Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Project by Courtney Summers

32 reviews

hal2499's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Car accident, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Suicide

Moderate: Grief, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

grettypop's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Lo went through a horrific car accident that took away the life of her parents and nearly killed her. Desperate to help, her sister, Bea, turns to a local healer (also a leader of a very religious organization). Lo miraculously recovers, and this seals Bea’s fate. She joins the Unity Project to follow Lev and his divine teachings.

This was almost a decade ago… now Lo is grown up and she has not had any contact with her sister. You see, the Unity Project members are known to cut people off. But after the mysterious death of another Project member, Lo decides she needs answers. She wants to write an expose on the Project, and all the harm they’re doing. Is the Project a cult? Is Lev really a divine healer sent from God?

I enjoyed the premise of the book, but unfortunately I found Lo so unbearable, I couldn’t connect with her. She goes from wanting to write an expose to joining the cult. And despite all evidence that is being presented to her from the beginning about how toxic this gathering is, she start willfully ignoring it all and abandoning all common sense.

I found the “twist” very predictable, the characters mostly unlikeable, and the storyline of Lo joining too underdeveloped. It just made no sense.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Bullying

Moderate: Death

ravensandlace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

tw: premature birth, hospitals, parental death, car accident, suicide, parental abandonment, burns, corporal punishment, infidelity, drowning, death

One of my latest fascinations is cults. In fact, over the course of a year (thanks to a 30-minute commute to my job), I listened to a podcast about cults. I’m going to be posting my thoughts on that at a later time but I will let you know that it is on Spotify. It’s called Cults and it’s from the Parcast Network. Anyway, I don't know what it is about cults, but they intrigue me. It’s hard for me to understand how anyone could get sucked into one but they do. 

That’s why I was so intrigued with this book albeit a little hesitant. I knew it was about cults. But I've been having a hell of a time trying to connect with Courtney Summers’ writing. She has written excellent books but I just can't seem to get into them. In the last two books I’ve read of hers (Sadie and Cracked Up to Be), I rated three stars. Which is a good rating for me but I wanted to love them since I know a lot of people love her books. 

That changed with this book. I loved this book! It started out a bit slow initially and I struggled to pay attention. But I knew that if I persevered, the ending would be worth it. And it was! After a couple of chapters, the book quickly picked up and I was hooked. I did call a lot of the twists but that didn’t hinder my enjoyment.  I was glad I was right. 

Lev, the leader of the Unity Project, reminded me of the Unification Church (or as they are more commonly called, the Moonies) led by Sun Myung Moon. Moon, along with Lev, had a vision and wanted to “help the world” but behind closed doors, they were not the person they presented themselves to be to the public and if I’m being honest, I almost bought into Lev’s BS, for lack of better words. He did seem very convincing and I was thinking to myself, this group can’t be that bad, can it?

Lo was a great main character. She was incredibly unlikable at times and I just wanted to shake some sense into her. But I really did like her and was rooting for her the whole way through. We also got a point of view of Bea, her sister. At first, I was so upset with her. But as the story progressed, I understood her, and I understood her motives. That doesn’t mean I liked it but I got where she was coming from. I would do anything for my sister, too. I’m not so sure I would abandon my sister for a cult, however.

Overall, this is the best Courtney Summers book I’ve read so far. I’m glad that I preserved and kept trying her books. I knew that eventually, I’d find a book I’d like of hers. I think it helps that it was about a topic I’m very much invested in. I also think I’ve gotten used to the way Courtney Summers writes and also how she writes her characters, which are unlikable female characters. I highly recommended this book especially if you are interested in cults and enjoy Courtney Summers's books. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Violence, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Confinement, Death of parent, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Medical content, Suicide, and Torture

amberinbookland's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Torture, Religious bigotry, Violence, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Grief, Physical abuse, and Murder

honeybeewitched87's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Violence, Torture, Sexual content, Physical abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

ashleycmms's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Abandonment, and Body horror

Moderate: Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Grief

bladebailey's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

This book was... disappointing. I listened to the audiobook which was well done but really ended up disliking every single character. Lo had promise in the beginning when she was so desperate to find her sister and expose the Project but very quickly lost that integrity and ended up doing everything she was angry with her sister for, and hated the Project for. Pacing felt off, especially when Lo goes from angry to complacent. It felt instant, with little to no reasoning behind her switch. The ending was so predictable that it was almost painful. The writing was decent and it did feel suspenseful enough to finish, and honestly Lev was a very compelling character, but this book wouldn't win any awards from me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, and Car accident

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

violet123's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Car accident

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Abandonment

This book is very dark and contains detailed manipulation/indoctrination into a cult.

theremightbecupcakes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, and Abandonment