Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Verity by Colleen Hoover

124 reviews

haileyehughes's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

  This book contains major triggers for child loss, infant loss, and domestic violence. However, this book is a whirlwind and didn't end at all how I thought it would. I never expected Verity to die, I more expected her to do the killing. I'm still not sure which side of Verity to believe; the manuscript or the letter. Lowen started out as a likeable character that was 'forced' into the situation. But, by the end of the book she seemed very much like a willing participant.

Also, I had Lowen on my list of future baby names and now I won't ever be able to look at a child and like that name... 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, and Gaslighting

infjkiki's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, and Alcohol

squidknees's review

dark funny 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

3.25

Quick and fun. Thrilling!

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, and Religious bigotry

kimziemae's review

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

texas666's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

1.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

chaniesgirl's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I never thought I would love a coho book ... Well she proved me wrong
This was beautifully written and I read it so fast it just flew by.
I really enjoyed the encounter of the characters and how the plot dvped.
The end was perfect 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

cifisajan's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy

criticalgayze's review

dark tense fast-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

2.5

30 Before 30 - 3/30

A part of me wants to say that I now at least have an understanding of the CoHo craze, but this is her only thriller, and I truly cannot imagine reading a book by her that was just the romantic parts of this one.

I fully intended to give this book 1.5-stars because I am absolutely sick of the trope of painting PPD as some kind of villainous trait in women, but I think that, while the narrator is still disgustingly judgmental of the kind of psychological trauma pregnancy and childbirth can put a woman through, Hoover herself seems (maybe?) to have mostly redeemed her own complicity in the trope with the book's ending. (Although I am largely as confused as the narrator as to whether this is actually the case or not)

Speaking of the ending, talk about rushed. I felt like, throughout the book, the order of escalation was out of whack, there were largely spurts of tension in amongst the drudgery of straight white horniness as opposed to well built and sustained suspense, and that the culminating scene was over largely before I even realized it had begun.

tl;dr: Not good writing, but I tore through it in two days, so maybe there's something to be said for the Hoover phenomenon.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

varlot's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

chaotically_katie's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

2.5

Pretty decent book, liked the plot twist towards the end, but the writing is somehow both convoluted and simplistic. 

One of the best pieces of writing advice is to trust your audience. And while I appreciate the spoon-feeding to a certain extent, there comes a point where it’s a bit excessive.

Overall, I recommend reading it. Just not at the top of your reading list.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail