Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Project by Courtney Summers

55 reviews

_thelitlibrarian's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Grief, and Car accident

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

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

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Car accident, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Stalking, and Abandonment

morganperks's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping

theloveofwordss's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pregnancy

booksandtea997's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

thereadingshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

lisacanteven's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

This is my first Courtney Summers book. I know a lot of people read Sadie before and this book did not measure up. For me, I do not have that book to compare to. I still was left wanting so much more from this book that she gave us. I felt as if so much happened off the pages that we were hardly given enough of the story for it to make its impact. I've never read a book that left so much unsaid before, and let me say that I did not like that at all. 

The cult vibes were great though, so I rated it higher than I would have normally I think. I wanted a cult book, and I got one. It was pretty predictable the whole time, even without as much context as we deserved as readers. I didn't love it, but I didn't dislike it as much as I was expecting based on other reviews. I'm not sure I would read another book by this author though.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

kbergsten's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

gbyd's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Car accident