Book Details | |
|---|---|
| BOOK NAME | The Project |
| AUTHOR | Courtney Summers |
| CATEGORY | Young Adult, Thriller, Mystery |
| LANGUAGE | English |
| NUMBER OF PAGES | 352 pages |
| PUBLISHER | Wednesday Books |
| PUBLISHING DATE | 2 February 2021 |
| EDITION | |
| ISBN-10 | 1250105730 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1250105738 |
| DIMENSIONS | 14.61 x 3.34 x 21.92 cm |
| BINDING | |
| PRICE | |
| EBOOK | |
The Project Review
Let’s start with this hypnotizing cover that you cannot take your eyes on it: it deserves more than 15 million stars, doesn’t it?
Before you start this book, I assure you this is not a standard “ welcome to the world of cults and meet with the lunatics who are also worshippers of one legendary man who lost most of his marbles” kind of book. It’s not only about a cult. It’s about losing your way in your life, looking for an anchor, grieving your family but mostly finding yourself story at the most unexpected place you may imagine.
Glory-Lo-Denham has one of the shittiest hand she’s dealt with: she might be only 19 but she already lost too much starting from the car accident left a long and ugly scar on her cheek makes her remember that ominous day every time she looks in the mirror or catches a stranger’s pitying look at her face. At the very same accident, she lost her parents and after fighting for her life at the hospital, her elder sister Beatrice ( Bea) abandons her to join a special group called themselves “ Unity Project” And her caretaker auntie Patty passes away only a few years later.
The only thing that helps Lo not completely lose it is her writing and thankfully she finds a job at SVO- one of the most powerful magazines as founder Paul Tindale’s assistant position. She dreams to be a writer and her only story already started to form on her mind since the day her sister left her for the Unity Project.
From the beginning, she is suspicious about the motives of their organization. They might have already won the hearts and manipulated most of the people in the Upstate New York region but she feels like this is just an act to cover their organization which is functioning like a cult.
And one day she witnesses a suicide. A boy jumps on the train tracks. Before he kills himself he calls Lo her name and a passage from the bible.
Then Lo finds out the boy called Jeffrey who took his own life was the son of Arthur, a very close friend of her boss, who always treats her nice since they’ve met. He says that his son was a member of the Unity Project and they brainwashed him to kill himself. That’s the opportunity for Lo to dig more about them to write a story bringing out the facts and reconnecting with her sister who rejects to call or talk with her for six years.
That means she has to face the charismatic and powerful leader Lev Warren.
And guess what, Lev Warren who never opens up his abused childhood story and the inner mechanism of their organization to the press, accepts to talk with Lo.
She is closer to accomplish her mission. But what if everything she knows about her life consists of a bunch of ugly lies. What if the sister she yearns for turned into a complete stranger to her? What if there is more about her miraculous survival story at the hospital? Could she be wrong about the project? Could Lev Warren have supernatural powers to resuscitate people and heal their souls? Could she choose the wrong side from the beginning?
This book is a harsh, cold, painful slap to your face. Ms. Summers always knows how to create tragic, sad, broken survivor young adult characters. At some parts, Lo reminded me of her previous character, Sadie. The darkness, depression, and grief surround her like black smoke. But she is determined, stubborn to go on and finish what she started in expanse to shatter everything she believed and cared about.
She’s bold, she’s relentless, she’s a risk-taker.
You think you know how the story will end and everything is so predictable. Nope, think again! Nothing as it seems and just gets ready to burn and your heart to be broken into million pieces. This is a gripping, layered, enigmatic, stirring, stimulating, complex, and extremely well-written story. I didn’t expect less from the author.
That was one of the most anticipated reads of mine and I’m so happy, I wasn’t wrong about it.
Sharp transitions between past and present were clever but a little confusing which requests your full attention not to skip the important details of the novel. So I’m just lowering half star but eventually rounding up 4.5 to 5 stunning, well-deserved stars!
I cannot wait to read more works of the author.
The Project Summary
From Courtney Summers, the New York Times bestselling author of the 2019 Edgar Award Winner and breakout hit, Sadie, comes a sensational follow-up—another pulls-no-punches thriller about an aspiring young journalist determined to save her sister from a cult.
“The Unity Project saved my life.”
Lo Denham is used to being on her own. After her parents died, Lo’s sister, Bea, joined The Unity Project, leaving Lo in the care of their great aunt. Thanks to its extensive charitable work and community outreach, The Unity Project has won the hearts and minds of most in the Upstate New York region, but Lo knows there’s more to the group than meets the eye. She’s spent the last six years of her life trying—and failing—to prove it.
“The Unity Project murdered my son.”
When a man shows up at the magazine Lo works for claiming The Unity Project killed his son, Lo sees the perfect opportunity to expose the group and reunite with Bea once and for all. When her investigation puts her in the direct path of its charismatic and mysterious leader, Lev Warren, he proposes a deal: if she can prove the worst of her suspicions about The Unity Project, she may expose them. If she can’t, she must finally leave them alone.
But as Lo delves deeper into The Project, the lives of its members, and spends more time with Lev, it upends everything she thought she knew about her sister, herself, cults, and the world around her—to the point she can no longer tell what’s real or true. Lo never thought she could afford to believe in Lev Warren . . . but now she doesn’t know if she can afford not to.
Welcome to The Unity Project.
The Project by Courtney Summer Book Review
About Author BOOKAUTHOR
Courtney Summers is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of several novels for young adults, including Cracked Up to Be, All the Rage, and Sadie. Her work has been released to multiple starred reviews, received numerous awards and honors–including the Edgar Award, John Spray Mystery Award, Cybils Award, and Odyssey Award–and has been recognized by many libraries, ‘Best Of’ and Readers’ Choice lists. She lives and writes in Canada.
Q&A With Author Courtney Summers
The Project
She is closer to accomplish her mission. But what if everything she knows about her life consists of a bunch of ugly lies. What if the sister she yearns for turned into a complete stranger to her? What if there is more about her miraculous survival story at the hospital? Could she be wrong about the project? Could Lev Warren have supernatural powers to resuscitate people and heal their souls? Could she choose the wrong side from the beginning?
URL: https://amzn.to/3q87CBB
Author: Courtney Summers
3.6