Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Project by Courtney Summers

21 reviews

aravenclawlibraryx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

tw: premature birth, hospitals, parental death, car accident, suicide, parental abandonment, burns, corporal punishment, infidelity, drowning, death

One of my latest fascinations is cults. In fact, over the course of a year (thanks to a 30-minute commute to my job), I listened to a podcast about cults. I’m going to be posting my thoughts on that at a later time but I will let you know that it is on Spotify. It’s called Cults and it’s from the Parcast Network. Anyway, I don't know what it is about cults, but they intrigue me. It’s hard for me to understand how anyone could get sucked into one but they do. 

That’s why I was so intrigued with this book albeit a little hesitant. I knew it was about cults. But I've been having a hell of a time trying to connect with Courtney Summers’ writing. She has written excellent books but I just can't seem to get into them. In the last two books I’ve read of hers (Sadie and Cracked Up to Be), I rated three stars. Which is a good rating for me but I wanted to love them since I know a lot of people love her books. 

That changed with this book. I loved this book! It started out a bit slow initially and I struggled to pay attention. But I knew that if I persevered, the ending would be worth it. And it was! After a couple of chapters, the book quickly picked up and I was hooked. I did call a lot of the twists but that didn’t hinder my enjoyment.  I was glad I was right. 

Lev, the leader of the Unity Project, reminded me of the Unification Church (or as they are more commonly called, the Moonies) led by Sun Myung Moon. Moon, along with Lev, had a vision and wanted to “help the world” but behind closed doors, they were not the person they presented themselves to be to the public and if I’m being honest, I almost bought into Lev’s BS, for lack of better words. He did seem very convincing and I was thinking to myself, this group can’t be that bad, can it?

Lo was a great main character. She was incredibly unlikable at times and I just wanted to shake some sense into her. But I really did like her and was rooting for her the whole way through. We also got a point of view of Bea, her sister. At first, I was so upset with her. But as the story progressed, I understood her, and I understood her motives. That doesn’t mean I liked it but I got where she was coming from. I would do anything for my sister, too. I’m not so sure I would abandon my sister for a cult, however.

Overall, this is the best Courtney Summers book I’ve read so far. I’m glad that I preserved and kept trying her books. I knew that eventually, I’d find a book I’d like of hers. I think it helps that it was about a topic I’m very much invested in. I also think I’ve gotten used to the way Courtney Summers writes and also how she writes her characters, which are unlikable female characters. I highly recommended this book especially if you are interested in cults and enjoy Courtney Summers's books. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Violence, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Confinement, Death of parent, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Medical content, Suicide, and Torture

amberinbookland's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Torture, Religious bigotry, Violence, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Grief, Physical abuse, and Murder

directorpurry's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Kidnapping, Torture, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Medical trauma, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

dustghosts's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death of parent, Stalking, and Sexism

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This wasn’t what I was expecting. It was enjoyable but not as dark or thrilling as I thought it was going to be. I didn’t really like how it was told because I felt like you couldn’t connect to the characters and their storylines as much. Also until the end we didn’t get to really see how bad the cult was. Also a certain part in this just doesn’t make sense it’s a spoiler so don’t read this but I don’t understand why she would just join it after fighting them for so long. Overall it was enjoyable but nothing amazing like Sadie was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

onemamareads's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Read my full review here: https://onemamassummer.weebly.com/book-reviews/the-project

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Violence, Torture, Medical content, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Stalking, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Blood, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction and Death of parent

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and War

sarah2438's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This one is hard to rate!
Courtney Summers does an incredible job with her writing. Lev's charisma comes through even to the reader-- I felt Lo's skepticism of him going in, and I found myself getting won over at times. I even remember turning to my boyfriend, who buddy read this with me, and saying "he has to have done something sketchy, but honestly he doesn't seem too bad at this point." I was over halfway through the book when I said that! It's very uncomfortable to think about.
Just as disturbing as Lev's charisma is how realistic and twisted this book is. Lev preys upon those with trauma, grief, and pain. He offers them relief. A cause. And they flock to him, just like they would in real life.
Unfortunately, this book wasn't prefect. I think when it comes down to it, there are 3 big things that keep me from totally loving this book. These issues don't all carry the same weight for me, and I'm sure there's plenty of people who would disagree, but here are my 3:
1- I struggled to understand the religion The Unity Project was centered around. Lev's charisma, I totally fell for. But the actual religious tenants were a struggle. I think this is partially attributable to my own lack of faith; it may have required more of a suspension of belief for me than maybe someone who believes in God. I found myself parallel to Lo in this aspect.
2- Something happens about 75% of the way through that didn't feel right to me. It was like a shaky bridge-- it connected the two parts and got us where we needed to go, but I didn't feel sold on it.
 3- I didn't love the ending. Summers usually does a good job of having just enough unanswered questions to be realistic, since we're not reading from an omniscient point of view, but still satisfying. In this one, I felt like there were too many questions left open, so the ending wasn't very satisfying for me. I wanted more detail, more information on what happened to everyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Child abuse, Blood, and Confinement

morganperks's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Suicide, Grief, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Violence, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Blood, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Infidelity, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Rape

kbergsten's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Violence

maiagaia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I loved the relationship between the sisters. It was complicated, and I think it really captured the tensions that can arise when you feel you have to choose between helping someone you love and helping yourself. I felt for Bea because she was so young and so emotionally traumatized but was expected to be the support system for her even more traumatized younger sister. The author did an excellent job of showing that internal struggle.

The final chapter was absolutely stunning. A total gut punch. Tragic and hopeful at the same time: a deadly combination.

I loved Lo as a character. I understood her. I got where she was coming from. Until I didn't. To be more specific, once Lo starts palling around with the cult, I intellectually understood what the author was trying to do, but I don't think the execution was successful. Lo went from being supremely distrustful of every member to trusting them so quickly it gave me whiplash. It started out as the members slowly wearing her down and winning her over and then BLAM she's convinced her sister was a manipulative liar the whole time. The groundwork was there for another 50 or so pages of her struggling with herself and
 being manipulated into the position she ended up in, but it moved too quickly and ultimately felt cheap and rushed.

The climax was simply not good. I'm not sure if you can even call it deus ex machina because the character doesn't even remember how they got out of their situation. It is textually written off as god intervening? Which I guess means it literally is deus ex machina...... Which is to say: lame. And this is coming from someone who LOVES a Greek tragedy.

Ultimately, I didn't realize this was YA, and I don't think I would have picked it up if I had. I only mention this because I think many of the issues I had could have been fixed by adding more pages and diving more into the characters' internal worlds, neither of which are fair expectations for a YA book, imo. The adult and YA markets have different expectations, and when expectations don't match reality, it's tough for the book to make up that ground.

The audiobook was good. The narrators were distinct enough for me even when I cranked it up to 2x speed for the last quarter or so.

Overall, I enjoyed this read (mostly) and don't regret picking it up. It was a quick listen that I got through in a single work day, so I can't complain.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Abandonment, Car accident, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Murder