Verity

Verity opens with author Lowen Ashleigh having a very bad morning. Her mother died the previous week after a year-long battle with colon cancer. Lowen had a difficult relationship with her mother -- "a direct result of my own mother being terrified of me," she relates -- but still brought her to Lowen's apartment and cared for her during the last nine months of her life. Lowen is a sleepwalker and her mother kept her fairly secluded as a child, afraid of what Lowen might be capable of doing during one of many sleepwalking episodes. Now she has left her apartment in New York City for the first time in weeks, summoned to a meeting at her publisher's office by her literary agent, Corey, with whom she was previously in an intimate relationship. Just as Lowen is waiting for a crosswalk light to change, a man steps into the street and is struck by a truck. Lowen is understandably shaken, and the man's blood is splattered on her face and white shirt.A handsome stranger escorts her into a coffee shop bathroom and literally gives her the shirt off his back. They chat briefly, and Loewn concludes that he "wants to be invisible in this city. Just like me." After all, she moved to New York to become part of the city's invisible millions of invisible residents. Her books have not sold well enough for her publisher to offer her another contract unless she agrees to promote them, something she has refused to do in the past. "I'm so awkward I'm afraid once my readers meet me in person, they'll swear off my books forever," Lowen laments. "That's why I stay home and write. I think the idea of me is better than the reality of me." But another contract was her last hope. She took time off from her writing career believing that her mother would leave her some money. Now, having lived off the advance she received after signing her prior contract, she has learned that she will receive nothing from her mother's estate. And be homeless soon, unless she receives a job offer.When Lowen arrives at her publisher's office, she is shocked to find the man whose shirt she is wearing is attending the same meeting. He is Jeremy Crawford, husband of Verity, a very successful author who is unable to complete the series of books she was writing. Lowen is being offered a flat fee of seventy-five thousand dollars per book to write the last three volumes in the series, with the first installment due in six months. Lowen is determined to turn down the offer until Jeremy informs her that he selected her because Verity read one of Lowen's books and it was among her favorites. She purportedly told Jeremy that they shared a similar writing style and Lowen was destined to be "the next big thing." Verity has been catastrophically injured in a motor vehicle accident, following the deaths of both of her daughters, Chastin and Harper, leaving Jeremy to raise their young son, Crew, alone. Lowen ultimately agrees to take on the project.Lowen makes the six-hour drive to the Crawford home in Vermont, listening to the audio version of the first book in the series en route. She is to spend time in Verity's office, reviewing the research and notes she left there in order to assess how best to approach writing the next book. Lowen meets Crew and learns that Verity's condition is extremely serious. She is in a virtually catatonic state -- uncommunicative and unable to care for herself. Caregivers spend the day in the home, with Jeremy managing at night. Lowen soon discovers that Verity's office lacks organization -- her expansive desk is strewn with stacks from end to end with papers and files, and boxes containing more documents line the walls. Clearly, the process of sorting through it all will take much longer than Lowen originally anticipated. As she begins reading Verity's second book, she realizes the "books are from the villain's point of view" and she will need "time to work myself into that mindset while writing." Jeremy claims that he has never read Verity's books because he "didn't like being inside her head."Author Colleen Hoover recounts Lowen's story via a first-person narrative, with the story really taking off as Lowen attempts to settles into the Crawford home. She is keenly observant and inquisitive about Verity's writing, as well as her family, and quickly finds herself attracted to Jeremy, who is still married to the incapacitated woman being cared for in an upstairs bedroom. Searching through Verity's office, Lowen stumbles upon a manuscript entitled "So Be It." Verity hopes it is an outline for the next book, but it is instead an autobiography drafted by Verity. Reading it is not what she has been hired to do, but she justifies her insatiable curiosity by construing her review of the manuscript as research. "I need to see how Verity's mind works to understand her as a writer." Soon she is absorbed in Verity's descriptions of meeting Jeremy, the development of their relationship and the early days of their marriage, as well as her pregnancies and motherhood. The more she reads, the more frightened of Verity Lowen becomes, especially when events she observes appear to be inconsistent with what she has been told about Verity's condition. Nonetheless, Lowen continues returning to the manuscript to better understand the Crawford family's history, and gain insight into Jeremy and Verity's marriage. But Lowen is playing a dangerous game. Verity's purported autobiography is a dark and disturbing confession of Verity's feelings, motivations, and unspeakably vile acts. Lowen believes the manuscript to be an accurate depiction of Verity's life, and concludes that it "was written by a very disturbed woman -- a woman whose house I currently inhabit."Hoover ramps up the tension as Lowen becomes entangled in a budding relationship with Jeremy, influenced heavily by what she is reading in the manuscript. Verity's revelations are horrifying, and as Lowen and Jeremy grow closer, he increasingly opens up to her, sharing details of his life with Verity about which Lowen feigns ignorance. Lowen's suspicions about the accident in which Verity was injured grow. Is Jeremy being completely honest with Lowen? Why is he willing to embark on a new relationship with Lowen when his wife, although injured, is still alive? He claims that he cannot move Verity to a care facility because Crew cannot sustain another loss. While Verity is cared for in their home, Crew can spend unlimited amounts of time at her bedside. Lowen now possesses detailed information about the deaths of Jeremy's daughters. Were their deaths really tragic accidents? Is Crew safe?Hoover's characters are both fascinating and infuriating. The story is related solely from Lowen's perspective. Her childhood was difficult because of her sleepwalking and the way it detrimentally impacted her relationship with her mother. She has achieved modest success as a writer, but because of her discomfort in social situations, her career growth has been stymied. She accepts the offer to write Verity's next three books because she desperately needs the money, but also because it is an opportunity too good to pass up. But she is confused not only by her burgeoning attraction to Jeremy, but the incongruity between what she has been told about Verity's accident and what transpires in the house. Of course, Lowen's feelings and experiences are colored by the information set forth in the manuscript. Interestingly, Hoover has said that even when she depicts Lowen reading Verity's manuscript, readers are "still not fully in Verity’s head because we’re always in Lowen’s perspective, reading something she found. When I write a book from one character’s point of view, I rarely think about the story from the other character’s perspectives. Sometimes it’s necessary for certain scenes, but with this book, it was important for me to feel the confusion and fear Lowen felt. So as the author, I had to be completely blind to what was happening from everyone else's perspectives." Still, as the story progresses, Hoover keeps readers guessing as to how gullible and vulnerable Lowen really is. She believes the manuscript is truthful and accurate, and that Jeremy is not the villain -- if, in fact there is a villain in the Crawfords' story. But could Lowen possibly be opportunistic, calculating, and willing to do anything to be with Jeremy?Jeremy is equally captivating. He is handsome, charming, successful, and by all outward appearances, a family man who has sustained unimaginable losses who has been able to soldier on only because he has a young son to raise. To be fair, although Verity's prognosis is never affirmatively established, his desire to move on with his life is understandable -- Verity sustained a serious head injury which will, in all likelihood, preclude her from resuming a fully normal life. But was his meeting with Lowen on the street just before the meeting at her publisher's office really just coincidental? Did he intend for her to find the manuscript in Verity's office? Has he been fully aware of its contents all along? About that, Hoover says, "I’m not sure because I was never in Jeremy’s head." In other words, readers can draw their own conclusions, based on the evidence Hoover does present.And what about Verity? Is she selfishly conniving and evil, as the manuscript suggests? Or is she a blameless grieving mother who was tragically injured in a horrific car accident?The manuscript provides myriad complications. Lowen debates whether she should discuss it with Jeremy. She doesn't believe he is aware of its existence or content. He claimed he never read Verity's books, after all. Lowen learns that Verity was injured when her vehicle hit a tree, but there were no skidmarks on the pavement. She concludes Verity "either fell asleep or she did it on purpose." Does it matter to Lowen which scenario is accurate? What conclusion has Jeremy drawn about the cause of the accident?Putting aside the perspective from which the story is told, no aspect of the story or the characters can be accepted at face value. Hoover includes plot twists so shocking and unnerving that Verity, originally published in 2018, continues to be one of the most-discussed psychological thrillers ever written. (There is even a Facebook discussion group devoted to the book, boasting nearly twenty-five thousand members!) The book is fast-paced, engrossing, and extremely entertaining. The story's pace gradually accelerates with each surprising development and breath-taking revelations of the truth or, perhaps, a manipulated version of the truth. The tale careens to a jaw-dropping conclusion that will keep readers thinking, discussing, and debating Hoover's extremely clever and nuanced tale, as well as her deliciously intriguing and morally ambiguous characters (who may prove themselves to be not as ambiguous as originally thought) for a very, very long time. Hoover says she "chose the ending because it’s frightening to me. It’s my biggest nightmare For the darkness in the worlds I create as a writer to somehow" intrude into her real life.Thanks to Grand Central Publishing for a copy of the book.

