A review by diaryofdifference
Verity by Colleen Hoover

5.0

 I have finally made it! By reading Verity, I joined the club of people who read and enjoyed a Colleen Hoover book!

 Synopsis:

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.

Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.

Thoughts:

Just a side note, there isn’t any special reason why I waited this long to read a book by Colleen Hoover. I just didn’t have her books on my physical TBR and read the ones I did. I’m also not the type of person to jump on a bandwagon, so I wasn’t too bothered to pick up popular books if I didn’t already own them. Anyways, here we are, with me having read Verity! My colleague and good friend recommended it to me, and I had to give it a go. What an incredible book Verity ended up being! I finished it in two days and would have finished it in one sitting had I not had work and real life stuff too.

From the first chapter where Lowen’s story starts to the very last chapter that gives more questions than answers. This book was unpredictable. I loved the plot. I went in blind, and was so excited about Lowen’s deal. Then, once she moved into the house, I was excited to read about every little thing that was going on. Jeremy was an interesting character for me. I had a lot of admiration for him, for everything he went through, but then I also felt some sinister vibes off him. And then we have Verity. A woman who has a passive role in this book, but she is the main character. Despite not having a voice, she ends up being the loudest one.

The house has a weird vibe, from Verity’s writing office, to the nurses. Even the child is traumatised, bless him. And rightly so, as he’s been through so much! We then also have the romance that is starting to bloom between Jeremy and Lowen. And it’s so odd, because I was rooting for their love story, but his wife was still in that house. If anything, this shows how amazing Colleen’s writing is, especially when it comes to taboo topics or situations that don’t fit the normal mould of what’s morally acceptable.
Sinister, but amazing!

My favourite quote is the one below. As soon as I read it, it rang so true to me. And it reminded me of the first sentence of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. The same kind of reflection moment hit me, which I know made Verity that more special in my heart:

“Some families are lucky enough to never experience a single tragedy. But then there are those families that seem to have tragedies waiting on the back burner. What can go wrong, goes wrong. And then it gets worse.”

The whole character setup was a paradise for a psychology lover like me. I loved getting inside everyone’s head, trying to figure out what people are thinking and what they’ll do next. I also enjoyed the book within a book part incredibly much – the part where we read Verity’s diary. Verity is a book that will definitely keep you on your toes. A lot of clues and other people’s version of the same events are likely to make you trust no one. In the end, you will have to make your own conclusion on who to believe and who is telling the truth.

It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a book this much, and an ending that made me re-evaluate every opinion I had throughout the book. It’s the kind of book you want to talk about, so it’s no wonder it has become the sensation it is now. This is for sure just the start of my Colleen Hoover journey – what book should I be reading next? And for those of you who have read Verity – what do you believe more? The diary or the letter?