5 stars

I keep a very careful and detailed spreadsheet of all of my arcs, and next month is a busy time for publication, but there was NO chance I was going to let this one sit in its place waiting to be read. I started it only a few hours after approval, and I could not put it down (minus, you know, having to work...but I still thought about this book the whole time).

This is my sixth Courtney Summers book. I've liked all of them - REALLY liked most of them - but this one is on another level.

The narrative follows a timeline that spans quite a few years and jumps around a bit, and while I found that moderately challenging at first, this structure helps to set the scene for Bea and her younger sister (Lo), the incredible trauma they both experience within their immediate family, and the truly unexpected paths their lives are following in present day. Both characters are largely shaped by their traumas but in a way that is riveting and authentic and not gratuitous. These traumas help explain their unusual relationships to each other, with other people, and...with a cult. While I found parts of the first half of the novel to be a bit slow, once details begin falling into place, the pace picks up and never relents.

In so many ways, this novel centers on the pain of being alone in the company of others ("Remember what it was like to be around others?!" I wonder as I write this review in July of 2020...). But it is also a deep dive into resilience and agency and unconditional love; that's where the magic really happens.

This is some tough subject matter but well worth the struggle -

I finished THE PROJECT around midnight, but there was no sleep for me after that. This book will be in my head for a very long time.

I'm a huge fan of Courtney Summers - Sadie broke me wide open and I still feel that. So I expected to be destroyed by this book - maybe I even wanted to be destroyed. But I still wasn't ready for this.

There are no words to describe the writing here - I was lost in this book from the first page. I could feel what it would be like to experiencing the things Lo was experiencing, and while I thought I was one step ahead of her as far as knowing what was going on - I was wrong. More than that, this book really did make me question things I thought I knew about myself, things I thought I understood about myself. Just when I thought I felt safe and secure, the real horror began, the part no one can see until it's too late. This book pulled me in like a current.

I can say that I loved it, but it I can also say it is disturbing and intense and frightening, partly because it is so honest that it's too close for comfort.

Courtney Summers never fails to break my heart in a thousand pieces and yet I keep coming back. The Project was an amazing and harrowing read about familial love, heartbreak, and disillusionment. Highly recommend!