I usually love Courtney Summers’ books but this one felt flat. It didn’t incorporate the writing style she usually gives. The writing and flashbacks seemed choppy and maybe that’s what she was going fro. However, I did feel as if her descriptions of The Unity Project portrayed an a accurate reality of cult culture.

The new publishing trend for 2021 must be cults, as a lot of novels with this theme are going to be released next year. But no one will deliver you a more chilling experience than Courtney Summers. This author is notorious for never having a happy ending and pulling all the punches. When you read a Courtney Summers novel you know you’re going into it with the notion that you will be emotionally wrecked once you get to the end. The Unity Project is much on par on delivering exactly that.

Lo has lost her sister, Bea, to the cult of The Unity Project headed by a very charismatic Lev Warren. Lo lost her parents due to a car accident, in which she was also a passenger in. Bea is convinced that Lev brought Lo back to life, and this begins her fascination and loyalty to the man and his visions. Lo, blames Lev for taking her sister away from her when she needed her most, and is hellbent on exposing The Unity Project for what they really are. But what if Lo is wrong?

This novel will have you question whether Lev is really the evil mastermind that Lo is convinced he is, mostly because from the moment we meet him, he’s described with very Jesus-like qualities of acceptance and compassion. But this being a Courtney Summers novel, we know that the horror will come, and when it will, it’ll be brutal. Without being spoiler-y, this novel is an emotional rollercoaster where you begin to question who to trust. If you’re going to read one book about cults, make it this one, as it had everything I’ve wanted and expected from a book about cults, a charismatic leader and some very disturbing scenes, but also perfectly depicting how anyone, even intelligent people can get sucked into cults.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for Young Readers for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of "The Project" by Courtney Summers. I loved "Sadie," so I was really excited for "The Project" and I was not disappointed. This was a story about a fictional cult, which was both disturbing and entrancing. It was told in dual timelines by two sisters, whose relationship was so raw and real. Somewhat surprisingly, there were some very real depictions of pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum in here that is something that always gets me. I guess I just think it's something we always need more of in literature and it's a way I'm able to see myself and something that really important to me in books. Most importantly, the mystery behind the cult in this story pulled me along, building momentum as I went until I couldn't put the thing down because it had me by the throat. It was a darkly beautiful story that dealt with strong, painful emotions. It portrayed the lengths people will go to find meaning and healing and a sense of worth, and the people who take advantage of that. I highly recommend.

The story is compelling, but the main character’s action at around 60% seemed so convenient for drama and not in a good way, in a forced way. I was also a little thrown by it being a religious cult and just how prominent religion (Christianity) would be in this book. The ending was a bit rushed and, again, convenient. I can’t deny how interesting it was to read, but I also can’t deny that I wasn’t excited about picking it up again. I think people who are comfortable with the idea of reading about a religious cult, who love a good cult story no matter how it plays out, will have a decent time. I think of the two sisters perspectives that we got, Lo (the main one) was the least engaging. Bea’s was more compelling and I looked forward to those sections the most. I’m not sure I would recommend this book, but I also wouldn’t not recommend it. I think part of it was great concept, ok follow through and part of it was it was too religious for me.

Unfortunately not my favorite Courtney Summers title, but it’s a high bar to meet again and again. A lot of it just felt unrealistic to me: the way Paul and Lo talked to each other, the complete 180 in Lo’s thinking that felt very abrupt and then was fairly quickly turned back around, Lo’s intense obsession with writing when it seemed like she’d never actually done any? This one just wasn’t for me, but I certainly hope to be in the minority and I will always, always eagerly read everything Ms. Summers releases.

I really enjoyed this book. This is the second book I have read by this author and both of them drug me in and kept me captivated right up until the end. In this novel, the main character has lost her sister to a group called the Unity Project and a man named Lev. She isn't sure what is going on but they have lost contact with each other and her sister refuses to take her calls. This is her story of finding out just what the Project is all about and what happened to separate her and her sister. The characters were so life like in this novel that it really kept my attention and I wanted to read all the way to the end to know what happened!

3.5 stars -- Can we just pause and stan what an impressive stylist Courtney Summers is? I always enjoy her prose and the authorial posture she brings to her projects. This is another great book from a great author, and I definitely enjoyed her take on a thriller based on taking down a cult. For me, as is often the case, this book's only weakness was that I strongly preferred one of the dual timelines to the other, which always dings a book down for me overall. Still, this was a disturbing but gripping book & would definitely recommend

CW: cult & religious abuse; physical & emotional abuse

The Project tells the story of Lo who is nineteen years old and all alone. Years earlier, she is horribly injured in a car crash that kills both her parents. Afterwards, she is abandoned by her older sister, Bea, who runs off to join the Unity Project. Now Lo is working at a renewed magazine and determined to uncover the secrets of the Unity Project and finally reach her sister.

This one is a fast, easy read. The beginning is compelling and I was intrigued by the cult aspect. Unfortunately things fell apart for me. Lo was a bit of a brat and her actions didn’t seem logical. She had such an extreme change of heart that I questioned if we were even discussing the same character.

