Like many of you, I
don't even know where to begin with this book, unless you're a Goodreads
reviewer, in which case, you have a lot to say and most of it consists of,
"Are you kidding me?!" Verity, by Colleen Hoover - or CoHo, as she is
so lovingly dubbed by her loyal and extensive fan-base - is...a book. Is it a
good book? No, I definitely wouldn't call it a "good book." It's
a...book...that you will...read. And then you'll go, "Huh." Lowen Ashleigh -
let's just take in that name for a moment - is a struggling writer with zero
money but has just been offered the job of a lifetime: completing the highly
popular, and highly successful, series of novels for the now-incapacitated
author, Verity Crawford. The only problem - or bonus - is that she will be
doing most of her work in the home that Verity shares with her husband, Jeremy,
who Lowen quickly develops feelings for (of course). Then Lowen stumbles upon a
manuscript, an autobiography that was never meant to be read, and quickly gets
sucked into a dark world of sex and manipulation and violence.
This book
definitely gets you hooked right from the first sentence, and keeps you hooked
so you're able to get through some truly triggering scenes. It's gripping and
intense, an undeniable, character-driven, page-turner, with a hint of eroticism
that has a tendency to lean towards the ridiculous, and can be kind of foul.
Verity is a book you either love or you hate, with an ending that you will
either think is genius or too easy, but it's definitely an ending worth reading
the book for, a vast contrast from Behind Her Eyes. You will absolutely read to
find out if your assumptions about Verity are true, and I spotted a new edition
at Target that boasted a Bonus Chapter, so I am very intrigued as to what is in
that.
There is one redeeming quality to Verity and that is the writing. It is rough and not at all
elegant, and even brutal at times, which only adds to the sinister underbelly
of this story. And although Lowen isn't the most popular of characters on
Goodreads, I think she is a necessary catalyst to get the reader to form their
suspicions. From Verity, I can see how "CoHo" is a true talent, I'm
just not sure about this book. I honestly don't know how many stars to give it.
Three, I guess? I don't even know.
