A review by missy_reading
The Project by Courtney Summers

challenging 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? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 “Having a sister is a promise no one but the two of you can make-and no one but the two of you can break.”

The Project by Courtney Summer was published in Feb of 2021 by Wednesday books. Trigger warnings for suicide, cults, physical deformities, physical abuse, and parent death.

Never in my life have I read relationships about sisters that have felt more really than reading Courtney Summers books. I went into this book not knowing more than this was a book about sisters where one sister is a member of a cult and the other sister is trying to figure out how to get her out of it.

I felt like all of the main characters in this book were crafted so well and The Unity Project itself felt so real. I felt like Bea and Lo’s relationship was laid out so well to show how much they mean to each other from page one. When we start seeing the parts of Bea’s story where Lev starts showing up it is so obvious to the reader in my opinion how much of a manipulator this person is.

I felt like the way that the “cult” was handled was very true to what you read about some of the more well know cults in recent years. The charismatic man who is receiving visions from God and who wants to pull their followers away from the world. This part of the story just really pulled me in and had me speaking out to the characters that I didn’t think Lev was all he seemed.

Lo as a character took such a big turn through out the whole story that was so refreshing to see. I thought that the way her feelings and thoughts about the unity project changed as she was researching them made complete sense to the story.

I think if you like stories like The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni I think you will enjoy this book as well.

I gave this book 5 stars and will be reading more by this author very soon. 

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