Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Project by Courtney Summers

3 reviews

bythecover's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Cursing, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Religious bigotry, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Infidelity

melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Told from dual-POVs and dual-timelines, this story explores what happened to two sisters after one was in a tragic accident that killed her parents, and the other joined the mysterious religious group, the Unity Project.

This was a very high-intensity thriller.  This deals with some really tricky subjects, and does a good job expressing the feelings of loss, grief, and loneliness that are preyed upon by Lev and his cult. Though I can't really say I liked the characters, I did enjoy reading about them, and I was on the metaphorical edge of my seat while racing through this book! I really enjoyed the way this ended, as well.   I'm definitely scoping out this author's other books to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Stalking, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Pregnancy

crackedspines_'s review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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 and I love them so much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Physical abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, and Torture

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Gore, and Sexual content

Minor: Blood

cult; miscarriage is implied

but doesn't happen<\spoiler>