3.5 stars.

Lo Denham barely survived the accident that killed her parents. Bea thinks her sister’s miraculous recovery is because of Lev Warren. She finds hope in him and his beliefs. Lev is the leader of The Unity Project, a religious group that some people see as a saving grace while others as a cult. Bea gives up everything to join them, even her sister.
Several years later Lo, as a young journalist is determined to save her sister from The Unity Project by writing an expose on them. But her plans take her in the path of its leader, who’s going to make her question the truth.

The story is beautifully written. This is my first book by Courtney Summers and I really enjoyed her writing style, her words flowed across the pages.

The narrative goes back and forth in time, making sure we follow both Bea and Lo’s perspectives. I liked this a lot about the book at first because I really wanted to know what got Bea drawn to The Unity Project, but the more I read the less interested I became in Bea.

I’m more a character driven person, and I was a little disappointed because none of the characters stood out to me. I found Lev fascinating but I didn’t believe anything that came out of his mouth, maybe because of my scepticism. The only character I cared for is Emmy.

The plot is very slow, we don’t get a lot until about 80% in the book. I don’t mind a slow burn plot if it’s well written. I was waiting for the punch but it took so long and once it was delivered, it just wasn’t enough. I expected more from the book. I wanted it to go a little deeper and darker into the cult. I was waiting to be shocked, or to be surprised but it never happened.

What I loved most about this book is the writing, which is amazing. This book definitely isn’t a light read it touches on some serious topics.

Even though I expected more from this book I still recommend it. I think it would be great for younger audience.

TW: childhood trauma, physical abuse, child abuse, car crash, death of a parent, amnesia, suicide, cults.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced digital copy.

I really loved Sadie by Summers and was excited to read this title. Unfortunately, it took me a really long time to get into this book. I was maybe 75% through before I was excited to keep reading. The book was slow and strangely formatted (perhaps the formatting was a function of my copy being an advanced reader copy), regardless this book wasn't all that I'd hoped. That said, the story's villain was nicely chilling. Readers interested in dark, rambling mysteries with religious undertones may find this novel to their liking.

The Project was an enticing read. Lo was a likeable female lead who was bitter from all she had endured so far in her life. As she entered The Project to search for her missing sister, she never once envisioned herself getting sucked in. She like so many others before her, did not know the suffering coming her way. I enjoyed this read, but still have a few unanswered questions and needs as a reader at the end. I would have loved a few more descriptive details about the inner workings of The Project and an explanation as to how Lo ever made it out.

Thought provoking tale about cults and how they ingratiate and manipulate people. Very interesting, pacing was somewhat inconsistent.

I'm a fan of Summers but struggled with this book. The idea of a book focused on cults grabbed me but the narrative was tough for me to get in to. Overall, a decent read, but just not what I was looking for. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love true crime. At this point in my life, I've listened to, watched, and read an embarrassing number of true crime media. While cults aren't my "wheel house" per se, I do know a fair amount about some of the bigger ones, and I'm not stranger to the personalities that draw people to join. And when one of the most celebrated YA authors writes about cults, you pick up that book.

After a car accident that killed both their parents, Bea and her surviving sister Lo must come to terms with who they are to themselves and each other. Bea chooses to leave her sister with their aunt Patty and become a member of The Unity Project, an organization that provides a number of community outreach programs led by their leader, Lev Warren. Told in alternating perspectives of Bea's journey entering the program in the past and Lo's investigation of the organization and her sister's whereabouts, this story immerses the reader in the minds of those who find solace, meaning, and comfort in following. Will this end happily? Knowing Summers, probably not.

As far as realistic fiction goes, Summers has a much more engaging writing style than other authors of the genre. While I wouldn't consider it to be a great work of prose, she knows how to turn a phrase and the writing itself is quite good. There were, however, passages that were skimmable that slowed the story down for me.

