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elylu1's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion and Child death
Moderate: Car accident, Murder, Confinement, and Violence
kingrosereads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Fam, let me tell you. Jesus Christ. This book was eight shades of what the fuck. Like serious I legit was so freaked out I couldn’t sleep without knowing what the fuck was going on. Like what even was this book??
I gotta start by saying that books where you’re not sure what’s real or not, really freaks me the fuck out. Like when reality and fiction blur and you don’t know if you can trust your own sense? Nah fam, I’m telling you that’s my nightmare and genuine fear.
Okay so we’ve got some weird ass names in typical Colleen Hoover fashion: Lowen Ashleigh is a good author but not super popular, she’s broke af (girl same), and her mom just died after she played caretaker for months. The way this fucking book started, shook me and made me wanna vomit.
“I hear the crack of his skull before the spattering of blood reaches me.”
Jesus. Ease me in Colleen. I had no idea what this book was about other then people saying is was freaky and the vague references I saw on TikTok had me thinking some Jane-Eyre-wife-in-the-attic vibes. Anyway, Lowen had the most grotesque meet cute on the planet with Jeremy Crawford (probably the only normal name in the book). Turns out Jeremey is going to the same meeting Lowen’s going to! His wife is Verity who’s like the queen of thrillers. Her books are a sensation, she’s a millionaire, and overall bad bitch. Unfortunately, Verity is in a vegetative state after a car crash with three books left unfinished in her series.
Verity’s publicist and Jeremy are looking for an author to finish the series, but as a co-author, since they’re keeping the extent of Verity’s injuries a secret. Lowen, though doubtful of her skills as a writer, accepts the job cause, let’s be honest, she needs the money. She ends up staying at the Crawford house to go their Verity’s boxes of notes to get in her headspace to finish the series.
So the Crawford family is messed up every which way til Sunday. Verity’s upstairs in a vegetative state, the couple’s 5-year-old, Crew, is running around doing creepy kid shit, and they recently lost their twin daughters, Harper and Chastin. It’s all very upsetting and the darkness just makes me wanna vomit and/or cry.
As Lowen goes through Verity’s things she finds a manuscript for Verity’s autobiography that proves to be the most disturbing thing my eyes have ever read. And even though Lowen’s life is sad and a bit tragic and she makes a lot of good points, she’s got the personality of peeling paint. But I can understand how it took a few weeks for her to get through this manuscript, vomiting and crying throughout, because she believed it was the truth.
Now spoilers. So look away for like 3 paragraphs.
However, she just casually doesn’t show Jeremy this damning and disturbing manuscript? I get in the beginning she wanted to spare Jeremy’s feelings, but it got to a point that shit didn’t matter anymore and he deserved the truth. All of this is going on and Lowen starts to realize that TV’s are being turned off or muted around Verity when she supposedly can’t move. Doors are locking by themselves, knives are disappearing, Crew is claiming his mother talks to him, oh and Lowen just CASUALLY sees Verity standing at the top of the stairs as her husband is sucking on her titties. GOODBYE. That sent my soul out of my body. Mostly, a lot of my fear came from my own fucked up mind making Crew and Verity look creepy as fuck. But yeah, Lowen would just catch Verity stare at her and I’d have like baby gooseflesh moments.
“If this bitch turned off that goddamn television, I’m walking out that front door without shoes on and I’m never coming back.” Fam, I would’ve BEEN gone!
I felt like I was going crazy with Lowen. I half expected it to be all in her head. Or Jeremy was really the psychopath. Part of me genuinely believed she was gonna get to the end of the manuscript and it would be a recent addition that like calls Lowen out.
I thought the discovery of Verity’s deceit was anticlimactic. The discovery of the letter was a little comical, cliché, and exhausting. Like I highly doubt Verity was actually innocent. You can do a lot of things to survive, but to urinate on yourself REPEATEDLY and stay still for hours with no reaction to movement or sound? And do this for months? Yeah no. You’ve gotta be a whole ass psychopath for that, life on the line or not. Other than the creepy scene of Lowen ending up in Verity’s room (when she doesn’t mention in the letter) what’s the point of her sleepwalking? I was also thinking she’d wake up attacking Verity. Which would’ve been interesting. And what was the deal with those two women at the Target who claim to be Verity’s friends and are never mentioned again?
