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onemamareads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction and Death of parent
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and War
sarah2438's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Courtney Summers does an incredible job with her writing. Lev's charisma comes through even to the reader-- I felt Lo's skepticism of him going in, and I found myself getting won over at times. I even remember turning to my boyfriend, who buddy read this with me, and saying "he has to have done something sketchy, but honestly he doesn't seem too bad at this point." I was over halfway through the book when I said that! It's very uncomfortable to think about.
Just as disturbing as Lev's charisma is how realistic and twisted this book is. Lev preys upon those with trauma, grief, and pain. He offers them relief. A cause. And they flock to him, just like they would in real life.
Unfortunately, this book wasn't prefect. I think when it comes down to it, there are 3 big things that keep me from totally loving this book. These issues don't all carry the same weight for me, and I'm sure there's plenty of people who would disagree, but here are my 3:
1- I struggled to understand the religion The Unity Project was centered around. Lev's charisma, I totally fell for. But the actual religious tenants were a struggle. I think this is partially attributable to my own lack of faith; it may have required more of a suspension of belief for me than maybe someone who believes in God. I found myself parallel to Lo in this aspect.
2- Something happens about 75% of the way through that didn't feel right to me. It was like a shaky bridge-- it connected the two parts and got us where we needed to go, but I didn't feel sold on it.
3- I didn't love the ending. Summers usually does a good job of having just enough unanswered questions to be realistic, since we're not reading from an omniscient point of view, but still satisfying. In this one, I felt like there were too many questions left open, so the ending wasn't very satisfying for me. I wanted more detail, more information on what happened to everyone.
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, and Blood
bythecover's review against another edition
- 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
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
morganperks's review against another edition
- 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
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
thereadingshelf's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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.
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
mmikadze's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse
kbergsten's review against another edition
- 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
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
maiagaia's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The final chapter was absolutely stunning. A total gut punch. Tragic and hopeful at the same time: a deadly combination.
I loved Lo as a character. I understood her. I got where she was coming from. Until I didn't. To be more specific, once Lo starts palling around with the cult, I intellectually understood what the author was trying to do, but I don't think the execution was successful. Lo went from being supremely distrustful of every member to trusting them so quickly it gave me whiplash. It started out as the members slowly wearing her down and winning her over and then BLAM she's convinced her sister was a manipulative liar the whole time. The groundwork was there for another 50 or so pages of her struggling with herself and
being manipulated into the position she ended up in, but it moved too quickly and ultimately felt cheap and rushed.
The climax was simply not good. I'm not sure if you can even call it deus ex machina because the character doesn't even remember how they got out of their situation. It is textually written off as god intervening? Which I guess means it literally is deus ex machina...... Which is to say: lame. And this is coming from someone who LOVES a Greek tragedy.
Ultimately, I didn't realize this was YA, and I don't think I would have picked it up if I had. I only mention this because I think many of the issues I had could have been fixed by adding more pages and diving more into the characters' internal worlds, neither of which are fair expectations for a YA book, imo. The adult and YA markets have different expectations, and when expectations don't match reality, it's tough for the book to make up that ground.
The audiobook was good. The narrators were distinct enough for me even when I cranked it up to 2x speed for the last quarter or so.
Overall, I enjoyed this read (mostly) and don't regret picking it up. It was a quick listen that I got through in a single work day, so I can't complain.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Death of parent
Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Minor: Murder
massiahchantel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury