Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Verity

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Verity by Colleen Hoover

120 reviews

ramireads's review against another edition

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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

3.5

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aafreen's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-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

3.5

Here's a thorough composition of this book-
50% Sex
20% Verity doing creepy shit
10% Crew being Satan's spawn
10% Lowen simping over Jeremy
10% Actual plot

And I'm not gonna choose between 'Team Manuscript' or 'Team Letter' because honestly, I couldn't care less.
Verity is a decent thriller but overhyped.

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lisa_m's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

This book was crazy and I do understand why people love it. I'm not used to reading thrillers (I don't even know if Verity classifies as one?) but this was horrible to read. I was so disgusted and horrified by the things Verity described in her biography.

I do know, that I'm very sensitive and that books, that are as graphic as this, probably just aren't for me. Also I absolutely hate cheating in books. This book would have been so much better if there hadn't been a romance in there. I do understand though how it made the experience in the house more intense for the protagonist and how it made the ending more intense.

I don't particularily like Lowen. She was terrified even when nothing has happened yet and I feel like it was kind of unrealistic that she chose to stay in that house after reading the manuscript. I would have read the whole thing in one sitting, grabbed all my stuff and then left.
I belive she even says that the only reason she didn't was because of Jeremy. I have to admit that I kind of liked him in the beginning. He was nice to her and even in the biography he seemed like a fun and genuine person. After the ending though it kind of feels like he orchestrated the whole thing.

The romance was just weird. I feel like it wasn't at all a problem for him to cheat on his wife. Like I guess he says he feels guilty but we get to see none of it. I felt like he was flirting with her ever since he met her. (He even kind of admits that when saying he felt a connection to Lowen that was stronger than the connection to his wife had ever been in the bathroom! Like that was 5 min. after they met and coincidentally right when he sees her in just her bra? - I don't actually think that is the reason, still.) Lowen also did not feel like someone still grieving the death of her mother. The romance just felt like it was so disconnected to the rest of the story and didn't make any sense in the context.

I did think it was quite interesting to read the autobiography though. I generally really like different POVs / that every other chapter showed the past. It was disturbing but it was still interesting to see her thoughts. It's unlike anything I've ever read for sure.

I have been spoiled for the plottwists in this book but I don't think it took away too much. I think I would have expected it anyways. Also the letter in the end was a truly great ending. I do not like Lowen and the way she acted throughout the book but especially the end was just weird.

Some of the book reminded me of a modern Jane Eyre. I mean he's rich and has a child to take care of, he hires her and she lives with him, there is his wife (locked up) in the 'attic'... I do not particularily like Mr. Rochester either so I guess my feelings towards the two books are similar. (Jane Eyre is better though)

I did read it all in one sitting though so I guess it couldn't have been that bad. I was completely captivated. I sometimes didn't want to continue and get it over with but sometimes I was genuinly intruiged. I have way more thought on this book than that but I don't really want to think about this book anymore. I don't think it's written badly and I liked the format. The story was alright and I don't like the 'romance'. I get why people like this book but if you're sensitive when reading about neglected children and abuse be careful when reading this. I would definitely tell anyone thinking about reading this to check out the trigger warnings first.

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jneverland's review against another edition

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challenging 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? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

So good!

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shaylee_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Ratings:
Plot:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 Writing:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Overall:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Sadness:💧💧💧/5
Romance:❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️/5
Spice: 🌶️/5
Tropes: Thriller and Romance
Content Warnings: Child Abuse, Murder, Attempted Abortion, Attempted Murder of a Newborn, Gore, Death of a Child, Death of a Parent, and Car Accident.

Before I start this review I just want to say PLEASE look up triggers before reading this book especially if you are a mother. This book deals with extremely dark content that can be triggering especially towards mother's. I have tried to list as many of the trigger warning that I can above but I'm not the greatest at triggering warnings and may have missed some.

Verity is Colleen Hoover first ever romance thriller that follows Lowen who has been hired Jeremy Crawford, the husband of the famous author Verity Crawford to finish her very popular series after Verity got into an accident and no longer could. While Lowen is work on the series she figures out that Jeremy wife might not be who she pretends to be.

Colleen Hoover, I expect a written apology for the way you ended this book, also if you could include a check to pay for all my therapy that would be great.

This book is phenomenal, I was addicted from the first page and I could not put it down. It only took me about a day to read this book, I swear it was like I blinked and I was halfway through this book.
If you ask me on my death bed what book I still think about my answer is going to be this book. I finished this book two days ago and I still can not stop thinking about it, it is constantly on my mind.

Being honest I was sceptical of Colleen Hoover writing a thriller but she did amazing! I honestly did not know what to think well reading this book, I had so many emotions running through my body. One minute I was completely disgusted and the next I was on the edge of my seat. I wouldn't ever say I was scared well reading this book but I definitely was a little creeped out at moments.

I was also scared about the whole romance part of this book but Colleen did a great job of balancing the romance and the suspense. I never felt like the romance took away from the thriller aspect of this book.
Speaking of the romance, this book was way spicer then I thought it would be. I have only read one other book by her and yes it had some spicy scenes but not a lot of them so I was surprised when this book started talking about sex left and right.

When I was getting to the end of this book I was kinda disappointed because I was expecting this big show down between Lowen and Verity but then I got to the last chapter in this book and I WAS FLABBERGASTED!!
The whole book I was convinced that Verity was insane but than Ms Colleen Hoover had to throw in a curve ball at the last minute and now I'm unsure who's the villain and who's the victim.
I also think that Hoover did a great job setting up for the ending. Throughout the book you never really doubt who the heros are but then when you get to the ending and look back, you can see the little seeds of doubt that she planted and it makes you wonder if you really know who the heros really are.

Overall, this book completely shocked me with how good it was and I’m excited to read any more thriller that Colleen releases. I will end this review by saying Team Manuscript!

Content Warnings

mamawantsbooks's review against another edition

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dark 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

4.0

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bethsbookshelf's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

3.0

Let's break down my rating for this.

Plot: 8/10
Characters: 6/10
Writing: 4/10
Pacing: 10/10
World-building: 8/10
Diversity: 0/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Ending: 5/10

Overall rating: 3/5 stars

Let me preface by saying this is a "good book". It has great pacing, it's super gripping, the twists and turns kept me hooked, I was invested in the storyline, the characters were interesting, the format of the book was fun, and the backstory/motivations were pretty believable.

But what scares me is Colleen Hoover herself. As somebody with children, I don't know how she managed to write all of the child abuse scenes. Like - actually. I know that she witnessed abuse herself, and had an abusive father, but from what I know, all of the abusive scenes (towards children) in this book are completely fictional and matters of her imagination. How your mind goes there... I don't know. How your mind goes there, and you still find a way to justifying sharing that with the world, is even scarier. Of course, there are no limits in fiction and it's okay to include characters that are victims of abuse, and abusers themselves - but it was SO SENSATIONALISED. And there were no trigger warnings. Everything felt like it was for shock value, which made this seem more of like, a joke of a book, rather than a serious matter. Which is exactly how I felt about It Ends With Us, too. Serious content, should be taken seriously, but Hoover's approach and writing style made it feel like she was having FUN with the content. Which is scary.

Not to mention the character Verity in this book. Multiple times it's mentioned how she must be evil because she creates such evil characters. If Colleen wrote that into her book, is she saying that about herself, then, too? And especially with the ending, that makes me think even more that Verity, and Colleen Hoover, have a very twisted mind at the expense of literature. Is that okay or not? I'm not exactly sure, but I definitely feel uncomfortable and conflicted about it.

The other BIG ISSUE I have with this book is that she finished it FOUR DAYS BEFORE PUBLICATION. Four DAYS!!! Everyone is left with huge questions at the end of this book, and it feels like that is because Colleen didn't have the time to run her final draft through her editors/publishers/agents. She has the privilege to just finish a book and release it into the world, because her publishing team knows it'll sell (and boy did this sell), but four days? Like come on? No wonder there were so many parts in this that I thought... who was holding the red editing pen? Nobody? There were typos, there was poor writing, horrible syntax, so many graphic and problematic details - and I think part of that is because her publishing team has GIVEN UP with her because her shock value first drafts will still sell.

I do think that Colleen knows how to write a book that sells. She knows how to grow her readership. She knows how to captivate her reader, shock them page after page, and never leave them bored. And I respect everybody who likes her - I don't have an issue with that. I am just scared of what's bubbling underneath the surface for her, what she really thinks about relationships, what she thinks about motherhood. Even going through her social media, I feel a little bit uncomfy, like something is off. But maybe I am just a big dumb dumb conspiracist lol

Idk - this was a fun, scary and troublesome read - and maybe that's all it was supposed to be. But yeah - something feels... too close to the surface here.

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siuowlts91's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

the ending made the book better, that's the only reason this book gets 4 stars, otherwise it would've been a 2?

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k8lynn's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-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

1.75

this book's writing has more telling than showing, but the plot made me not want to put it down, i was very eager to see what would happen next. i read this book in like 2 days but it's hands down one of the worst books i have ever read.

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johannslauren15's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.75

This book is..... Uhhhh something.....
I guess if you want to question everything you known about life is a lie! If you want to be traumatized, than highly recommend to read.
The only reason this isn't a 5, just because I literally don't know what I just read!

I honestly didn't even care about the romance in the book but Jeremy just deserved better! I also I guess I'm team Manuscript but I'm literally more team both like I feel both were flawed and both had half-truths. But just in general we cannot trust Verity! So inconsistent!

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