YA Buddy Readers' Corner ♥ discussion

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.

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 leader, Lev Warren and as Lo delves deeper into The Project, the lives of its members 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.

Opening shows Bea in an awful place. Easy, I imagine, to fall for some of the spin surrounding The Project. Interesting to start with her view, rather than that of Lo who we’re told the book focuses on.

20% - the switch to Lo feels abrupt, but it offers a different take. I do feel her sister’s involvement makes her seem quite hostile to anything said/done by the group, but the situation at the office suggests she has god reason to feel that way.

23% - makes me cross to see how Bea was preyed upon at a time of vulnerability.

70% - bit of a skip, but Lo has been granted access to the group to write about them. She’s learning some uncomfortable truths about her sister, but more questions are raised.

86% - I’m not surprised at the way Lo seems to be turning towards Lev. The little details being given imply that Bea was not quite the willing member people want us to think she was.

Whoops! I forgot about this! Sorry, I was waiting for the ebook to be available! I’ll get started in it! 🤍

Let me know what you think Jacquelyn.

I will! I just now got my copy from the library. The hold took a long time. I’ll binge listen to it tomorrow when I’m off. I’m SO sorry for the wait!!

I am SO sorry that I didn't get to the book this month. The library hold took so long and then some work stuff came up today, so I couldn't binge it as I planned. I can't apologize enough. :(
I'm not one to just not complete a planned BR, I hope we can do another BR sometime...

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Date changed. Restarting March 26th 2021. Happy Reading ☺

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Part One (view spoiler)[Not gonna lie, I got hella confused there for a sec. Wish the chapters were marked more clearly or at least say at the start whose pov were reading, I had to go back and check a few times smh. Do wonder now though what would make Bea cast her sister completely out of her life. I really hate the cult mind but I think Lev seems more complex than that so we’ll see what’s to come. (hide spoiler)]

Part Two (view spoiler)[Did Lev kill Rob? If so did he do the same to Bea if she started questioning him? Otherwise where is a
She and why hasn’t she contacted Lo? (hide spoiler)]

Part Three (view spoiler)[No no no. She thinks Emmy is Lev and her sisters daughter yet she’s going to sleep with him and fall right into his trap.....? damnit (hide spoiler)]

One chapter in to Part 4 (view spoiler)[I dunno now all of a sudden Lo is all for the Project. Where did her skepticism go? Also umm but why did she never think maybe someone under Lev's order messed with the brakes on her car? I can't stop thinking that and here she's getting all chummy with Lev and the group smh (hide spoiler)]

Finished
(view spoiler)[I really got into this after part two. But turns out I ended up very strongly disliking the book and mostly the heroine. She not once thinks the Project is responsible for the accident but like she fell on her head she suddenly just falls for Lev and all his shit???? Come on!! And eww I'm still stuck on her going after believing he shares a child with her sister!
Then we don't even get to see how the scene in the lake plays out?!?!?! Why the hell not after going through all that? I can't even be super mad about Bea being dead because I'm too mad hating on Lo and the fact Lev is just dead with no detail and Casey is claiming the victim card running free. So mad. Always hate on cultish things but this was so annoying and did not end on a good note. The writing is good but the story was not for me. (hide spoiler)]

There's no way I'm going to get this done by tomorrow so since I've only read about a few pages, I'm going to restart it on Thursday as an April book.

Good idea :) Can't wait to see what you think!

20%(view spoiler)[ Having a hard time with this one as it's pretty boring so far. Not much is happening and just got to the part where his office was broken into. (hide spoiler)]

❀ Crystal ✿ - wrote: "Part One [spoilers removed]"

Me too. I get confused on who was in the accident, who's talking, who went to the Project. Honestly, I'm not loving this book so far.

Krystal wrote: "❀ Crystal ✿ - wrote: "Part One [spoilers removed]"

Me too. I get confused on who was in the accident, who's talking, who went to the Project. Honestly, I'm not loving this book so far."

I get it. Wasn’t my fav either but I still needed to know what happened!

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Date changed. Restarting 1st June 2021. Happy Reading ☺

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

First quarter - (view spoiler)[I had forgotten what this book was about and was excited to pick it up because it was penned by Courtney Summers, rather than any details of the synopsis. I was, therefore, excited to find a cult featured. I love reading about these, although I wish we had more insight to it, at this point of the book, from an inside perspective rather than just Lo's investigation surrounding it.

I also keep getting confused with the switching timelines. Maybe this is as I'm listening to the audio and not physically reading it though. (hide spoiler)]

Second quarter - (view spoiler)[I'm very confused about what I feel for the project. They seem to do so much good. Is Jeremy's death attributed to them? Can Warren perform these super-human feats, such as bringing a girl back from the dead and predicting the 2016 election results? Are the Project responsible for Lo's prank phone calls?

Warren's past abuse, revealed in Lo's interview, was very sad to read about. Bea's child came as a big surprise! (hide spoiler)]

Third quarter - (view spoiler)[My interest in this is waning a little at this point. I still have intrigue surrounding The Project, and Lev in particular, but am also wishing for... I dunno... something more.

It seems that Bea wasn't as happy in The Project as Lev would make it appear. It was very sad to see him manipulate her into continuing to venerate him when her baby was sick, by stating that she brought her sister back to her.

Lev revealed that all his followers knew Lo's face as she was the girl he brought back to life, which I had already guessed at and had already been announced in her sister's perspective. It was a shock for Lo to hear it for the first time though. (hide spoiler)]

Fourth quarter - (view spoiler)[Rob turned out to be telling the truth. Lev's death was unexpected but this ended a little flat for me. I became less invested in the mysteries of The Project as it continued. (hide spoiler)]

Part One: (view spoiler)[Lev is a great manipulator, let's be real. And Lo is not as inmune at his manipulations as she thinks she is (hide spoiler)]

Part Two: (view spoiler)[Emmy is Bea's child, it's so obvious is ridiculous. Paul and Lauren are two little l*ttle bitches, aren't they? So, Arthur broke into SVO, I was so sure it was Foster (hide spoiler)].

Not going to lie, I'm starting to be a bit bored with this book

Part Three: (view spoiler)[So Bea is the one who calls Lo? I don't think so. It seems like nothing bothers Lev, he's a torturer and a great liar. Lo is slowly falling in his trap... also, I thought it was obvious to Lo that she was the girl Lev saved...? (hide spoiler)]
Part Four: (view spoiler)[Man, Lev is such a piece of crap, keeping Emmy away from Bea... Paul and Lauren having sex, lol, I'm not surprised. Yep, Bea is dead, it makes sense. The ending of this part is a bit messy (hide spoiler)]
Part Five: Ok, this broke my heart... Lo and Foster saying (view spoiler)[that they miss The Unity Project; they know it's messed up but they miss it anyway because there were times where they had good moments (hide spoiler)]

Iris wrote: "Part One: [spoilers removed]

Part Two: [spoilers removed].

Not going to lie, I'm starting to be a bit bored with this book"

(view spoiler)[I thought it was obvious who Emmy was too. I was intrigued but also wanted something more from this one. The pace felt a little too slow. (hide spoiler)]

Iris wrote: "Part Three: [spoilers removed]
Part Four: [spoilers removed]
Part Five: Ok, this broke my heart... Lo and Foster saying [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I was actually surprised by Bea's death, although I really shouldn't have been. It was sad to see how The Project had many faults but was also a refuge for those who needed it, too. (hide spoiler)]

Dannii wrote: "Iris wrote: "Part One: [spoilers removed]

Part Two: [spoilers removed].

Not going to lie, I'm starting to be a bit bored with this book"

[spoilers removed]"

I agree! I was interested in the story, but the pacing was a bit off in my opinion, the POVs were very similar so that didn't help

Dannii wrote: "Iris wrote: "Part Three: [spoilers removed]
Part Four: [spoilers removed]
Part Five: Ok, this broke my heart... Lo and Foster saying [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"

All of it was sad (view spoiler)[Lo not being able to see her sister, Bea not being able to be a mom to Emmy, Emmy not knowing who her mom was (hide spoiler)]

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Date changed. Restarting 12th September 2021. Happy Reading ☺

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Ill try and join in on this one if thats okay.

Just finished this one. (view spoiler)[ had a little trouble with the pacing. The project had all the hallmarks of a basic cult. Was predictibal and just really sad. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

I'm going to join this one as well, starting later today. :)

27% (view spoiler)[ I feel bad for Lo that her sister abandoned her right after she lost her parents and is struggling to recover. Hopefully Lo can find Bee and get her out. (hide spoiler)]

49% (view spoiler)[ Lev convinced Bee to join, then started sleeping with her and got her pregnant at 18. Ew, so gross.

Where is Bee? I think she's probably dead. Why would she leave her daughter if she'd just left the Project? I also don't think Lev would let her go. (hide spoiler)]

76% (view spoiler)[ So Luna is all in now, totally buying into this. Okay....

Also, if Emmy isn't Lev's, why didn't Bee take her when she left? (hide spoiler)]

Part 1 (view spoiler)[Poor Lo. First she loses her parents in an awful crash which she alone (barely) survives and then her sister, the only family she had and who reminds her of her old life, abandons her to join a cult. (hide spoiler)]

Aly wrote: "27% [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[Yes, this must be so hard. To lose everything and then even more. (hide spoiler)]

Ta || bookishbluehead wrote: "Part 1 [spoilers removed]"

Yeah, how terrible

100% (view spoiler)[ Well, the ending was incredibly disappointing. Somehow Lo killed Lev, but we don't get to see any of it. Just jump ahead and give us some details. That feels like lazy writing to me.

It's pretty sad that Casey got to play a victim and Lev's just gone. Lo is still working for Paul and I hoped for better for her. I guess at least she isn't his assistant?

I wanted more of a climax, to see Lo fight Lev and tear the Project apart. (hide spoiler)]

Part 2 (view spoiler)[After that last page I feel like maybe Bea didn't leave on her own terms. That she maybe wanted to leave and Lev and/or Casey killed her for that. I don't know, I don't trust cults. :D (hide spoiler)]

Ta || bookishbluehead wrote: "Part 2 [spoilers removed]"

definitely don't trust cults lol

Part 3 (view spoiler)[I can't believe she is so into this all of a sudden... why? It doesn't seem to fit her character at all. (hide spoiler)]

Aly wrote: "[spoilers removed]

(view spoiler)[I think she didn't take her, because Emmy didn't seem to know Bea as her mother, only as a friend, and I don't think she had the power over any legal documents to take the kid. So it would have looked like kidnapping and I'm sure Lev wouldn't have let that happen... I mean, if Bea really left voluntarily at all. (hide spoiler)]

Ta || bookishbluehead wrote: "Part 3 [spoilers removed]"

Exactly! Why would she change her mind like that?

Ta || bookishbluehead wrote: "Aly wrote: "[spoilers removed]

[spoilers removed]"

True, those are good points

Aly wrote: "Ta || bookishbluehead wrote: "Part 3 [spoilers removed]"

Exactly! Why would she change her mind like that?"

That is so unrealistic and I'm a little mad about that! And it didn't just happen over time, it kind of was just there.

Ta || bookishbluehead wrote: "Aly wrote: "Ta || bookishbluehead wrote: "Part 3 [spoilers removed]"

Exactly! Why would she change her mind like that?"

That is so unrealistic and I'm a little mad about that! And it didn't just ..."

Like the author didn't want to take time to build up to it

100 % (view spoiler)[That was such a cop-out. So Lo killed Lev, but how? We didn't see anything from that. And they are trying to charge Casey but no word about Lo's crime? I mean, even in self-defense, she killed Lev. And she still worked for Paul, even if she got the promotion she wanted, I had hoped she would realize her dream of being a writer in a different way.

The ending was just so rushed, it feels like halfway through the book the author thought of all the things she still wanted to include and just wrote them as quickly as possible. "And then she joined the cult, but she realize they are bad, they try to kill her, she kills him, the end."

But how sad is it, that Bea saw Lo on the day she died and didn't talk to her? They had the chance to meet even for a brief moment. (hide spoiler)]