Verity
Ratings809
Average rating3.7
The last couple of chapters take this from being merely poor to being audaciously shit.
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Rounded up to 5
A compelling and intriguing book. I really enjoyed the thriller/suspense of the plot. It kept me engaged and wanting to understand what was happening. Some of the plot points were tough to think about, but overall, good stuff. This was my first Colleen Hoover book... I do not understand the reason why she started the book in the way that she did... It feels really strange when it had nothing to do with the rest of the book. Perhaps just to get the reader hooked right away and to give the characters a reason to start talking. Interactions felt more natural than some of the romance books that I have read–didn't seem overly forced or too fast.
Honestly I was so ready for the ending to be completely different. I didn't really know what I was expecting but I had A LOT of theories.
It's very entertaining and I was really creeped out in several occasions. Even if I wished the ending would've been different, I still had a really good time reading.
PS I do not see this as a romance at all, its way more about the mystery and kind of “solving” the whole situation
I've come back the following year having read this book to state that Lowen is truly unpleasant, and I needed to get that out of my system.
Had me on edge constantly, waiting for the ball to drop. And when it did; wow, just wow.
I'm not even 100% sure what I just read. Like it was so good, yet so bad at the same time. I am shocked, appalled, and disgusted. I feel like I need time to recover and just digest.
Edited to ⭐⭐⭐ on 7/16/23:
I read the new exclusive epilogue chapter and enjoyed it a lot. I like that it shows how they're both awful and miserable. That's all I wanted.
What irks me is that I don't know if that was the epilogue's intention. Am I just supposed to feel sorry for them? Because the previous ending implied as much.
I really hope CoHo added it to fix people's complaints about Jeremy and Lowen. This book had potential, it really did.
rating - 4 / 5
(review contains spoilers)
What even was that? And I don't even know if I mean that in a good way tbf.
“No one is likable from the inside out. One should only walk away from an autobiography with, at best, an uncomfortable distaste for its author.”
Although this isn't an autobiography; THAT is exactly how i feel.
Distaste.. more like unsettled. Not because it was creepy, i guess? Somehow I wasn't extremely disturbed/creeped out? even though there was a valiant effort to do so, I felt disconnected to the characters because I simply wasn't rooting for any of them.
low's in verity's bed? *slight exaggerated shiver * but also eh. do i care if she's dead? not really.
you see what I mean? I didn't trust any of the characters. And thank god for that, because ALL of them are unhinged. They're either murderers or complicit in a murder (by witnessing it, writing about it, etcetera).
It was fast paced, extremely hard to put down, and I read it from cover to cover in like.. two sittings? I think. So props to coho for the engaging plot. It is.. pretty smart if you think about it? author/book inception– author writing about an author reading a manuscript (journal?) by another author.
Despite all that, I feel discontent after reading it; but maybe that's how it is with open endings.
The letter at the end was equivalent to middle school me, writing a story and concluding it with, ‘it was all a dream'. It felt anti-climactic and threw away 300 pages worth of set-up, character arcs and development. Did I hate it though? no.
I know it must be hard to write open ended conclusions since you've got to tie up everything you already did, but with an entirely different possibility. I did think there were multiple loose ends, unanswered questions/plot holes, but somehow they only help by adding further leads or directions to this disarrayed labyrinth for plot.
Crew's character, april being a trained professional and unable to see through verity's lies (we love some oxymorons; verity means truth in case you didn't get that. clever ngl.), chastin's scar, the floorboard knife. It's all a frenzied mess tbh. If that's what the author intended, (i'm guessing not?) she's done a great job.
So the important question: manuscript or letter? Honestly I did, and still think both. I lean towards one sometimes; but the more I think about it, the more confused i get.
“And that's how easy it is for a writer to pretend to be someone they aren't.”
such a darker story
ANTAGONISTIC JOURNALING
(A writing excercise: for funsies lol)
I've met brick walls that have more pizzazz than Lowen. Never has a book given me ICK so fast. Ending was ok but the PLOT HOLES EXCUSE ME?
So crushable, read it in less than a day and loved it. Be warned: it's twisted and extra and creepy and disturbing and twisty and addicting. Might be hard to read if you have kids.
Me gusta esta faceta diferente de Colleen Hoover, necesito más libros suyos así.
Y soy team manuscrito.
For me to be able to review this book I have to include a huge spoiler so if you haven't read this book yet I highly highly suggest you skip this review.
I've read a few of Colleen's contemporary romances and I've enjoyed all of them. When this was announced I was interested in reading it even though I don't tend to read this subgenre of romance all that often. I'm so glad I finally read it because I loved it and considering the subject matter that seems like the wrong thing to say but there's no other way to say it. I was immediately drawn into this story from the very first page. It had me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire book. I honestly had no idea what was real or who to believe. This book deals with some heavy subject matter which includes kids so be aware of that because she doesn't shy away from the details.
Ok so here's where I had a hard time deciding how I felt about this book. As I said the buildup was amazing. It had me on the edge of my seat and everything but then there were some major reveals that I couldn't if I liked or not. You know those books that you read all the way through just to realize none of it was true because it was a dream? Yeah that's what happened in this book except it wasn't a dream. It was just a writer making things up to help with her writing. I was so frustrated because I'm not a fan of the whole we put you through all of this only for it to end up not being real thing. However the more I sat on it the more I realized that while annoying I did end up enjoying it. It caught me off guard even the reveal about the husband caught me off guard. The only negative thing I have to say about this book is that I am not a fan of reading about cheating but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book.
This is the first Colleen Hoover book that I've read and I went in not really knowing much about the plot and what her writing is like.
The book starts out intense. And there continues to be such intense scenes that at times I had to walk away from it for a little bit. I think I actually jumped a few times.
I don't think Lowen is very likable. I wanted to scream at some of the decisions that she made and certain ways that she acted. Actually, towards the end I realized that I didn't like any of the main characters. They were all deeply flawed, just in different ways.
The multiple twists in the story left me guessing until the very end.
Overall, I guess I liked it, but didn't love it.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5
Read if you:
.like to be kept guessing
.smut
.are looking for a quick read
This was SO fun!! The whole reading experience was a blast. But I gotta admit I was a little let down by the ending. However, I did manage to find and read the “extra” chapters and I liked that ending WAY better!
Very quick, easy read with solid suspense building. I'll admit that I was expecting more of a twist, but the ending makes a lot of sense once you get there. Overall a bit smutty for my taste, and not particularly believable. That's for the best, because I wouldn't sleep if it was.