I love a good cult book. They are definitely a trope that will make me want to read a book right away. As far as cult books go, this was a good one. Courtney Summers writes in a way that created a fantastically creepy atmosphere and I found her characters quite interesting. It is lyrical and packed with tidbits of history and emotion, focusing well on the strength of the sisterly bond.

The dual timeline is well crafted and creates a lot of twists and turns that amp up the pressure and make the book incredibly tense in some parts. It gave a more well-rounded approach to the story. Seeing pieces of the story from Bea's point of view was often a punch to the gut, but really added a lot of depth and emotional grip to the story.

Lo was an okay protagonist. For the most part I enjoyed her character and thought she was well done. However, there were moments where she seemed either excessively naive or housed in the "convenient" zone. Some things that happened to her were a bit of a stretch and some of her reactions didn't really make sense for me. Her emotional connection to her sister was well-crafted though, and I was able to connect with her in some ways.

Lev is a particularly crafty character. He is well-built as a cult leader and his tendency toward a dual personality makes him the perfect villain. He is sneaky and slowly manipulative, able to overwhelm the senses of fear and confuse those around him until he coerces them toward his ways. He is vile and yet at the same time totally intriguing.

As touched on earlier, there was some "convenience" in the plot that made things a bit less believable and occasionally there were chunks of the story that were told rather than being shown. This unfortunately included the ending, so I was left a bit disappointed. I needed to have a bit more depth and there were some important questions that were left unanswered. The Project wasn't a perfect read, but it was a fun ride with excellent writing, so I will be picking up more Courtney Summers in the future.


* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *