Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Verity by Colleen Hoover

313 reviews

rasharnes's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Murder

emmmmmaaa's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Abortion, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer

nikrib's review

dark 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

Zero stars. I’m not on the hate train for CH. If this type of writing engages more people in reading books then so be it & good for them, everyone should read more. However, this is where CH & I go our separate ways. I read ‘It Ends With Us’, ‘It Starts With Us’, & now ‘Verity’. At least I can say I tried. Again, not on the hate train but I will give my spiel. 

CH books read like a high school project & an aspiring author. Where is the depth to these narratives? Why are the plots always good in theory but then the execution falls terribly flat? These books aggravate me, yearning for even an ounce dynamic character development. Why over saturate the narratives with numerous sex scenes? Are all CH books smut? ‘Verity’ was suppose to be a thriller? Perhaps this book read as a thriller to those who aren’t avid thriller fans. 

Other reviews mention that this book had great twists. What twists? This narrative was predictable & severely underwhelming. It seems the positive reviews stem from readers who are shocked of the subject matter & let that hang over them for the entirety of the book. Just because an author writes controversial topics does not make the narrative automatically shine. Where is the world building to immerse readers? Where is the sufficient depth of themes & motifs? Where are the relatable characters or even likable characters? 

I found myself flipping back & forth in the book due to the plot holes, contradictory writing, poor descriptive language, & plot jumping. This book was by no means difficult to read, it reads like a YA, which is how the other two CH books I read also are. 

Lastly, the endings to these books. I’ve never shut the back cover of a book & then wanted to re-read the last chapter again & again to ensure I did in fact not miss anything. Why are the endings so unfulfilling? There are far better ways to weave in traumatic experiences into a narrative where the reader feels empowered by the end to seek help or finally fix/leave a situation, but instead we’re left gripping the pages & shaking the book in frustration. What on earth is the moral of the story with all this problematic misogynistic female to male relationship dynamic? 

If you read CH books like a campfire story instead of a novel, all is well. If you’re reading this review & are a fan of CH, more power to you & I’m genuinely glad you enjoy the books. I gave it a go & will be returning to my Stephen King TBR pile. Cheers!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

mdilip's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

ksilvio's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

gracielou2000's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

savannabraylin's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

el_wheel's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I actually, rather grudgingly, have to give this a good rating. It's ridiculous, it's batshit crazy. It made me laugh at moments it shouldn't have *because* it was batshit crazy. But it did have me invested and the ending did actually get me. I wasn't expecting that. And the writing was good barring the profound amount of sex and absurdity. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Abortion, and Death of parent

sammy_sxt's review

dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, and Gaslighting

jnp3752's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting