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Verity by Colleen Hoover
A Psychological Thriller That Will Leave You Breathless With Twisted Plots and Complex Characters
- Publisher: Independently Published
- Genre: Psychological Thriller
- First Publication: 2018
- Language: English
Setting: New York(United States)
Characters: Verity Crawford, Lowen Ashleigh, Jeremy Crawford
Verity by Colleen Hoover is a mind-bending psychological thriller that had me hooked from start to finish. I remember picking it up on a whim after seeing so much buzz about it online, and I’m so glad I did. From the twisted plot to the complex characters, this book kept me guessing and left me questioning everything I thought I knew.
The story follows Lowen Ashley, a struggling writer who lands a dream job ghostwriting for the famous author Verity Crawford. But things take a dark turn when she discovers Verity’s unfinished manuscript filled with shocking confessions of a disturbing crime. As Lowen dives deeper into Verity’s world, the lines between reality and fiction blur, and she finds herself caught up in a twisted web of secrets and lies.
What really captivated me was how the plot just keeps twisting and turning. Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, Hoover throws in another curveball that leaves you reeling. And the way she weaves in Lowen’s growing connection with Verity’s husband, Jeremy Crawforf, adds an extra layer of complexity and tension that had me on the edge of my seat.
Main Character Analysis:
The characters in this book are what really make it shine. Lowen is such a compelling protagonist – at first, she seems almost naïve, but as the story unfolds, you see her transform into this strong, resilient woman who’s willing to risk everything to uncover the truth. Her journey of self-discovery and growth is so well-written and relatable.
And then there’s Verity herself. Even though she’s physically absent for most of the book, her presence looms large over every page. Hoover does an incredible job of painting her as this complex, almost mythical figure – brilliant but deeply troubled, with a darkness that’s both captivating and terrifying.
Jeremy is another standout character. On the surface, he’s this doting husband and father, but Hoover slowly peels back the layers to reveal someone much more complicated and morally ambiguous. His dynamic with Lowen is electric and kept me constantly questioning his true motivations.
Writing Style:
Colleen Hoover’s writing style in “Verity” is just masterful. The way she blends psychological depth with heart-pounding suspense had me completely hooked. Her vivid descriptions and attention to detail make the characters and settings feel so real and visceral. And the use of multiple perspectives and unreliable narrators adds this deliciously unsettling layer of mystery that keeps you second-guessing everything.
One of the things I loved most about “Verity” was how it tackled so many thought-provoking themes. The biggest one, for me, was this idea of truth versus deception and how easily the lines can blur. The characters are constantly lying – to each other, to themselves – and it really makes you question how well you can ever truly know someone.
The theme of obsession is also huge. You see how far these characters are willing to go to protect their interests, their legacy, their version of the truth. It’s honestly kind of terrifying but also weirdly fascinating to witness that level of single-minded determination.
Identity is another biggie. Lowen, Jeremy, Verity – they’re all grappling with who they really are deep down and how their actions shape that identity. It adds this extra layer of depth and complexity to their motivations.
And of course, there’s the power of storytelling itself. Hoover explores how narratives have the ability to shape reality, for better or worse. The way she blurs the lines between fiction and truth is just brilliantly executed.
What People are Saying:
The buzz around Colleen Hoover’s “Verity” has been absolutely nuts! It seems like everyone and their mom has read this book (me included – thanks for the rec!). People are straight-up obsessed, and it’s easy to see why. The twisty plot, the complex characters , the mind-bending themes – it’s just such a deliciously devourable read.
Pretty much every review I’ve seen has been glowing, with people raving about Hoover’s masterful storytelling and her ability to create this deliciously unsettling atmosphere that sticks with you long after you’ve finished the book.
My Personal Take:
Okay, I have to be honest – “Verity” kind of messed me up in the best way possible. I burned through this book in just a couple of sittings, completely consumed by Hoover’s gripping narrative and unable to pry myself away.
What really hooked me from the start was how deliciously twisted and unreliable everything felt. From those very first pages where Lowen discovers Verity’s confession, I was just completely on edge, desperate to unravel the truth but also kind of dreading what other skeletons might come tumbling out of the closet.
And Hoover is just such a master at ratcheting up that tension. With every new reveal, every shocking development, the stakes felt higher and the characters’ motivations became murkier. I found myself constantly reevaluating what I thought I knew, second-guessing every character’s version of events. It was honestly kind of exhausting in the best possible way!
The pacing, too, was just masterfully done. Hoover knows exactly how to dole out those tantalizing morsels of information to keep you frantically turning pages. I’d be up way later than I intended because I just had to know what happened next.
But what’s really stuck with me most is how “Verity” makes you question the very nature of truth and identity. Like, how well can you ever really know someone? How much can you trust your own version of reality ? Hoover explores those ideas in such a compellingly twisted way, making you wonder what depths you might be capable of if pushed to the edge.
And let’s be real, I still have no idea what was actually going on with certain storylines (no spoilers!). Part of me is dying to discuss and dissect all the theories, but another part loves the fact that Hoover leaves you with this lingering sense of unease and uncertainty. That’s some skilled storytelling right there.
Wrapping It Up:
At the end of the day, “Verity” by Colleen Hoover is just a masterwork of psychological suspense that demands to be read. Colleen Hoover’s talent for creating rich, complicated characters and slowly unspooling their tangled web of lies and deceptions is truly unmatched. This book will get under your skin in the most deliciously twisted way.
If you’re looking for a gripping, mind-bending read that will make you question everything, look no further. Just make sure to clear your schedule first – once you start “Verity,” you won’t be able to put it down until that final, jaw-dropping page.
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Review of Verity by Colleen Hoover
05.10.2022 by Jen Ryland // 7 Comments
Social media made me do it ! Because many of you loved this romantic thriller by popular new adult author Colleen Hoover, I checked it out of the library. What did I think of Verity ? Check out my Review of Verity by Colleen Hoover on Jen Ryland Reviews!
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Review of Verity by Colleen Hoover](https://www.jenryland.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Review-of-Verity.png)
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Verity by Colleen Hoover
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Cover of Verity by Colleen Hoover](https://www.jenryland.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/59112754._SY475_.jpg)
Published in October 2021 by Grand Central Publishing (previously published independently)
Synopsis: Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts a job offer from Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, 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. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography.
Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of the night her family was forever altered.
Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents could 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 loving her.
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Cover of Verity by Colleen Hoover with a Halloween prop. Original photo by Jen Ryland LLC.](https://www.jenryland.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Verity-by-Colleen-Hoover-small.jpeg)
I will start by saying that I am not a CoHo super-fan but very familiar with her work and have enjoyed some of her angsty new adult romances.
So I’m going to try to look at Verity, which to me was sort of a cross between a Gothic romance and a re-imagining of Misery, from both the romance side and the thriller side.
Verity had a LOT of interesting things going for it.
To my delight, Verity had many elements of a modern Gothic romance . Like Jane Eyre revisited! Romantic suspense is basically Gothic fiction – I did a whole post on that here.
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Verity by Colleen Hoover. Gothic Romance with a dark twist.](https://www.jenryland.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Verity-by-Colleen-Hoover.jpg)
In a typical Gothic, a young woman in dire economic straits (like an orphan) is hired to work in a house for an attractive guy with a sad, tragic past. He’s so dashing, so forlorn …. but could he be hiding something? Something dark and terrible?
Gothic Spoiler: yes, he’s usually hiding something. No, it’s usually not that terrible. No, it won’t get in the way of their undeniable love!
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Verity's new job checklist](https://www.jenryland.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Verity-New-Job-Checklist.jpg)
Verity opens on a dark and dramatic note!
I had to give Colleen Hoover credit for opening this romantic suspense with a meet-macabre . You’ve head of a meet meet-cute, like in a rom com?
Well, these two potential lovebirds meet over a gruesome accident, complete with blood spatter. It was a clever twist on this romance trope and set the tone for the darkness to come!
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Red spatter](https://www.jenryland.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Blood.jpg)
Immediately on arriving at her new job, main character Lowen finds the secret autobiography of Verity Crawford. I had MANY suspicions around this, but I will save those for my Spoiler Discussion Post of Verity .
Like most romantic suspense and Gothic fiction, the central question of Verity is whether Jeremy Crawford is a loving husband who has endured unimaginable losses, a victim of circumstance, or a more sinister figure?
And, like a lot of new adult romance, Lowen and Jeremy’s relationship is a case of insta-love , a trope hated by many readers, but necessary in a more plot-driven book where the couple’s relationship isn’t the center of the story.
Will YOU like Verity?
From my social media, I can see that Verity has its passionate fans, who loved the ending.
The book also has its detractors in the mystery and thriller community who found it too heavy on explicit love scenes and thin on suspense.
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Alex Michaelides books with a clock.](https://www.jenryland.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Mystery-books-and-a-clock-sm.jpeg)
If you are a fan of new adult fiction, romance, or big twist domestic fiction by authors like Liv Constantine or Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks, I think you will like Verity .
If you are a more traditional thriller reader and prefer books that are intricately and methodically plotted or more character-driven, books with a well-developed setting, or books with a large cast of characters and a lot of suspects, you may not appreciate Verity.
I fell somewhere in the middle. Verity was a fun and compelling read. I thought the modern Gothic set-up was clever. As for what I thought of the ending, you’ll have to come to my spoiler discussion and find out!
What are other books like Verity?
I have seen people on social media say “I need more books like Verity .”
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Cover of The Silent Patient](https://www.jenryland.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/40097951._SY475_.jpg)
The Silent Patient by Alex Berenson also has a clever twist, though it’s not quite as much of a drama-fest as Verity .
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Cover of Rock Paper Scissors](https://www.jenryland.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/56269064.jpg)
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney also features a throuple playing twisted games. Again, it’s not as emotionally intense as Verity .
You by Caroline Kepnes (which I didn’t review) also has that blend of twisted romance and psychopathy.
Have you read Verity ? If you have, PLEASE come to my Spoiler Discussion for Verity by Colleen Hoover where we can discuss all the surprises, all the tropes, all the drama!
Want ALL the details on the brand-new epilogue in the hardcover for Verity?
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Photo of the new Verity hardcover with new epilogue. What is in the new Verity epilogue?](https://www.jenryland.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Verity-hardcover-by-Colleen-Hoover-sm.jpeg)
Don’t want to buy another copy of Verity ? No worries: I have all the details in my Verity Spoiler Post! The epilogue does NOT resolve manuscript vs. letter but you won’t want to miss it!
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Spoiler Review for Verity by Colleen Hoover.](https://www.jenryland.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Spoiler-Review-of-Verity.png)
Do you have books to recommend like Verity? Tell me in the comments!
Leave me a comment? Did you love Verity??
About Jen Ryland
Over 12 years of book blogging and reviewing, I have read over 1500 books. A fair and honest reviewer who loves book discussions, I'm here to help you find a book you'll love to read AND give you a place to talk about it and ask questions. Find me on Instagram and Pinterest as @jenryland!
I actually am in a book club where we had a poll: letter or manuscript: which was the truth. If the manuscript was true, then Verity is a psychopath. But if the letter is true as I think then I love your idea of that editor coming in at the end of the story. I skipped all the sex scenes. I don’t care for them in thrillers. I also dislike the whole “Mr. Rochester” man (great way of putting it). What idiots as you pointed out-have a conversation-instead of pretending all that time lying in your bed. Verity forgot where she printed out the manuscript? If it was an exercise or even if worse it was real, passcode protect it. And then Logan marries him?
Ooh, where do you come out? You think she’s telling the truth in the letter? I felt like the name Verity was a good clue that she was a reliable narrator. But why write the manuscript and then the letter? Why can’t these people have a conversation!!!
I used to love Colleen Hoover’s books but I think my tastes have changed since I first discovered her books 6 years ago. I’ve just read better books with more interesting characters. I do get the appeal but I think I’ve accepted if I’m looking for something new to read it probably won’t be one of her books.
She definitely has avid fans and I can see why. Her books are very readable and have a lot of drama! I was so curious to see what a thriller written by her would be like.
I love some of Hoover’s books and others don’t always work for me. This is one that I want to give a try though. Great review!
Normally I stay with the same authors I have always read, but my daughter Laura said mom you gotta read Verity and I am currently almost done, but WOW is all I can say what a fabulous read. I though the whole book so far was absolutely amazing. I do wonder if Jeremy is going to try and kill Lowen in the end.
I agree, Dianna – but hold that thought!!!!
I am about to post a summary of the NEW chapter that appears in the Verity hardcover that came out last week and WOW is all I can say. It will be on this Spoiler Discussion for Verity but I will link it on this one as well.
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Book Review: Verity by Colleen Hoover
Last Updated on August 20, 2023 by Louisa
Colleen Hoover is well known for her gripping romance novels that explore darker themes, so when her suspenseful thriller novel, Verity, hit the shelves – I admit that I was dubious about how it would be received.
Verity is not Hoover’s usual style, but it quickly became a hit. This gripping and intense thriller showcases the versatility of Colleen Hoover’s writing skills, delving into a different style and genre with finesse.
If you’ve not read Verity and you’re thinking of giving it a try, here is my complete and honest book review of Verity by Colleen Hoover so you know what to expect.
Affiliate Disclosure : This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through any of these links.
Book Review of Verity by Colleen Hoover
Verity by colleen hoover book review.
Verity is a New York Times bestselling thriller novel by Colleen Hoover that follows a struggling writer, Lowen Ashleigh, who is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. After successful author Verity Crawford becomes seriously injured, Lowen is hired to complete the remaining books in her series. Lowen must travel to Verity’s home where she works through Verity’s manuscripts and notes, meanwhile uncovering Verity’s unfinished manuscript of her biography. The manuscript reveals unsettling truths and dark secrets. The discovery leads Lowen torn between keeping quiet and getting the job done, or telling Verity’s husband Jeremy, who she develops feelings for. The more Lowen discovers, the more she is drawn down a twisted path of love, deceit, and danger.
Reviewed by Louisa Smith
![Verity by colleen hoover cover Verity by colleen hoover cover](https://epicbooksociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Verity-by-colleen-hoover-cover-150x150.jpg)
Verity is a thriller novel that’s packed with suspense and intrigue that keeps readers guessing as they follow along the story with the protagonist. It has the perfect level of romance and darkness, with a plot twist that will leave your jaw glued to the floor.
What I liked
The first thing I liked about Verity is the plot. It was completely engaging throughout and I didn’t feel it ever dwindled. Every scene had a purpose, and the back and forth between the present and the diary entry by Verity was well-crafted and put together.
Throughout the story, I was constantly asking questions and making assumptions, like Lowen, the protagonist. I felt as though the reader is put in the same seat as Lowen, and you are following along at the same pace as the protagonist.
The characters in Verity are also complex and well-developed, adding depth to the story.
I found Lowen’s vulnerability and determination made her relatable, while Verity’s enigmatic nature you learn from her diary pages makes her seem like an enigma that you can’t figure out.
The mystery behind Verity, and how her accident happened, keeps readers guessing about her true motives and also makes you a little suspicious of Jeremy, her husband, even though he is portrayed as good throughout the novel.
Each character is vastly different, and the intricate dynamics between them create a tense and suspenseful atmosphere throughout the novel.
Furthermore, Colleen Hoover masterfully explores themes of obsession, manipulation, and the blurred lines between truth and fiction.
She delves into the darker aspects of human nature, forcing readers to question their own perceptions of right and wrong as they unravel the mystery as they read.
However, it’s important to note that Verity includes explicit content and explores dark themes that may not be suitable for all readers.
The novel contains triggers and graphic scenes that some might find disturbing or uncomfortable, such as the death of a child, murder, and attempted suicide.
Despite this, Verity stands out in the thriller genre with its unique plot and well-crafted storytelling, plus a finale that has you lost for words.
Hoover’s writing style is captivating and addictive, effortlessly drawing readers into the suspenseful world she has created.
What could have been better
Honestly, it really is hard to say what could have been better, and I don’t really like to be nitpicky.
But if there’s one thing that could have been better for me, is that the character of Jeremy could have been more developed.
I would have liked to know more of his backstory, and I felt that there was more to the story of why he chose Lowen to be the author of Verity’s novels.
There was a lot implied when it comes to Jeremy, and you learn most about his life and character from Lowen and Verity’s perspective, which makes it hard for you to resonate with Jeremy and his ideas and motives.
Similar Works
If you enjoyed Verity, and you’d like to read some other gripping thrillers, then you may find similar vibes in “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn and “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins.
These novels share a similar sense of suspense and psychological complexity when it comes to relationships that will leave you craving more.
Related Reading: Books Like Verity
Verity Trigger Warnings
This book contains references to:
- Death of a child
- Infanticide
- Graphic child abuse
- Toxic Relationships
Romance Tropes
Verity features the following romance tropes :
- Slow burn romance
- Mystery/Thriller Romance
Where to find it?
You can find Verity by Colleen Hoover in most good bookstores. Or you can purchase a copy from any of these links.
View it on:
The Verdict: Would I Recommend Verity by Colleen Hoover?
If you’re wondering whether I would recommend Verity, the answer is a resounding YES. It’s not often that I read a book that has me glued to the pages like Verity did.
The narrative keeps you guessing throughout with its unpredictable twists and turns, ensuring that you won’t be able to put the book down until its shocking conclusion.
I devoured it in one sitting.
Verity is a thrilling and engaging read that highlights Hoover’s versatility in delivering captivating stories across genres.
With its suspenseful plot, well-developed characters, and thought-provoking themes, this novel is sure to leave you hungry for more of Hoover’s works.
Have Your Say…
Now you know what I think, it’s time to let the Epic Book Society know what you think. Have you read Verity by Colleen Hoover? Share your opinion of the book in the comments.
The Details:
- Pub Date: October 26, 2021
- ISBN: 1538724731
- Page Count: 336
- Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
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About Louisa Smith
Editor/Founder - Epic Book Society
Louisa is the Founder, Editor, and Head Honcho of Epic Book Society. She was born and raised in the United Kingdom and graduated from the University for the Creative Arts with a degree in Journalism. Louisa began her writing career at the age of 7 when her poetry was published in an anthology of poems to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee. Upon graduating university, she spent several years working as a journalist writing about books before transitioning to become a Primary School Teacher. Louisa loves all genres of books, but her favorites are Sci-Fi, Romance, Fantasy, and Young Adult Fiction. Read more Louisa's story here .
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Review: Verity by Colleen Hoover
![book review of verity by colleen hoover book review of verity by colleen hoover](https://i0.wp.com/thenerddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IsabellaStocka.jpg?fit=50%2C50&ssl=1)
No matter which way I look at it, it’s clear that Verity was a master at manipulating the truth. The only question that remains is: Which truth was she manipulating?
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Verity by Colleen Hoover](https://i0.wp.com/www.thenerddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Verity-by-Colleen-Hoover.jpg?resize=331%2C514)
It happens that this guy, Jeremy Crawford, is one of the people Lowen is about to meet. He is the husband of the famous author Verity Crawford, who is brain-dead after a car accident. Lowen can help finish the last three volumes in a nine part series and officially as a co-writer because the public does not know about Verity’s condition.
Lowen accepts and for the next couple of weeks she not only goes through Verity’s office and dozens of notes, she also lives with the couple and their son, Crew, under the same roof. Little does she know what she got herself into and that her world will be turned upside down once more.
I read my first Colleen Hoover book more than a year ago when after seeing It Ends With Us all over my Instagram feed. I am not really into romance books, but this turned out to be better than anything I expected and so I read three more of her books. They are all beautifully written featuring tragedy, love, and hope, which is a nice mix and not cheesy at all.
While she is looking for information for the three books she should write for Verity, she finds another script which turns out to be an unfinished brutally honest autobiography, one nobody should ever read. It is full of Verity’s darkest thoughts and secrets. Throughout the manuscript, Lowen learns how Verity and Jeremy met, how they fell in love, and how her career started. Verity describes in details how their sexual life was and how it changed, what she thought about getting pregnant, about being a mother, and how she wished they would have been never born because they took her husband away from her.
The story takes you through everyone’s fears and darkness. Lowen starts to see everyone from another perspective and begins questioning their behaviour. However, that does not stop her from falling in love with Jeremy. He was and still is one of the best men she has ever known. Verity did not deserve such a man. The only thing she ever did was hurt him without him even knowing. She deserves what happened to her.
But, what does Crew mean that her mother is talking to him? Why is Verity staring right into her eyes? How can the door be closed from outside, when Jeremy was with Lowen? How can a brain-dead woman stand above Lowen and watch while her husband is cheating on her?
When I found out that Hoover had published an ebook, I got it immediately. Verity is addictive. I could not put it down. It is consuming you and leaves you speechless. Never in my life have I read a book so well written and with so many plot twists that you just cannot wrap your head around it. You just do not know what the truth is in the end.
That is the only parallel to her usual works as the book ends with an ending which is not quite really an ending. You have room to question it. Ask yourself how the story could continue and with this book, it can drive you insane.
Hoover calls her personal indie project – which is the reason why it was only published as an ebook – a “departure from the emotional love stories” she usually writes. This book is brilliant! It constantly has a spooky tense atmosphere around it. Like the Netflix show Haunting of Hill House or A Simple Favor , it seems nothing really scary is happening, but still you feel that something is lurking around the corner. Trust me, never will you guess what the truth is! For me, it is by far her best work and I pray that she will write more books in this genre!
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Synopsis | Goodreads
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.
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Recap, Summary & Spoilers
The Full Book Recap and Chapter-by-Chapter Summary for Verity by Colleen Hoover are below.
Quick(-ish) Recap
Lowen Ashleigh is offered a job completing the last three novels of a popular book series. The original author, Verity Crawford , was in an accident a short while ago and is now alive, but unresponsive. The accident happened soon after the deaths of Verity's two twin daughters.
Lowen moves into the Crawford house to go over Verity's notes, where Verity is being cared for by her nurse, April . Verity's husband, Jeremy , and young son Crew also live there. Lowen quickly finds herself attracted to and falling for Jeremy. Strange occurrences also make Lowen suspect that Verity is faking her medical condition.
Lowen starts to read Verity's book series called The Noble Virtues , which are all written from an antagonist's point of view. In Verity's office, Lowen also discovers an autobiographical manuscript that Verity wrote that reveals Verity's dark nature.
In the manuscript, Verity describes resenting her daughters because Jeremy loves them more than her. Verity also admits to loving one of her daughters ( Chastin ) more than the other ( Harper ), and she has a dream that Harper will someday kill Chastin.
When Chastin is 8, she ends up dead from her peanut allergy. Chastin and Harper had been at a sleepover together when it happened. Verity then admits to murdering Harper six months later. She purposely took Crew and Harper out on a canoe, caused it to capsize and then only saved Crew.
Lowen is initially unsure whether to tell Jeremy about the manuscript, knowing it will only hurt him more. By now, she and Jeremy are sleeping together, and discussing a possible future together. However, when Lowen thinks she sees Verity move, she tells Jeremy in order to protect him and Crew.
Jeremy confronts Verity who finally admits to faking it. Jeremy then attacks Verity, and Lowen at first tells him to stop, but then she advises him to make it look like an accident. Verity is killed.
Months later, Lowen is pregnant and they are all living in a new house. The old house is due to be sold off. As they clean out the last of the stuff, Lowen discovers a letter that Verity wrote after her accident.
The letter describes how Verity wrote the manuscript as a writing exercise to practice her antagonistic point of view that she uses for her novels. She also writes about how Jeremy knew about the manuscript and had forced her into the "accident" because of it.
Afterwards, Lowen destroys the letter. However, the book ends with her being unsure as to whether the letter was true or just another manipulation from Verity.
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Chapter-by-Chapter Summary
In Manhattan, Lowen Ashleigh sees a man get hit by a truck, and the blood splashes on her. A man, Jeremy Crawford , helps her into the nearby coffee shop to get cleaned up. He offers her his shirt since hers is bloodied.
Jeremy tells her that his 8-year-old drowned in a lake five months ago. In response, Lowen tells Jeremy that her mother died from cancer last week. Lowen notices the wedding ring on his finger.
Soon, Jeremy leaves, and Lowen heads up to meet with Corey — her literary agent who is also her ex — and an editor at Pantem Press.
As Lowen heads up to the Pantem Press offices, she runs into Jeremy again. It turn out that the person Lowen is supposed to meet with is Jeremy, and Jeremy’s wife is a writer as well.
When Corey shows up, she tells him that her mother passed away last week. As she does, she thinks about how she’s spent the last few months barely able to leave the apartment because her mother relied on her for everything. The last few weeks she didn’t leave at all.
Corey offers to connect Lowen with Edward , the lawyer at his literary agency, in case she needs help with the will, but Lowen know she won’t need it. They spent the last of her mother’s money helping her mother to live her last few months more comfortably. As a result, Lowen is stressed about her current financial situation. She was hoping to be offered a contract renewal today, but Corey says the publisher has something else in mind.
Soon, Jeremy enters the room along with Barron Stephens (a Pantem lawyer), and Amanda Thomas (the editor). Amanda explains that one of their authors is unable to fulfill their contract (for medical reasons), and they’re looking for a writer to complete the three remaining books in her book series. Lowen would also have to do any associated publicity.
The author in question is Verity Crawford , a very well-known writer. Lowen pieces together that Verity must be Jeremy’s wife. They’re offering $75,000 per book (no royalties), to be completed in 24-months’ time. Lowen does some quick math — and after Corey’s cut (15% industry standard) and taxes, it would leave her with a little less than $100K total, which means she’d get $50,000 post-tax per year — which is okay, but not great. Lowen initially declines.
However, Jeremy ask to talk to Lowen alone. Lowen ask about his wife, and Jeremy says she was in a car accident. He also mentions that they previously lost both their kids, twins named Chastin and Harper , within six months of each other. He also says that Lowen’s book Open Ended was one of Verity’s favorites. He presses Lowen to take the job, offering half a million for the three books, and he tells her she can decline doing the publicity. Lowen agrees to do it.
Corey goes with Lowen back to her apartment to celebrate the new contract. Lowen thinks about how she stopped sleeping with him after she learned over social media that he was seeing someone else. At the apartment, she finds yet another eviction notice.
On Sunday, she’ll be headed to the Crawford house in Vermont to go through Verity’s notes in order to help her write the novel. Corey thinks it’s odd that Jeremy invited Lowen to stay in their home, especially considering the misfortune their family has suffered.
Online, Lowen has learned that one daughter died of an allergic reaction when she was away for a sleepover, and the other drowned in the lake behind their home. Verity’s car wreck involved her hitting a tree. Corey says he’s concerned about Lowen being in that situation, but Lowen suspects he’s just jealous that she’s staying in another man’s home.
It’s a six-hour drive to Vermont. On the way, Lowen listens to the first Verity Crawford novel on audiobook. It’s really good, and Lowen feels intimidated by the task ahead in trying to complete this series.
When Lowen arrives at the Crawford house, she sees their 5-year-old son, Crew Crawford . Then, Jeremy comes to greet her and to help her get settled in. Lowen is put in the master bedroom, which wasn’t in use, because it’s closest to Verity’s office.
Jeremy introduces Lowen to Verity’s nurse April as Laura Chase , using the pen name that Lowen will be writing this under. When Lowen finally sees Verity, she’s shocked to see that Verity seems to have little recognition of what’s going on around her.
