The books I‘ve read about cults before (and I‘ll admit there weren‘t that many) point out the dangers of cults in a rather extreme way. An example for this would be Hades Hangmen by Tillie Cole: I think, for all who know the series, I don‘t need to say how disturbing the pictures were Tillie Cole painted in my mind. From the outside it was clear as day: this is a cult, this is so damn wrong. The religion Scarlett is a part of (and Hunter was a part of) isn‘t that extreme from the outside. Well, the more you learn about it, the more the rules they have to follow were (at least to me) strange. Though this whole religious commune becomes a cult when we see how they talk about the people on the outside or the people who left them. However, I think it‘s amazing how sensitive Judy Corry deals with this topic. While Hunter decided to cut ties with the cult, Scarlett is completely loyal to the cause. He could’ve tried to convince her to follow his path, but instead he kept to himself. He is patient and respects her feelings. Towards Scarlett I had mixed feelings. I get where she is coming from, but when Hunter is respectful and does everything he can to not pressure her, while she doesn’t even let him explain a thing, that‘s just not the right thing to do when he‘s your best friend. But she definitely redeemed herself, so let’s not dwell on that. I am not that much of a fan of the storyline with Xander. First of all, she lets her father controll her love life – wtf? Partly this can be explained with the cult – but no one can tell me she couldn’t have kept Hunter and her relationship a secret🤷‍♀️ I get the purpose of this storyline with Xander – though in the end it was a little…too much for my liking. 3–3.5/5⭐️