The Project by Courtney Summers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
After a terrible car accident, which killed both of her parents, Lo Denham lies close to death herself.
She’s young though and ultimately pulls through, but with lasting repercussions.
Lo’s older sister, Bea, abandons her after the accident, leaving Lo in the care of their Aunt.
Lo, understandably curious about why her sister would leave, only knows that Bea has joined a mysterious group called The Unity Project.
The Project has deeply embedded itself within a few towns in Upstate New York through extensive charitable works and community outreach.
Even with their good deeds enhancing their image in the eyes of some, many assume The Project is a cult, led by a charismatic leader, Lev Warren. Lo is one of those who believes something is not normal about the group.
Years later, when a good friend of her boss loses his son, Jeremy, to suicide, he blames The Project for driving him to his death. It turns out Jeremy had been a member and as such was purportedly kept from his family and friends.
Looking through photos of the man’s son, Lo stumbles upon one with Bea and Jeremy together. Lo has been desperate to be in contact with her sister again and vows to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
Lo works for a magazine, currently in an administrative position, but she dreams of being a writer. Getting the scoop on The Project could not only help her find her sister, but also help her to reach her goals.
She infiltrates and things progress from there.
The Project is a slow burn. Unfortunately for me, one that fizzled out rather than ignited.
The last quarter of the book started to intrigue me more, but prior to that I felt nothing for it; no passion, no intrigue, no curiosity, it was just sort of meh.
As always, Summers includes a lot of hard-hitting subject matter and that’s important.
I love her examination of difficult familial relationships. Lo, as a character, is really struggling to find her place and meaning for her life. Her need to reconnect with Bea is palpable. My heart did ache for her.
However, I did struggle with some of the back and forth between perspectives and timelines, as the narrative shifts from Lo to Bea at different times.
I would often forget whose perspective I was reading from, as I didn’t find them particularly distinct, as odd as that may sound.
Also, the timelines that it switched between were all fairly close together, for example 2012, 2017, 2018, and I am just not used to that type of format.
I think I am used to larger gaps in time, say for example from 2000 to 2020, but that is a me problem, not a book problem, however it did impede my enjoyment.
Since I was so highly anticipating this, I am left with a sense of disappointment. Even though it is a good book, there’s nothing wrong with it, for me it fell flat. I wanted it to go darker, the atmosphere to be more ominous, and I wanted more suspense.
With all this being said, there’s a Reader for every book, so please do not let my slightly unenthusiastic review stop you from picking this one up. If the synopsis intrigues you, absolutely pick it up and try for yourself!
Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
I appreciate the opportunity!
