I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Project by Courtney Summers Narrator: Therese Plummer, Emily Shaffer
ISBN: 9781250105738
Published by Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press on February 2, 2021
Genres: Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult Fiction
Length: 9 hours 47 minutes
Pages: 352
Format: ARC, Audiobook
Source: Library, Publisher
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From Courtney Summers, theNew York Times bestselling author of the 2019 Edgar Award Winner and breakout hitSadie, 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.
My feelings are a little mixed with this book. I thought it was okay but I was never really hooked by the story. At one point I actually considered not finishing the book but decided to stick with it in hopes I would start enjoying it more. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t dislike the books but I didn’t really like it all that much either.
This story is told from two points of view. Lo survived an accident that killed both of her parents as a teenager. She stayed with her Aunt for a while but she has mostly been on her own. She wants to get noticed as a journalist and thinks that the story to get her noticed is The Unity Project, which happens to be the mystery she wants to unravel for herself. Lo’s sister joined The Unity Project Years ago and she wants to know what happened to her. The second point of view is Lo’s sister, Bea. Bea joined The Unity Project right after the accident that killed her parents and left her sister clinging to life. She was completely taken in with Lev, the leader of The Unity Project. It was interesting to see her life inside the cult and look at the decisions that she made.
The timeline does jump around a bit so I found that I really had to pay attention to keep up. I never connected with any of the characters in this book so I never felt invested in the story. I honestly didn’t care what happened to any of them which is why I considered not finishing the book. There were a couple of twists in the story but none of them really grabbed me. There was nothing bad about this book but it just never clicked for me.
Therese Plummer and Emily Schaffer did a great job with the narration. I thought that they added a lot to the story and the quality of their narration was one of the reasons that i decided to stick with the book. I wouldn’t hesitate to listen to more of their work in the future.
I think that a lot of readers will enjoy this one more than I did. While I don’t see myself recommending it to others, I would still encourage others to give it a try if it sounds interesting.
I received a digital review copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.
Oh a bit too bad for this one
Yeah, I wanted to like it more than I did.
I am sorry this one didn’t go down well with you.
I didn’t hate it but I wasn’t a huge fan either.
I knew this would be too dark for me, but sorry it wasn’t better for you
I can do dark but I just didn’t care about any of the characters.
Did you have a hard time telling the narrators apart because I did. I enjoyed it, but it did take me a while to figure out the POVs and the time jumps.
I have listened to Therese Plummer quite a few times so I did notice when she was speaking but I can see how that could be an issue.
Sometimes a book just doesn’t work. Cults are hard to like. I do enjoy Therese Plummer usually.
I really enjoyed the narration.
I loved Sadie, so I was super excited for this book, but every review I’ve seen has been “meh.” I’ll get to it someday, but it keeps slipping lower on my priority list.
I haven’t read Sadie yet but it is on my tbr!
I’ve found that I either really love multiple POVs or I really don’t. It can definitely keep me from really connecting with the characters. I do love the sound of the plot but it definitely sounds a bit meh.
I can understand. Either it seems to work well or not at all.
Jumping around in time and then not being invested in the characters can make a story hard to get into. I think I read one book by Summers that wasn’t my cup of tea. I do love Therese Plummer’s performance, so that would be a plus for me.
Therese Plummer is a favorite narrator for me!
After reading your review, I have mixed feelings too . . . I’m not sure if I’d enjoy this book, but I sure hope you have a great time with your next read!
Thanks so much, Silvia!
Sorry to hear you almost DNFed and that you couldn’t connect with any of the characters. I do have this one and I hope to read it sometime this summer, so I guess we’ll see what I think. Thanks for your honest thoughts though!!!
-Lauren
I hope that you enjoy this one when you get the chance to read it, Lauren!
I was looking forward to reading this one just because I’m a fan of the author. Mind you, I haven’t read any of her work since that zombie novel she wrote. Oh well.
I had to look up the zombie novel and that one sounds exactly like my kind of read!
Neither dislike or like…tricky
They are the hardest books to review!
I might try this on audio. I really liked her book Sadie but I’m not fond of books that jump around too much in the timeline. My brain just revolts.
I’ve been curious of this one especially since I read good things about Courtney Summers. Cult aspects in books really intrigues me. I may probably check out what others think as well but this is definitely one I’m really considering reading at some point either way.