Take a photo of a barcode or cover
shebolebolee 's review for:
The Project
by Courtney Summers
My actual rating: 4.5 stars
This book was, in a word, subtle (in the best way possible).
Somehow, without me noticing, it wormed its way into my brain and wouldn't let go. I dreamt about it while I was reading it. I thought about it whenever I had to stop reading it.
The subtlety of this book is what I loved most about it. The suspense was clever-I kept catching myself thinking "Something isn't right here" and then changing my mind, thinking I made it all up. I felt like I went on the journey with Lo as she believed that the Unity Project was a cult, and then slowly began to learn about it in ways that made her question her own beliefs.
Speaking of Lo, I loved her as a main character. I loved that she was feisty and angry and hurting, and still somehow surviving despite the odds stacked against her. I loved how Summers wrote of the complicated relationship between Lo and Bea (even beginning the book on this note of the nuances of the nature of sisterhood). The little glimpses into Bea's story and past in between Lo's present gave me insights into both sisters-and the plot as a whole-that made the story deeper and richer.
Knowing both sides of the story as they happened for each sister also upped the subtle suspense in the book. We see Lo's beliefs about the Unity Project and then get transported into the past seeing Bea discover Lev and God and the Project for herself in ways that made me question if Lo was a reliable narrator. (Was she? Guess you'll just have to read and find out for yourself!)
The ending was the culmination of a book's worth of suspense, of not wholly knowing the truth until the last second. While the rest of the book was more subtle in its machinations, the ending was a gut punch that left me stunned.
The main thing that kept this from being a five star read was that it wasn't exactly fast-paced. I think the way it was written was exactly what the story needed, but there is a lot of backstory and dialogue -and not as much action as you would think for a book touted as a "pull-no-punches thriller." I would like to clarify, though, that the lack of action in the middle of the book by no means detracts from it. You need the dialogue and backstory. It keeps you from knowing what to believe, what's right or wrong about the Unity Project and Lev. It builds the suspense for the action of the climax, which then becomes that much more compelling because of what came before it.
All in all, this book was a great read. It examines the complicated relationships between family and faith, and how each person can view the same thing so differently. It examines the notion of truth and how it changes depending on the angle.
The Unity Project is a cult....or is it?
*I received a free electronic copy of this book from Netgalley
This book was, in a word, subtle (in the best way possible).
Somehow, without me noticing, it wormed its way into my brain and wouldn't let go. I dreamt about it while I was reading it. I thought about it whenever I had to stop reading it.
The subtlety of this book is what I loved most about it. The suspense was clever-I kept catching myself thinking "Something isn't right here" and then changing my mind, thinking I made it all up. I felt like I went on the journey with Lo as she believed that the Unity Project was a cult, and then slowly began to learn about it in ways that made her question her own beliefs.
Speaking of Lo, I loved her as a main character. I loved that she was feisty and angry and hurting, and still somehow surviving despite the odds stacked against her. I loved how Summers wrote of the complicated relationship between Lo and Bea (even beginning the book on this note of the nuances of the nature of sisterhood). The little glimpses into Bea's story and past in between Lo's present gave me insights into both sisters-and the plot as a whole-that made the story deeper and richer.
Knowing both sides of the story as they happened for each sister also upped the subtle suspense in the book. We see Lo's beliefs about the Unity Project and then get transported into the past seeing Bea discover Lev and God and the Project for herself in ways that made me question if Lo was a reliable narrator. (Was she? Guess you'll just have to read and find out for yourself!)
The ending was the culmination of a book's worth of suspense, of not wholly knowing the truth until the last second. While the rest of the book was more subtle in its machinations, the ending was a gut punch that left me stunned.
The main thing that kept this from being a five star read was that it wasn't exactly fast-paced. I think the way it was written was exactly what the story needed, but there is a lot of backstory and dialogue -and not as much action as you would think for a book touted as a "pull-no-punches thriller." I would like to clarify, though, that the lack of action in the middle of the book by no means detracts from it. You need the dialogue and backstory. It keeps you from knowing what to believe, what's right or wrong about the Unity Project and Lev. It builds the suspense for the action of the climax, which then becomes that much more compelling because of what came before it.
All in all, this book was a great read. It examines the complicated relationships between family and faith, and how each person can view the same thing so differently. It examines the notion of truth and how it changes depending on the angle.
The Unity Project is a cult....or is it?
*I received a free electronic copy of this book from Netgalley