Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Project

This wasn’t what I was expecting. It was enjoyable but not as dark or thrilling as I thought it was going to be. I didn’t really like how it was told because I felt like you couldn’t connect to the characters and their storylines as much. Also until the end we didn’t get to really see how bad the cult was. Also a certain part in this just doesn’t make sense it’s a spoiler so don’t read this but I don’t understand why she would just join it after fighting them for so long. Overall it was enjoyable but nothing amazing like Sadie was.

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violet123's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Ow.

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coolbeans's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Having heard rave reviews about previous titles in this author's backlog, I thought it would be a great opportunity to pick this one up. I also don't have an extensive reading history of cult-related books in my repertoire and figured this would be a good introduction as a young adult thriller. Don't let the young adult label fool you, this is a solid suspense story regardless of age.

It follows Lo Denham as she tries to find out what has happened to her older sister, Bea, after she joins the Unity Project, an organization that is increasingly being labeled as a cult in the region. Being informed in flashbacks of the trauma that the sisters endured as children to get the to the present point, Lo journeys into the gravitational pull of the Unity Project and it's highest ranking members for information on her sister and a breaking news story that would expose the dark side of this seemingly gentle and benevolent organization.

The author quickly gains your empathy with the two sisters in their trauma and choices that result from it. Neither are picture perfect in their decisions, but you can clearly see the reasoning behind the way they wade through the muddled events in their lives. In saying that, specifically, you see how the leader of the Unity Project, Lev Warren, can enrapture his followers into his tangled web in the "how, who, and when" of he shows up in their lives. And it's not flamboyant or in-your-face with this part of the story. Summers has a wonderful way of surreptitiously weaving the inner monologue of certain character's perspectives to shift their ideals until you hit a sudden realization of "Wait a second, this doesn't sound like you from four chapters ago." This deception taking root in the reader's mind is in essence the experience the characters in the novel go through as the plot wisps forward quietly and eerily.

Ultimately, the plot, atmosphere, and writing style of this story gives the reader the same isolation, redirection, and unsettling narrative that any follower of Lev Warren of the Unity Project would receive. You definitely feel the characters and atmosphere of this story hazily unfurl out onto you like a foggy mist. It made the book for me. Great first read by this author and has convinced me to pick up her backlog. If you like YA thrillers, cult-related titles, or just a good old psychological minefield, give this one a try!

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ripxw's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? It's complicated

2.5

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onemamareads's review

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Read my full review here: https://onemamassummer.weebly.com/book-reviews/the-project

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_thelitlibrarian's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

3.75 stars
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TW: Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Torture, Car accident, Suicide, Death, Grief
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An unforgettable story that deal with love, grief, and betrayal. Lo Denham is an aspiring journalist with a dark past, her parents died in a car crash and she's been estranged from her sister the only family she has left for years. After the crash her sister Bea joins a lucrative group called The Unity Project and cuts all ties to the life she's lived - when a man comes into Lo's work claiming The Unity Project killed his son, Lo takes it as the perfect opportunity to dive into a world she isn't familiar with and figure out what has happened to Bea. What she doesn't know is there's a world full of lies, deception, and secrets waiting for her.

Going into this I had such high hopes, I absolutely loved 'Sadie' but sadly didn't feel that same connection to this book. The plot was so intriguing as anything cultish is my kind of jam, but it just felt it didn't dive deep enough into it. I listened to this via audiobook which helped me finish as had I been reading, I would have DNF'd this as I just couldn't get into it. The story is told via multiple POV's but the narrator used the same voices for both sisters and it sometimes was hard to know who's POV we were in. There were some cringe moments throughout this book, and some heavy torture scenes that didn't sit well with me. I would describe this as a slow burn, but too slow for a thriller in my opinion, and it didn't leave me wanting more. It lacks twists and shocks, and really nothing happens until the climax of the book. Overall, if you're looking for a slow-burn thriller I suggest you pick this up!

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greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad 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

4.0

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fangirlashley1's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Even at her weakest, Courtney Summers is a great author and I’ll read anything she writes.

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