The Project: A Novel

The Project is a pulls-no-punches story from New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award winning author Courtney Summers, about an aspiring young journalist determined to save her sister no matter the cost.

The #1 Indie Next Pick and winner of the International Thriller Writers Award.

BELIEVE HIM, BETRAY HER

1998: Six-year-old Bea doesn’t want a sister but everything changes when Lo is born early. Small and frail, Lo needs someone to look out for her. Having a sister is a promise, Mom says—one Bea’s determined not to break.

2011: A car wreck, their parents dead. Lo would’ve died too if not for Lev Warren, the charismatic leader of The Unity Project. He’s going to change the world and after he saves Lo’s life, Bea wants to commit to his extraordinary calling. Lev promises a place for the girls in the project, where no harm will ever come to them again . . . if Bea proves herself to him first.

2017: Lo doesn’t know why Bea abandoned her for The Unity Project after the accident, but she never forgot what Bea said the last time they spoke: We’ll see each other again. Six years later, Lo is invited to witness the group’s workings, meet with Lev, and—she hopes—finally reconnect with her sister. But Bea is long gone, and the only one who seems to understand the depths of this betrayal is Lev. If it’s family Lo wants, he can make her a new promise . . . if she proves herself to him first.

Powerful, suspenseful and heartbreaking, The Project follows two sisters who fall prey to the same cult leaderand their desperate fight back to one another.

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Published Feb 2, 2021

352 pages

Average rating: 6.95

20 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Anonymous
Apr 29, 2025
6/10 stars
3.5 stars

Writing is excellent as always, characters are gritty and raw as always. I wish the ending of this had been stretched out a bit more, but in general this is a solid story and a worthwhile read if you are interested in the psychology of cults, trauma, and family.
Shahna
Jul 18, 2024
8/10 stars
Oh boy. Cults are a fun thing to read about. But also terrifying.
I understand why people get sucked in, it's unfortunate.
KBenoit
May 17, 2024
8/10 stars
Well that was darker than I was expecting
Jmaybay
Mar 08, 2024
4/10 stars
"𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆." 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕛𝕖𝕔𝕥 - Cᴏᴜᴿᴛɴᴇʏ Sᴜᴍᴍᴇᴿs ⭐ ( 4 / 10 ) I know, I know. Another 2 stars Jess? Look but hear me out. Spoiler alert. She sleeps with the same person her sister did. I could never. So that may not seem like a flag to you but Summers has ingrained it from the beginning how close these two are supposed to have been. Also, he's the leader of the cult your sister went missing from. -insert my kevin hart voice- "No, no, no, no, no." This book sets itself out to be a thriller & a mystery but then you get into it & it's no thriller, & there's no mystery to figure out. They lay it all out for you come the first 3 chapters. Anyway, the book centers around Bea who is the older sister of Lo. Granted Bea is a main character as I said above. She's missing. The story also revolves around Lev, the aforementioned cult leader who believes that God speaks through him & occasionally refers to himself as God. So the story takes place in different times as told by different people. 2013 where Bea (I think) is talking from Third person and it quickly switches to 2017 and 2018 as told in first person by Lo. Im not going to even pretend like I liked this I did not & it was confusing. Sometimes you didn't even realize til the chapter was almost finished. I understood and kind of liked Bea though. I got why she ran away and joined the circus, I mean The Unity Project. Lo however. Could not stand her. She was very spoiled and entitled and I can't with that. How you gonna get mad at work about a job that you shouldnt have in the first place because you are SUPERIORLY underqualified for in the first place, because you haven't gotten a promotion in one year. If you don't get your... I will say this book right here? Is why Lo didn't get the promotion. It's also why she didnt get to go write articles cause she misses the assignment completely. I did like the writing. Summers writin is absolutely beautiful so she didn't put me off reading anymore of her books, this one just missed the mark... For ME 𝕄𝕖𝕙 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝘑𝘢𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘖𝘶𝘵
MauveSoul8099
Feb 24, 2023
8/10 stars
Well that was darker than I was expecting

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