Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Project by Courtney Summers

9 reviews

svarney23's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Car accident, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, and Physical abuse

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

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

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

hagiasophia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.75

I don't know if this is really a four star read, but I consumed this book in a day. I do like how Summers writes characters, and the setting and atmosphere were great. I was a little disappointed in some of the twists and the changes to the main character felt a little too quick to be believable, but it was entertaining.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

vlntnmz's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

magsapt's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I was the first person that wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, it let me down.
Summers' wonderful words still seduced me and kept me gripped to the story. Her prose is simple, yet she manages to involve you in her narrative. Her books are very plot-driven, and she only writes descriptively when necessary which makes her books fast to read, even though the usual themes are dark and heavy. I think that's Courtney Summers' true power: her ability to write about tough subjects without making the book too dense. She writes what she must - there are no unnecessary scenes or long detailed pointless moments. Summers' gives you enough freedom to imagine things on your own, leaving you clues to solve the mystery, every gap intentional.
However, on this particular occasion, she made the plot too predictable. Nothing was surprising or unexpected. In the beginning, I saw the whole story unfold and unfortunately, all my hunches came true. Adding this to the fact that there was barely any character development equals a two star read for me.
Lou started as this fierce character who was willing to do everything to find her sister and then becomes her sister. One might've thought that one woman's actions were another's lesson, but I was wrong. I kept being naive and thinking Lou has something up her sleeve, but it turns out she was just an ignorant brat who always makes the worst decisions available. Her lack of progress and improvement baffled me, and the only two things that kept me going were: a) Courtney Summer's marvellous writing; and b) my hope that the author would redeem herself. Thing b) didn't happen, so here I am, hea

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Murder and Infidelity

Psychological abuse; cult

kayleyhyde's review against another edition

dark 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

mdemanatee's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Wow, another emotional devastation thanks to Courtney Summers. Summers continues her exploration of the bond between sisters and lends her signature tone to cult angle. I wasn't always 100% on board in terms of the pacing of the structure, or maybe how the cult itself was developed in terms of how we as readers experienced it (because all the pieces were definitely there). But there's a lot to unpack here. More thoughts to come as I am processing and also want to avoid all spoilers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Violence

cajun_reader's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The Project by Courtney Summers is an interesting book that explores how a cult can destroy families. The main characters' lives are greatly impacted by the influence of a charismatic leader. The book reveals how appealing membership in one of these organizations can be to individuals seeking love and acceptance, but that acceptance comes with a cost. 

The main characters in this book are sisters. One sister, Lo, is in a life-threatening accident as a child. Her older sister, Bea, struggles to deal with Lo's accident and its aftermath. She turns to Lev Warren, leader of The Unity Project, to find healing and purpose. By joining the Project, she severs her ties with her sister. Lo does not understand why her sister has left her life and blames the Project for taking Bea from her. Therefore, Lo sets out as a young woman to learn and reveal the truth behind the Project. To do this, she must get close to its leader, which is a risky endeavor. 

The premise of this book is interesting and engaging. The delivery is a bit chaotic, though. The story is told in two different timelines from the perspectives of Lo and Bea. It is often not clear at first which sister's storyline is being told at a given moment in the book. Some aspects of the story do not get explained well, either. Overall, I just found myself often confused. 

This is one of those books that I find it hard to really like any of the characters. That's not necessarily a problem in the writing. Not all characters are meant to be likable. It just lowers a book's appeal to me in the sense that I will not likely want to pick it up again. I will admit, however, that the cult leader character is very interesting to read and well portrayed. I wish I had enjoyed the two main characters more. 

I would recommend this book to fans of fiction that is focused on cults. It portrays that lifestyle and its members in a very engaging and fascinating manner.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Car accident, Murder, Suicide, and Toxic relationship