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A review by laelyn
The Project by Courtney Summers
3.0
I was very excited to read "The Project" because I truly loved Courtney Summers' "Sadie". And in many aspects, this book didn't disappoint. Summers has a very approachable writing style and she knows how to keep readers hooked, which happened to me basically on page 1. She doesn't spell things out for the reader, she trusts them to figure some things out for themselves. I really liked both of the sisters, Bea and Lo - Bea was actually even more interesting to me. I liked how the story unfolded too. It doesn't strike me as a typical book about cults, the focus is much more on two young women who lose themselves in the horrible things that happen to them. They are looking for an anchor, for a safety net, for anything or anyone to ground them, even if Lo doesn't admit to it for a long time. And this is why both of them, in the end, are perfect targets for a cult.
I do have to say that the cult itself wasn't very convincing. It's nothing new how they work and how dangerous they are, it's nothing new that cult leaders are horrible people who do horrible things, especially in literature. While Lo's search for the truth is at the center of her story, the book never really delves into the inner workings of the Unity Project. It focuses for a long time on the perceived good parts of it, probably to confuse the reader some more, show that these matters aren't always black and white. But while there is a lot of white on display, the black mostly happens through show, don't tell moments until basically the very end and it is limited to a very small group of people. I was hoping for a little more in a book with such intriguing protagonists and interesting premise.
Still, it is definitely worth a read!
I do have to say that the cult itself wasn't very convincing. It's nothing new how they work and how dangerous they are, it's nothing new that cult leaders are horrible people who do horrible things, especially in literature. While Lo's search for the truth is at the center of her story, the book never really delves into the inner workings of the Unity Project. It focuses for a long time on the perceived good parts of it, probably to confuse the reader some more, show that these matters aren't always black and white. But while there is a lot of white on display, the black mostly happens through show, don't tell moments until basically the very end and it is limited to a very small group of people. I was hoping for a little more in a book with such intriguing protagonists and interesting premise.
Still, it is definitely worth a read!