All in all, this book was just fine. I didn’t struggle to finish it, but I also didn’t enjoy the story. Three stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. The Project will be available everywhere on February 2, 2021.

This was one of those books I had to get to the end of quickly! Fast paced and full of surprises, this look into the workings of a religious cult was a great read.

Sadie was one of my favorite books I read last year, and I could not wait to get more from Courtney Summers!

I am so blown away with The Project, and how Summers took her narrative and storytelling to the next level in this book. Not only do the characters and plot draw you in with their depth and fascination, but the themes of family and loneliness are simultaneously making their mark on the reader as well.

I cannot wait for more readers to dive into the mind of The Unity Project, and be immersed in a standout thriller cult novel.

As a fan of past works like "Sadie," I found "The Project Disappointing". The pacing was both rushed and the plot was convoluted.

The twists and turns in this book keep you wondering what's happening. It was interesting to read a book where you were in the head of someone as they found themselves in ... A cult? Or is it a cult?

I loved Sadie by Courtney Summers so I was really excited to read The Project and I was not disappointed. It had me hooked and wanting to know how it ended right from the start!

I really did like this book. I thought diving into a cult and seeing how the effect the many people involved was a super compelling topic for a read. I really liked both characters point of view that we experience and saw in this read. I also really liked at the heart of this book was the realtionship between the sisters at the heart of it. I struggled a tad with the mystery at the heart of it. I also felt like other then the "years" dictating the chapters we were in, the two characters POV read so similar it was hard to make differences between them. I really did like Lo path in this novel but overall, it was not favorite read of the year. I liked that it dealt with the harder topics like cult life.

The Project is fast paced and an easy to read suspense. Told in alternating narratives of the past and Lo’s present, the story moves quickly and is sometimes hard to follow and left me on the fence on the way I feel about this book. Lo Denham is a would be reporter, working as a personal assistant for the editor of a magazine. As a child, her parents died in a car crash and she was seriously injured. All she wanted was her sister but she left to join a cult and Lo has not talked to her since. After witnessing the suicide of a cult member, Lo begins digging into the cult once again. A little Stockholm syndrome later, Lo finds danger, lies, and secrets in a twisted tale that will leave you confused and shaking your head in disbelief. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

I really wanted to like this book considering how much I loved and enjoyed reading Sadie. This book was ambitious in that it tried to tackle both religion and family dynamics. I kept wanting to know more about Lo and Bea's relationship. I especially was interested in learning more about Bea. Instead, I felt like I was being strung along to follow The Project. That being said, maybe this is a part of Summers' genius. I was equally hooked into the story as perhaps Lo is in trying to figure out what is real behind The Project.

The Project will be appealing to fans of Courtney Summers' earlier novel, Sadie. The Project pits a journalist against a cult. The journalist lost both of her parents and shortly aftterwards, her sister joined a group called The Project and she's trying to reconnect with her sister and expose the group without being taken in. Propulsive plot.

This story of a young woman investigating a religious cult was just okay to me. I did get interested and want to finish it, but I saw a lot of holes in it. I think it is marketed as a YA book, but if so, it's definitely at the high age range of YA. It seemed more like an adult book to me. Spoiler--the final plot twist was unexplained and unbelievable. This was an easy, quick read, and I'm sure it will have fans who like thrillers and who want to get into the mindset of cult leaders and cult followers.

My first thought upon finishing this book was a softly exhaled curse. After Sadie and Cracked Up To Be, I knew that Courtney Summers has a particular skill with peeling up sections of your skin and burrowing deep inside (if it sounds unsettling and vaguely uncomfortable, it is) - with characters who love fiercely and hurt deeply and rage infinitely. But more than anything, they need. They reach out of the page with claws extended.

There are a handful of lines that feel like the chiming of a bell in the back of your brain. Like everything must stop until the cold, echoing vibration peters out. One line in particular (though this may not be final) was something to the effect of "I feel like a lie my sister told" and amidst the maelstrom of this fraught relationship between Lo and Bea, that line alone stopped me cold. And the book is riddled with them.

At various points in the book, you will want to grab both Bea and Lo and shake them, call them stupid, tell them "noooo" super dramatically. As they both circle around tragedy and circumstance and cliché (responding appropriately to the cliché-ness, to the point where you have to nod and go "yep, that really is the only response"). And throughout it all... You don't know what to believe. You genuinely don't know. "Cult vibes" isn't enough when the doors are wide open.

I told myself after reading Sadie that I needed to look back and fill in Summers' backlist. Again, I make that claim because these books can wreck you.

THE PROJECT by Courtney Summers is a YA novel about Lo Denham who tries to reunite with her sister Bea. Bea joined The Unity Project so Lo begins to investigate “the project” and seeks out their leader Lev to find out if he’s really a cult leader. The premise right away was really intriguing with the whole cult aspect but the whole book was so predictable. The writing was good as I was hooked to keep reading but more so to see if something unexpected would happen. I found at the end of the book I didn’t care for the whole plot at all. I’m still curious to read Sadie though.

Wow. I could not put this book down! It's a stunning book about loneliness and the deep desire to belong. If you loved Sadie, you will definitely love this.