the color project

sierra abrams

Bernice Aurora Wescott has one thing she doesn’t want anyone to know: her name. That is, until Bee meets Levi, the local golden boy who runs a charity organization called The Color Project.

Levi is not at all shy about attempting to guess Bee’s real name; his persistence is one of the many reasons why Bee falls for him. But while Levi is everything she never knew she needed, giving up her name would feel like a stamp on forever. And that terrifies her.

When unexpected news of an illness in the family drains Bee’s summer of everything bright, she is pushed to the breaking point. Losing herself in The Color Project—a world of weddings, funerals, cancer patients, and hopeful families that the charity funds—is no longer enough. Bee must hold up the weight of her family, but to do that, she needs Levi. She’ll have to give up her name and let him in completely or lose the best thing that’s ever happened to her.

For fans of Stephanie Perkins and Morgan Matson, THE COLOR PROJECT is a story about the three great loves of life—family, friendship, and romance—and the bonds that withstand tragedy.

Publisher: Gatekeeper Press

Publication Date: August 17th 2017

Cover, oh cover, why must you be so beautiful? I wanted something that gave the same feels as 180 Seconds and Fangirl… A question that plagued my mind before I read this was why is it so important that Bee keep her name a secret? Is it going to be an actual, not unnecessarily dramatic reason? (Spoiler Alert: Yes. Yes it was).

When Bee’s car breaks down, she meets the new mechanic at the local shop, Levi. Intrigued by his brightly colored sweaters Bee finds out that Levi runs a charity called The Color Project. Bee proceeds to entangle herself with TCP and its volunteers, when she finds out that her father has been diagnosed with brain cancer.

We’re going to talk about my issues first for once…

The name thing was cute, Levi trying to figure it out and the situations where he used the wrong one was very cute. But, then there was a moment where it was implied the name thing meant more to Levi… it signified something about their relationship… and it became less cute. Speaking of the name thing: I mention the Contemporary Formula: 80% in there’s a conflict that temporarily breaks up the couple. And I just knew 242 pages into this 366 page book that the conflict resolution was her telling Levi her name. And the second hand cringe ensued. Was I proven right? Yes. It wasn’t as cringe worthy as I anticipated (it was kind of cute, I won’t lie).

Bee as a character was great until the conflict happened. There was a conversation with her dad that made me understand her spiral and her thoughts during this hard time, but what made things not okay was Levi sacrificing so much for this relationship when she continuously pushed him away and started arguments. She got to heal while he suffered and… that’s not okay. Even in the end, he continued to apologize. I’m not saying she didn’t realize the error of her ways, but watching him go through that rubbed me the wrong way.

Now, onto my likes. Again, I liked Bee and I liked Levi. And I like Levi and Bee together. However, I think the best part of this book was the family dynamic, specifically Bee’s dad. They were all so supportive and there for each other. I love a good family unit. Even the found family at The Color Project warmed my heart.

Would I reread this? I’d reread until the conflict, then I’d stop because I wasn’t having fun on that part (and it was a pretty long part). I almost DNFed this one, I won’t lie, but I don’t regret continuing.