I did like the dual perspective of the sisters as it gave us a brief look into their parallel experiences and their reasons for interacting with the Project in the first place. My only issue with this was it was hard to moor myself in the timeline, especially in the beginning. I think perhaps in a print version or the published ebook, this will be clearer, but the ARC was a bit tricky for me to follow. I just went with the flow, a little confused, and it didn't do harm in my understanding of the main plot.

Where this book lost a few points for me was in its predictability. I started out with the caveat that I am a true crime junkie because this may very well be the reason I found it predictable. I know what cult leaders are like, what they're capable of, and why people join up. I found none of the events to be surprising in the least, and I thought Summers could have turned Lev's actions up a notch and made them even more heinous and dramatic. I made a four major plot predictions before the halfway point of the book, and they were ALL correct. (Okay, so one I guessed correctly, but second guessed myself with a carefully placed red herring. My original prediction was right though...) The only major turns or reveals I didn't see coming were minor and not that exciting, so they didn't feel as rewarding.

If you like true crime, but consume a REASONABLE amount (and not a ridiculous amount like I do), then you'll love the mystery, intrigue, and insanity of this book. If you are obsessed like myself, you might feel like this book is all too familiar, but it's a well-written, quick read that will be entertaining nonetheless.

Well this was a fun ride, I loved the Cult aspect, it's a great thriller and kept me guessing and reading. I do wish it dug deeper at the end. It wrapped up to nicely and way to quick, another even 50 pages of detail would have definitely put it at 5 stars for me. Can't wait to see what Courtney Summers comes up with next.

*I was given this e-arc by the publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review.*

In The Project, Courtney Summers takes on cults and how people fall into them, to varying degrees of minimal success.

This will probably be my least favorite Courtney Summers book. While I found her technical writing style to be as good as ever, her character work is surprisingly not her strongest, especially when it comes to the main character, Lo. Bev's story was far more believable than Lo's, and we only get bits and pieces of it interspersed throughout the novel.

Considering how against The Unity Project Lo is, her slide into becoming entangled with the cult is unconvincing. She offers up very little fight even in the beginning. I do understand that Summers wanted to show that Lo is in over her head, which is why she frankly fails at being a journalist on her first outing, but there were several instances where I found her to be almost unbelievably gullible and just not very bright. On her very first meeting with Lev, she accepts and drinks a glass of water made for her by someone else in the cult. Maybe I'm just a suspicious person, but I found it hard to swallow that Lo, who is so suspicious of the Project, would drink something given to her by one of the members without stopping to be like, "Wait, could this be drugged?"

I also didn't find Lev to be that compelling a cult leader or character. At least, I didn't find him compelling enough that both Bev and Lo fall into lust with him and have sex with him. Which is also never brought up as a kind of, "Uh, hey, isn't it kind of creepy that this dude in his late 30s is sleeping with an eighteen year old girl and then a nineteen year old girl?" thing. It happens and then no one, not even Bev and Lo, bring it up, internally or otherwise. To be fair, though, it's probably incredibly hard to write those kinds of characters convincingly.

I think Courtney Summers just bit off more than she could chew in The Project, which is a shame, as she's a skilled and experienced writer. But sometimes, even if you give it your best shot, the story just gets away from an author, and that's what happened here.

Overall: Don’t expect the same story as Sadie by Courtney Summers, but do expect something that will give you pause to think.

Pros:
Dual-POV. Seeing the both sisters and their dealings on both sides of the cult adds an extra layer to this story.
Slow-burn Suspense. We all know that I love a fast paced story, but for this one this, the slow-burn adds to that nail-biting features.
Impact. Okay, but if you read Sadie you will understand this bullet more, but it just has that kind of feeling to it after you read it that you feel like you gained something from it.
Cult Stuff. I know, I know. An easy pro for me so it went last, but the cult leader was really well developed in this.

Cons:
Time-jumps. There are time jumps in this one; however, the times are close together so it can be a bit confusing if you are not paying close enough attention.

