Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Verity by Colleen Hoover

16 reviews

forgedopulence's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

Every single character in this was a villain. I'm giving it 2 stars because I genuinely enjoyed the suspense, but if I believed in book burning, this would be one of the first victims. 

Verity makes me feel physically ill. Team manuscript. 
Lowen is spineless, invasive, clingy, and a homewrecker. 
Jeremy is also spineless, also a homewrecker, and somehow blinded to psychopathy with abundant fellatio. 

Something about the way this was written, just thinking about one mother writing another mother's perspective in this way, that makes my skin crawl.
Verity solidifies for me that I find nothing redeemable or admirable about CoHo's writing. This was my last attempt. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Self harm, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Violence, Excrement, and Medical content

planetshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Colleen Hoover used trigger warnings as a checklist and over-explained things too much to maintain the ‘suspense’ aspect of this suspense novel, but I found myself enjoying it and looking forward to reading further.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Drug use, Rape, and Alcohol

m4rtt4's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Better than I expected! I decided to read Verity after reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, and while there definitely were many similarities, Verity also gladly had so much originality in it that I wouldn't call them the same. The mystery and suspense were rather well built, though the plot was overall very predictable and thus didn't manage to surprise me as much; it also relied too much on shock value when I would have preferred subtlety and reading between the lines.

I definitely prefer this book to Hoover's other books that focus more on the romance, though also in this one I hated the romance the most — I wouldn't call it unnecessary, but definitely unnecessarily detailed and too sex-focused, at least to my (dis)liking. Also are there any CoHo books that are not problematic at all? Just wondering, as Verity also very much lacked in the discussion and presence of consent and protection in sexual acts... also blaming women's clothes for men's uncontrollable arousal (and eventually rape) is soooo last century — could you please stop upkeeping rape culture, especially as a fellow woman?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, and Abandonment

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!

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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

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.

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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

katherineeweaver's review

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

clairew97's review against another edition

challenging dark tense

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

lilithreads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cursing, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Excrement, Medical content, Car accident, and Alcohol

eimearo_c's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

augustinedreams's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is so messed up in the best way possible. The stuff that is described in here is truly awful, but it makes for a good thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting