Content Warning: Death, suicide, physical and emotional abuse.

I enjoyed this and the discomfort it brought me. It sounds weird reading that back to myself but I guess that's what Thrillers do, right? Courtney Summers' writing is great and I would definitely read more from this author. Overall my experience reading The Project was unsettling to say the least.

I spent the majority of the book questioning the reality of what I was reading.
Is it a cult? maybe they're just helping people.
But is it a cult? This doesn't seem so bad.
Is it a cult? is this a cult?

I felt like I was being gaslit the whole time and I believe that feeling was intentional. Again, UNSETTLING.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

“Having a sister, mom says, is a place only the two of them will share, made of secrets they never have to say aloud – but if they did, it would be in a language only the two of them could speak. 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.”

We all know that fantasy is my favorite genre. It is known. BUT my second favorite genre, and one I feel like I neglect far too much, is thrillers. Or mysteries. Or mystery thrillers! I love the darker tone, trying to figure things out as the story unfolds, and all the twists and turns! I’ve also been wanting to read something by Courtney Summers ever since I heard about Sadie, so when this book pop up as a Read Now on Netgalley, I jumped at the chance to snag it!

The Project follows two sisters, Lo and Bea. After a tragic accident that kills their parents and leaves Lo fighting for her life, Bea is begging for a miracle. Then a miracle walks into the hospital room in the form of the charismatic leader of The Unity Project. Bea credits him with bringing her sister back and, to show her thanks, she throws her lot in with this band of do-gooders. But flash forward a number of years and Bea has disappeared into the depths of the Project and Lo, now an adult herself, is determined to save her from what she thinks is a pretty obvious cult. But how can you save someone who refuses to even speak to you on the phone?

This book was everything I love about thrillers! The tone was beautifully dark in a subtle, yet pervasive way. It had me questioning so many things as I was reading and the twists were incredible! I did see where we were going with the story, but I still ended up loving every twist we were given. I love when an author can do that! I think my favorite thing, though, was watching the dynamic between Lo and Bea. They are completely estranged and, yet, you still can get such a strong sense of their relationship and I do love a book with an intriguing sibling dynamic.

I will say, I was a little thrown off by the shifting timelines. Not that they were confusing. No, it was because I would be so invested in what was happening in one timeline and then BAM we were in the other one! Then I’d get invested in that one and BOOM timeline shift! I guess it’s a great thing that both were so compelling, but it was still a bit jarring.

Final thoughts: This was a well-plotted thriller that kept you guessing throughout the story! The tone is perfectly tense and will keep you on the edge of your seat. This is told in two separate timelines and the shifts between them can be a bit jarring, but they are both so intriguing that you’ll be sucked in no matter which timeline you’re reading. If you enjoy your thrillers with a lot of questions, great twists, and a dark feel, I think you’d enjoy The Project!

The Project has all the makings to be a straightforward cult book – sister gets wrapped up in a charismatic leader and must be rescued. Enter Lo – the baby sister of Bea, who has entered The Unity Project and has been unable to escape its clutches.

Instead, The Project is a deep look at humanity and how cults prey on it. Any one of us could be Lo, if the right traumas are exposed to the worst people. I related to Lo on a bazillion levels and left the book wondering how I never got swept up in a cult.

Lo is perfectly imperfect. She is the prime Courtney Summers protagonist. She’s going to do things that make you want to scream and yet you still want to be her best friend. Her deep love for her sister is tangible and jumps off the page – as does the trauma she’s experienced in her short 19 years. She’s been through some shit and damn, it’s going to take a lot of therapy. The journey to find Bea is a wild one so strap the fuck in.

The world of The Unity Project mirrors so many of the cults children of the 90s will be familiar with. Charismatic leader seeks the vulnerable and takes full advantage. Don’t get sucked in Lev Warren’s void – you might not make it out alive. It’s brutal and real and visceral.

I flew through the back half of this book because it was unputdownable. I was horrified, terrified, and cheering one page while wanting to throw the book across the room in the next. Courtney draws you in slowly and before you know it, you’re signing on. Just like a cult. Yikes.

All hail queen of the best unlikeable family protagonists! Good lord, Courtney Summers, how do you DO IT? Every time! I somehow managed to read a bunch of cult books back to back, which I am pretty sure I have Courtney to thank for. Am I now in the cult that is Courtney Summers? If so, I don’t want to be rescued.

Such a good book! The plot was pretty interesting as were the characters. It felt like it was still missing something, though, but I'm not sure what. Maybe more twists?

I love a book about a cult in pretty much any context but its not often that I start to find myself sympathizing with the cult which goes to show just how good Courtney Summers is at crafting her characters. Naturally, I was shown the error of my ways soon enough.
It was a little slow but it was also a whole lot creepy and kept me guessing right up to the end. Would definitely recommend!

I love Courtney Summers, ever since I got my grubby little paws on Sadie. The Project is dark and twisty (a cliche, I know) and the story is so good that I despised having to put the book down. Can’t wait for the next from Courtney!

I love the way Courtney Summers writes, and I had super high hopes for this one--unfortunately, I think that's the reason it crashed so hard for me. The prose was absolutely beautiful. The plot and characterization, however, fell flat. I enjoyed Lo's character at the beginning but eventually, she ended up making decisions that felt strange and completely out of character. I wanted to learn so much more about the cult so their actions at the end would feel believable, but it somehow felt simultaneously underdeveloped and slow. I think if I had gone into this with different expectations I would have enjoyed it more, but unfortunately, this book left me wanting so much more.

This book was very dark and I would almost consider counting it as adult rather than YA fiction because the content was heavier than I expected. The journey between the 2 sisters was tense and intriguing. You are not sure whether or not there is a cult or just a group of devout followers. Overall, it was well written and filled with a lot of suspense, twists, and surprises.

I really enjoyed this book! It had twists and turns that really kept me guessing. Anything that is even remotely cult related peaks my interest and this one definitely delivered. Highly recommend!

This book was terrible. Like it-shocked-me terrible, not shockingly terrible.

It was about a 19-year-old, Lo, whose sister had been taken in by a do-gooder cult and kinda disappeared off the face of the earth. Lo is set on figuring out what the appeal is and why her sister, who had been super close to her previously, was so enamored with the cult, so she tries to use her journalism skills to enmesh herself with the community.

The narration is split between Lo and Bea, but there weren’t any verbal clues in the audiobook when it switches, and the two voice actors sounded too similar for me to be able to differentiate by their voice. Add in that the story isn’t told in chronological order and both sisters are unreliable, I just could not follow it at all.

Spoilers below





Also, I couldn’t believe that Lev would have sex with both sisters. I mean, we find out that Lev and Bea (probably??) weren’t together like Lo is led to believe, but why would Lo still consent to having sex with him!?!??!

I decided to pick this book up because I read Sadie by the same author and that book blew my mind. It was absolutely amazing. This book on the other hand... yikes.. it was very disappointing.

The project is a story about Lo Denham, and her mission to find her lost sister. When Lo was a passenger during car accident that killed her parents. While Lo was on her death bed, her older sister Bea was desperate for anything that could keep her sister alive, so when Lev found Bea and was able to heal Lo with his bare hands, Bea joined the Unity Project and left her sister and her old life behind. Now a few years into the future, Lo is desperate to find out exactly what happened to her sister, and to prove that the Unity Project is a dangerous cult.

Look I loved Courtney's other book, and I love cult stories... but unfortunately this book was just not for me. I found it to be extremely predictable, boring and I could not connect with the main character. Lo is very naive and head-strong, she is quite angry and constantly chooses to run into dangerous situations without a plan. She is not a smart character, and to be honest it doesn't seem like she got any smarter throughout the story.

The plot of this story was very interesting, but again it was also quite predictable. I was expecting something a bit more out there with a lot of crazy twists, but this was not the case.

Overall, the characters were boring, the world was just okay and the storyline was flat and predictable. I'm not sure if Sadie was just so good that it made this book feel really bad in comparison, or if its actually just bad on its own. Either way, I'm not sure if I will be picking up any more books from this author in the future.

Courtney Summers could publish a grocery list and I would absolutely love it. The queen of gritty YA and books that will destroy your heart and soul can do no wrong. The Project was amazing and a page-turner!

Unfortunately this book was a miss for me. I just couldn't connect with the characters and I felt myself sometimes not really caring about where the story was going. Lo was just very unlikeable, she was just so entitled and whiny.

The first two thirds of the book dragged on and on and it wasn't until the last third of the book where the action picks up and we finally figure out what happened to Bea. It might be too little too late for some readers, especially if they follow the if it doesn't grab you in the first 60-100 pages DNF rule.

I really liked Summers' previous book, Sadie, which is also a story about two sisters with one that has gone missing. That story really made me care about them and what happened to Sadie. This book did not evoke that same feeling from me.

Courtney Summers is a must read author for every teen who loves an engaging thriller, and afterwards they can let their parents borrow the books. In this, her newest novel, we meet Lo Denham. She is an orphan after her parents died in a tragic accident, and desperate to reunite with her sister who has joined a reclusive community. Lo decides that she will get to the bottom of what this community really is like, and by doing so she put her own life, and her sister`s, in danger.

I did not feel that "The Project" was a big pageturner, like "Sadie" was. And the suspense I was craving, was not there. This story is more about how a person can get immersed in a cult, and the dangers that may present. The story is more emotional than thrilling. When I read a thriller, I expect to encounter surprising twists and turns, but I did not find that here. Nevertheless, it may be an important read for teens about cults, how we deal with grief and the bond between siblings.

The Project by Courtney Summers

I have always been drawn in by cult stories and have always watched documentaries about them and lately I've been reading fiction that involves cults.

THE PROJECT will have you feeling like you are investigating right along with Lo while she tries to reveal the truth about The Unity Project. As a wannabe journalist, she's on a mission to uncover it all. She's mixing her personal attachment and her drive to be noticed in her field of work. Lo has such strong disdain for the cult since it drew in her sister, Bea, while she was laying in the hospital recovering from a horrible accident. She carries a lot of anger towards, Lev, the creator of the group and misses her sister terribly. Her emotions are all over and it spells trouble.

The book is more about the drive to save a loved from the clutches of a cult and how easily one could be pulled in than it is about the actual group.

The dual narrated point of view is fantastic as you get past and present Lo and Bea.

The final confrontation between Lo and Lev was not what I expected, but I was not mad about how it played out.

Anymore and I'll give too much away... so if you enjoy Courtney Summers writing I suggest you get your hands on this book!

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Absolutely riveting. This one had me turning the pages from beginning to end. Great character development, great plot, incredible suspense. Courtney Summers is a true master.

At most a 3 but even that may be too much. I really need books with cults to give me something new. This book has been done before, several times, also in movie firm. It's a slow paced revelation of the 'sinister' behind-the-scene events that always occur in a cult story. Summarize the details of any disbanded cult (fictional or non functional) and you're pretty much familiar with the Unity Project (the cult in this novel) and what the main character encounters. I'm usually highly enticed or at the very least curious when it comes to the what's next in a thriller but The Project was so predictable I was bored out of my mind. I managed to pull myself to the end and that's the only reason this book got higher than one star.

The Unity Project perfectly fits the stereotype the world has created for cults. It seems amazing to many but some people believe the claims are too good to be true. The members only have great things to say, they are all vulnerable and naive. They swear they they aren't being coerced or manipulated . The cult leader acts likes he's a prophet or other being highly favored by God (but repeatedly says he's only a man). And like every other cult story, criminal activities or corruption is a key part of its functioning. I find it ridiculous that after months of being a skeptic someone is ingrained into the cult so easily. You can guess how that played out.

I'm thinking The Project could have been a great book if it tried to step out the box. Show some other side of a cult and incorporate the thriller aspects in a less predictable way. A cult is really just a non traditional religious group so they can't all be bad right? Unless you think all religious groups are bad then sure let's go with that . I saw a reviewer write that this book gets you thinking about existence, losing yourself and finding yourself and other such 'deep' topics. This book didn't do that for me. I pretty much had to drag myself through the chapters. Other than the cult, the only thing I noticed was the author may have been trying to hint to supernatural events but I'm not even sure that was what the intention was. That aspect wasn't well developed and never truly acknowledged. This book has so much room for improvement. I don't think I'll be engaging with any cult related media in the near future.


Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy for review.

While I liked this book, it didn’t stand up to Sadie for me. I still loved the premise of it and the story itself, Sadie just holds a special place in my heart!

I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but it wasn't this. I loved the narrative structure of the two alternating timelines between sisters and the vivid writing. However, I really just can't comprehend how the plot progressed the way it did, especially considering all of the information Lo knew. It was almost sickening to read the influence the cult had over her the way it did on her and her sister.

This book absolutely delivers what it promises. I'm still thinking about that ending. Fans of Summers will not be disappointed. Highly recommend.