Did not finish. The writing was just... not that great and it felt too riddled with cliches. The characters weren't that interesting, either. Just felt like it was dragging on.

I'm sad about this one because I thought that the premise sounded really interesting, but unfortunately for me, I felt like the author was trying to do too much. This left the plot feeling really muddled and disjointed and meant that what should have been a whopping blow out of a final act was a bit of a damp squib. Such a shame.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Out of all the subgenres of horror, demonic possession is one that has always been top-tier scare material for me, so I was excited to read this book based on the summary. I work in the Science world, and being a horrorphile, this premise of the story was so unique! I am going to do more research into neurological studies and demonic activity now. I thought the book flowed well and kept me interested. There were just a few small details I would have like wrapped up in a better manner. The main character's previous instance of possession- we get glimpses of it, but I think there was more to be told there. Smallwood and the church- we know the town isn't happy with them over various things, but I would have liked more background there. And lastly, the ending to the book was not as action-packed as I would have expected, but I still enjoyed it. An aspect I did enjoy is hearing the some of the hospital day to day procedures (though I don't know how accurate it is), just about MRI machines and how much they cost and how the facilities set up use of them. Scare factor was good-especially with Henry's character, reminded me of the old film The Exorcist. All in all-interesting book, full marks for a fresh plot I haven't encountered before. Thanks, NetGalley and Publisher for the ARC!

I am so always down for a good demonic possession story. This book gave me everything I wanted. I loved the writing style, and felt myself completely drawn into the story. I desperately wanted to see how it would turn out. Would recommend.

3 Stars!

When science fiction and horror collide, there is a lot of room for a great story to grow. The Enlightment Project by Lynn Hightower promised to rise to the occasion with its story that combines science with demonic possession. Add in the fact that the book was being released from Severn House and I knew that the novel was a must-read book.



Noah Archer seems to have a perfect life. He is a successful neurosurgeon with a loving wife and happy family. From the outside, it seems like an idyllic life. Noah harbors a secret, though, that is known to only a few people. His wife does not even know the dark secret of his past. When Noah was a child, he was possessed by a demon and was only saved through the efforts of his old friend, the exorcist priest Father Cavanaugh. Because of this, Noah has turned his work to the study of spirituality on the brain’s function. This has led him to his current project, The Enlightenment Project, that is achieving great results in treating depression and mental illness. The project seems to be saving its subjects and making great improvements in their lives.



Noah thought he was making a positive difference with his work until a visit from Father Perry turns everything upside down. It seems that instead of shutting out the darkness, Noah’s treatment may actually be inviting it into the world. With his family in peril and a new church that is much more than it seems to be popping up in his neighborhood, Noah is running out of time to figure out how to stop a demon from turning the world into its twisted vision of paradise.



The Enlightenment Project starts off quickly and I was immediately pulled into the story. The blend of science and horror is unique and my imagination was sparked from the beginning. I felt almost compelled to read the first half of the novel as quickly as possible. Hightower came up with a great premise for the novel and the story started at a pace and I could not wait to see what was coming next. Noah Archer seemed to leap off the page and his emotions and motives were perfect for the story. The spiritual and scientific wove together easily and the story was building toward a climax that was sure to not only be thrilling but to also make the reader question what is real and what is fiction in the spiritual realm. Based solely on the first half, The Enlightenment Project seemed poised to become one the best books of the year.



Then the second half of the novel came and the urgency that was growing during the first half of the novel seemed to run out. It is not that it became a bad book. Rather, the second half of the novel became more of a curiosity than an urgency. I liked the story and still wanted to see what was coming next. I just did not feel compelled to keep pushing on. The clash of genres was still a fresh premise, but the latter half of the novel seems like more of an exposition of what is happening rather than a dramatic recounting of the story. The emotional investment of the first half was not carried through to the end and this caused a shorter novel to feel like a much longer read. There are a lot of interesting points raised throughout the story, and Hightower’s approach to spirituality is sure to leave any reader questioning things that were once held as true. The Enlightenment Project just seemed to bog down a bit as it went on. I would still recommend the novel to any reader who wants to read a strong story that takes on the nature of spirituality (and a unique take on demonic possession) with some thrills and chills along the way, but I finished the book thinking that it did not reach its true potential. I am curious to see what Hightower may have in store for readers next and will pick up her next novel. The Enlightenment Project still finished as a strong novel and an interesting read, but it just did not live up to the promise of the early chapters in the end. I give the novel a final rating of 3 stars with it falling somewhere between 3 and 3 ½ overall.