Also, why leave the letter? If you genuinely think your life’s at stake and you’re innocent, why leave the letter? And why not put it at the end of the manuscript for the only person who would understand your process and who wasn’t as emotionally invested in the situation to find and help you? Like fam, you have all this time to fake being catatonic but can’t use that time to actually ask for help from either of your two nurses or Lowen? I’m not buying it. She definitely left that letter for Lowen to find to fuck with her. As a last “fuck you” if Jeremy killed her before she could run away or kill him.
As time went on, dry as a biscuit, Lowen, started becoming mad interesting when she started becoming a crazy ass bitch herself. What is up with this man’s dick that got all these women doing some crazy ass shit over it?! Cause Lowen really did and thought some fucked up shit! Lowen was losing her mind over Verity and threatened the woman! Then she lift her hips to let Jeremy’s magic sperm do it’s work?! How fertile is this man?! How fertile are these women?! Honestly, Jeremy is fucked up too. He comes in a girl he doesn’t know, the way he reacted to the manuscript was sus as hell, he was just crazy obsessed with these two women, and then he casually moves on with another woman and having a baby less than a year from losing his two daughters? He was fucking some chick with his wife in the other room and talked about that guilt right before fucking??? Red Flag.
The sex scenes were like hot at first but quickly became creepy as hell as Lowen thought about Verity while in the act, bit the headboard to outdo Verity’s bite marks, and did everything to be the opposite of Verity in bed to please Jeremy. Like she took what she learned about Jeremy’s sex skills in the manuscript and ran with it.
Honestly, other than possibly neglecting her children, trying to abort her twins, and killing her daughter, Verity is the most interesting character in the whole book. Is she manipulative and traumatizing as fuck? Yes. Will Crew need therapy for the rest of his life? Yes. But I recognize the commitment and I respect it. Plus, she made it like her mission to fuck with Lowen, and in retrospect, that shit is funny as hell. Not during, the shit was creepy. But I’ve had time to think back on it these last 71 minutes and have concluded it’s hilarious as fuck.
OKAY YOU CAN COME BACK NOW! No more spoilers
Honestly, this book was a mess. There was a lot of random things that throw you off and seem sus or weird, but are just there. But this thing freaked me out. If you get freaked out over “what’s real and what’s not?” and psychological thrillers where the supposedly vegetative people are running around, then this book will be good to you. I imagine someone who is blasé about that, will find this boring or comical. I mean hell, even I laughed at some parts, and not all of it was nervous laughter. I don’t see how anyone cried doing this book. It was sad that the girls died, but those scenes written from the POV of a psychopath made it easy to be detached from it.
It was entertaining enough. Book holds its own. I struggled to put it down. So check it out if this kind of shit interests you.
I gotta start by saying that books where you’re not sure what’s real or not, really freaks me the fuck out. Like when reality and fiction blur and you don’t know if you can trust your own sense? Nah fam, I’m telling you that’s my nightmare and genuine fear.
Okay so we’ve got some weird ass names in typical Colleen Hoover fashion: Lowen Ashleigh is a good author but not super popular, she’s broke af (girl same), and her mom just died after she played caretaker for months. The way this fucking book started, shook me and made me wanna vomit.
“I hear the crack of his skull before the spattering of blood reaches me.”
Jesus. Ease me in Colleen. I had no idea what this book was about other then people saying is was freaky and the vague references I saw on TikTok had me thinking some Jane-Eyre-wife-in-the-attic vibes. Anyway, Lowen had the most grotesque meet cute on the planet with Jeremy Crawford (probably the only normal name in the book). Turns out Jeremey is going to the same meeting Lowen’s going to! His wife is Verity who’s like the queen of thrillers. Her books are a sensation, she’s a millionaire, and overall bad bitch. Unfortunately, Verity is in a vegetative state after a car crash with three books left unfinished in her series.
Verity’s publicist and Jeremy are looking for an author to finish the series, but as a co-author, since they’re keeping the extent of Verity’s injuries a secret. Lowen, though doubtful of her skills as a writer, accepts the job cause, let’s be honest, she needs the money. She ends up staying at the Crawford house to go their Verity’s boxes of notes to get in her headspace to finish the series.
So the Crawford family is messed up every which way til Sunday. Verity’s upstairs in a vegetative state, the couple’s 5-year-old, Crew, is running around doing creepy kid shit, and they recently lost their twin daughters, Harper and Chastin. It’s all very upsetting and the darkness just makes me wanna vomit and/or cry.
As Lowen goes through Verity’s things she finds a manuscript for Verity’s autobiography that proves to be the most disturbing thing my eyes have ever read. And even though Lowen’s life is sad and a bit tragic and she makes a lot of good points, she’s got the personality of peeling paint. But I can understand how it took a few weeks for her to get through this manuscript, vomiting and crying throughout, because she believed it was the truth.
Now spoilers. So look away for like 3 paragraphs.
“If this bitch turned off that goddamn television, I’m walking out that front door without shoes on and I’m never coming back.” Fam, I would’ve BEEN gone!
I felt like I was going crazy with Lowen. I half expected it to be all in her head. Or Jeremy was really the psychopath. Part of me genuinely believed she was gonna get to the end of the manuscript and it would be a recent addition that like calls Lowen out.
I thought the discovery of Verity’s deceit was anticlimactic. The discovery of the letter was a little comical, cliché, and exhausting. Like I highly doubt Verity was actually innocent. You can do a lot of things to survive, but to urinate on yourself REPEATEDLY and stay still for hours with no reaction to movement or sound? And do this for months? Yeah no. You’ve gotta be a whole ass psychopath for that, life on the line or not. Other than the creepy scene of Lowen ending up in Verity’s room (when she doesn’t mention in the letter) what’s the point of her sleepwalking? I was also thinking she’d wake up attacking Verity. Which would’ve been interesting. And what was the deal with those two women at the Target who claim to be Verity’s friends and are never mentioned again?
Also, why leave the letter? If you genuinely think your life’s at stake and you’re innocent, why leave the letter? And why not put it at the end of the manuscript for the only person who would understand your process and who wasn’t as emotionally invested in the situation to find and help you? Like fam, you have all this time to fake being catatonic but can’t use that time to actually ask for help from either of your two nurses or Lowen? I’m not buying it. She definitely left that letter for Lowen to find to fuck with her. As a last “fuck you” if Jeremy killed her before she could run away or kill him.
As time went on, dry as a biscuit, Lowen, started becoming mad interesting when she started becoming a crazy ass bitch herself. What is up with this man’s dick that got all these women doing some crazy ass shit over it?! Cause Lowen really did and thought some fucked up shit! Lowen was losing her mind over Verity and threatened the woman! Then she lift her hips to let Jeremy’s magic sperm do it’s work?! How fertile is this man?! How fertile are these women?! Honestly, Jeremy is fucked up too. He comes in a girl he doesn’t know, the way he reacted to the manuscript was sus as hell, he was just crazy obsessed with these two women, and then he casually moves on with another woman and having a baby less than a year from losing his two daughters? He was fucking some chick with his wife in the other room and talked about that guilt right before fucking??? Red Flag.
The sex scenes were like hot at first but quickly became creepy as hell as Lowen thought about Verity while in the act, bit the headboard to outdo Verity’s bite marks, and did everything to be the opposite of Verity in bed to please Jeremy. Like she took what she learned about Jeremy’s sex skills in the manuscript and ran with it.
