There are some authors who are just absolutely singular. Courtney Summers is one of these. The Project will suck you in and mess you up. 

I was stressed out reading this book by the second page, then feverishly read the whole thing in one sitting, my heart in my throat the entire time. (I had to have an overwrought lie-down in the middle, but it didn't last, because I had to keep reading.) This is a book you clear your calendar for. 

THE PROJECT isn't as strictly surprising as some of Summers' other books--it's a cult book and you know it's a cult book--but is no less suspenseful for this. The characterization of charismatic leader Lev Warren is so insidious that you can see his appeal while recognizing his strategies, which instills in the book this persistent sense of dread and inevitability. The whole thing is so subtle it feels twisty and dangerous even as you KNOW it's a book about a cult and what that means is coming ahead. It's dark and sneaky and gets you right in the guts. 

I feel enormously devastated after reading this! I am still going to absolutely pre-order a copy. This is absolutely not to be missed. It will destroy you, and you won't be sorry.

Holy boats, my heart has been led on a tumultuous ride! Summers went and shattered it again. This is one of my favorite of her works— sharp prose bites into the big, wild bonds of sisters. It broke my everything and I loved it!

The Project is a brilliant novel.  The writing is beautiful and flows so wonderfully that you keep reading even through the topic is not an easy one. The center of the story isn't a cult, but the relationship between sisters. Bea and Lo's relationship - the bond of sister is the true center of the novel and that's what make it work so well in my opinion.

That being said, the way that Courtney Summers presents the cult is brilliant and you can see how things got to the point they are at in the story. Summers lets you slowly experience how the cult operates and the more you see, the more the unease and dread grows.

The last part of the book was so action-packed and I flew through it.  This novel is going to stay with me for a long time.

(More than 3 stars but just not a 4 stars for me!)
I read "Sadie" two years ago, and really liked it. I was looking forward to another novel by [author: Courtney Summers].
I was fortunate to be granted an ARC of this novel in August but since the publishing date isn’t until February I put on the back burner. However, I didn’t want to put off reading it any longer.

Gloria-Lo and Beatrice Bea Denham were orphaned when their parents die in a car accident.
Lo was 13-years old at the time and was in the accident she was and is still traumatized by it 6 years later. She was sent to live with their great aunt Patty, who died a few years later.
 Bea was 18 and joins the group in which Lev is the leader and who is credited with saving Lo’s life,
However, communication between the sisters has stopped.
 Story is told in two time period by both girls

 Lo is now a journalist. One afternoon while Lo is waiting for her train at a train station, she experiences a suicide. Before the boy jumps in front of the train he calls her name and recites a bible verse. She finds out that he is the son of friend of her boss; he claims that the “The Unit Project” is responsible for his death as he was brainwashed This is enough for Lo to set out to find her sister and investigate the cult, a story she started in her mind some time ago. 

There are parts of this story that seem like just another cult story ~ no surprises.
Wait a minute!  this is a Courtney Summers story. Yep there is a twist at the end that had me ‘waiting for’ but did not figure out.

Want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for professional review purposes only.  Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 2, 2021

Thank you to NetGally & the publisher for the eARC copy of this novel. As someone who has always been fascinated by religious cults, The Project was a masterfully insightful narrative that reveals how two estranged sisters were indoctrinated by the same vengeful & abusive cult leader. 

Bea & Lo's parents died in a car accident that Lo barely survives, which leads to Bea joining the Unity Project & abandoning her sister. Years ago, a man walks into the magazine office where Lo works & says the Unity Project killed his son. Lo attempts to begin an investigative article that she hopes will allow her to have access to Bea & help her understand why the Unity Project became more important than the bond of sisterhood. As Lo investigates the cult & its leader, her feelings about surviving the accident that killed her parents & her bitterness toward being abandoned my her sister, create a perfect storm leaving her to wonder if the Unity Project may be the home she has been looking for all along.

Courtney Summers wove a suspenseful, heartbreaking narrative with characters that are deeply relatable & a cult leader who walks such a fine line between charismatic & pitiful that this reader certainly felt drawn in by him a few times. An intense wild ride that will have readers examining their own stance on cult indoctrination!

