Review of The Project by Courtney Summers

That feeling when you’ve been a fan of an author forever and 2021 brings a new book! Check out my review of The Project by Courtney Summers

What’s The Project About?

The Project by Courtney Summers. To be published on February 2, 2021 by Wednesday Books. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review.

Synopsis: 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. 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.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 leader, Lev Warren and as Lo delves deeper into The Project, the lives of its members 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.

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Review of The Project by Courtney Summers

I’ve really loved watching Courtney Summers’ writing evolve over the years. She started out writing contemporary YA featuring female characters who were always a little more complicated than your average YA character in the 2010s (Cracked Up To Be, Some Girls Are and Fall For Anything). Then she did zombies. Then a sexual assault book, All The Rage.

That said, The Project didn’t feel at all like YA to me. It’s almost as Lo is the adult version of those complicated teen girls from Summers’s earlier books. The Project features characters out of high school and in the adult work world and, to me, felt much more like a literary suspense novel.

I also think that The Project is Summers’s best book by far. No, it doesn’t have that angsty, angry teen girl feel that her earlier books did. Instead, it’s a really interesting, beautifully written, adult book that explores the issue of faith in its most positive and negative iterations.

Lo and Bea only have each other after the terrible car accident that killed their parents and left Lo clinging to life. When Bea thinks Lo was miraculously saved by a charismatic cult leader, she joins his group, leaving Lo in the care of her aunt. Years later, Lo tries to save Bea back by infiltrating the cult.

The story is told from the point of view of both sisters and moves forward and backward in time. It’s not quite as dark a book as Sadie, but is chilling in a much quieter way. I thought it did a great job of showing both the seductive side of a cult, and the controlling, dangerous side.

Will You Like The Project?

If you’re up for a book that is challenging — both in narrative format and in tough subject matter — definitely give The Project a try. I liked it more than Sadie, which for me had a little too much going on. I definitely think this should be up for award consideration (hello, Printz committee!) as even though it doesn’t really feel like YA, I think it’s an impressive piece of work.

If you’re looking for a feel good book or one with a definitive ending, maybe save this one for another time! But I loved this and definitely recommend it!

Looking for other suspenseful books? Check out my post on all the new thrillers coming out in February. It includes adult fiction, YA fiction, and shows to stream!