In the office, Lowen sees stacks of books and papers everywhere. On one shelf are the completed novels in Verity’s book series entitled The Noble Virtues , which each book titled after a different virtue. The remaining three books left to be completed are Courage, Truth and Honor.
Once Jeremy leaves the room, Lowen settles in and starts looking through the stuff in the office. In one box, she sees aa manuscript entitled So Be It , which Lowen soon realizes is an autobiographical work that Verity must’ve worked on at some point. She starts to read.
(So Be It: Chapter 1)
In the intro, Verity explains that true autobiographies should be ugly and honest and leave the writer exposed. She then says that that’s what she aims to do here.
She starts by writing about meeting Jeremy. She met him at a fancy charity event when she was 22. Jeremy, 27 at the time, had been very forward about coming on to her. She’d left the event with him. They get into a limo, but Jeremy soon admits that it isn’t his ride.
Instead, Jeremy drives a Honda Civic and didn’t even pay for valet parking. Meanwhile, Verity says she works as an office cleaner, and she stole the invitation for the event out of a trash can. When the driver of the limo returns, Jeremy and Verity rush out. They drive away in his Honda and have sex. They don’t leave his apartment for the next three days, and they falls for each other quickly.
Verity ends the chapter by saying that she was the most important thing to him until he “discovered the one thing that meant more to him than I did.”
Lowen takes a break to grab some pizza with Jeremy. She asks him about Verity, who he says was injured not long after Harper died. After being in a medically induced coma and in rehab, she finally came home a few weeks ago. Afterwards, Lowen hurries back to the office, eager to read the next chapter in Verity’s book.
(So Be It: Chapter 2)
By the time they’ve been together two years, Verity and Jeremy are living together. When Jeremy gets temporarily transferred to Los Angeles for work, Verity feels untethered, and she starts writing to pass the time. A few month later, she’s completed her first book around the time that Jeremy returns home.
Jeremy reads the book and he tells her it’s good. Then, he proposes, slipping a ring on her finger after they have sex. It turns out that Verity ends up getting pregnant that day as well.
Verity’s office has full length glass windows, and as she reads, Lowen can see that April has moved Verity onto the back porch.
Verity soon gets a call from the apartment building she’d applied to live at, Creekwood , saying that her application was denied because she has a recent eviction. When she gets off the phone, she sees Jeremy standing there, and he has clearly overheard the conversation. He offers to let her stay here until she gets her advance.
Later, as Jeremy and Crew are outside, Lowen sees Crew wave at his mother’s window. Lowen then glances at Verity’s window and thinks she sees the curtain move, but that shocks her since it seems like that should be impossible in Verity’s state.
Lowen then goes into Verity’s room to check things out, and sees that the fan is on, causing the curtain to move. Lowen tells herself to chill out.
(So Be It: Chapter 3)
After Verity learns she’s pregnant, Jeremy is ecstatic. They soon learn, too, that they’re twins. However, Verity dreads what the process is doing to her body. She also doesn’t like being “the third most important thing in Jeremy’s life”. She tries to take sleeping pills and drink wine to provoke a miscarriage.
One day Verity asks Jeremy if he loves them more than her, and she’s unhappy when he says yes. He says that their love is conditional, but his love for the twins isn’t. Right afterwards, she uses a wire hanger until she bleeds in hopes of miscarrying.
Verity is horrified about what she’s read, and she starts to wonder what really happened to those two girls. Distraught, Lowen goes into the kitchen for something to drink. Jeremy sees her and senses that something is wrong, but Lowen pretends it’s nothing.
Photos of the two girls show that Harper rarely smiles, while Chastin has a scar on her cheek and a huge smile on. Jeremy says she was born with the scar, and Verity wonders if it was a result of Verity’s abortion attempt. He also says that only Chastin had the peanut allergy (which killed her).
When Jeremy takes Lowen’s hand to ask about the scar on her palm, she pulls back. She feels an attraction to him, but doesn’t want to indulge it. Afterwards, she thinks about how she got the scar because of her sleepwalking. It happened many years ago, and she was sure she’d locked the door to prevent herself from leaving, but one morning she’d woken up bleeding and with a broken wrist.
A second nurse soon shows up named Myrna , who works on Fridays and Saturdays, and who Lowen likes more than April.
Lowen decides to stop, or at least pause, reading Verity’s manuscript for the time being, since it’s distracting her from the task at hand. Instead, she focuses on studying Verity’s notes to prepare for writing her three novels. She thinks about how Verity writes her books from the point of view of the antagonists. Meanwhile, a press release goes out announcing her (as Laura Chase) as the new “co-author” of Verity’s book series.
Later, Lowen and Jeremy make a grocery store run. While they’re there, they run into Patricia and Caroline, who are Verity’s friends. They are displeased to see Lowen accompanying Jeremy and are rude. When Lowen and Jeremy walk off, Jeremy purposely tells Patricia to “give my best to Sherman” (knowing full well that her husband’s name is William and Sherman is merely the guy that she’s cheating on her husband with).
Lowen is lost in thoughts when she hears Crew scream. She rushes upstairs to see him in Verity’s bedroom bleeding with a cut on his chin and a knife on the floor.
Lowen hurriedly takes him into the bathroom to clean him up and asks him what happened. He responds by saying that “Mommy said I’m not supposed to touch her knife”. It confuses Lowen since Verity doesn’t seem to be able to talk to anyone in her state, but she tells herself Verity must’ve said it prior to her accident. However, when Lowen goes back to Verity’s room to find the knife, it’s gone.
(So Be It: Chapter 4)
The twins are born healthy, though one has a scratch on her cheek. Verity makes an effort to act like she loves them the way Jeremy does, but she doesn’t feel it. When the nurse asks if she’ll be breast-feeding, Verity initially says no, but then agrees to try it after Jeremy and the nurse both seem to disapprove.
However, after a few seconds, Verity insists she can’t do it, and the nurse brings the formula over instead. As Jeremy continues to marvel over how much he loves the twins, Verity looks on bitterly.
As Verity looks through a box of the Crawfords’ family pictures, she asks Jeremy why Harper never smiled in photos. Jeremy responds that she was diagnosed with Asperger’s when she was three. Verity then asks Jeremy how he’s been dealing with his losses. He says that his world “ended” after the twins both died. Then, when Verity had her accident, he felt anger towards Verity.
When Crew walks in and see the box of photos, he gets angry, saying that he doesn’t want to see the pictures.
The next time Lowen sees April, she tries to strike up a conversation and ask how it’s been working with Verity. April, however, pulls Lowen aside and gently reminds her not to talk as if Verity’s not there. They don’t know how much Verity can process of what they’re saying, even if she’s unable to respond.
Later, Crew finds a turtle, though they release it back into the grass. Then the three of them — Crew, Jeremy and Lowen — go to a restaurant to eat. When they get back, Lowen and Jeremy share a moment, but neither of them act on it. Lowen then goes into Verity’s office to read the next chapter of the manuscript.
(So Be It: Chapter 5)
With the twins at home, Verity is exhausted, and they’re unable to afford a nanny since she’d only received a small advance for her book so far. Once Jeremy returns to work, however, Verity can simply let them cry during the day while she sleeps. Then, she tends to the girls right before Jeremy is set to come home.
Verity is eager to have sex before the doctor has approved it, but Jeremy thinks they should wait. Instead, Verity seduces Jeremy and when he gives in enthusiastically, Verity thinks that perhaps they’ll be okay.
After reading more, Lowen starts to wonder if Verity is a psychopath or sociopath. Later, Jeremy asks for help in bringing up an aquarium from the basement so that Crew can keep his pet turtle. As they’re down there, Jeremy says he used to work down there when he owned a realty firm before Verity made it big. When she got pregnant with Crew, he stopped working.
That night, Lowen puts on one of Jeremy’s shirts from the closet and imagines being with him in bed.
Lowen wakes up and realizes that she has sleepwalked into Verity’s bed. Stifling a scream, she tries to sneak back into her room, but she runs into Jeremy. Lowen is alarmed at her own behavior, but Jeremy laughs it off and comforts her.
Lowen then tells him the the truth about what happened to her hand. She got the scar when she was ten. She had climbed onto the railing on the front porch and stood there for an hour. Then, she jumped, hurting her wrist and hand. She then walked back to her room and went to sleep, not realizing any of it until she awoke the next morning. After that, she started going to therapy.
Jeremy then stays with her until she’s asleep again.
The next morning, Jeremy asks Lowen if she would feel safer with a lock on the outside of her door. That way, he could lock it (or unlock it if she texted or called him) and she would know she couldn’t get out. Lowen feels unsure about it, but then agrees that it would be a good idea.
(So Be It: Chapter 6)
When the girls are six months old, Verity has as nightmare. She dreams that the twins are 8 or 9 and that she watches Harper smother Chastin with a pillow. When Verity awakes, she’s surprised at the genuine heartache she felt at the idea of Chastin being dead.
Later, when she hears crying, Verity is eager to soothe the girls, but is disappointed when it’s Harper instead of Chastin. She starts to wonder if her dream is a warning that Harper would do something to Chastin. She thinks about how she might kill Harper, and she chokes the baby until Jeremy interrupts and Harper vomits.
After reading all this, Lowen feels sick. Lowen skims the next few chapters, and notices that Verity mostly writes about Chastin and stops mentioning Harper. Finally, Lowen stops reading when Jeremy invites her to have some margaritas and tacos.
Over dinner, Jeremy tells Lowen that they bought the house when the girls were three, and that he plans on going back to work at some point. He also tells Lowen about him growing up on an alpaca farm in New York State as a kid.
They then talk about Verity’s parents, Victor and Marjorie . He says that Verity cut them out of their lives because they’re insanely religious, and “acted liked she was suddenly denouncing her religion to join a satanic cult” just because she was writing thriller novels.
When Jeremy asks if Lowen thinks he should put Crew back in therapy, Lowen says yes and that going into therapy was the best thing that ever happened to her. She thinks about how her mother had been “disconnected” with her after the wrist incident, and how she actually reminds her a lot of Verity, but Lowen doesn’t say that.
Before he locks her in for the night, Jeremy tells Lowen that he lied about Verity reading Lowen’s book. Instead, he was the one who read her book and loved it, which is why he suggested her name to the publisher.
(So Be It: Chapter 9)
After Verity’s books are doing well and they’ve moved into a new house, Verity enrolls the girls in daycare. Back in New York, they had a nanny, but out here nannies are hard to find. However, Jeremy gets very upset. Verity assumes he is worried about the daycare being careless about Chastin’s peanut allergy.
However, when she finally confronts him about it, he says that he’s upset that she talks about Chastin constantly and never seems to care about Harper’s well-being. Verity talks him down, saying that it’s just because they are two very different children with different sets of needs. She also mentions that one of the daycare teachers thinks Harper may have Asperger’s.
To try to get rid of his bad mood, Verity then lies and tells Jeremy that she’s pregnant again. He’s delighted, and she thinks about how he loves her the most when she’s pregnant. As they make love that night, Verity tells herself that a miscarriage will be easy to fake.
The next few chapters of the manuscript mostly involve descriptions of Verity’s sex life with Jeremy, with a brief interlude about Crew.
By now, Lowen has been here almost two weeks, and she’s done pretty much all that she can in Verity’s office. She takes a break to watch some television. Jeremy joins her, and Lowen mentions that her 32nd birthday is the next day.
Jeremy ends up baking a cake for her. That night after Crew in in bed, Lowen and Jeremy finally get intimate — until Lowen stops things when she thinks she sees Verity standing at the top of the stairs. However, Jeremy insists that it’s impossible that Lowen saw her since Verity can’t walk. When Lowen goes into Verity’s room, she sees that Verity is asleep in her bed.
By the time Lowen awakes, she’s less sure of what she thought she saw the night before. Lowen starts to think that she needs to show Jeremy the manuscript that Verity wrote so he can understand what type of person Verity really is.
(So Be It: Chapter 13)
Verity becomes pregnant with Crew within two weeks of lying about being pregnant. By now, they have a full-time nanny, and Jeremy is staying home full time as well.
As time passes, Verity gets busy with book tours and whatnot, but she’s happy that when she returns Jeremy always greets her with the same enthusiasm as he did early on in their relationship. She’d occasionally leave for a week purposely to prompt him enthusiastically welcoming her home afterwards.
Verity is at home washing a raw chicken the day that they get the call about Chastin. Chastin had been at a sleepover at her friend Maria’s house and had been found unresponsive the next morning by Maria’s mother, Kitty . Verity and Jeremy rush to the hospital, only to learn that she’s already dead.
They eventually learn that Chastin, Harper and Maria had decided to grab a late-night snack and no one had thought anything was wrong, but Chastin hadn’t woken up the next morning. Verity suspects Harper did something to Chastin (based on her dream when they were six months old), and she wishes she would have killed Harper before then.
Lowen continues to wonder if Verity is somehow faking her injuries. She thinks that perhaps Verity has simply trained herself not to react to things. She’s sure that the television has been muted when Verity was alone in her room.
Lowen tries to get a reaction out of Verity by saying cruel things to her. When Lowen says that she’s planning on having sex with Jeremy, Verity urinates, which prompts Jeremy to have to go bathe and change her.
Later, Lowen encourages Jeremy to put Verity in a care facility so he doesn’t have to live like this, but Jeremy doesn’t want take Crew away from his mother. That night, Lowen and Jeremy finally have passionate sex.
The next morning, Jeremy admits that he feels something for Lowen. When they try to exit the room, however, it turns out that the door is locked from the outside. Lowen suggests that it’s possible Verity did it and took Crew. Jeremy kicks down the window. When they get out, it turns out that both Crew and Verity are asleep in their beds.
(So Be It: Chapter 14)
Six months after Chastin’s death, Verity confronts Harper about why she doesn’t seem to be upset about it. Harper insists that she does care, but Verity doesn’t believe her.
Later, Jeremy suggests that Verity take the kids to go play by the lake while he shops for groceries. They get into the boat with Verity at the back, Crew in the middle and Harper at the front.
Then, Verity tells Crew to hold his breath, and then she purposely capsizes the boat and only saves Crew. As Crew frantically screams for Verity to save Harper, Verity orders Crew to run into the house to call Jeremy. Verity then very slowly swims back out so she can pretend to be saving Harper when the police and Jeremy arrive. Harper is found dead, and Jeremy doesn’t even look at Verity afterwards.
Jeremy figures out that if you close the door hard enough, it’s possible for the outside lock on Lowen’s room to accidently lock into place, which is what he thinks happened. He also says that he’s contacted a nursing facility and arranged for Verity to be taken there more of the time and brought home three weekends a month.
Before, Lowen had been debating whether to show him the manuscript, but in that moment, she decides not to in order to protect him. Lowen then agrees to stay for another week, and she and Jeremy proceed to have unprotected sex.
Lowen has a dream about Crew being a teenager, and in the dream she can sense that he’s evil. She then wonders if she should show Jeremy the manuscript for Crew’s sake, since she wonders how he may have internalized the things his mother did like telling him to hold his breath just before the boat overturned.
Lowen tries to have a conversation with Crew about Verity to find out what he thinks happened that day in the canoe. However, Crew says that “Mommy said I shouldn’t talk to you if you ask me questions about her.” This prompts Lowen to ask him if his mother ever “pretends she can’t talk” which causes him to bite down on a butter knife in his mouth. Lowen calls for Jeremy when it draws blood.
When Jeremy rushes to take Crew in for stitches, Lowen sets up a video monitor in Verity’s room to try to track if she moves at all.
(So Be It: Chapter 15)
After Harper’s death, Verity is interrogated by the police. However, Jeremy’s questioning is even worse. He finally asks her why she told Crew to hold his breath. Verity tries to tell him that she said it as they were tipping and not before, but she knows it’s over by then. She contemplates driving into a tree. (The end.)
Lowen finishes reading Verity’s manuscript just as Jeremy returns from the hospital. When Jeremy goes to take a shower, Lowen sees Verity getting out of bed. Lowen screams for Jeremy to come see, but Verity hears and scrambles back into bed.
Lowen insists that Verity is faking it, but Jeremy tells her it’s impossible. Finally, Lowen shows him the manuscript and begs him to at least read the last two chapters.
It takes some time for Jeremy to read. Then, he marches into Verity’s room and demands that he tell her the truth. At first she continues to pretend, but Jeremy says that he’s going straight to the police unless she drops the act. Finally, Verity gets up.
Jeremy is furious, attacks her and begins to strangle her, crushing her windpipe. However, Lowen talks him down, reminding him that Crew will not have a father is he becomes a murderer. Lowen finally tells him that he needs to make it look like an accident. She says to make her vomit so it will seem like she choked on her own vomit and aspirated.
Finally, Verity is dead. They decide to go to bed and “find” her dead in the morning. They agree to never speak of it again.
Seven months later, Lowen’s outlines for the book have been approved and her first draft of the first novel is completed. She’s also pregnant with Jeremy’s child, which is due in two and a half months. Lowen is relieved to see how happy Jeremy is about the impending baby.
Jeremy has now put the house up for sale, and the three of them now live in a new house on the beach in Southport, North Carolina . They go to clean out the last of the stuff in the old house, and Crew mentions how his mother used to keep stuff beneath the floor.
Lowen goes into what was once Verity’s room and finds a loose piece of flooring. There, she finds the knife that had once gone missing as well as an envelope with a handwritten letter for Jeremy.
In the letter, Verity states her intention to run away with Crew. She also recalls a conversation her editor Amanda. Amanda had suggested that Verity try out “antagonistic journaling” in order to help her get into the mindset of an evil character. So, the point would be to write about her own experiences as if she were an evil character. Verity says that the more she did it, the better she got.
( In case it’s not clear, the point is that the manuscript by Verity that Lowen read was a writing exercise and not a true reflection of Verity’s thoughts and actions. )
Verity further talks about how Jeremy ended up finding the journal entry about Harper, but the truth was that Harper’s death was an accident. She’d told Crew to hold his breath as the canoe was tipping and focused on saving him because Harper was more comfortable in the water than Crew.
Verity had then written about it soon after in her “antagonistic journaling” mindset partially as a way of verbalizing her own guilt over not being able to protect Harper. However, she wasn’t expecting Jeremy to somehow come across it.
Right after, Jeremy had grabbed her and choked her until she was unconscious, without giving her a chance to explain. When she awoke, she was bound and gagged and in her car. Then he made it look like she had driven her self into a tree.
Afterwards, Verity had pretended to be in a coma and continued to pretend until she could figure out how to fix the situation. She decides to write him this letter and to try to run away with Crew.
After reading the letter, Lowen feels sick, knowing that Verity was innocent. Beyond that, Lowen thinks about how Jeremy had already known about the manuscript even before Lowen showed it to him.
Worried that Jeremy might find out the truth, Lowen destroys Verity’s letter. However, even afterwards, Lowen wonders if perhaps Verity was just being manipulative with her letter. Ultimately she doesn’t know if Verity’s letter was the truth or if her manuscript was the truth.
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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.
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Outstanding 📍
Great summary!! Although you kept calling Lowen, Verity. I understand as I do it all the time, too lol.
Disappear Here
Book review – verity by colleen hoover.
Genre: Fiction; Thriller
Note: There are NO spoilers in this review. When discussing in the comments, please provide a spoiler warning if needed.
Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5
There are no “good guys” in this novel.
Verity by Colleen Hoover captures your interest and doesn’t let go. Even long after I’ve completed the novel, I find myself going back to the final twists and reveals just replaying everything in my mind.
The CoHo fever is strong on #bookstagram, so there was no shortage of pressure to pick up one of her novels. Because I typically enjoy thrillers more than romances, it made the selection of my first CoHo experience fairly simple.
The main character, Lowen Ashleigh, accepts a job offer to complete the remaining books in a successful series written by popular author Verity Crawford. When Lowen arrives at the home of Verity she learns that the author was severely injured in an accident, which led her husband, Jeremy, to hire an outside writer.
Lowen begins to sort through Verity’s notes and read the already-published novels in the series when she finds Verity’s unfinished autobiography in her office. The manuscript lays out bone-chilling events surrounding the death of her two daughters and her relationship with her husband.
At first, Lowen keeps the contents of the autobiography to herself, but as she begins to develop feelings for Jeremy she starts to realize how much she could gain if Jeremy left his wife in his past.
The twists in this novel have even more twists, and while some are completely unexpected they all fit into the story perfectly. The story feels natural and terrifying in such a subtle and beautiful way. Throw in the juxtaposition of me reading this novel with my newborn baby in my arms and it makes this a downright horror story.
“What you read will taste so bad at times, you’ll want to spit it out, but you’ll swallow these words and they will become part of you, part of your gut, and you will hurt because of them.” Colleen Hoover, Verity
There is definitely violence in this novel, but the gore often present in thriller novels is absent. So if that is something typically holding you back from a highly rated thriller, Verity won’t pose any issues. However, there are some trigger warnings, specifically related to child abuse and death of a child. If that’s something you may be uncomfortable with, I recommend doing a little more research before diving in.
That being said – Colleen Hoover wrote one hell of a thriller here, and I could not recommend it more. And like I said at the beginning, I absolutely love that there is no savior or hero of this story. It showcases true humanity and the lengths we are willing to go in order to get what and who we want.
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Verity by Colleen Hoover: Summary, Characters, and Book Review
By: Author William Pearce
Posted on Published: October 4, 2023
I picked up Verity from the bookstore the day I heard it was a different genre than Colleen Hoover’s favorite, new adult contemporary romance. Now, if this is your first time learning about Colleen Hoover, I suggest you check out Colleen Hoover Books Ranked From Best To Worst .
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Verity Colleen Hoover Summary](https://bookvibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Verity-by-Colleen-Hoover-Summary-and-Review.jpg)
Colleen Hoover wrote her fair share of young adult novels to claim her throne as queen. As she steps into the book world of “psychological thriller”, I was sure it would be refreshing to explore her writing without the romantic extravaganza as usual.
Right off the bat, the book cover caught my fancy. If you look at it closely, you can see it’s a child caught in a fishing net. It was too reminiscent of the movie IT because the yellow in the net was a dead ringer for the kid’s raincoat.
What book can be more ominous than a child on its cover? After all, even one of the greatest horror authors, Stephen King, placed his best bets on his child characters. Originality is one thing you shouldn’t seek in Colleen Hoover’s novels.
Let’s discuss this further in my Verity Colleen Hoover summary, characters, and review then, shall we?
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Verity](https://bookvibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Verity.jpg)
Verity Colleen Hoover Summary and First Impressions
From the get-go of the book, I was sure Verity required a lot of trigger warnings. If you’re an avid CoHo (as her fanbase likes to call her) fan, domestic abuse, murder, mental abuse, and simply trauma, in general, are commonly used as plots or characteristics of her characters.
Verity was no different, if not worse, than her romance genre when it came to mentions of abuse.
The moment I picked up the book, I realized it was more captivating than any other novel written by Colleen Hoover. From the beginning, the book lures its readers into an adventure of nerve-wracking thrill.
The introduction of her female protagonist, Lowen, an up-and-coming writer, showed me a ray of hope for this book. I was hell-bent on proving myself wrong about Colleen Hoover.
Alas, that all went down the drain the moment the main male character (MMC), Jeremy, entered the scene. While his initial impression was of a noble and kind middle-aged man, his image was ruined by Lowen.
That’s because of her unnecessary attraction towards him when she was supposedly in a “state of shock”.
Her indifference towards the accident and inner dramatic monologues, like an indie film character, about the accident were a lot more intriguing than any of Colleen Hoover’s previous female main characters.
In true CoHo fashion, that’s all we have for character description.
After Lowen’s forced and pathetic attraction towards Jeremy, my initial hope and excitement for the book diminished. I knew Verity would go down the same road as all of her other novels.
Yet, I mustered up my patience and bore through Lowen’s incessant ramble about her past and her mother’s death, which only reminded me of how hollow and half-baked Hoover’s characters are.
Her writing doesn’t allow any scope for any visualizing of her characters, let alone empathizing with their needless traumatic backgrounds.
Here’s Verity Plot Synopsis for You (Spoilers Ahead!)
Warning: Spoilers Ahead! Only read if you want to know what happens in Verity.
You will never see me not raving about Verity Colleen Hoover summary if someone brings up her. Like I said previously, Verity is there in my favorites list when it comes to Hoover’s novel.
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Verity Plot Synopsis for You](https://bookvibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Colleen-Hoover-Verity.jpg)
If you’re a fan of suspense or psychological thrillers, my raving for this plot will seem wee to you. But as someone who has read and thoroughly been disappointed with Colleen Hoover’s plots, this book has been my holy grail.
As I mentioned earlier, the book had me hooked from the beginning with the gruesome and detailed accident. I was ecstatic to finish this book in a day or two. I wasn’t even bothered by the initial descriptions of sex because it wouldn’t truly be a Colleen Hoover in order without it.
I wasn’t going to let anything take this intriguing plot away from me. Unfortunately, when Verity goes on to ramble about her sex life with Jeremy for pages on end, I couldn’t help but be bored.
Verity tries too hard to justify her fascination for Jeremy through sex because Hoover has nothing to offer for her characters other than pure erotica.
I wonder if Hoover imagines her readers to be curious preteens kicking their feet in the air while reading it or horny middle-aged women unsatisfied with their marriages.
Because in no way would a newly adult person seek out sexual solace during their prime in books written by a middle-aged woman.
Even book and movie geeks like me would much rather enjoy Professor McGonagall calling the trio a bumbling band of baboons than read the word “fuck” every two minutes in a novel.
Despite her cause, the psychopathic side of Verity truly amused me. While she was no serial killer, Hoover certainly played with the idea of the weight words hold on our minds and how humans are quick to judge to perfection.
Why did I call the Verity Plot poorly executed, then?
The primary problem lies in Colleen Hoover’s writing. A plot with such promise requires a well-polished writing skill. The lack of this could be blamed on trying out a new genre, but not when it’s the same for all her novels.
There’s a difference between writing literature and stringing a bunch of words together just to say something. Unfortunately, for Colleen Hoover, the latter is truer.
It was hard to follow up with certain parts of the plot that were key to the “thriller” component of the novel due to her weak descriptions that not only lacked vision but also consistency.
It became even more prominent during Lowen’s encounter with Verity and, finally, her death. Her death was rushed and hazy, which derailed her as the main antagonist.
Overall, the book kept me on the edge only for the hope of how great the plot could’ve been. Alas, only disappointment followed.
Could it be me only? Maybe. But for a psychological thriller book, you wouldn’t expect to only get smut and plot lines as predictable; even a third grader can see them coming a mile away.
Quite a contradicting choice of words, but that’s what every Hoover novel felt like to me — a preteen attempting to write erotica.
Unrealistic Characters? Umm… Now that You Look at Them…
The Verity book summary was the best Colleen Hoover had to offer in the entirety of her career. Everything else about the book was disappointing. Her execution of the plot and characters lacked vastly.
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Verity Genre and Characters](https://bookvibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Verity-Genre.jpg)
It was easy to predict Jeremy was here to stay as a main character the moment Lowen had that god-awful attraction towards him due to his mere kindness. In no way did it surprise me that Jeremy and Lowen crossed each other’s paths again, not minutes after coming into contact.
