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Book Reviewed by:From Courtney Summers, the New York Times bestselling author of the 2019 Edgar Award Winner and breakout hit, Sadie, comes a sensational follow-up -- another pulls-no-punches thriller about an aspiring young journalist determined to save her sister from a cult.
"The Unity Project saved my life."
Lo Denham is used to being on her own. After her parents died, Lo's sister, Bea, joined The Unity Project, leaving Lo in the care of their great aunt. Thanks to its extensive charitable work and community outreach, The Unity Project has won the hearts and minds of most in the Upstate New York region, but Lo knows there's more to the group than meets the eye. She's spent the last six years of her life trying―and failing―to prove it.
"The Unity Project murdered my son."
When a man shows up at the magazine Lo works for claiming The Unity Project killed his son, Lo sees the perfect opportunity to expose the group and reunite with Bea once and for all. When her investigation puts her in the direct path of its charismatic and mysterious leader, Lev Warren, he proposes a deal: if she can prove the worst of her suspicions about The Unity Project, she may expose them. If she can't, she must finally leave them alone.
But as Lo delves deeper into The Project, the lives of its members, and spends more time with Lev, it upends everything she thought she knew about her sister, herself, cults, and the world around her―to the point she can no longer tell what's real or true. Lo never thought she could afford to believe in Lev Warren...but now she doesn't know if she can afford not to.
Welcome to The Unity Project.
The Project's weakest element is its uncertainty about its audience. Though ostensibly categorized as young adult with crossover appeal, the novel's themes and subject matter are perhaps better suited to an adult audience: teens can certainly read and enjoy this, but it's a marked departure for Summers — it's slower and quieter, its subject more mature — that she should have perhaps leaned into a bit more. The result is a 19-year-old narrator dealing with a 30-year-old's problems. Still, while this element occasionally detracts, on the whole it's an accomplished novel, and highly recommended to anyone interested in cult narratives or stories about familial loyalty and religious faith...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by Rachel Hullett).
Cults are often difficult to identify from the outside, given that a common characteristic is members' denial that any dysfunctional elements are at play within their community. Many countries, including the U.S., do not have a legal definition, but prefer to use a series of criteria. However, a sort of colloquial understanding is more easily agreed upon: a cult is a group bound together by veneration for an ideal — often religious, and often represented by an individual figure who emerges as the cult leader.
The question of why people are drawn into cults has been a source of fascination for decades. One of the first psychological studies conducted on cults was by social psychologist Leon Festinger and colleagues. They researched ...
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Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
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Maurene Goo, author of Somewhere Only We Know and The Way You Make Me Feel
Courtney Summers has done it again: Broke my heart and pieced it back together in unexpected ways. The Project is a beautiful, thrilling testament to love. It takes a compelling deep dive into what makes people want to belong and you'll leave it gasping for air. This book is a baptism for your soul.
