Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Verity by Colleen Hoover

126 reviews

olivia_stoney's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror and Self harm

Minor: Chronic illness and Vomit

jhaneveauguste's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-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: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

becca_w_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Abandonment

lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

2.0

It's fine. I wasn't into the writing style/narrative voice, but the plot kept me wanting to move forward. Might have rated it higher, but the rampant ableism made me rate it lower.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

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. 

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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

mars_ira's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Pregnancy

ninaevan's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.5

For me personally, writing styles like Colleen Hoover’s usually cap at a 3.5/3.75, but for the majority of this book I was ready for that expectation to be exceeded. Great concept, great set up, great mystery/suspense. Tho there’s a good touch of cheesy, it’s not too much to make it unenjoyable. So much potential and it all weighed on a great gut punching reveal… that, imo, was not delivered. You never wanna leave a mystery novel thinking that you can imagine a better twist. That said, I can’t pretend I wasn’t on the edge of my seat, eating it up, for 90% of the book and for that I feel some credit is due. Solid 3.75, as expected. 

Tho, warning to any audio readers: I did not at all like the voice actors in this audiobook so I think it would be a better experience to read the text. 

My scoring: 
5 | =everyone in the world must read this book 
4.75 | =between 4.5 and 5
4.5 | =dessert island book
4.25 | =between 4 and 4.5
4 | =great, solid, reccomendable book
3.75 | =may not be a 4, but I had a good time 
3.5 | = rough patches but not bad
3.25 | =between 3 and 3.5
3 | =meh
2 | =not good
1 | =bad


My options on the ending: 

Loved the happy ending fake out and the ominous note the story was left on, but it needed to go a bit darker. The whole book, I was waiting for the story to turn on its head and reveal Jeremy to be behind everything- and while I would have predicted it, I think that would have turn the book up a notch for me. That or something else more sinister… idk I felt like I needed a bit more of a kick. Also, maybe it was the fault of bad audio acting but Jeremy was so limp. Outside of the sex scenes, I couldn’t help picturing him as some frail older man, like the type to speak with whistle tones. And then when there were sex scenes, I was basically imagining a whole different person, not really related to Jeremy’s character. Just felt like Hoover was shoe horning a steamy love interest into a story that didn’t have one? Idk. The fact that he was down to have sex in that proximity to his living wife with out knowing if she can hear..? Ew. April def already had that talk w him he just didn’t care? Also the fact that Jeremy had read the manuscript before (and the whole having an affair thing) was a plot hole. Woulda made much more sense if he was the villain.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail

reisingerovaa's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

'the woman was too stunned to speak' pretty represents my state reading this....

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, and Alcohol

jilly_k's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.25

I'll start off by saying this book was extremely well written. The plot toyed with you just enough that you always wanted to know more. I did read it in about three days. 

With this particular story, I gave it a slightly lower rating not because of the book itself, but because of my own preferences - at the end of the day, I do not think this book was written for me..

I appreciate the bold, dark and twisted turns this novel takes. It explores area's that are not often spoken of or explored and I do believe that starting those conversations is an important role to be had.

[[ Below contains slight spoiler. No direct events are mentioned, though it does hint at the tone of the final outcome of this novel, which could still spoil the reveal for some. It has been appropriately marked/covered]] 

At the end of the day, however, I prefer my stories to be a little bit happier.

Even the conclusion of this novel is left with a bit of a dark, bitter implication behind it.

Which, ad previously stated, is not inherently bad, however it is not my cup of tea. 

Still an excellent novel and will be a fast read for anyone who is looking for such things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

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

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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