I would like to thank Severn House and NetGalley for this review copy. The Enlightenment Project is available now.

Ease of Reading: 3✨
Characters: 1✨
Plot: 3✨
Writing: 1✨
Overall: 2✨

I really enjoyed the first 30% of this book. The story unravelled and revealed itself and the concepts were interesting. (Although I felt like parts of this book were written by a man writing erotic fiction as the descriptions of the female characters were just ridiculous and unnecessary).
Then the story got slow and the writing got worse. The intrigue turned to action scenes that I skim read but still knew what was going on which meant they could have been 80% shorter than they were. Overall just not my kind of writing style.

A neurosurgeon has developed what he calls "The Enlightenment Project." His goal to help others have spiritual experiences and to be able to see what those experiences look like in the human brain. Of course, things don't always go as planned. Is something connected to his childhood possession coming back for him?

I have to say, the premise is amazing. I read it for the first time and knew immediately that I absolutely needed to read this one. The story kept me interested, but I will say that I didn't really care about the characters. My enjoyment came from enjoying things of this topic, so it may not be for everyone. it was definitely an intriguing take on the subject. I absolutely loved combing science with possession. The writing itself was a little off-putting. It felt so crowded somehow also not overly fast paced. It was a strange experience. The descriptions could be excessive. However, there were a few spooky moments. It has a lot going for it if you can get past the kind of wonkyness of the writing at times. I do recommend though if the subject matter is intriguing to you.

Sorry, I already read and reviewed this book. Thought it was a new one by this author.
This was the review:
A scary, gripping, and riveting story that kept me reading. I loved. It's the first book I read by this author and I appreciated the style of writing and the storytelling.
It's got the right level of creepy, good character development and a well developed plot.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thanks so much for the ARC!
Once I started reading I had to finish-- a real page turner. There were some scary moments and an eerie atmosphere.

Tash is a Very Good Girl.

The blurb intrigued me, but it fell a bit short on the execution. I did like the science angle, and the characters were well-drawn overall. There were a few creepy part, but some descriptions seemed over the top. The pacing was a bit off, and the middle lagged, but it pulled together in the end.

This is a decent supernatural thriller. I love when horror combines science and the supernatural, especially religious horror, and there were some fun twists on exorcisms. It did drag in the middle, though, and it started to feel repetitive and full of unnecessary descriptions.

STOP trying to make poetry out of horror! This story had a great premis--mixing science with the supernatural. And there were some spooky buts but I would have liked more. Less purple prose and more scary, please. Quite a let down.

I loved the take on exorcisms in this book, I also loved that it was combined with science and neurology. The story itself was really well developed and so were the characters. There were definitely some really good creepy parts of the book which I thoroughly enjoyed especially at the end.
There were definitely a few moments in the book where I thought the descriptions were a little excessive. But overall I did enjoy it and I would definitely recommend this book to others who like possession stories. Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book in exchange for a review.

I've always been drawn towards books centered around possession as I love creepy, sinister stories and this was no exception. This was definitely a different take on the genre and was well done. It starts off with a bang and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. This was a fun, quick, yet nightmarish read that will keep you up at night

Thank you to Net Gallery and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book.

I absolutely devoured this book. This is a super-natural horror with a medical twist. Sign me up! I'm a pharmacist, so I especially enjoyed the anatomy parts. This book will make you cringe, scream, and hide. This is a great read and look forward to reading more by this author. Well done.