And, of course, what are women to Colleen Hoover if they don’t like men in committed relationships or marriage?
What finally got me hooked on the book again was none other than Verity herself. A successful and excellent author with an undeniably beautiful name struck by the grief of mysteriously losing both of her daughters that led to her own mysterious accident?
I was ready to write Hoover fan emails pleading to create more characters like Verity.
Verity was the breath of fresh air Hoover required so desperately in her novels. Her backstory was the first traumatic convolution written by Hoover that added to the plot instead of acting as unnecessary filler.
The design of their house was implied to be ominous as a warning to the person Verity was and a total contradiction to warm cozy Vermont.
But Hoover’s description of the house was so amateur. My imagination of the house was only of Edward Scissorhands’ house in the movie – how cartoonish both his house and the pastel houses in the neighborhood looked in comparison.
Colleen Hoover perfectly brought out my empathy for Verity with the back-and-forth description of her bedridden room and her office, which was the most intimate part of her, from elegance to being in a total state of comatose.
The more Lowen explored Verity’s home and her family, she rounded up to one of my favorite characters by Hoover. It was so close to the finish line that she had to ruin Verity by making her obsessed with Jeremy again.
A gorgeous blonde author who turns out to be a psychopath? Hallelujah, more power to her! But for Jeremy? Eugh!
Just as she was turning into this divine femme fatale, Colleen Hoover had to strip her of a personality only to make Verity obsessed enough to kill for her man’s attention.
Not to forget how Verity wasn’t even regarded to be described as herself unless she was with Jeremy. Carelessly throwing it in the air that she had blonde hair is NOT a character description.
Speaking of Jeremy, I could see how perfect Hoover wanted him to be. Yet, once again, he only came out as this unrealistic character.
Idolizing main male characters for doing the bare minimum and just because they look “good” enough to get two women obsessed enough to kill for him was already too good to be true.
But Hoover expecting us to swoon over a man who felt no remorse for cheating on his wife in the SAME HOUSE she is bedridden and lost their two daughters was infuriating.
Not only did they stop there, but their incessant justification of something this low through Verity’s evilness made me despise them more.
Speaking of Lowen, she started as this character with boastful self-righteousness about what’s right and wrong when it was her relationship with her publisher. But, oh well, how could Hoover’s reader fangirl on Jeremy if the morally great Lowen didn’t get weak in the knees for him?
What truly tickles me the wrong way with Hoover’s characters is how they are forced into the plot instead of any character development.
Hoover stripped Verity into even less of a human with her quick death. The hastened description of Verity in her end moments was disappointing, to say the least. It felt rushed, and it felt as though her entire novel wasn’t supposed to revolve around Verity herself.
Her manner of death made her look weak and feasible instead of the powerful villain she portrayed throughout the entire novel.
My Take on Which Was True: The Manuscript or The Letter
It’s easy to say this was the section I was eagerly waiting for. I spent weeks debating with my friends about what is true. Finally, I came to a controversial conclusion — it doesn’t matter.
The novel should’ve ended with the end of the manuscript. Till then, all was good because I didn’t feel the urge to rip my hair out of frustration.
As I mentioned earlier, Verity’s death was the biggest disappointment of all this novel brought forward. So were the events that followed up to it.
You can come up with a million questions:
Why did Jeremy doubt Verity wasn’t comatose? If the letter is true, why didn’t Jeremy reveal he read the manuscript to Lowen before or after he made her an accomplice to murder?
Why didn’t Lowen confront Jeremy afterwards? How didn’t the Police find out Jeremy was present at the accident’s site?
Suppose the manuscript was true, and Jeremy did doubt Verity disliked Harper. How could he still gush about the first night he met her? Verity would kill for a child whom she forced herself to love just for Jeremy?
Take a moment and sit back. Did these questions rise from the cliffhanger or because it feels forced?
To me, it felt forced. The letter didn’t add anything to the plot other than make you hate all the characters even more and prove what a messy writer Colleen Hoover is.
The letter and the ending could have been better. It felt like I jumped to another book’s ending and read it to have my mind deranged. Colleen Hoover failed to connect the ending like every other novel written by her, and that just shows how much her writing and literary skills lack.
I would much rather have Lowen and Jeremy remember the house and Verity and feel the sigh of relief horror movie characters feel after escaping the haunted house in the end than be left in a state of confusion over how unrealistic and unnecessary the letter seemed.
With a book that was already leaving a lot to the imagination by providing nothing to visualize, derailing the reader’s feeling of total shock that a mother would be coldhearted enough to kill her child by adding the unrealistic letter, it felt like Hoover was trying to feed her readers information hoping they would blindly believe her.
The law or Police were in no way involved with the accident. Why didn’t the Police once doubt Jeremy through any of this?
It seems an awful lot suspicious that within a span of a few months, this man lost his twin daughters and wife and is still out there trying to earn from his wife’s name and moving on with her writer, who was present in the house during his wife’s death.
I can’t help but think how even villainizing Jeremy and Lowen would’ve been a better ending than having Lowen go from this aspiring writer to a woman who is delirious enough to believe Jeremy with the justification of how manipulative Verity was despite not knowing her at all.
I will forever hold a grudge against Colleen Hoover for demeaning her female characters, who somehow always end up as sex addicts to the point they only exist to idolize her hollow main male characters.
What Are My Ratings for Verity?
I read 27 chapters of Verity AKA the whole book. Considering how invested I was in this book; this should be an easy answer. If I wasn’t introduced to her previous work and wasn’t already aware of her lack of literary skills, I would rate this a 2.5 out of 5.
Unfortunately, I had big hopes for her not ruining this ending as well, but oh well… For that sole reason, I rate this a 3.5 out of 5.
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Verity Book Review](https://bookvibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Verity-Book.jpg)
Look, I get it was her first time exploring the world of psychological thrillers. But the fact that she came up with a plot this good shows how much potential her novels have but fail due to her ignorance and adamance to try out a new writing technique.
Another thing I didn’t enjoy about the book was how see-through Colleen Hoover became. It reflected her poor writing skills and how her mind works as a writer.
As a reader, I would much rather prefer the writer compel me to bring out my imagination than have to consistently debilitate and nitpick whether the writer meant it this way or that way.
Getting an insight into how twisted and convoluted Colleen Hoover’s psychosis is didn’t sit well with me because it took the spotlight away from scavenging how Verity’s psychopath mind worked instead.
Also, her last-ditch attempt at a cliffhanger with the letter that led to the entire ending was just disappointing. Not to forget the retarded justification of the shallow male main character, Jeremy, and the horrible main character, Lowen’s affair under his comatose wife’s roof was too abhorrent for me.
My favorite female antagonist, Verity, and the plot of this book’s back must hurt from carrying the weight of being the sole reason for my rating.
My Final Thoughts and Opinion on Verity By Colleen Hoover Summarized – Did I Like This Book?
I experienced my fair share of disappointment. Keeping my disappointments aside, I have to give my hats off to the plot because it was unreputable.
It was a breath of fresh air from Colleen Hoover’s romance novels, but I wouldn’t re-read it because, despite the plot, there is nothing that will make me go back to it.
If the ending was coherent with the rest of the plot, then I would enjoy a re-read. Till then, I’m hoping Colleen Hoover explores the world of psychological thrillers and comes up with another masterpiece plot.
Would I Recommend This Book to You?
Suppose you are unfazed by the lack of writing skills and messy execution. In that case, I recommend reading this solely for the greatness of its plot.
This is one of the best books she has to offer. Unfortunately, this is the only book she has in this genre. If you wish to explore more of her books,
I highly suggest It Ends with Us despite it being a romance novel. Because you will get the true Colleen Hoover experience when she’s in her element.
Sarah O'Connor
Writer – playwright – cannot save you from the robot apocalypse, book review: verity by colleen hoover.
NotSarahConnorWrites
January 12, 2023
“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 gets worse,” (Hoover 31).
Things aren’t looking good for Lowen Ashleigh. Her mother died a few months before, her books aren’t selling, and she’s about to be evicted from her apartment. But after a strange meeting with her agent, Lowen learns she has been hired by Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, to finish writing the remaining books in her series after Verity is injured in an accident and unable to finish them. Lowen goes to stay in the Crawford house for a few days, looking for notes and outlines in Verity’s disorganized office, and instead finds Verity’s unfinished autobiography that details the deaths of her twin daughters and other disturbing truths. Lowen knows she shouldn’t read it, but she can’t stop herself, and as she grows more disturbed by Verity’s confessions, she wonders what she should do with the manuscript, keep the truth hidden or tell Jeremy?
I have things to say, so spoiler warning because my review of Verity will spoil parts of the book. If you don’t want that skip this, and come back after you’ve read it.
This book went crazy on BookTok, so it’s been on my radar for a while. I’ve been curious about why it’s so popular, but not curious enough to actually buy it. The holds list at my library was incredibly long, so I settled for waiting until the hype (eventually, someday, maybe) died down. But then I stumbled upon an express copy at the library, it seemed fated, so I read Verity .
And, I mean, I get the hype. But it wasn’t for me.
I understand why it’s popular. There’s a lot of sex, an arguably excessive amount of sex, which I didn’t have an issue with. Was it annoying reading about how Verity worshipped her husband’s dick? Yes. However, Hoover chiefly writes in romance, so the excessive (and annoying) sex scenes make sense when you look at the genre she writes from most often. It also has a slight creepy factor to it that attempts to make it an almost modern Gothic. Attempts to, but ultimately fails at.
And that’s the thing about Verity , it tries to be a thriller, it tries to be a horror story, it tries to be a creepy mystery but it only slightly hits the mark on all these things. It has a (literally) killer opening line, and some quotable parts (like the quote I shared above) but ultimately doesn’t achieve anything it sets out to do. Lowen and Jeremy are flat characters. While Hoover builds a lot of mystery around Lowen, her upbringing, and the death of her mother, there’s no big revelation about why she is the way she is, why she’s such a loner and seems to have an overall dislike of people. We don’t even know anything about the books she writes, only that they’re similar to Verity’s and we know the title of her first one (Open Window, I think?). And while I loved Jeremy’s quote about being a “Chronic” (a person who has and continues to experience many tragedies in their lives, which I sadly relate too) Jeremy doesn’t read like a person who has experienced tragedy, grief, or trauma. This is a man who within a year has had his twin daughters die and his wife attempt suicide and end up in a brain dead state. While I understand the “resilience” of keeping things normal for his five-year-old son, it isn’t realistic. Even the best of parents fall apart, and after that much trauma in such a short amount of time Jeremy shouldn’t be as well adjusted as he is. It just isn’t realistic.
And the letter.
Warning again, because here come the big spoilers. Also spoilers for Gone Girl if you somehow don’t know anything about that.
The letter is, arguably, what people talk about most in their love of Verity , and what the entire novel hinges on to make it memorable. Nine months after Verity’s death, a heavily pregnant Lowen goes with Jeremy and Crew to finish getting rid of the things in the old house as they move on with their lives. In Verity’s room, Lowen finds a VERY long letter in which Verity reveals that the autobiography Lowen found was actually a writing exercise encouraged by her agent to get into the deranged headspace of her protagonists. Verity explains that Jeremy found the manuscript and attempted to kill her, put her in the car and in the accident making it look like she was trying to kill herself as she implied she would in the endinfg of her manuscript. Lowen destroys the letter, disturbed that she and Jeremy are complicit in killing Verity who was never evil but an innocent woman. Or was she? Lowen acknowledges that all they have are Verity’s words, that the letter could be just as fake as she’s claiming the manuscript was and so we will never know.
And it just isn’t done well.
There are many books that have pulled this twist off excellently, the first that comes to mind being Gone Girl . I remember when I first read that book and how completely shocked I was by the revelation that Amy was alive and that her journal was fabricated. Flynn did that well and completely subverted my expectations from what was going to happen. But Hoover doesn’t succeed in this. For one thing, the letter is way too long. Even though Verity explains she wrote it when Jeremy and Lowen first had sex and she locked them in the master bedroom, it’s still a lengthy letter.
One of the main themes that gets repeated by Lowen at the beginning of Verity is how an author is not their words, how she is mistaken for being a worse person than she is because of the books she writes and that the voice she writes in isn’t who she is as a person. Hoover did this intentionally so that when we read Verity’s manuscript, reader’s are supposed to think like Lowen that that is who Verity is, especially because what she’s reading is an apparent autobiography. And then of course the letter, which is supposed to turn that on it’s head and bring about the theme of writing vs writer and how we only ever had Verity’s words, we have no idea who she was as a person. I get it . But Hoover just doesn’t do this well.
I understand why Verity is popular, but this story has been told in much better books by more experienced authors to the genre. Needless to say, I am not going to be joining Colleen Hoover’s CoHorts.
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Last Thoughts and Spoilers:
- Make fun of me if you want, but I don’t think biting a headboard during sex is sexy. I sort of understand what Hoover was going for, but all I could think was what if you broke your tooth on the headboard. Dentists are expensive and not everyone has coverage!
- Lowen and Crew eating peanut butter crackers was a very small part of the book, but I thought the inclusion of peanut butter was weird. I get that your anaphylactic peanut allergy daughter is dead, but she literally DIED because of her allergy! I wouldn’t want peanuts/peanut butter ANYWHERE near me if that happened, talk about a trigger!
- I feel like Hoover was trying to set up that Lowen killed her mother by faking that she asphyxiated herself. There were some hints that her and her mother’s relationship was bad, and the suggestion of it when killing Verity seemed like Hoover was implying something that was just never revealed. I like when things are vague, but they have to be vague to a point where audiences can piece together what the author is laying out, and Hoover doesn’t do that.
- What kind of freaking name is Chastin?
- I was going to make fun of the name Lowen too but then I remembered it was used in The Simpsons and my friends younger sister is named Lowen, so it didn’t seem fair.
![book review of verity by colleen hoover 59344312._SY475_](https://notsarahconnorwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/59344312._sy475_.jpg?w=1280)
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.
One thought on “ Book Review: Verity by Colleen Hoover ”
The Book “Verity” was interesting, didn’t know at first who was planning to kill Verity . Would read Colleen Hoovers Books again C. Meade
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Book Review: Verity By Colleen Hoover
- by Sam Howard
A bedridden author, tragedies too many to count, a manuscript too appalling to be true, and a horrible suspicion that this author is not what she seems to be…
My first read of Verity by Colleen Hoover left me so dumbstruck I actually had to read it a second time to write this review. The second read didn’t make it any easier though; the book is full of unspeakable acts, lies, and convincing prose that I’m still not sure what to believe. But one thing is certain: this bone-chilling book is not for the faint of heart.
So if you think you’re ready for it, let’s dive right into ‘Verity.’
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Content Warnings
Verity contains dark and mature themes like murder, manipulation, and child abuse, so this book isn’t appropriate at all for anyone sensitive to these topics. Make sure to read the content warnings before you pick up the book, because even though you could handle serious themes, Colleen Hoover gets graphic and descriptive with her writing, and it can be difficult to get through some scenes.
And I know a lot of teens love CoHo books, but this is one book of hers that I don’t recommend to young readers.
Verity Plot Summary
Lowen Ashleigh, the ghostwriter hired to complete the prolific author Verity Crawford’s work, discovers a horrifying truth – an autobiographical manuscript written by Verity, detailing her innermost thoughts and how she dealt with (and caused) the tragedies that befell the Crawford family. Now bedridden, Verity seems harmless and lost to the world, but Lowen can’t shake off the awareness that Verity is very much conscious and is hiding something more.
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
Verity opens with a blood-spattered ‘meet-cute’; Lowen is witness to a brutal car accident and Jeremy lends her a shirt to replace her own bloodied one. Only when they part ways but head into the same building do they realize they are scheduled for the same meeting.
Jeremy is here to find a writer to continue his wife’s work as she’s incapacitated after a car wreck. Lowen is struggling to make ends meet, so despite her initial hesitance at taking over for a bestselling author, she signs the contract and drives herself to the Crawford home in Vermont.
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.
The house doesn’t help. Colleen Hoover sets the scene with sharp attention to detail, capturing the endless estate, the eerie stillness of the lake that spans the massive house, and the gloomy hills beyond. Chills ran down my spine when Lowen said:
“My mother used to say that houses have a soul, and if that is true, the soul of Verity Crawford’s house is as dark as they come.” – Lowen, Chapter 4
I couldn’t help thinking it’s a premonition, and true enough, Lowen discovers Verity’s manuscript soon after and we discover it’s not just the soul of the house that’s dark.
The infamous manuscript captures Verity’s perspective of her life, her connection to Jeremy, her motivations for her children – and it’s horrifying to the level of disgust. But then again, we were warned this would happen:
“What you read will taste so bad at times, you’ll want to spit it out, but you’ll swallow these words and they will become part of you, part of your gut, and you will hurt because of them.” – Verity, Author Note on her manuscript
Told in alternating chapters, Lowen’s account of the present and Verity’s account of the events leading up to the present paint a dark, uncomfortable picture of their intermingled narratives. But the discomfort a reader may feel is second to the intrigue that Hoover’s skillful writing evokes.
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.
It’s as twisted as twisted can be – more so because Verity’s presence is no longer confined to the past. To Lowen’s horror, Verity seems to be very much aware and not so immobilized. Verity’s eyes follow Lowen at times, Verity’s son waves at his mother who was standing at the window, and Lowen’s startled by Verity’s appearance at the top of the stairs when she and Jeremy are having sex.
The drastic turns in the manuscript get darker at every chapter Lowen (and we) read; Verity attempting to smother her daughter was so evil and heartless to read that I almost DNFed the book. But my bone-deep need to get to the end of the book kept me going so I read through every dark twist and every evil turn, only to be blindsided by the absolutely unhinged ending. Let me ask you, Ms. Hoover, who gave you the right to end this dizzying, mind-numbing story with another mystery?
The book ends with a letter, written by present-day Verity, making us question everything, I mean everything , we read about so far. The letter makes us doubt the manuscript, Jeremy’s integrity, and even the death of a child, and we readers do NOT get the resolution we are after. Instead, we are left with disbelief and then awe at how masterfully Hoover has crafted a story so engrossing and impactful that it leaves readers dumbfounded and arguing in online forums over one question: “Which truth was she manipulating?”
Before I end up turning it over and over to figure out which truth is the actual truth, I’d like to point out that I loved this book. True, I disliked almost every character in the book, hated some of their decisions even more, and the atrocities in the book were too dark and too intense to call it a pleasant read. Even with all that, I can never deny that this a masterclass in writing a confounding psychological thriller, because as dark and intense as the book is, it’s also wildly gripping and addictive from the moment it starts until the very end.
I couldn’t get on board with a couple of things though. The depiction of sex, especially from Verity’s POV, was crude and manipulative and although it helped characterize the sexual power play, it eventually came to a point where it was too frequent and I couldn’t figure out the value it was adding to the narrative. The other thing is more a sentimental opinion than a criticism – I wish I didn’t have to read about a mother plotting and murdering her own child. It’s fiction, I know, but it was difficult seeing explicit details of that on page.
So that personal peeve aside, I liked the thrilling, mind-bending ride this book took me on. Honestly, it made me wish Colleen Hoover wrote more thrillers because she clearly has the writing chops to create tough-to-love characters in an atmospheric novel of horrific proportions.
If you want to see for yourself how she took the darkest evils a human can commit and wrote them all into a riveting psychological thriller, pick up ‘Verity’ today. It will leave you screaming internally and pulling your hair out – perfect criteria for a read during the spooky season.
Who Should Read Verity
Fans of dark thrillers, psychological thrillers, and gothic horror would find Verity right up their alley because the book has elements coming from each genre to create a bestselling masterpiece.
If you’re a CoHo fan familiar with her romance books, you really shouldn’t miss out on this book because it will show you a different side of her writing with this book.
Other Books Like Verity
If you loved ‘Verity’ and want to read similar books, I have a couple of recs for you.
No products found. 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.
No products found. , about a journalist trying to connect a murder that happened 25 years ago to a kidnapping that happens in the present, is similar to Verity in that it’s gripping and completely addictive. Check out my review of All Good People Here !
Final Thoughts
‘ No products found. ’ is a book you can read in one sitting because Colleen Hoover makes the twists so dark and thrilling that you have to know what’s coming next, so despite the gray characters and grayer actions they take, you can only keep going. But finishing the book doesn’t necessarily give you answers. I’m left with my head buzzing even after the second read, so tell me, are you team letter, team manuscript, or do you think Jeremy masterminded everything?
Yes, ‘Verity’ is a psychological thriller with a lot of suspense and dark turns, making for an intense reading experience.
This book is recommended for 18 years and above because of its extremely dark themes.
Verity captures child abuse and manipulation which can come under domestic violence, but it doesn’t necessarily feature spousal abuse or physical violence.
Yes, ‘Verity’ has a lot of explicit spicy scenes, occurring between Verity and Jeremy, and Lowen and Jeremy.
At the language level, yes, ‘Verity’ is an easy read. However, the heavily dark themes explored in the book can make it difficult to read for some people.
Yes, ‘Verity’ follows the passion and marriage between Verity and Jeremy, and the romance between Lowen and Jeremy.
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– Entertainment Analysis and Reviews
“Verity” by Colleen Hoover: A Gripping Psychological Thriller
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Verity by Colleen Hoover](https://explainedthis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Verity-by-Colleen-Hoover-870x400.webp)
“Colleen Hoover’s ‘Verity’ is a psychological thriller that is both disturbing and captivating. The novel follows the story of Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer who is hired to complete the remaining books in a popular series after the original author, Verity Crawford, is left unable to finish them due to a car accident. As Lowen delves deeper into Verity’s notes and research, she discovers a dark and twisted world that challenges her perception of reality.
The novel explores several themes such as betrayal, mental illness, obsession, manipulation, and the power of storytelling. It also employs a variety of narrative techniques to build tension and create an atmosphere of suspense. ‘Verity’ has received critical acclaim for its gripping plot and well-drawn characters. However, it has also sparked controversy due to its graphic content and depictions of violence.
In this article, we will delve deeper into the world of ‘Verity’ by examining its themes, motifs, and narrative techniques. We will also explore the reception and criticism that the novel has received, as well as its potential impact and implications for the future of the psychological thriller genre. Ultimately, we hope to shed light on why ‘Verity’ is worth reading and discussing in greater detail.”
Verity book summary
Themes and meaning in “verity” by colleen hoover:, reception of “verity” by colleen hoover, analysis of verity, verity ending explained.
Verity tells the story of Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer who is hired to complete the bestselling book series of Verity Crawford, a well-known author who has been left unable to finish the series after a car accident. Lowen is introduced to the Crawford family, where she discovers a manuscript that Verity has written detailing her darkest thoughts and secrets. As Lowen reads through the manuscript, she realizes that there is more to Verity’s life than what she had previously thought.
The novel is set in an isolated mansion in the countryside of Vermont and explores the complicated relationships between Lowen, Jeremy Crawford, and Verity. Throughout the story, the reader is exposed to the different layers of secrets, lies, and manipulations that the characters keep hidden from each other. As the plot unfolds, the tension rises, and the reader is left wondering what will happen next.
Some key characters in the novel include:
- Lowen Ashleigh: A struggling writer who is hired to complete the bestselling book series of Verity Crawford.
- Verity Crawford: A well-known author who has been left unable to finish the series after a car accident.
- Jeremy Crawford: Verity’s husband and a successful author himself.
![book review of verity by colleen hoover Colleen Hoover Author of verity](https://explainedthis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ColleenHoover_Author-300x150.webp)
Verity is a novel that explores several complex themes and motifs. These include:
- Betrayal: Betrayal is a central theme in Verity. Throughout the novel, the characters experience various forms of betrayal, including lies, deceit, and infidelity. The novel highlights the consequences of betrayal and how it can impact relationships.
- Mental illness: Mental illness is another significant theme in Verity. The character of Verity suffers from severe mental illness, and the novel portrays the consequences of not seeking help for mental health issues. The book raises awareness about the importance of mental health care and treatment.
- Obsession: Obsession is another key theme in Verity. The novel explores how obsession can lead to destructive behavior and how it can cloud one’s judgment. The character of Verity is obsessed with her husband Jeremy, and this obsession drives her to do unspeakable things.
- Writing and storytelling: Writing and storytelling are essential motifs in Verity. The novel explores the power of storytelling and how it can be used to manipulate and deceive others. It also highlights the importance of writing as a means of expression and healing.
- Manipulation: Manipulation is a pervasive theme in Verity. The novel explores how people can use manipulation to get what they want and how it can lead to disastrous consequences. It also examines the consequences of being manipulated and the impact it can have on one’s mental health.
In summary, Verity is a novel that explores complex themes and motifs that are relevant to our lives. Through its exploration of betrayal, mental illness, obsession, writing and storytelling, and manipulation, the novel provides a thought-provoking and engaging reading experience.
“Verity has received critical acclaim since its publication in 2018. Here are some examples of what critics and readers have had to say about the novel:
- Suspenseful and Gripping: Many reviewers have praised Verity for its suspenseful and gripping plot. The novel’s complex characters and unpredictable twists keep readers engaged until the very end.
- Disturbing Content: Verity has also received criticism for its graphic content and depictions of violence. Some readers have found the novel too disturbing to read and have criticized it for its use of graphic language and descriptions.
- Compelling Characters: One of the strengths of Verity is its well-drawn characters. The novel’s protagonist, Lowen Ashleigh, is a relatable and sympathetic character, while Verity Crawford is a fascinating and complex antagonist.
- Unpredictable Plot: Another strength of Verity is its unpredictable plot. The novel’s twists and turns keep readers guessing until the very end.
![book review of verity by colleen hoover verity meaning](https://explainedthis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/verity-meaning-300x187.webp)
Character Analysis
- Lowen Ashleigh: As the protagonist of Verity, Lowen Ashleigh is a critical character to analyze. The novel follows her journey from struggling writer to uncovering the secrets of the Crawford family. We can analyze Lowen’s motivations, emotions, and character development throughout the novel.
- Verity Crawford: Verity is a complex character with a traumatic past and severe mental illness. We can analyze her motivations and how her mental illness impacts her behavior.
- Jeremy Crawford: Jeremy is a successful author and Verity’s husband. We can analyze his role in the novel and how he contributes to the plot.
Narrative Techniques
- Use of Multiple Perspectives: Verity is written from the perspectives of both Lowen and Verity, which adds complexity to the plot and allows the reader to see different sides of the story.
- Flashbacks and Memories: The novel incorporates flashbacks and memories to provide insight into the characters’ pasts and motivations.
- Use of Imagery: Colleen Hoover uses vivid and descriptive imagery throughout the novel to create a suspenseful and engaging atmosphere.
- The Manuscript: The manuscript that Lowen discovers is a significant symbol in the novel. It represents the power of storytelling and the consequences of keeping secrets.
- The House: The isolated mansion in which the novel is set represents the characters’ isolation and emotional detachment.
- The Bird: The bird that appears in the novel symbolizes freedom and the characters’ desire to escape their situations.
In summary, analyzing the characters, narrative techniques, and symbolism in Verity can provide a deeper understanding of the novel’s themes and plot. Through examining Lowen, Verity, and Jeremy’s motivations, the use of multiple perspectives and imagery, and the symbolism of the manuscript, house, and bird, readers can gain a more nuanced understanding of Colleen Hoover’s thriller.
SPOILER ALERT – If you haven’t read the book and don’t want to know the ending, please do not read any further.
![book review of verity by colleen hoover verity book](https://explainedthis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/verity-book-195x300.webp)
In a chilling confession, Jeremy reveals that he has been manipulating Verity and the events in the house for years. He admits to causing the death of their children and attempting to murder Verity in order to keep her silent. The reader is left with the unsettling feeling that nothing is as it seems and that the true horror of the Crawford household goes much deeper than they could have imagined.
The ending of “Verity” is a masterful twist that takes the reader by surprise. It is a testament to Colleen Hoover’s skill as a writer that she is able to create such a complex and suspenseful story with a twist ending that is both satisfying and unsettling. While some readers may find the ending disturbing or unsatisfying, it is a bold choice that cements “Verity” as a standout novel in the psychological thriller genre.
“Verity” by Colleen Hoover is a gripping psychological thriller novel that explores the themes of truth, betrayal, and the power of storytelling. The book combines elements of suspense, mystery, and psychological manipulation to create a dark and twisty story that keeps readers on edge.
The characters in “Verity” are well-developed, with complex motivations and psychological profiles that add depth to the story. The novel’s narrative techniques, such as the use of multiple perspectives and the incorporation of Verity’s manuscript, add to the sense of mystery and suspense.
Symbolism is also an important aspect of the novel, particularly in the use of the moth as a recurring motif that represents the characters’ obsession with death and destruction. The author’s use of vivid descriptions and sensory details further enhances the reader’s immersion in the story.
The ending of “Verity” is a shocking and unexpected twist that reveals the true villain behind the tragic events in the Crawford household. It is a bold choice that cements the novel’s status as a standout in the psychological thriller genre, but it may be disturbing or unsatisfying for some readers.
What is the book Verity about?
"Verity" by Colleen Hoover is a psychological thriller novel that follows the story of Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer who is hired to complete the remaining books in a popular series written by bestselling author Verity Crawford. Lowen travels to the Crawford household to go through Verity's notes and outlines for the series, and while searching through Verity's office, she discovers a manuscript that was never intended for anyone else to read.
As Lowen reads through the manuscript, she discovers horrifying secrets about the Crawford family and the true nature of Verity's character. The manuscript details a disturbing and twisted story about Verity and her husband Jeremy, and as Lowen becomes more entangled in the secrets of the Crawford household, she realizes that the lines between fiction and reality are blurred.
What type of book is Verity?
"Verity" by Colleen Hoover is a psychological thriller novel that combines elements of suspense, mystery, and psychological manipulation to create a dark and twisty story that keeps readers on edge. The book explores themes of truth, betrayal, and the power of storytelling in a way that is both gripping and thought-provoking.
What happens at the end of Verity?
In the final pages of "Verity," a shocking and unexpected twist is revealed that leaves readers reeling. Throughout the novel, the reader is led to believe that Verity Crawford is a cruel and manipulative character who is responsible for the tragic events that have occurred in the Crawford household. However, in the end, it is revealed that Verity's husband, Jeremy, is the true villain.
In a chilling confession, Jeremy admits to manipulating Verity and the events in the house for years. He admits to causing the death of their children and attempting to murder Verity to keep her silent. The reader is left with the unsettling feeling that nothing is as it seems, and the true horror of the Crawford household goes much deeper than they could have imagined.
The ending of "Verity" is a masterful twist that takes the reader by surprise. It is a bold choice that cements "Verity" as a standout novel in the psychological thriller genre. However, some readers may find the ending disturbing or unsatisfying.
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Verity Review: Creepy, captivating psychological thriller that will keep you up at night
July 7, 2022 by Jeann @ Happy Indulgence | 4 stars , Books , Reviews
![Verity Review: Creepy, captivating psychological thriller that will keep you up at night Verity Review: Creepy, captivating psychological thriller that will keep you up at night](https://i0.wp.com/www.happyindulgencebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/59344312._SX315_.jpg?resize=220%2C0)
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.
It’s been 24 hours since I finished this book and I’m still completely shaken up by it – Verity has certainly left a lasting impression! This is definitely not a book for the faint hearted, it’s twisted, featuring fucked up characters and situations that are just completely messed up.
Unlike Colleen Hoover’s other books, Verity is definitely not a romance. It’s a dark and disturbing, twisted book featuring graphic depictions of abuse, so definitely pay heed to the trigger warnings before picking it up.
Verity follows Lowen, a writer who has been hired to take over the series of a famous author of thrillers, Verity Crawford. As she’s moved into Verity’s home to conduct research for the bestselling series, she stumbles upon what appears to be Verity’s autobiography.
Not only is the autobiography completely captivating – as it features many sex scenes about Jeremy, Verity’s handsome and charming husband, but it also gets more and more twisted as it goes along. We are given chapter extracts of the autobiography ourselves – and we learn of a sickening, twisted mind of a psychopath – who despises some of her children and who is sex-crazed and obsessed with her husband.
![book review of verity by colleen hoover](https://i0.wp.com/www.happyindulgencebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/verity-review.jpg?resize=700%2C468)
Lowen is absolutely creeped out by Verity, who is currently in care of a nurse due to her comatose condition. Things start happening which doesn’t match up to what she’s told and believes, but is it just her anxious mind playing tricks on her?
Reading Verity was a rollercoaster ride, especially told from the perspective of Lowen. We don’t know whether what she’s experiencing is the truth, or whether things are just in her imagination. Lowen isn’t the smartest heroine, despite being a writer and successor of Verity’s series. She’s naive, instantly falls in love with Jeremy, and doesn’t question things as much as she does. Her character was believable though, as a young, struggling writer who is suddenly offered a great job and a place to stay from a handsome man.
Speaking of the handsome man, Jeremy is depicted as an attractive, kind and caring father and loving husband. Verity is absolutely obsessed with him, and soon Lowen starts falling for him as well. I’m not completely convinced of his perfection and there were a few hinky things that I was left wondering about at the end. But a lot of it is left open to interpretation.
Then there’s Verity, the compelling, sickening woman who has written a manuscript so shocking, that you can’t help but despise her. The Verity that we get to know in the manuscript is a horrifying psychopath. We don’t know whether this matches up with the Verity who is in a coma – she can’t move or talk.
However, that’s a big element of what makes Verity a captivating experience – as she reads from Verity’s autobiography, we don’t know what to believe.
As you can tell, I really enjoyed this dark and disturbing journey tale, despite every single character here being messed up.
![book review of verity by colleen hoover](https://i0.wp.com/www.happyindulgencebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/epilogue.png?resize=190%2C66)
Verity is a captivating psychological thriller that will have you questioning everything you’ve believed when you read the very last page. There’s just enough clues to leave reasonable doubt in our minds about what really happened in the book – whether Verity’s dark manuscript is fact or fiction. We’re left with an open ending that shakes everything up, leaving us thinking about these characters long after it ends.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
![book review of verity by colleen hoover](https://i0.wp.com/www.happyindulgencebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/50px-powerstarsmg1.png?resize=36%2C35)
Trigger warnings: child abuse, attempted murder/murder, self-harm, grief
Verity is available from Australian bookstores for RRP$22.99 or from The Book Depository .
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Book Review: Verity by Colleen Hoover
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Colleen Hoover is one of the most talked about authors on social media lately. She has been in the controversy for a long time.
However, people cannot deny the fact that initially, the audience loved her and created enough hype for her books.
I am an avid reader, and I love to explore different books and share their reviews with other book lovers like me.
I have read a few of her books, and to be honest, I liked some of them. The book ‘It Ends With Us’ was really good. I know some of you might have different opinions about this book.
She mostly writes contemporary romance, but one of her books, Verity, is a psychological thriller with added suspense and romance. Today, I will be sharing my review of this book.
I have added a brief description of the book; you can check it out; otherwise, jump directly to my review. The review is spoiler-free!
Stay with me to read my Verity Book Review.
Overview of the Book ‘Verity’ by Colleen Hoover
The book starts with a blood-splattering incident where the main protagonist, Lowen Ashleigh, is soaked in blood after a truck hits a person on the road. A man named Jeremy Crawford helps her with the situation.
Lowen is a struggling writer who is facing a financial crisis. She was going to the publisher’s office when the accident happened. After arriving at the office, she is offered an opportunity that can solve her financial concerns.
At the office, she is introduced to Jeremy Crawford again as the husband of Verity Crawford, a famous author. Due to an accident, Verity is not in the condition to finish the book series she was writing.
Jeremy is there to ask Lowen to complete the series in place of Verity as a ghostwriter assistant. He offers a good sum in return, which tempts Lowen to accept the deal.
To understand Verity and her writing process, Lowen agrees to stay at their house for a while. Once reached, she sees the bedridden Verity, paralyzed and mute.
Lowen starts working in Verity’s office and accidentally finds a manuscript, an autobiography of Verity. She starts reading the manuscript and learns many disturbing things about Verity.
She was shocked reading the raw, sick, and dark thoughts of Verity and how she ruined the family. The story starts to unfold, with lots of twists, turns, and drama, and ends in a situation that leaves the readers baffled.
It’s up to the readers what conclusion they want the story to have.
My Review of Verity
Overall : 4.5/5
I didn’t expect a book like this from Colleen Hoover . The author, who mostly writes contemporary romance, just jumped into a thriller genre and, on top of that, wrote a book like Verity.
Hmmm, surprising, right?
I have read a few of CoHo’s books, and Verity is one among them. I was skeptical to start, but the opening line literally hooked me!
This is how the first chapter starts:
“I hear the crack of his skull before the spattering of blood reaches me.”
Now, you cannot put down the book after reading this line. The book is creepy, scary, disgusting, and horrible. Yes, scenes of this book will make you feel nauseous.
The protagonist, Verity, is a weird, unusual, and sick-minded woman who is obsessed with her husband.
She gets jealous of her own children being close to Jeremy (Verity’s husband). Like HELLO! Woman, are you out of your mind? They are your children, he is the father, and most importantly, you are the MOTHER!
And trust me when I say she did awful things throughout the book. I hate the lady so much!
Lowen was another character in the book who felt forced. She was only existing to read the manuscript of Verity; there was no other motive behind her existence.
Her chemistry with Jeremy was not that good. It was like two sad and lonely people got together because no one else was around.
The author did a great job with the writing because she made us feel nauseated, evoked the strong emotion of hate for the character, and kept us on the edge of our seats.
I needed breathers in between the book to process the scenes. Two or three times, I was on the verge of dropping the book; I almost gave up, but the urge to know what would happen next kept me going.
So, yes, the book was gross and eerie but mysterious enough to hook you from the beginning.
When it comes to genre, it was a combination of thriller, romance, and suspense. As you know, it’s hard to put Colleen’s books in one particular genre.
Overall, it was a good read. I know there are better books with this kind of mystery, but this one will also be worth your time. Yeah, maybe it’s not for everyone, though.
You will only know once you give it a try!
Colleen Hoover’s books have mixed reviews, and the audience is divided, half appreciating her and others backlashing at her.
I hope my review gave you the clarification you needed to pick the book or not. If you are still in a dilemma, I suggest you try reading the book; if you feel it’s not for you, just drop it!
Have you read this book? Drop your review in the comments below!
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Verity Book Review ~ A Twisted Tale
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by Colleen Hoover narrated by Vanessa Johansson & Amy Landon , set in the Vermont countryside, present day
Book Rating: 4.5/5 CoHo is a mastermind and I’m officially a forever fan. I’ve often wondered about how authors of thrillers/suspense can create such intense stories. This book gives us a twisted glimpse into the mind of such a writer. This book never stalled, never tripped. It was a full speed, twisty ride until the end. I didn’t want to put it down. Verity will take everything you thought was creepy and make it seem like a children’s bedtime story. Enjoyable is not an appropriate word for this book. Disturbingly entertaining seems a more apt description. The only reason I didn’t give a full 5 stars is because I felt the romance side was missing depth. Trigger ⚠️ – intense sexual content; child abuse; As a mother, this storyline completely gutted me.
Audiobook Performance Rating: 5/5 Johansson lent sophistication to Lowen’s credulity and Landon artfully portrayed Verity’s truculent manipulation. The whole book was filled with emotion and great character definition. Both narrators were great in their roles. Well done. Definitely listen to Verity!
Book Food Rating: 3/5 Food was scarcely mentioned in this book- but that’s okay; I was too busy ingesting psycho. ha! Seriously, there were a few generic references: tacos, spaghetti. I upped the rating to a 3 because of the Chicken and Dumplings scene. It’s worth the read.
Deep Dark Chocolate Torte
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Jeremy’s Taco Bites
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Champagne Soaked Chocolate Covered Strawberries
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Verity’s Chicken & Dumplings
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Italian Love Nests
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Hi friends!! I’m Jenni, The Nerdy Gourmet. I love books and I love food. Combining the two with a splash of travel has become my passion. I am a self taught cook/baker and I believe that everyone can cook from scratch! I’m here with recipes and Nerdy Tips to help along the way. I review books, mostly ‘read’ via audio, and I create recipes inspired by the story lines. Sometimes if I am deeply moved by a story, I will travel and try my best to experience the book- and bring you along via my blog! I provide all the photographs and content for the Nerdy Gourmet (unless otherwise noted).
[…] set, try some recreations of recipes from the book, like the white soup served at Netherfield or these tea-time…
Hi Claudia! I’m so happy that you’ve reached out. Thank you so much fir the kind words and the recommendation!…
Hi Jenni, I heard your husband Greg talking about your new blog and so I thought I would check it…
It’s been awhile since I’ve made the instant pot version, I’m sorry.
