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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: Child death, Grief, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy
yashitak's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book was so close to a 4 star read. The plot twist at the end completely shook me and was something super unexpected. This book was soo good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Abortion
Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
hi_im_tate's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I am truly at a loss of words about this book.
I wish I could allow myself to rate it higher, I really, really do. It is just so DIFFICULT for me to look past all of the ableism that shines through with this book. I don't know if Lowen was written as a character that could be hated, but she definitely is one for me. I think, I THINK all the ableism was written in a way to avoid readers growing attached to Lowen because some of the things that were said/written about Verity were things that seemed to me only to be things that only a blatant abelist would say, and I would like to think that is not something people would blatantly show in this day and age, but I could be wrong.
There was, also, the descriptions of the deaths. I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions and think they add to the book in its horror. However, they could be extremely triggering for anyone who has ever lost a child in whatever situation. It could, also, be triggering for anyone who has ever been in a physically or emotionally abusive relationship. If you want to read this book, please, please, PLEASE take a look at the content warnings and be careful.
There is so much more I could say about this book. I loved and hated it. There are just so many things I cannot let myself get past with this book, so I cannot give it any higher rating than what I have.
I wish I could allow myself to rate it higher, I really, really do. It is just so DIFFICULT for me to look past all of the ableism that shines through with this book. I don't know if Lowen was written as a character that could be hated, but she definitely is one for me. I think, I THINK all the ableism was written in a way to avoid readers growing attached to Lowen because some of the things that were said/written about Verity were things that seemed to me only to be things that only a blatant abelist would say, and I would like to think that is not something people would blatantly show in this day and age, but I could be wrong.
There was, also, the descriptions of the deaths. I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions and think they add to the book in its horror. However, they could be extremely triggering for anyone who has ever lost a child in whatever situation. It could, also, be triggering for anyone who has ever been in a physically or emotionally abusive relationship. If you want to read this book, please, please, PLEASE take a look at the content warnings and be careful.
There is so much more I could say about this book. I loved and hated it. There are just so many things I cannot let myself get past with this book, so I cannot give it any higher rating than what I have.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Blood, Car accident, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Rape, Vomit, and Alcohol
bingus123's review
dark
funny
mysterious
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
3.0
The plot twists are predictable, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The author foreshadows them well and then follows through on it. They just aren't that satisfying or interesting to begin with.
My main gripe with this book is the constant sex. Also, the narrator mentions some concerning substance use habits that are never expanded on?
My main gripe with this book is the constant sex. Also, the narrator mentions some concerning substance use habits that are never expanded on?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Moderate: Body shaming and Death of parent
erynlasbelin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-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
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Self harm, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol
aesiegerh2o's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Death of parent
readsalot's review
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Trashy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, and Gaslighting
thatswhatshanread'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? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I knew going into this, Verity being my first ever CoHo book, that I would become consumed by her writing. I’ve heard nothing but great things about this book, and not a day goes by that I don’t see someone posting about it on social media.
Rightfully so.
I. Could. Not. Put. It. Down.
How to describe the carefully crafted insanity of Verity? The story, and the character of the same name. It surpassed al of my expectations, while also being so far outside of my general expectations that I honestly didn’t know how to classify it. I just knew that it gripped me in tangible ways I hadn’t felt since reading Gillian Flynn’s books several years ago. Hoover gives you all of the disturbing plot twists that Flynn is known for, and still manages to hold her own voice in the unsettling modern-day psychological thriller genre.
The intensity, the bluntness, the fear, the seduction of such a novel. You don’t often get every single emotion fleshed out across the pages so easily and effectively as you do when reading Verity. It takes everything from you and holds it in its vices until the very last page. Just such a phenomenally twisted story.
I would tell you to read this immediately, but chances are you already have. And if you haven’t, I don’t need to tell you twice.
Rightfully so.
I. Could. Not. Put. It. Down.
How to describe the carefully crafted insanity of Verity? The story, and the character of the same name. It surpassed al of my expectations, while also being so far outside of my general expectations that I honestly didn’t know how to classify it. I just knew that it gripped me in tangible ways I hadn’t felt since reading Gillian Flynn’s books several years ago. Hoover gives you all of the disturbing plot twists that Flynn is known for, and still manages to hold her own voice in the unsettling modern-day psychological thriller genre.
The intensity, the bluntness, the fear, the seduction of such a novel. You don’t often get every single emotion fleshed out across the pages so easily and effectively as you do when reading Verity. It takes everything from you and holds it in its vices until the very last page. Just such a phenomenally twisted story.
I would tell you to read this immediately, but chances are you already have. And if you haven’t, I don’t need to tell you twice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Grief, Abortion, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, and Pregnancy
Minor: Drug use, Vomit, and Death of parent
ameliecanread's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
omfg the plot twists in this fking book !! i read this in one night and stayed up but do not read before bed. it had one of those endings where theres multiple ways to perceive it and omg this did NOT disappoint!! the smut was weird tbh but honestly was not expecting much for colleen hoover to be writing this type of book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy
i didnt realize there were different categories, so not all of them are graphic !! there was a lot of violence surroundinglaurendenton's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Excrement, and Alcohol