That’s was not at all what I was expecting. There were so many twist and took me a second to get into it but I read the book in like 3-4 hours. I just had to see what happened next. Since the books does revolve around cults it does paint a really clear picture of how someone could get sucked into a cult. I was very pleasantly surprised by this book and may look into more of the authors books going forward.

Courtney Summers books are never about easy topics or digestible truths. She often forced us to look at the darker sides of humanity but to still be able to find hope there. The Project  is no different as Lo and her sister Bea both find themselves at different times questioning their faith in God, humanity and the leader of The Unity Project Lev. This book is an intense look at regions cults and how and why people get drawn into them. We all think we would never let it happen to us, but this makes it clear that there are pieces  of all of us in these characters and this is how men like Lev find their prey. An uncomfortable excellent read!

In The Project, Courtney Summers takes the reader along with someone who is slowly drawn in to a cult- the skepticism, the denial, and eventually seeing the dynamic leader, and eventually the acceptance and entrance into the cult until it is too late to get out. As a fan of anything Courtney, this book definitely did not disappoint. The characters presented are relatable and yet with the mystery, the dynamic to stay seated until every last word is written is just as real as being in the book itself. Not only is this a book of warning, but a book about family, determination, and integrity.

This was a perfectly fine thriller, but I must admit that I was a bit disappointed because I LOVED her previous title SADIE so much and this one just didn't draw me in in the same way.

I absolutely love stories about sisters, so I knew I had to pick this book up the minute I read the premise of it. Courtney Summers is the queen of characterization and atmosphere. I jumped into this book without knowing much more than: cult and sisters and was immediately sucked into the stories and into Lo's and Bea's lives.

This book is about sisters who go through an unimaginable tragedy and then encounter the enticement of a cult leader.  First of all, this book may have the most stunning and unique cover that I have ever seen.  I imagine that it is even more beautiful on a hardcover copy.  I liked this book and thought it had an interesting glimpse of how someone may be enthralled by a cult leader like Lev.  I wish there was a little bit more about when it started turning bad, because it really just skimmed over that part...so the end felt a more rushed.  I've read several novels about cults and this one falls in the middle for me.  I have liked this author's past work and like how she tackles difficult subjects, so I look forward to reading more of her books.  I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Courtney Summers has done a fantastic job at writing a cult thriller. You don't fully know that it's a thriller until 50% in, and you watch as someone falls into a cult mentality. It's something often talked about, but even people who say that it could never be them can fall susceptible as well. The book really shows the predatory nature of these kinds of cults and how it can make you feel loved and supported. By the time you finally realize you're in a cult, it's too late. They have everything you could want. 

Summers includes the aftermath of this kind of situation at the very end, which I always wonder about with thrillers. What happens to these people and their trauma? What happens with the children involved? The ending of this book was satisfying. It was upsetting and raw, but satisfying. I had been trying to get my hands on this book for quite some time, and I'm really grateful that I was approved for it! 

Full review 1/25/2021

A parallel storyline told several years apart involving two orphaned sisters and a cult that warrants investigation. Bea left her sister Lo to join Lev's cult, The Unity Project, and now aspiring journalist Lo wants to find her sister and expose the cult, especially after a member jumps in front of a train right before her eyes. As she digs deeper into the mystery, she becomes more intertwined with the members and more invested in discovering Lev's crimes. Unfortunately, for me, I didn't feel that the back-and-forth narrative kept me engaged and often left me confused. Summers uses purposefully chosen, ambiguous language that leaves the reader uneasy and drawing their own conclusions. Why did Jeremy jump in front of the train? What did Arthur's online network of informants discover? Who was making the phone calls to Lo? Reading the advance copy e-book version probably didn't help--the transitions between storylines are not well-defined. Ultimately, I was disappointed.

“𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒘 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔.”
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With two dead parents and an estranged sister, Lo Denham would like nothing more than to lock her traumatic past away and contribute to society through her writing. But when the publication she works for lands on a story about Lev Warren and his infamous The Unity Project, she knows she has to be the one to write it- with or without the go ahead from her boss. The Unity Project isn’t just another organization, it’s the cult Lo’s sister has deserted her for. 

Family secrets are revealed and traumatic pasts unveiled with characters you’ll be screaming at to wake the hell up! Will Lo get her sister back or will she fall face first into the ideologies of the one and only Lev Warren? 
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I love a good cult story. Courtney Summers knows a thing or two about writing books that will hit you in your deepest nerve. The Project is no exception.  If you’re interested in deep rooted family troubles, cults or sibling bonds - you might want to pick this up. Set to release in February 2021.
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Many thanks to Netgalley and publishers for providing my review copy.

The Project was fast paced, moving effortlessly back and forth between years and points of views. The cover is truly stunning.  I really got sucked into the whole story hungry for the ending. There’s definitely a mysterious undertone to the book. Lo’s journey to find her sister and herself is hard to put down. Thanks net galley and St. Martin’s press of the arc n an exchange for my guest review.

What a thrilling read!  At first it seemed like this was a story only about two sisters trying to reconnect after years apart with the Unity Project just being in the background. The Unity Project plays a pivotal role in the book.  The twists were delightfully shocking.  I really enjoyed the ending.

The Project is a harsh reminder how cults easily prey on people that are broken, lonely, feel isolated from their friends and family, and also desire something in their life to help them atone for things they have done in their past. The story goes back and forth between 2 sisters, Bea and Lo who are ripped apart after a terrible accident claims the lives of their parents. Bea begins her life in The Unity Project with its leader Lev who she quickly develops a deep affection for after he "saved" her sister from death. 6 years later, we find Lo working in the city and she witnesses the suicide of Jeremy, who happened to be a member of the project. This sets Lo in motion to start investigating the project and find out were her sister is.

After reading a couple of books on Scientology and the brainwashing that occurs, as well as the recent prosecution of the NXIVM cult leader, this story is definitely based on things that occur in real life. Cults mind-fuck with people so much that those imbedded in the cult believe what they are told to believe. Overall, The Project was a well-written fictional account of cult relationships, as well as the sisterly bond of Bea and Lo.

Twisty, dark, and delicious. A triumph of a novel exploring the nuances of what it means to snap. Amazing,

I'm conflicted on this one. I love Courtney Summers, and most of her books have been excellent for me, but there were a lot of parts in this one where I felt lost or confused (and not in the good, "this will all be clear later" way). I know I'll still buy it for my classroom library when it's published because it WILL be of interest to some of my students, but it's not my favorite of her books. Sadie was also a little confusing at times - this one is that kind of confusing but ratcheted up about ten notches.

Courtney Summers has yet to disappoint me with a book. This is another compulsively readable, wild ride of a book. Summers always keeps the reader on their toes and this is no exception. The book is told in alternating, past, and past chapters. The past from older sister, Bea's perspective, and the present from younger sister, Lo's. Even though I suspected what was going to happen, I almost didn't believe it truly would, down the moment it was actually coming to pass. There was a lot of questioning myself because Summers wants to keep you guessing and whats you to think about what she is telling you and what she is not..

WIthout giving too much away, Lo is investigating her sister, Bea's disappearance into a faith-based religious organization called The Unity Project. An organization that Lo believes is a cult. Lo wants to be a journalist/ And though her boss isn't really offering her a promotion from assistant to writer, Lo takes matters into her own hands and decides if she gets a good scoop on the Unity Project and delivers the written story to him, he will be forced to acknowledge her value as a writer and promote her. 

Lo has a traumatic past, having been nearly killed in a car crash that DID kill both her parents when she was 13. Lo barely survives- it's a miracle!- but when she is released from the hospital her sister is already gone, having joined the Unity Project. They don't speak again. What follows is Lo seeking the truth about her sister and trying to deal with her own trauma. I spent a lot of this book second-guessing everything about The Project itself. It's very God-heavy which is something I usually can't deal with in books, but in this case, it's the only way to go about explaining the ins and outs of this organization. It feels a lot like Scientology crossed with NXIVM. And only having watched about half a dozen documentaries on various cults and listening to just as many podcasts made me able to see through what I though Summers was doing with this narrative and with her presentation of The Project itself. 

The ending gets twisty and it was unexpected. Highly recommend.