A review by bethsbookshelf
Verity by Colleen Hoover

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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