I loved this book! Ever since I did my senior thesis on cults in college, I have been obsessed with cult related fiction - and The Project handed that to me on a silver platter. Filled with deception and sugar coated lies, this book takes you on a roller coaster from the first page. I loved the alternating time lines and POVs in this book and when we flip between present day Lo and past Bea, I get so enthralled in what's happening and what's going to happen.

I loved Sadie and getting to read this new book from Summers has helped me realize that she is now an instant favorite author of mine. Her writing is so beautiful, even when describing the most terrifying or gruesome experiences. She's now an instant buy author for me! I'm so obsessed with this book and currently on my way to buy the B&N special red edition so I can pick it up and allow myself to be drawn in whenever I want.

Let me start off by saying I read this in 2.5 hours. I spent about an hour and a half on Thursday night reading 55% of this book, and then another hour reading the rest the next morning. I couldn't put this book down. I loved the plot, I adore the writing, and honestly I want to re-read this book immediately. 

One of my favorite things in thriller novels is alternating POV and alternating timeline - this book has both. We get to go back in time and see Bea and Lo as children. Bea during her time in the Unity Project (The Project), and Lo's past as well. While the book follows Lo's POV in 2018, we get to go back in time to see Bea's life and Lo's life and what lead them to this moment. I think it's a great way to tell a story, especially for a thriller, and I loved it in this book.

Getting to the actual plot, I am not joking when I said I couldn't put this book down. Finding out why Bea joined The Project, what she experienced, in correlation to Lo's research and experience was enthralling. I didn't want to put the book down and miss out on what was going to happen next. Every twist and turn lead me to just read faster because I had to know what was going on! It's like an accident you can't turn away from. 

But don't get the analogy confused - the writing is stunning. I loved Sadie and I think I just love Courtney's writing in general. She has a way of making even the creepiest or most terrifying moments beautiful. It fuels my desire to find out what's going to happen next, even as I peak past my fingers at the carnage. And with the events in this book, I couldn't stop staring at the chaos of The Project. 

One thing I will remark on, and I think is important to remember for cults, is how enthralled the victims are in the scheme. For Lev, the leader, he wanted Bea and then Lo. Even though Bea was 15 years younger than Lev, and Lo 20 years younger, he still wanted them and used them. There are sex scenes in this book between Bea and Lev and Lo and Lev, and it's disturbing. While uncomfortable, it shows how charming Lev is as a cult leader and how these poor girls have been sucked into his deception so wholeheartedly, they're willing to give up their bodies to him. It's not pretty, but this does happen. 

While this book is hard to read, it's the idea of the beautiful disaster that keeps you engaged. I really had trouble putting this book down and mixed with the beautiful writing, engaging plot, and great switch between voice and time - I was hooked. This book sucked me in and wouldn't let me leave. 

If you're looking for a great cult thriller, you absolutely need to pick up The Project!

I think I was expecting something altogether different from this book. What I got was a solid story with excellent writing and interesting, flawed characters. What I didn't get was a plot with twists that blew my mind. The story follows a fairly predictable path that reminds me of a couple of mystery thriller books/movies I've enjoyed in the past, but ultimately doesn't do anything new. Which is a shame because I think the potential was there.

Following two timelines, we get to see events unfold from both Bea's and Lo's perspectives. With Bea we see how she went from someone who didn't really believe in God to a firm follower of Lev and his group. It's morbidly fascinating to see what happens, and then to see a similar pattern with Lo once she starts interviewing Lev and other members for her profile. I do have to say that Lo's journey didn't feel entirely believable to me, and I still couldn't tell you what happened to get her from point A to point B.

Overall a solid YA book but not one that'll stay with me. I will read more by Courtney Summers though because the writing was a definite highlight.

This is a hard review for me to write. I was blown away by Sadie. It was the kind of book that gave me a hangover for days and I still find myself thinking about. With that being said, I went into this book with high expectations. I am also fascinated by books that involve cults so I just knew I was going to love it. Sadly, this just fell a bit short for me. I found parts of it to be confusing and had a hard time buying into some of the choices Lo made. They just seemed like they went from one extreme to the other in a short amount of time. I struggled to connect with her. I love the way Summers writes but this one wasn’t my favorite.
Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

I couldn't put this book down. When I first started reading I wanted to know more about Bea and Lo's relationship as sisters and then it turned into needing to absolutely know more about this cult. The set of book was great, the juxtaposition of the two POV's was great and really helped add to this complex story. Initially, it was a little frustrating but purely because I'd get so wrapped up in Lo's or Bea's POV that I'd want to know more. I love a book that keeps me guessing until this end and I, like Lo, was sucked into Lev's charm and I wanted to believe that it was true. I will definitely be recommending this to everyone I know.

Lo is desperately trying to expose The Unity Project and its leader Lev for what they are- a cult. But can they really be a cult when they do such great things for the community? Lo knows something isn’t right, The Project has her sister, and she believes The Project is controlling who her sister sees and what she does.
Lo gets the opportunity to interview the cult's enigmatic leader, Lev Warren, with the hope of seeing her sister, getting her away from the cult, and exposing Lev and The Project for what it truly is. Things don’t go as planned when even Lo becomes swayed by the conversion tactics The Project employs, and soon she’s finding out even more shocking things she never anticipated.

—

This was a decent book. The writing was good and I did enjoy the cult aspect. I thought it was a much more interesting take compared to a lot of straight-up murder plots and housewives with Mental Health problems figuring out murders.
The author did a really great job at crafting Lev Warren as a cult leader, it was believable, so much so that he made my skin crawl.
Lo is a lonely girl who just wants her sister back, and get her big break at the newspaper she works at by bringing down a huge cult. I really felt for all the struggles she went through and is going through. I enjoyed that this was a YA novel where the main character was 18-20 as opposed to 15-17. I feel like I don’t see enough of that in YA, especially when 18-20 are such confusing and terrifying years for young adults.

I enjoyed the story overall. There were so many shocking twists and turns in the latter half of the book- that was honestly the best part.
I did struggle in the beginning as I was finding the pacing a bit slower, I felt a little disinterested, but things did pick up halfway.

Overall 3 stars. It was enjoyable.

**ARC provided by Wednesday Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Project by Courtney Summers was an unexpected ride of emotions. However, this wasn't a normal roller coaster ride of emotions where as the reader we feel like we're hitting highs and then lows and highs again. Think of it like a log flume ride. It's easy going, a little bumpy when the log hits the edges, and knowing that something big is going to happen, but not really sure what that is. And then when that big thing happens, and we've been splashed and soaked, we're reeling with happiness we made it out alive and can't believe we just did that. And yet, we want to go another round because it was so fun and exhilarating. That's The Project by Courtney Summers.

This book is written in two different point of views. We follow Lo in first person during present day. Lo knows her sister joined The Unity Project and basically lost all contact with her sister. She's desperate to find her sister and get her away from The Unity Project. Now Lo has been given the opportunity of a lifetime: interview Lev, the leader of The Unity Project. This is her key to getting up close and personal with the group her sister was apart of and finally find her sister.

The second point of view is through Bea. Bea's point of view is third person in the past. We follow Bea from before Lo was born, and see her journey as she becomes more ingrained into The Unity Project.

I loved the two point of views because it added layers and depth to the story. What we figured out with Lo, we were able to get an insider's view with Bea. As always, Summers made sure to keep us guessing. While going in, we know The Unity Project is a cult, but what I found incredibly amazing was Summer's ability to show us how the public viewed The Unity Project, how the members of The Unity Project viewed themselves which all made Lo as an outsider seem a little crazy. Lo is an unreliable narrator so as the story progresses, the layers of The Unity Project begin to be peeled back, but as Lo starts to become more invested, we begin to become more invested until we're as deep as Lo and Bea are.

As always, Summers does an incredible job making sure the storyline isn't linear. There are moments where our guessing is correct and then there are moments of curveballs thrown at us. And even in the moments where our guesses were correct, it still doesn't take away from the actual moment happening and how hard those hit us. She also does an amazing job creating these characters that feel like they can step off the page. While Lo was an unreliable narrator, I was still able to empathize with her. I started to feel for the other characters in the story, and they began to feel like my little Unity Project Family.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. It's not your typical mystery/thriller, but I think it is still an incredibly written book. If you loved Sadie, then I believe you will also love The Project.

This is not an emotionally easy read, though it is very well done.

I wouldn't agree that this is a YA title, but very much a part of new adult. It's missing nearly all of the things that make YA what it is; I also call this new adult as it is a bit mature for the typical YA audience.

The isolation of both Lo and Bea - our protagonists and narrators - is necessary for the story to happen as it does, but makes for a more introspective sort of reading experience. The themes - religious cults, one's own identity, growth after trauma - are heavy. Still, Summers does a good job at simplifying something extremely difficult and making it work within the novel. Not a light fun read, but worthwhile.

As a personal note, I can't help but think that this would hit a reader harder if they had siblings, which I do not. My own reaction to the novel is certainly colored by that.

I was highly intrigued to read this book after reading Courtney Summers' previous book, Sadie, and with the premise of this book. The psychology behind cults has fascinated me for some time, so this book seemed to be something I would thoroughly enjoy. Bea and Lo are sisters who experience a tragedy where they lose both their parents and Lo is injured in a car accident. Bea wasn't with the family when the accident occurred and has guilt from this. Her guilt allowed The Unity Project's leader, Lev, to convince her that he saved her sister because God speaks through him. The book jumps throughout with flashbacks and current timelines which at times becomes confusing. There's also times that it seems to jump to the next event without fully finishing the previous one. For instance, you're reading a sentence where Lo is at one of The Project's compounds and then the next sentence she's in another location. All in all, I don't regret reading this book. I was interested in it and wanted to know what happened to their lives, but it didn't quite immerse me like I had hoped it would.

Lo lost everything at a young age. After a car accident that almost takes her life, and does take the lives of her parents, her older sister, Bea, seemingly abandons her to surrender herself to The Unity Project, a cult with mysterious beginnings and practices that very few have been able to penetrate. Seven years later, Lo is working as an administrative assistant at a newspaper, and decides that she’ll report on the Unity Project after she experiences a trauma that can only have come from the Unity Project. Her boss, Paul, insists that the Project is clean and that there’s no use trying to dig, as no journalist has been able to before. After all, Lo is just an administrative assistant, not a journalist.
When Lo gets to the Unity Project, half looking for Bea and half investigating, it’s leader, Lev, decides to give her a series of interviews. She gets unprecedented access to their grounds, buildings, and members. It’s not long before she’s completely sucked into the world of the Project.
This somber thriller, told in alternating perspectives from Lo and Bea as she gets into the Project, is all-consuming. Readers will be persuaded to keep reading and constantly thrown off around every turn. For fans of Karen McManus and After the Fire.

A stunning, engrossing look at the bond of sisters, and how desperately people fight for human connection. Much like Summers' last novel, the smash hit Sadie, The Project focuses on a young woman doing whatever it takes to find her sister after dark, predatory forces pulled them apart. Even with that similarity, The Project and its central character Lo, shine on their own. We see Lo's everyday life and the weight of what she's willing to sacrifice if it means finding her sister. More importantly, it's hard not to understand as Lo feels herself drifting from her everyday life and becoming more and more invested in her investigation of The Unity Project, and to feel for her when the clear red flags to the reader go unnoticed. The Project is compelling in a way that's sure to grab any reader, and the complicated relationship between these sisters makes this book impossible to put down.