Honestly, other than possibly neglecting her children, trying to abort her twins, and killing her daughter, Verity is the most interesting character in the whole book. Is she manipulative and traumatizing as fuck? Yes. Will Crew need therapy for the rest of his life? Yes. But I recognize the commitment and I respect it. Plus, she made it like her mission to fuck with Lowen, and in retrospect, that shit is funny as hell. Not during, the shit was creepy. But I’ve had time to think back on it these last 71 minutes and have concluded it’s hilarious as fuck.
OKAY YOU CAN COME BACK NOW! No more spoilers
Honestly, this book was a mess. There was a lot of random things that throw you off and seem sus or weird, but are just there. But this thing freaked me out. If you get freaked out over “what’s real and what’s not?” and psychological thrillers where the supposedly vegetative people are running around, then this book will be good to you. I imagine someone who is blasé about that, will find this boring or comical. I mean hell, even I laughed at some parts, and not all of it was nervous laughter. I don’t see how anyone cried doing this book. It was sad that the girls died, but those scenes written from the POV of a psychopath made it easy to be detached from it.
It was entertaining enough. Book holds its own. I struggled to put it down. So check it out if this kind of shit interests you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse
Minor: Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Confinement, Murder, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Excrement, Eating disorder, Drug use, Car accident, and Abortion
vicnicbasket's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Medical content, Child death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Abortion, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness
jennalynn48's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Blood, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Abortion, Car accident, Child death, and Chronic illness
Minor: Confinement and Medical content
faeriequeenlauren's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
colie923's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Abortion, Gaslighting, Medical content, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Minor: Pregnancy and Fatphobia
em_h_ma's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Verity by Colleen Hoover
Review: 4/5
The story is about Lowen, a writer, who is asked to continue a series written by another writer: Verity. Verity had a car accident and is unable to move. It is her husband who decides to choose and hire Lowen. In order to do some prep work for the upcoming novels and learn about the ideas of Verity, Lowen is asked to stay at Jeremy’s house for a few days. Will working, she discovers a manuscript of what seems to be Verity’s biography. This manuscript changes the perception that Lowen has of Verity’s life and family, just as strange things start to happen in the house. I really enjoyed this psychological thriller. The scenery reminded me a lot of « Misery », « The silent patient » and « The wife upstairs ». The atmosphere of the novel is very oppressing, everything seems very dark, creepy and mysterious. We get both Lowen’s point of view on the present and Verity’s version of the events that happened to her family in the past. This novel really got me hooked and I didn’t want to put it down. It was also super easy and quick to read. However, they are a few things that I did not like. First of all, I don’t generally enjoy it when children are involved, especially in thrillers or romance books. All the characters in the book are suspicious and honestly deranged. None of them is better than the other or shows more morals. I really despised them and the first ending just confirmed my impressions. On another note, I really like the way the author plays with our minds with the manuscript VS letter versions of the events. I also somehow rooted for Verity in the beginning, especially with the way she perceives pregnancy. Even though her actions seem immoral, the author present them in a way that is understandable (or maybe it’s just that I really don’t like kids and have somewhat of a twisted mind). I really did enjoy this book even though there was no real answer to the reader’s questions (which gives all its sense to the title). I would recommend it but definitely check content warnings. Also, maybe an unpopular opinion, but I really prefer Collen Hoover’s thrillers rather than her romance books. Does anyone feel the same? If you read Verity, feel free to come chat about it in the comments!
Verity, Colleen Hoover
Avis de lecture: 4/5
L'histoire parle de Lowen, une auteure, à qui l'on demande de continuer une série écrite par un autre écrivain : Verity. Verity a eu un accident de voiture et est incapable de bouger. C'est son mari qui décide de choisir et d'engager Lowen. Afin de préparer les romans à venir, et découvrir les idées de Verity, on propose à Lowen de rester chez Jeremy pendant quelques jours. En travaillant, elle découvre un manuscrit de ce qui semble être la biographie de Verity. Ce manuscrit change la perception que Lowen a de la vie et de la famille de Verity, en même temps que choses étranges commencent à se produire dans la maison. J'ai beaucoup aimé ce thriller psychologique. Le décor m'a beaucoup rappelé « Misery », « Dans son silence » et « La femme à l’étage ». L'atmosphère du roman est très oppressante, tout semble très sombre, effrayant et mystérieux. Nous obtenons à la fois le point de vue de Lowen sur le présent et la version de Verity sur des événements qui sont arrivés à sa famille dans le passé. Ce roman m'a vraiment entraînée et je n'ai pas voulu le lâcher. Il était aussi très facile et rapide à lire. Cependant, quelques éléments m’ont déplus. Tout d'abord, je n'apprécie généralement pas que les enfants soient impliqués dans des fictions, en particulier dans les thrillers ou les romans d'amour. Par ailleurs, tous les personnages du livre sont méfiants et honnêtement dérangés. Ils sont totalement immoraux et perturbants. Je n’ai vraiment pas réussi à les apprécier et la première fin du roman n'a fait que confirmer mes impressions. Sur une autre note, j'aime beaucoup la façon dont l'auteur joue avec nos esprits en utilisant les versions manuscrit VS lettre. J’étais aussi assez supportive de Verity au début du roman (bien que cela puisse paraître étrange), surtout avec la façon dont elle perçoit la grossesse. Même si ses actions semblent immorales, l’auteur les présentent d'une manière compréhensible (ou peut-être que c'est juste que je n'aime vraiment pas les enfants et que j'ai un esprit un tordu). J'ai beaucoup aimé ce livre même s'il n'y avait pas vraiment de réponse aux questions du lectur(ce qui donne tout son sens au titre). Je recommanderais ce roman, mais les sujets évoqués peuvent heurter la sensibilité de certains. Pour terminer, une opinion peut-être impopulaire, mais je préfère les thrillers de Collen Hoover à ses livres romantiques. Est-ce que quelqu'un pense la même chose? Si vous avez lu Verity, n'hésitez pas à venir en discuter dans les commentaires !
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Car accident, Confinement, Death, and Gore
kaireading's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Child death, Murder, and Abortion
Moderate: Abandonment, Vomit, Sexual content, Miscarriage, and Physical abuse
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Cancer, Medical trauma, Grief, Cursing, Confinement, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Body shaming, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Medical content, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization
Very graphic and insensitive description of sensitive topics including but not limited to child murder, eating disorders, vomiting/emetophobia, miscarriage, violence/child violence, mental illness, sex, language.cammiem8's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is Colleen Hoover’s Gone Girl.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Grief, Car accident, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Vomit, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Confinement, Fatphobia, and Ableism
megan_j's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Spoilers throughout -
I did enjoy this, however I was expecting a big A HAH moment at the end - which never really came for me. The main twist was the unreliable narrator, but this is a mystery where we will never figure out the truth, which leaves it open for the reader’s interpretation. For me, I think she was psychotic, but I’d be interested in hearing why others would think otherwise. I never really grew a connection to the characters, lowen and Jeremy just didn’t really do anything for me and I didn’t really care about what happened to them. I’d been putting off reading this for a while because everyone said it was really scary, and while it was tense and a very creepy I didn’t find it scary - more disturbing. I don’t often read mystery thrillers though and I enjoyed Colleen hoovers simple writing as I always do.
I did enjoy this, however I was expecting a big A HAH moment at the end - which never really came for me. The main twist was the unreliable narrator, but this is a mystery where we will never figure out the truth, which leaves it open for the reader’s interpretation. For me, I think she was psychotic, but I’d be interested in hearing why others would think otherwise. I never really grew a connection to the characters, lowen and Jeremy just didn’t really do anything for me and I didn’t really care about what happened to them. I’d been putting off reading this for a while because everyone said it was really scary, and while it was tense and a very creepy I didn’t find it scary - more disturbing. I don’t often read mystery thrillers though and I enjoyed Colleen hoovers simple writing as I always do.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Infidelity, Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Animal death and Confinement