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    The Project: A Novel
    The Project: A Novel
    The Project: A Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Project: A Novel

    Written by Courtney Summers

    Narrated by Emily Shaffer and Thérèse Plummer

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    "This audiobook is essential listening. Narrators Therese Plummer and Emily Shaffer shine as Lo and Bea Denham, two teenage sisters whose lives are upended when their parents are killed in a car accident." -- AudioFile Magazine

    From Courtney Summers, the New York Times bestselling author of the 2019 Edgar Award Winner and breakout hit Sadie, comes her electrifying follow-up—a suspenseful, pulls-no-punches story about an aspiring young journalist determined to save her sister no matter the cost.

    Lo Denham is used to being on her own. After her parents died in a tragic car accident, her sister Bea joined the elusive community called The Unity Project, leaving Lo to fend for herself. Desperate not to lose the only family she has left, Lo has spent the last six years trying to reconnect with Bea, only to be met with radio silence.

    When Lo’s given the perfect opportunity to gain access to Bea’s reclusive life, she thinks they’re finally going to be reunited. But it’s difficult to find someone who doesn’t want to be found, and as Lo delves deeper into The Project and its charismatic leader, she begins to realize that there’s more at risk than just her relationship with Bea: her very life might be in danger.

    As she uncovers more questions than answers at each turn, everything Lo thought she knew about herself, her sister, and the world is upended. One thing doesn’t change, though, and that’s what keeps her going: Bea needs her, and Lo will do anything to save her.

    A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books

    Editor's Note

    Astonishingly tense…

    “Sadie” became one of the biggest YA sensations of the past few years, and now author Courtney Summers is back with another astonishingly tense thriller. Two sisters are driven apart by a car accident that killed their parents: Bea joins The Unity Project, a religious group that’s been accused of being a cult; Lo aspires to be a writer and starts to investigate The Unity Project. At a time where it seems easier than ever to fall prey to a cult online, “The Project” is an edge-of-your-seat exploration of human psychology.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateFeb 2, 2021
    ISBN9781250760630
    Author

    Courtney Summers

    Courtney Summers was born in Belleville, Ontario in 1986 and currently resides in a small town not far from there. At age fourteen, she dropped out of high school to pursue her education independently and spent those years figuring out what she wanted to do with her life. At eighteen, she knew she was meant to write. She is the author of All the Rage, This is Not a Test and Some Girls Are. When she is not writing, Courtney loves playing video games, watching horror movies and obsessing over the zombie apocalypse. Her favourite colour is green and she's a total feminist.

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    Reviews for The Project

    3.5/5

    305 ratings10 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Not as good as Sadie. It was more of a slow burn and the ending seemed kind of forced, like they had all this time to reveal these big things but decided to chuck them in at the very end and barely cover them. The ending was just meh.
    • 5/5
      5 dark and heartwrenching stars!

      The Project was incredible, I can't describe how much this book made me feel!

      I listened to the audiobook of this novel and I would 100% recommend it, the narration was excellent.

      Thought provoking and emotive, it kept me on the edge. The last 20% was just a rollercoaster of emotions.

      I loved Sadie, but The Project was better. If you like dark and gripping stories, this is one for you. Courtney Summers is a master storyteller and I can't wait to read more of her work.
    • 2/5
      Finished on dec 7 2021. I expected a lot more to be honest
    • 4/5
      It felt more promising at the beginning but over all it was an entertaining read ?
    • 5/5
      A smart, quietly unsettling story of family, trauma, identity, and isolation. If you're looking specifically for another Sadie, this might not be for you. If Sadie was an ever narrowing tunnel constricting around you with every step, The Project is a pot of water on a stove and we, along with protagonists Bea and Lo, are the frog. By the time you realize the water is boiling, you're too late.

      If you're looking for a book to sink into with all the hallmarks of Courtney Summers signature style, then I personally welcome you to The Unity Project.

      Warnings for grooming, manipulation, gaslighting, and and other forms of abuse.
    • 1/5
      This was really dissapointing, granted it may be because I set my expectations too high after "Sadie". I think the marketing for this book was poor I was expecting a dark thriller but it was simply not atmospheric enough.

      The bond between Lo and Bea was insubstantial not to mention Lo's sudden and  inexcusable actions. In the end i didn't really care for either of them.

      The last 15% was interesting but felt rushed and wasn't enough to make up for the rest.
    • 5/5
      I feel like it's physically impossible to give this book 5 stars. Finally a cult book that went in deep.
    • 5/5
      This is my second reas by Courtney Summers and I really loved it! 100% recommend it!
    • 1/5
      I want to start off with saying I have no clue why this was published as YA. I know age categories are at times arbitrary in publishing, but some books fit into the adult market better than they would the YA market. That’s not to say that this book is inappropriate for teenagers, but that the protagonist Lo is the only teen character and she’s only there based on a technicality since she’s 19. All of the other characters are 25+, including Lo’s sister Bea and Lev, the person in charge of the Project.

      This book doesn’t feature any topic that is “for” teens, unless they maybe want to relive trauma about being in a cult. Lo is an aspiring journalist and has been working as a personal assistant for a year. She dropped out of highschool (though she says she got her GED) and has no interest in college. Lo is an adult, with adult responsibilities and adult interests.

      I’m not sure most within the YA age range would appreciate/understand/connect with this book. As a reminder, the YA age range is 12/13-18.

      I also want to mention the reason I think a lot of people have DNF’d this before the 50% mark: there is A LOT of religious preaching in this book. Not in the way that the author is trying to push her beliefs, but in the way that that’s what certain characters believe (also the cult is based on religion so I’m not sure why people would be surprised at the amount of religious speech). Though, it did get so tiresome and I hated having to physically listen to those parts.

      As for my feelings about the book, I was so disappointed. The only other book I’ve read by this author is Sadie (as I’m sure is the case for many readers of this book). I loved Sadie and I figured I would like this one as well. However, that wasn’t the case. The Project is so slow paced that nothing exciting happens until after halfway through the book, and even when one exciting thing happens, it takes another quarter of the book for something else interesting to happen.

      Combined with the lack of action, slow pace, and all the preaching, this book was just terrible for me.

      If you want to read this book, don’t expect anything like Sadie and maybe you’ll be fine.
    • 2/5
      Unfortunately, as a character driven reader I did not connect with the MC and found her to be a whinny, bitter "journalist" who had no experience but wanted to be recognized and become the next big thing. The thriller aspect of the story was not shocking at all I easily saw how manipulative this person was and how he preferred his followers to be gullible or would try to weaken their claims.