incredibly fascinating.

The story alternates between two parallel stories in different timelines and you are hooked from the start. The story is told in present-day from the POV of Lo and in the past by Bea.

We follow the sisters as they go through trauma, loss and of course, the cult and its leader, Lev Warren and his 'family, The Unity Project.
I really liked and enjoyed knowing about the sisters, their thoughts, their loyalties, their secrets, their motivations, their love for one another.

This is a haunting read and Courtney Summers doesn't disappoint.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ever since I was blown away by the gripping mystery of Sadie, I've been super excited to read more by Courtney Summers and so I was thrilled to get my hands on The Project. A book about sisters and a cult? Didn't know I needed it but I definitely wanted to read it! I'd seen some mixed reviews about the book prior to picking it up so I went in with tempered expectations and I'm glad that I did because if I went in hoping for another book that'd give me the 'Sadie vibes' I would've been so sorely disappointed. As it is, the pacing ended up being a bit more of a slog than I anticipated but I'm glad that I kept reading and finished it. Also, the cover is STUNNING and I'm loving all the promo artwork and creative content that's being shared for it!

The story is told from two perspectives and timelines. We have Lo, whose storyline was told in first-person in the present day of the story, and we had Bea, whose storyline was told in third-person and covers the 'flashback' portions of the story leading up to the present. The switch in perspectives honestly confused me at the beginning and at various moments throughout the story but I did come to appreciate the clear division of voices that really fit the situations both sisters found themselves in. Bea's voice came across to me as somewhat hazy and almost dreamlike, as if she was giving herself over to any emotion that would catch her and let it sweep her away, which I think embodied the vulnerability of her state of mind caused by her grief. In contrast, Lo's voice was very raw and on-edge which fit her angry and lost persona that she clearly still struggled with years after the accident. Where Summers really excelled was in her portrayal of the sister bond. She captures just how messy the relationship between sisters can be with feelings of jealousy and resentment but also unbounded love and devotion. These two loved each other fiercely but also feared that love, and in the end it did lead them down a toxic and devastating path.

That said, although I could empathise with both sisters, I didn't feel any particular attachment to either of them and the same could be said about the other characters in the book. This was perhaps also influenced by the fact that I felt the same way about the book overall; like it was just "okay" and I felt indifferent about it. Where the story felt most underwhelming to me was the plot. It's not the fact that it was a slow-burn mystery, because I do enjoy those, but as the story plodded on I didn't really feel any pull to it. I read because I wanted to see what happened but I didn't feel invested in the outcome. In fact, I was able to predict major parts of how the plot would unfold and so that element of surprise wasn't there for me, but I kept hoping that there would be something MORE--like a bigger or more impactful climax. I admit, there were small moments when I questioned whether The Project was really "that evil" because of how softly Summers came at it, and maybe her point was to show how they slowly work under your skin before revealing their ugly, so kudos to her for doing that. Still, the bigger and more realistic (pessimistic?) part of me never doubted that Lev was super creepy and that their front of "we're just trying to help people who need it in the name of God" was a load of bull.

Ultimately, while there were elements that I appreciated about Summers' writing and characterisation, I found the pace too slow and the plot a little too underwhelming and it didn't have the punch that I hoped for. Still, I'm glad that I gave it a try and I'd still look forward to trying other books by Summers in the future!

I received this in advance from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I wanted to love this like I loved Sadie, but for me it just fell flat. For me it wasn’t gripping, it just seemed like a regurgitation of headlines we’ve read about in other religious “organizations.” It wasn’t poorly written, in fact it was very well written and easy to read. It just didn’t live up to the hype for me.

This book was a thrill to read, and helped me out of a reading slump. I wanted to know where Bea was and what happened to her as much as Lo. The way we slowly see Lo succumb to the charm of Lev Warren was well done, and the entire time I was thinking "no, no not Lo too", especially as it paralleled with Bea starting to realize what was truly happening. Courtney Summers is definitely becoming one of my anticipated authors.