Verity: The thriller that will capture your heart and blow your mind

Product Information

Lowen’s growing attraction to the grieving husband, Jeremy Crawford, prompts her to make irreversible choices until another truth comes to light. But now the question remains: which truth is the lie? Verity Book Review

Even before she arrives though, we are set up for suspense. Much to Lowen’s suspicion, she finds next to nothing about Verity’s accident online. Then she tries getting into the author’s head with one of her works and realizes two things; one, the villain’s perspective the book is written in is impressively realistic and two, she will never be able to measure up to this author. So when Lowen finally arrives at the Crawford home, she is anxious and intimidated – so are we. Lowen doesn’t have much choice in the matter since this is quite literally the opportunity of a lifetime. She can set herself up for the rest of her life if she complies and does the work. Accordingly, she feels sad for Jeremy and his dismal son. They have lost a lot and it is surely not easy to have another woman in their home, sleeping in Verity’s bed, doing her work, and touching her things.You must understand that although the suspense was okay and plot twists, even if below average, were at least emotion-inducing.... the romance was the blandest, stalest, dullest, dryest, most flavourless, and uninspiring piece of crap I've ever read. EVER. 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.

A woman knows if she wants to keep a man forever, she has to act like she could get over him in a day. This one just blew my mind. I could not put this book down. I read it while fixing dinner and eating my dinner. I have never done this before. There are so many jaw dropping moments. The Silent Patient is one such book – I was completely caught off guard by its plot twist. The novel follows a psychotherapist who’s trying to get through to a patient who stopped talking after she was accused of murdering her husband. Reading Lowen’s decision-making process felt like watching a terrible horror movie and screaming at the TV — “Stop! Don’t go in there!” It was with baited breath that I continued to read to simply uncover the underlying reasons for what made Lowen act the way she did. Verity shows us her obsessive love for Jeremy, and she’s explicit about their sexual relationship and how she used her sexuality to manipulate him. Lowen, in response, sympathizes with Jeremy’s obliviousness to Verity’s vileness and for having to care for such a partner, leading to growing feelings between Lowen and Jeremy.

The struggles don’t end with her accident, though. Jeremy and Verity lost their twin daughters in two accidents, as well. Now, Jeremy Crawford, the husband of Verity, offers Lowen the chance to become financially stable if she finishes the series. There is a bit of a catch, though. She has to stay at Crawford’s residence and rummage through the manuscript there. A Chance Never to Repeat Now, Lowen Ashleigh is on the brink of losing everything she has in life, which isn’t much, but also on the verge of losing herself. Then, like a miracle – or a curse? – an opportunity that she could never have expected presents itself. I went into Verity knowing I probably wasn’t the right reader for this book — I don’t really like romance novels — and I thought it was better than I expected it to be. I don’t plan on revisiting this author simply because I’m just not all that interested in the types of books she writes, but I was happy to sate my curiosity. I cannot believe this is Colleen Hoover's first thriller. Reading this feels like watching a master at their craft, setting the bar higher than I ever thought possible. This story is so astonishing and unsettling and completely original. It will stay with me for a long time. Naturally, while it is fun to try and find our own way through this labyrinth, it’s also just as fascinating to see Lowen navigating her way through the mess she has found herself in, holding information she should have never seen in the first place. In large part, her fascinating nature is born from the author’s impressive ability to create complex and multi-layered characters, a talent which I believe plays a large part in making the story as memorable as it is.

I find it fitting that the villain and a character that in a sense was meant to be unlikable was my favourite the whole time. The same love and attention Colleen Hoover dedicated to Lowen is also given to both Jeremy and Verity, although we naturally mostly get acquainted with the latter through her writing and stories told by others. When it becomes increasingly clear both of them might very well be despicable human beings, they only become more absorbing due to the new internal vistas of theirs we get to witness. Nobody knows what they are truly capable of until they are thrust into a situation allowing all of their dormant aspects to express themselves. I think most of us assume that we are good people and incapable of crossing certain barriers, but as Lowen Ashleigh finds out in Verity by Colleen Hoover, life has such insidious and far-reaching vertices that one might fail to realize they’ve become absorbed in the first place. I've pulled up this review and tried to make the words come for a couple of days now, but every time I try to write the words all that comes to mind is WTF Colleen?! Obviously we were warned going in that this one would but much different than her other novels, but she didn't tell us that it would be so compulsive and I wouldn't be able to live my life while reading it. How dare she?? But seriously, this book was so delicious in a seriously twisted way, and I feel slightly guilty admitting that I loved Verity so much due to its dark and disturbing nature.To sum up, there was nothing below the surface of Lowen. It just so turned out that she was a bad character paired with bad writing. I know it seems like I really hated this book but if you squint a little YOU WILL SEE that I did mention some positive highlights. Like this being a comedy. A+ miss Hoover. Or how Verity was the determined, obsessive psycho of my dreams. And I did actually get sad during one scene (When Jeremy pulled his daughter out of the river).