I plan to make this for my book club. Great idea. Do you happen to have the directions for the…
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‘Verity’ review: This horror romance is a last ditch attempt at originality
It is bold to say, but after reading “Verity,” I feel no inclination to read another Colleen Hoover book again.
Describing the plot of this book to friends brought myself to the brink of insanity. It is comparable to a fever dream in which nothing makes sense, and the only frightening aspect is that your mind came up with it. Not only is the plot entirely implausible, but it is close to juvenile in construction. There are plot lines present that are completely unnecessary, character motivations that do not line up and just plain cringeworthy lines. The one thing we can praise Colleen for is creativity with this one.
![book review of verity by colleen hoover verity book review](https://dailyfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/Digital_Verity_Cucciniello-400x267.jpg)
The premise of the book starts with Lowen, a budding author who writes thriller novels. She is approached by an agent who then asks her to co-write the rest of an unfinished series written originally by Verity Crawford. However, instead of simply finding Verity’s old notes and outlines, Lowen discovers a manuscript for Verity’s autobiography. Things progress from there.
I want to preface my full review with the disclaimer that prior to reading this book, I liked Colleen Hoover as an author. Her book “It Ends with Us” is positively leagues above “Verity,” therefore my expectations going into this book were high. I thought fondly of Colleen’s writing, and was anything but a skeptic.
First and foremost, I must address the main character of “Verity” — Lowen. In short, she was woefully underdeveloped. Not only is her moral compass askew for an almost insubstantial reason, but it is clear most of her decisions are written to solely progress the plot.
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.
To my own disappointment however, we never get there. For essentially the entire first half of the book, we are strung along in a chase to figure out what life-altering tragedy occurred to Lowen. This event is talked up to be almost so horrific that it has undoubtedly transformed our main character. Only, it is beyond dissatisfying. Upon discovering the reason I audibly said, “That’s it?” while reading.
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.
Moreover, we have to talk about the subpar love interest of “Verity” — Jeremy. I guess I cannot blame Colleen for putting a mediocre woman with a below average man. The relationship that Jeremy presents is full of distrust blanketed by lust. Again, we are presented with the same problem of shallowness as before. There is almost an odd fixation on Jeremy as a character, and that may have been an intentional choice. However, it completely misses the mark.
This borderline obsessiveness comes off as arbitrary, seeing as Jeremy is written as a tolerable character at best. I did not think it could be done, but Jeremy quite possibly had less substance than Lowen.
Moving on, it is important that I acknowledge how much of the plot is simply just filler. For example, there are conflicts that arise due to the careless mistakes of the characters, however these issues only serve one purpose — To fill pages.
Additionally, there are multiple scenes within the book that provide no relevant information in the slightest. These scenes do not supply background information nor do they give opportunity for character development.
Overall, I gave this book two out of five stars. To be completely candid, the writing reads like something you could find on Wattpad with its nonsensical twists. The plot definitely took me by surprise purely because it is outrageous. It seems the common theme within “Verity” is that you can be sure you will be left with many questions — one of them being “What did I just read?”
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by Colleen Hoover
Publication Date: October 26, 2021 Publisher: Grand Central Publishing Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher Description
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 the night their family was forever altered. 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. Due to extremely mature content, this book is recommended for readers 18+. Sensitive topics that may be triggering to some readers include graphic death/murder, child abuse, graphic sex.
When struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh is offered the job of a lifetime, she can’t believe her luck. Verity Crawford, the famous author of a successful series, has been injured in a car accident and cannot finish the remaining books. Lowen is tasked with sorting through Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to complete the series. But what she uncovers in Verity’s chaotic office is an unpublished autobiography of Verity with bone-chilling admissions that Verity never intended for anyone to read.
As Lowen battles her own moral dilemmas, she finds herself drawn to Verity’s handsome husband, Jeremy. But as she delves deeper into the manuscript, she realizes the extent to which Verity’s words could devastate Jeremy. Torn between loyalty and self-preservation, Lowen must decide how far she will go to keep such terrible things hidden.
Colleen Hoover’s Verity is a gripping psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. The characters are complex and intriguing, and the plot is full of unexpected twists and turns. With an unreliable narrator and a complicated relationship between the main characters, this novel will have you questioning everything you thought you knew about morality and the blurred line between truth and fiction.
As Lowen delves deeper into Verity’s work, she starts to uncover dark secrets that could destroy Verity’s reputation and legacy. But as she continues to unearth the truth, she also starts to question her own moral compass and whether she is doing the right thing by keeping Verity’s secrets buried.
One of the most intriguing aspects of this novel is how it explores the fine line between love and obsession. Jeremy’s love for his injured wife is unwavering, but as Lowen spends more time with him, she starts to realize that there may be more to their relationship than meets the eye. And as Verity’s own past is revealed, it becomes clear that her love for her husband may have been just as obsessive.
Colleen Hoover’s writing is masterful, creating a unique and compelling story. The intricate plot twists and turns keep the reader engaged until the very end, and the character development is exceptional. Verity’s unfinished autobiography adds another layer of intrigue to the story, as readers are left wondering how much of it is true and how much is fiction.
In conclusion, Verity by Colleen Hoover is a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and love stories alike. It’s a wild ride that will leave you questioning everything and everyone until the final twists. So buckle up and get ready for a thrilling journey into the mind of Verity Crawford. You won’t regret it.
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About the author
Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times and International bestselling author of multiple novels and novellas.
Read more about Colleen ON HER WEBSITE
“Sublimely creepy with a true Hoover pulse.” -Tarryn Fisher, New York Times bestselling author.
“This isn’t a book, it’s a visceral experience.” -B.B. Easton, bestselling author
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Book Review: Verity by Colleen Hoover
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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ Audience: Adult romance, thriller Length: 314 pages Author: Colleen Hoover Publisher: Independently published Release Date: December 10th, 2018 Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads
BOOK SUMMARY:
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.
![book review of verity by colleen hoover](https://goodeyreads.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/copy-of-c-r1.jpg?w=258)
WHAT. DID. I. JUST. READ.
I have read the darkest book I believe I will ever read.
“I hear the crack of his skull before the spattering of blood reaches me.”
I mean, I cringed at the first sentence as the mental image ran through my head! That was only the beginning for the maliciously wicked book.
I sat there moments after finishing not knowing what I had read. I haven’t read any CoHo books in awhile, but picked this up for the different nature from her usual NA romances. AH, I am finding it hard to put this review into words.
So much happened. My heart was racing and I could only focus on finishing this (which I did in hours). That’s how intense things became. I thought I had figured out where the book was going, and I thought I was right, until I got to the ending. I love unreliable characters making morally iffy choices.
Whoa. If you have anything for romance thrillers, try this one out.
But please, this book is not for the faint of heart. CoHo wrote a completely unpleasant story that is a lot to take.
Overall audience notes:
- Adult romance thriller
- Language: a lot: cursing, vulgar, slurs, etc.
- Violence: physical, murder (in various forms, but don’t want to spoil!)
- Romance: a LOT of sex & very very (too much honestly) descriptive
- Trigger warnings: death of a child, death of a parent, car accident, attempting to abort, child abuse
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7 thoughts on “Book Review: Verity by Colleen Hoover”
I love Colleen Hoover, but I was a little unsure about this book because I *hate* reading about affairs. However, I love a good thriller and I love things that are a little unsettling.I might check it out. Great review:).
Like Liked by 1 person
Yes, I don’t love reading about those either! There was enough other drama happening that it didn’t feel in your face so I was able to overlook it in this case. But definitely understand.
Thank you!! 🤗
darkest book you believe you will ever read?? this already sounds intense from the synopsis and now that sentence just totally intrigues me. And then this “I love unreliable characters making morally iffy choices.” happened and i now am going to put this book on my goodreads tbr. thank you for your review!! c:
Yes 😱. I normally don’t seek out “dark” books but had heard so much about this I tried it! And thank you so much!! 🤗
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Wasn’t expecting to love this much, best book yet, read this in one day, hooked but not shocked, unexpectedly addicting, save yourself, couldn’t put it down, excellent book, disturbingly good, love love love, very entertaining an easy read, great read, making thriller romance my new obsession, this might be one of my favorite books i’ve ever read, very hyped book, finished in two days - had me so hooked, loved this book, could not put it down, great book, finished in less then a day, verity i could not put this book down. i read itvin 48 hrs and was sad it was over the ending was, page turner, it was okay, until it wasn’t., please don't fall for the tiktok hype., my first, but not last, colleen hoover read, grabs you immediately and doesn't let you go fantastic read, the suspense is riveting, should have a warning., minority opinion perhaps, couldn't put it down, has everything you want in a mystery novel- love it, will read again, wow just wow, you’ll have a book hangover after this one, best book i’ve read in a while., couldn’t put it down, a book to devour, crazy good read, absolutely amazing, insane but fantastic, sucks you right in., twist and turns. disturbing thriller thy will have you wondering what’s next., do yourself a favor and read this book, amazing read, mind blowing, verity mentions in our blog.
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Adapted from the Colleen Hoover novel, Lily overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life. A chance meeting with a neurosurgeon sparks a connection but Lily begins to see sides of ... Read all Adapted from the Colleen Hoover novel, Lily overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life. A chance meeting with a neurosurgeon sparks a connection but Lily begins to see sides of him that remind her of her parents' relationship. Adapted from the Colleen Hoover novel, Lily overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life. A chance meeting with a neurosurgeon sparks a connection but Lily begins to see sides of him that remind her of her parents' relationship.
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COMMENTS
Book review, full book summary and synopsis for Verity by Colleen Hoover, a thriller-slash-romance novel about a write who is offered a dream job.
Verity by Colleen Hoover is a mind-bending psychological thriller that had me hooked from start to finish. I remember picking it up on a whim after seeing so much buzz about it online, and I'm so glad I did. From the twisted plot to the complex characters, this book kept me guessing and left me questioning everything I thought I knew.
"Verity," Colleen Hoover's best-selling thriller, is prompting heated debate about what exactly the ending means.
Verity has its fans and its detractors. Where did I come out on this romantic suspense? Check out my review of Verity by Colleen Hoover!
Thinking of reading Verity but not sure if it's right for you? Here is our complete and honest book review of Verity by Colleen Hoover!
Colleen Hoover's 'Verity' is something a little different from the best-selling author as it contains plenty of mystery and suspense.
The Full Book Recap and Chapter-by-Chapter Summary for Verity by Colleen Hoover are below.
Verity by Colleen Hoover captures your interest and doesn't let go. Even long after I've completed the novel, I find myself going back to the final twists and reveals just replaying everything in my mind.
murder, attempted murder, abortion, choking, grief, car crashes, severe injury, self-harm, child. death, cheating, and sexual content. The book is about a struggling author, Lowen, who gets. offered the job of a lifetime: finishing famous author Verity's popular book series because Verity. got severely injured after an accident.
Romantic Thrillers Are Fun, Wouldn't You Agree? Even More So When It Comes to Books by Colleen Hoover. We Present You, Verity by Colleen Hoover Review!
Book Review: Verity by Colleen Hoover. "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 gets worse," (Hoover 31). Things aren't looking good for Lowen Ashleigh.
At times too horrific to read, Verity by Colleen Hoover is a gripping take on authorship and the capacity for evil in one's own family. Check out my review now!
"Verity" by Colleen Hoover is a gripping psychological thriller novel that explores the themes of truth, betrayal, and the power of storytelling. The book combines elements of suspense, mystery, and psychological manipulation to create a dark and twisty story that keeps readers on edge.
Unlike Colleen Hoover's other books, Verity is definitely not a romance. It's a dark and disturbing, twisted book featuring graphic depictions of abuse, so definitely pay heed to the trigger warnings before picking it up.
Are you wondering if the book 'Verity' by Colleen Hoover is worth reading? Check out my Verity Book Review, and decide for yourself.
by Colleen Hoover narrated by Vanessa Johansson & Amy Landon , set in the Vermont countryside, present day Book Rating: 4.5/5CoHo is a mastermind and I'm officially a forever fan. I've often wondered about how authors of thrillers/suspense can create such intense stories. This book gives us a twisted glimpse into the mind of such a writer. This book never stalled, never tripped. It was a ...
I want to preface my full review with the disclaimer that prior to reading this book, I liked Colleen Hoover as an author. Her book "It Ends with Us" is positively leagues above "Verity," therefore my expectations going into this book were high. I thought fondly of Colleen's writing, and was anything but a skeptic.
Colleen Hoover's Verity is a gripping psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. The characters are complex and intriguing, and the plot is full of unexpected twists and turns. With an unreliable narrator and a complicated relationship between the main characters, this novel will have you ...
Book Review: Verity by Colleen Hoover. Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ Audience: Adult romance, thriller Length: 314 pages Author: Colleen Hoover Publisher: Independently published Release Date: December 10th, 2018 Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads. Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of ...
Buy a cheap copy of Verity book by Colleen Hoover. 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... Free Shipping on all orders over $15.
Colleen Hoover (born Margaret Colleen Fennell; December 11, ... Slammed was reviewed and given five stars by book blogger Maryse Black, and afterward, sales rapidly rocketed for Hoover's first two books. ... Verity (#2) Works. Books. It Ends with Us series.
It Ends with Us is a romance novel by Colleen Hoover, published by Atria Books on August 2, 2016. Based on the relationship between her mother and father, Hoover described it as "the hardest book I've ever written." As of 2019, the novel had sold over one million copies worldwide and been translated into over twenty languages.
It Ends with Us: Directed by Justin Baldoni. With Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Jenny Slate, Brandon Sklenar. Adapted from the Colleen Hoover novel, Lily overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life. A chance meeting with a neurosurgeon sparks a connection but Lily begins to see sides of him that remind her of her parents' relationship.
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