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Project XX
In 2012, a deranged grad student dressed as the Joker shot and killed dozens of movie goers at a Batman film opening in Colorado. Gun violence is so out of control in America that it has become a cruel joke.
Unlike most of Mickey Corrigan’s novels, Project XX made itself known to her at that time, demanding to be written. Usually she researches, prepares, then writes. In this case, she wrote first, then did the research on gun violence, female violent crime, and school/mass shootings.
Males are almost always the perpetrators of mass shootings. But females are fully capable of shocking acts of violence and, in the US, military-style weapons are as easy to access as a new hairstyle.
Unlike most of Mickey Corrigan’s novels, Project XX made itself known to her at that time, demanding to be written. Usually she researches, prepares, then writes. In this case, she wrote first, then did the research on gun violence, female violent crime, and school/mass shootings.
Males are almost always the perpetrators of mass shootings. But females are fully capable of shocking acts of violence and, in the US, military-style weapons are as easy to access as a new hairstyle.
234 pages, Paperback
Published September 15, 2017
1 person is currently reading
241 people want to read
About the author
Mickey J. Corrigan
38 books203 followersOriginally from Boston, Mickey J. Corrigan lives and writes and gets into trouble in South Florida, where the men run guns and the women run after them.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 6, 2017
Mickey Corrigan has taken a snapshot of all that is wrong with the human species or at least the cash rich, privileged, and entitled humans of the United States. Without giving anything away – what kind of nation produces an average, in her own words “I was never top tier…I was not a loser girl either” kid with an alter ego of an angry, disenfranchised, careless waif. This Snapchat photo is fleeting and will disappear before you have a chance to watch the world spinning out of control. Set in South Florida in the year 2012, the year of the Colorado movie shooting, in what some might call an upper middle class neighborhood. Like our gal says “No super richies either just a lot of upper middle class n’er do wells.” It is a culture devoid of great thought, joy, or random acts of kindness. This is a semi-elite, classless group that, “know the brand name of everything and the value of nothing.”
Our protagonist can easily spout the brand name of a washcloth, a pair of leggings, or a bedspread (if you must know a “daiquiri pink Lily Pulitzer hundred percent Egyptian cotton La Te Dah bedspread.”) She is able to keep these meaningless facts in her head along with other false measures of her worthiness. But she is also able to quote Yeats, relate to Sylvia Plath’s work, relate historical precedents, stop and smell the roses, and also get very, very angry. This is a masterpiece like no other: vivid instant images of the prosperous 2012 South Florida as seen through the narrow lens of an American female teen.
Corrigan’s entire body of fiction over the years masterfully portrays time and place. Her words make vivid pictures. In Project XX, her use of constant brand advertising naming of items throughout the story seen through an objective factual observer’s lens gives us an exact picture along with the nuanced filter of our leading lady. Through this filter she lets us know her mindset and how she feels about things and places and people in her world. We know what posts our girl is looking at or her i-phone4 (2012 remember,) what retro DVD she watches on her 42-inch Viera LCD HDTV, what technology is emerging at this time, and what details are important, like a “hand stitch leather steering wheel cover.”
Reading this book at this time in my own life – having grown up in the 60s in a rigid, controlling, protective, but decidedly not upper middle class home, the youth in Project XX seem a bit feral. This single parent is nowhere in her kid’s business, but welcomes her kid into her own selfishly and inappropriately. She’s a “do as I say not as I do,” mom. Her job is to get her kid into a good college so she can get a good job. But this mom is not a strong female voice, not a role model, and certainly not to be taken seriously.
Project XX is destined to be a literary classic in years to come when people read- if people read in the future. Readers will be able to experience a culture in the early 2010s. It’s not about a great crime and it’s making, although it contains gritty details, suspense, as well as a surprise ending. It’s about a poetic, graphic and genuine depiction of how a group of people lived and saw the world at that time. Maybe it should be made into a movie now, so that the acting, costumes, and set can be recreated with precision. Because it takes place in the not so distant past, we are aware of the sensibilities of the time. Then we can preserve this record on another visual plane as well. Storytelling is how we make sense of our world, we reflect, we remember stories of other’s lives. This is why writing, reading and supporting fiction is so important. As she says, “Words blow up but don’t destroy anything.”
Our protagonist can easily spout the brand name of a washcloth, a pair of leggings, or a bedspread (if you must know a “daiquiri pink Lily Pulitzer hundred percent Egyptian cotton La Te Dah bedspread.”) She is able to keep these meaningless facts in her head along with other false measures of her worthiness. But she is also able to quote Yeats, relate to Sylvia Plath’s work, relate historical precedents, stop and smell the roses, and also get very, very angry. This is a masterpiece like no other: vivid instant images of the prosperous 2012 South Florida as seen through the narrow lens of an American female teen.
Corrigan’s entire body of fiction over the years masterfully portrays time and place. Her words make vivid pictures. In Project XX, her use of constant brand advertising naming of items throughout the story seen through an objective factual observer’s lens gives us an exact picture along with the nuanced filter of our leading lady. Through this filter she lets us know her mindset and how she feels about things and places and people in her world. We know what posts our girl is looking at or her i-phone4 (2012 remember,) what retro DVD she watches on her 42-inch Viera LCD HDTV, what technology is emerging at this time, and what details are important, like a “hand stitch leather steering wheel cover.”
Reading this book at this time in my own life – having grown up in the 60s in a rigid, controlling, protective, but decidedly not upper middle class home, the youth in Project XX seem a bit feral. This single parent is nowhere in her kid’s business, but welcomes her kid into her own selfishly and inappropriately. She’s a “do as I say not as I do,” mom. Her job is to get her kid into a good college so she can get a good job. But this mom is not a strong female voice, not a role model, and certainly not to be taken seriously.
Project XX is destined to be a literary classic in years to come when people read- if people read in the future. Readers will be able to experience a culture in the early 2010s. It’s not about a great crime and it’s making, although it contains gritty details, suspense, as well as a surprise ending. It’s about a poetic, graphic and genuine depiction of how a group of people lived and saw the world at that time. Maybe it should be made into a movie now, so that the acting, costumes, and set can be recreated with precision. Because it takes place in the not so distant past, we are aware of the sensibilities of the time. Then we can preserve this record on another visual plane as well. Storytelling is how we make sense of our world, we reflect, we remember stories of other’s lives. This is why writing, reading and supporting fiction is so important. As she says, “Words blow up but don’t destroy anything.”
October 9, 2017
Project XX by Mickey J Corrigan is a well written suspense thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat. If you have teenagers, it may give you nightmares!
Aimee Heller seems to be your average nerdy, bookish type of 17 year old girl. She studies hard, obeys her mother and she is good at sports. It all unravels when she doesn’t get accepted to the colleges her mother made her apply to. She meets a bad girl who calls herself H8ter and things go even further downhill for Aimee from there. Can’t say much more without giving away the story, but it is darkly riveting.
Mickey J Corrigan manages to capture Aimee’s tumultuous teenage feelings perfectly. She makes you want to get inside the book and put a stop to the downward spiral! I recommend this book to people who enjoy a good suspense.
Aimee Heller seems to be your average nerdy, bookish type of 17 year old girl. She studies hard, obeys her mother and she is good at sports. It all unravels when she doesn’t get accepted to the colleges her mother made her apply to. She meets a bad girl who calls herself H8ter and things go even further downhill for Aimee from there. Can’t say much more without giving away the story, but it is darkly riveting.
Mickey J Corrigan manages to capture Aimee’s tumultuous teenage feelings perfectly. She makes you want to get inside the book and put a stop to the downward spiral! I recommend this book to people who enjoy a good suspense.
November 15, 2017
Intense and seat gripping! I was completely lost within the walls of this book! It seems like nothing around me was real, but what I was reading in front of me. Those types of books are hard to come by but this one sure did it!
November 29, 2017
I found the summary of the book on Goodreads kind of confusing because it made the book seem like a non fiction book when it is actually fictional. However, once I began reading it made sense as the author tackled real world issues in the guise of a fictional story. The author did a wonderful job in showing how easy it can be for even a "good girl" to end up making bad choices that effect not only herself, but also those around her. I found the book to be a good read, but it was also scary and did leave me with a few nightmares.
May 1, 2020
Massacres committed by perpetrators with firearms are all too common in the United States, so much so that they have a hideous euphemism, the “active shooter” (in part one suspects that this is due to resistance to gun control, the term used to somehow distance thought from the real problem: widespread gun ownership). Unsurprisingly as most violent crime is committed by men, most such massacres are committed by men also. Project XX imagines a disturbed young woman plotting such a crime.
The protagonist of Project XX, Aimee Heller, is a nerdy 17-year-old girl who studies hard and is good at sport. But when she starts to resist her mother as to which colleges she should go to and fails to get into the ones her mum wants, things start to change. Aimee has always done what her mum wants and now the tension between the two, and between Aimee and the world around her, manifests in disturbing ways. She meets and becomes friends with a young woman who’s a social outcast, who calls herself H8ter, and who doesn’t appear to go to college or have a job. Slowly the two start to turn against the world and plot to do the unthinkable.
I don’t want to divulge any spoilers so I won’t say anymore, but Project XX has been compared to Chuck Palahniuk’s Fightclub, the film Heather’s, and Brett Easton Ellis’ work. I can certainly see the comparison to some of these. This is a disturbing read but certainly very compelling.
The protagonist of Project XX, Aimee Heller, is a nerdy 17-year-old girl who studies hard and is good at sport. But when she starts to resist her mother as to which colleges she should go to and fails to get into the ones her mum wants, things start to change. Aimee has always done what her mum wants and now the tension between the two, and between Aimee and the world around her, manifests in disturbing ways. She meets and becomes friends with a young woman who’s a social outcast, who calls herself H8ter, and who doesn’t appear to go to college or have a job. Slowly the two start to turn against the world and plot to do the unthinkable.
I don’t want to divulge any spoilers so I won’t say anymore, but Project XX has been compared to Chuck Palahniuk’s Fightclub, the film Heather’s, and Brett Easton Ellis’ work. I can certainly see the comparison to some of these. This is a disturbing read but certainly very compelling.
November 27, 2017
I'm not entirely sure how to review Mickey J. Corrigan's "Project XX" without spoiling it to potential readers. I will say that from about a third of the way in, it started to strongly remind me of a female version of a popular book/movie that happens to be one of my favorites. Because of this, I was able to figure out the "twist" at the end extremely early, which might have ruined it a bit for me.
The story revolves around Aimee, a recent high school graduate and angry teenager. All though her high school career, she had been the "good girl", the "perfect" daughter who was good at school, sports, and would stay home and study rather than partying on the weekends. However, that persona soon fades when she doesn't get into the colleges that her mother pressured her to apply to.
Aimee and her mother live alone, with dad hardly in the picture. Mom refers to him as "Uncle Moneybags" since she mostly uses him to pay for whatever they need. Meanwhile, Aimee's mother is out dating guys who Aimee knows will break up with her because they're either married or just looking to use her. This knowledge leads to Aimee becoming angry and keeping it inside until she grows to resent her mother.
In walks H8er, a homeless girl with a wild persona that Aimee takes an interest in and they become friends. When she's around, Aimee is a different person. She drinks, smokes pot, has sex, and steals. This is a radical personality change, one that I thought came on a little too strong too fast.
The book begins with the end. Aimee and H8er are in a classroom armed with guns and about to shoot. From there, Corrigan backtracks to how they got there and Aimee's life up to that point. Starting the book off this way automatically puts an uncomfortable edge to it, as the reader knows the whole time that things will eventually escalate to that level.
Although I do remember my angry teen years, I couldn't relate to Aimee. Her personality changed like a light switching off, and it didn't seem natural. This made it hard to enjoy the character who the whole book revolved around.
While there were some interesting parts, I didn't enjoy "Project XX" as much as I would have liked to. It involves an uncomfortable subject matter, but I don't think it handled it in a realistic way.
The story revolves around Aimee, a recent high school graduate and angry teenager. All though her high school career, she had been the "good girl", the "perfect" daughter who was good at school, sports, and would stay home and study rather than partying on the weekends. However, that persona soon fades when she doesn't get into the colleges that her mother pressured her to apply to.
Aimee and her mother live alone, with dad hardly in the picture. Mom refers to him as "Uncle Moneybags" since she mostly uses him to pay for whatever they need. Meanwhile, Aimee's mother is out dating guys who Aimee knows will break up with her because they're either married or just looking to use her. This knowledge leads to Aimee becoming angry and keeping it inside until she grows to resent her mother.
In walks H8er, a homeless girl with a wild persona that Aimee takes an interest in and they become friends. When she's around, Aimee is a different person. She drinks, smokes pot, has sex, and steals. This is a radical personality change, one that I thought came on a little too strong too fast.
The book begins with the end. Aimee and H8er are in a classroom armed with guns and about to shoot. From there, Corrigan backtracks to how they got there and Aimee's life up to that point. Starting the book off this way automatically puts an uncomfortable edge to it, as the reader knows the whole time that things will eventually escalate to that level.
Although I do remember my angry teen years, I couldn't relate to Aimee. Her personality changed like a light switching off, and it didn't seem natural. This made it hard to enjoy the character who the whole book revolved around.
While there were some interesting parts, I didn't enjoy "Project XX" as much as I would have liked to. It involves an uncomfortable subject matter, but I don't think it handled it in a realistic way.
September 27, 2017
Project XX by Mickey J Corrigan
In 2012 a totally deranged grad student dressed up as the Joker walked into a movie theater and started shooting and killed dozens of the movie viewers.
Mickey Corrigan wrote this story based as spring of 2012. The story is about Aimee Heller and her mother. Aimee's dad provided the money but not much else. Aimee meets another girl, a beggar girl sitting under a tree.
Aimee met Skitchen Sturter known in the story as H8er (Hater). She lived where ever and did not attend school etc. But Aimee was interested in her and befriended her. Gave her her address and wanted to make sure that she had clean clotes and a shower and hair washing. That is the type of girl that Aimee is. But she is also very smart and was taking above average high school classes and also some college classes.
It is a good read as it talks about Aimee's mom as a single mom trying to date and get her daughter into a good college and make something of herself.
Enjoy and hope you will like it like I did.
In 2012 a totally deranged grad student dressed up as the Joker walked into a movie theater and started shooting and killed dozens of the movie viewers.
Mickey Corrigan wrote this story based as spring of 2012. The story is about Aimee Heller and her mother. Aimee's dad provided the money but not much else. Aimee meets another girl, a beggar girl sitting under a tree.
Aimee met Skitchen Sturter known in the story as H8er (Hater). She lived where ever and did not attend school etc. But Aimee was interested in her and befriended her. Gave her her address and wanted to make sure that she had clean clotes and a shower and hair washing. That is the type of girl that Aimee is. But she is also very smart and was taking above average high school classes and also some college classes.
It is a good read as it talks about Aimee's mom as a single mom trying to date and get her daughter into a good college and make something of herself.
Enjoy and hope you will like it like I did.
November 25, 2017
In order for a book to work you have to like the character. Well, it does help anyways. In this case, I not only did not like the main character but found her very bitter and annoying. I kept waiting for the story to start. If this book was about an angry teenager, who did not have a good relationship with her mom, than, this book fits. Yet, I am left wondering where is this turning point when the story gets to the destruction that girls/women can be mass killers as well. Well not at the half way point of the story. It is still about Aimee and her despise of her mother and her various boyfriends.
I know that Aimee must do something as she is the one telling the story but it was like the story was in a loop. Plus, I wanted to know more about H8er. H8er seems like an important person in the story, who influences Aimee but I did not know much about this person. Oh, and there is nothing funny about this story but there are some crude moments. I did not continue on reading this book to the end. Maybe someone else will enjoy this book better than me.
I know that Aimee must do something as she is the one telling the story but it was like the story was in a loop. Plus, I wanted to know more about H8er. H8er seems like an important person in the story, who influences Aimee but I did not know much about this person. Oh, and there is nothing funny about this story but there are some crude moments. I did not continue on reading this book to the end. Maybe someone else will enjoy this book better than me.
November 7, 2017
Very interesting story which is not similar to Mickey's other stories.
I don't really know what to say without giving everything away so I'll say what I enjoyed. I enjoyed that I have read a story that my younger self would have been super glued to. I now enjoyed but I don't read as much as I'd like now as I did back then. I really enjoyed the 2012 references and how it sounds so recent but you suddenly realise how much technology has come along. I enjoyed the relevant subject although as a Kiwi I find guns and the United States of America so incomprehensible because it's not my world as I know it. I really enjoyed how it was a fast paced read and how the characters were developed enough for me to invest in them. I really liked the flow of the story and realised I have really missed Mickey's creative style of writing.
I don't really know what to say without giving everything away so I'll say what I enjoyed. I enjoyed that I have read a story that my younger self would have been super glued to. I now enjoyed but I don't read as much as I'd like now as I did back then. I really enjoyed the 2012 references and how it sounds so recent but you suddenly realise how much technology has come along. I enjoyed the relevant subject although as a Kiwi I find guns and the United States of America so incomprehensible because it's not my world as I know it. I really enjoyed how it was a fast paced read and how the characters were developed enough for me to invest in them. I really liked the flow of the story and realised I have really missed Mickey's creative style of writing.
January 10, 2018
This just seemed like an unevenly written coming-of-age story.
The thing is, while the story is decently written and not difficult to read, I’m having a hard time finding the dark humor in it.
I get it. I was that teenager. Not knowing who I was. Trying to find myself. Hating everything.
But the way this story unfolds. Enh.
And then when you have the aha! moment, it’s kind of anticlimactic. And it seems to be a rehash if another movie you’ll immediately recognize by the fourth paragraph of the afterword.
It’s too bad. Usually when I’m not such a fan of stories, it’s the idea that’s pretty good and the writing that’s lacking. I actually enjoyed this author’s writing. As for the story? I’ll quote the narrator of this book:
I don’t buy it.
Thanks to NetGalley and ? for a copy in return for an honest review.
The thing is, while the story is decently written and not difficult to read, I’m having a hard time finding the dark humor in it.
I get it. I was that teenager. Not knowing who I was. Trying to find myself. Hating everything.
But the way this story unfolds. Enh.
And then when you have the aha! moment, it’s kind of anticlimactic. And it seems to be a rehash if another movie you’ll immediately recognize by the fourth paragraph of the afterword.
It’s too bad. Usually when I’m not such a fan of stories, it’s the idea that’s pretty good and the writing that’s lacking. I actually enjoyed this author’s writing. As for the story? I’ll quote the narrator of this book:
I don’t buy it.
Thanks to NetGalley and ? for a copy in return for an honest review.
November 1, 2017
If there were ever a shelf at the library devoted to "teen angst," this one would have to be front and center.
What drives a seemingly normal teenager to self-destructive behavior and acts of violence? The experts may offer some answers, but this book takes you inside the mixed-up head of one such teenager. It's a horrifying experience. And heart-breaking.
Since I am neither a teenager (Thank God!) nor angst-driven, I found it difficult to relate to the dark behaviors in this book, but reading about them was like watching a train wreck. It was hard to look away. This is a well-written book about an uncomfortable subject, and it is well worth reading.
What drives a seemingly normal teenager to self-destructive behavior and acts of violence? The experts may offer some answers, but this book takes you inside the mixed-up head of one such teenager. It's a horrifying experience. And heart-breaking.
Since I am neither a teenager (Thank God!) nor angst-driven, I found it difficult to relate to the dark behaviors in this book, but reading about them was like watching a train wreck. It was hard to look away. This is a well-written book about an uncomfortable subject, and it is well worth reading.
December 3, 2017
The summary made me think that this was going to be a non-fiction book so I was very happy to find out that it was a fictional story. The book itself was very well written and I liked how the author created interesting characters and a suspenseful story line while still including real life issues. I liked that the issues themselves felt very real and not fictional as it really made the book interesting.
October 6, 2017
Mickey j Corrigan has written a story about Aimee Heller and her mother. The story takes you from the early times and how Aimee meets up with Skitchen Sturter. the story becomes intense and you will find yourself wrapped up in it trying to where the next turn will take you. An enjoyable read don't miss it.
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February 5, 2022Never-ending twists and turns with each page of this book.
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February 27, 2018** I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review**
This is a story about a young privileged girl from Florida who meets "H8er", and begins on a path of self destruction. Before she meets H8er, Aimee is a smart girl who spends her time studying in hopes of going to a good college. Her mother works, and her absent father supports her and her mother's lavish lifestyle. I think the downfall of Aimee is when she realizes that she didn't get into the college she was hoping for. She stupidly listens to her mother, and doesn't apply to any fall back schools, so the great and talented Aimee is stuck going to community college. This is the beginning of her downward spiral.
So with that said, I just found the entire story highly unlikely... We have all read about and heard about school shooters... she just straight up doesn't fit the description. About half way thorough the story I began to piece together that she was losing her mind, and that H8er isn't a real person. She is who Aimee thinks she should be since her life is "over". I do think the author has done a nice job of showing how the American lifestyle, materialism, the pressure to reach "American dreams" and the lack of resources for mental health issues are problems in America. As a young American, I did relate to Aimee on this level in a way. I WANT the perfect life, where everything goes my way and everything is just perfect, perfect perfect. But what happens when life doesn't go my way? Is American society there to help us deal with this? The answer to that is no... and while the author did ultimately pick an unlikely character to show this to us, she was able to get her point and message across.
This book was also eye opening in light of the most recent school shooting in Florida this month. Mental health issues, lack of proper parenting, and the "poor me" attitude are only contributing to these occurrences happening more and more often.
This is a story about a young privileged girl from Florida who meets "H8er", and begins on a path of self destruction. Before she meets H8er, Aimee is a smart girl who spends her time studying in hopes of going to a good college. Her mother works, and her absent father supports her and her mother's lavish lifestyle. I think the downfall of Aimee is when she realizes that she didn't get into the college she was hoping for. She stupidly listens to her mother, and doesn't apply to any fall back schools, so the great and talented Aimee is stuck going to community college. This is the beginning of her downward spiral.
So with that said, I just found the entire story highly unlikely... We have all read about and heard about school shooters... she just straight up doesn't fit the description. About half way thorough the story I began to piece together that she was losing her mind, and that H8er isn't a real person. She is who Aimee thinks she should be since her life is "over". I do think the author has done a nice job of showing how the American lifestyle, materialism, the pressure to reach "American dreams" and the lack of resources for mental health issues are problems in America. As a young American, I did relate to Aimee on this level in a way. I WANT the perfect life, where everything goes my way and everything is just perfect, perfect perfect. But what happens when life doesn't go my way? Is American society there to help us deal with this? The answer to that is no... and while the author did ultimately pick an unlikely character to show this to us, she was able to get her point and message across.
This book was also eye opening in light of the most recent school shooting in Florida this month. Mental health issues, lack of proper parenting, and the "poor me" attitude are only contributing to these occurrences happening more and more often.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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