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dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My first thriller book and I was captivated, I don't think I've ever read a book so fast. I enjoyed it up to the end. I thought the letter was a cheap way to end it and was almost predictable. I enjoyed the writing and storyline but the characters were very unlikeable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Abortion, Pregnancy
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This book had me audibly gasping while I stayed up all night to read it. There are some parts that are genuinely shocking and disturbing, so please be sure to check out the trigger warnings. When I say I couldn’t put this book down, it’s no exaggeration. My husband told me goodnight and woke up to me still reading the book. I then talked to him about all of the plot twists and turns for an hour and a half before I could settle down to sleep.
Once I felt like I had the book figured out, I would be hit with another twist. With the biggest twist of all coming at the end and leaving the reader in pure shock and disbelief. I still feel my adrenaline pulsing writing this review months after reading. I have asked friends and family to read the book as well just so I could have others to talk to about it. If you think you can read it after reading the content warnings, definitely do!
Once I felt like I had the book figured out, I would be hit with another twist. With the biggest twist of all coming at the end and leaving the reader in pure shock and disbelief. I still feel my adrenaline pulsing writing this review months after reading. I have asked friends and family to read the book as well just so I could have others to talk to about it. If you think you can read it after reading the content warnings, definitely do!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Abortion, Murder
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Murder
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
That is a THRILLER. I was gripped from the very first page. So many layers to unpack.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion
Minor: Child death, Vomit
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Sexual content, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Infidelity, Vomit, Grief, Abortion
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
dark
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
What a weird and compelling book! I couldn’t put it down after I got about halfway through, and I ended up reading it in a day. It was missing *something* that I can’t put my finger on—like everything doesn’t come together with exactly all the pieces nicely tied up. I still really enjoyed the book though! Will continue to read more Colleen Hoover!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting
Moderate: Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Car accident
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Gaslighting
Moderate: Infidelity, Murder
Minor: Child death, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Miscarriage, Abortion, Murder
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I hated this book. There are only two small reasons I gave this 2 stars instead of 1 star. 1) It was fast, it was definitely a quick, short read so it didn't waste a lot of my time. 2) The concept could have been great if it was written by another writer.
Instead of turning this review into a rant (since it easily could be), here is the quick notes version of my reasons for disliking (read hating) Verity.
- It's unrealistic. You cannotfake being brain dead like that to doctors or for any length of time even with non-medical people. Unless it is a genre like fantasy/sci-fi where you can make up your own world rules--or you pull a Stephen King and create weird paranormal reasons for things being strange--a book set in the real modern world must follow real modern biology. Even in a fantasy world, the reason an author takes time to build aforementioned world, is because they need to establish rules. Once rules are established that's it, they have to follow what they've laid out or else the continuity fails.
- Writing quality is poor and immature. I also wrote better sex scenes as an inexperienced teenager. Clearly fluff writing, which is fine for a romance novel but does not work well for a thriller.
- I found that there were a lot of "shock value" scenes that in my opinion did not contribute anything to the actual plot and were simply there to make folks gasp and/or metaphorically clutch their pearls.
- The ending was a complete cop out. Instead of putting any amount of though or foresight into how her own story ends, she wrote an ambiguous ending where "the reader gets to decide for themselves". She in fact garnered enough shiz about this that now that a real publisher is releasing it she has an "added bonus scene" that supposedly ties up the ending properly. It just took a bunch of mad fans and 2 extra years of writing.
Instead of turning this review into a rant (since it easily could be), here is the quick notes version of my reasons for disliking (read hating) Verity.
- It's unrealistic. You cannot
- Writing quality is poor and immature. I also wrote better sex scenes as an inexperienced teenager. Clearly fluff writing, which is fine for a romance novel but does not work well for a thriller.
- I found that there were a lot of "shock value" scenes that in my opinion did not contribute anything to the actual plot and were simply there to make folks gasp and/or metaphorically clutch their pearls.
- The ending was a complete cop out. Instead of putting any amount of though or foresight into how her own story ends, she wrote an ambiguous ending where "the reader gets to decide for themselves". She in fact garnered enough shiz about this that now that a real publisher is releasing it she has an "added bonus scene" that supposedly ties up the ending properly. It just took a bunch of mad fans and 2 extra years of writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Pregnancy
Moderate: Car accident, Abortion