Trigger Warnings!! Read themThis book, seriously had my head so screwed up, I didn't even know that i could actually be reading what i was reading. Mrs. Hoover, how does your brain work like that. I still will go back and question my thinking for not only reading it, but enjoying and then changing my thoughts on the ending WEEKLY!not so famous Author (Lowen) meets handsome man (Jeremy)Jeremy is married to VERITY, very famous authorVerity was in an accident and can no longer finish her series alive, just basically not there anymore.Jeremy asks Lowen to finish it for them.Jeremy invites Lowen to his and Veritys home, to stay until she finishes the series.So lowen can get a feel for Verity and how she works and all her pasts works and notes. They are also secluded, due to being privte about veritys books.Jeremy and verity have a young son whom also lives there.Lowen goes through Veritys journals, UMMMM CRAZINESSLowen also was told Verity is basically a vegetable, but swears she has seen her roaming around or in a window while they are outside.Jeremy and Lowen begin a relationship.VERY SEXUAL!!! like 🥵😳PLOT TWIST WAS MIND BLOWING!!!! like my mind is still BLOWN and I'm not even sure what happened!

I am shocked by this book, in the best possible way. I started this book thinking "oh, a dark twist on a romance." However, I soon was led down a path with a horrifying manuscript. Reading Lowen's thoughts as she lives a life in fear, reading Verity's atrocious manuscript, growing in fear alongside Lowen, I just expected everything to be as it seemed. Of course, I knew there had to be a twist, and while I can say that I expected the twist, I only expected part of it.This book is magnificently written. I cried tears of frustration when I finished this book because my world was turned on its head and I don't know which way is up right now. That, I think, makes this book amazing.

I jumped on the bandwagon and read this book. I finished it in less than two days. I enjoyed the storyline, and I enjoyed the characters. I also loved the dark parts of the author's writing. The sinister descriptions of the scenes, and getting into the mind of the antagonist was my favorite. It has opened my eyes to the possibility of reading something darker, which surprises me about myself. I books that take me to different places in my own mind.It was a quick read, and I would reccomend.

first of all, it came in a very timely fashion. i ordered three colleen hoover books and all of them came together within three days. second, the book came in great quality and nothing was broken or damaged. lastly, the book itself was so good. i heard mixed opinions about this book from my friends and family but i bought it to give it a try. it was so good with so many plot twists and i would give anything to read it the first time again. if you like thriller books, i 200% recommend this book.

This book was a roller coaster. I was both confused, frustrated and mindblown. The plottwist was something I did NOT expect and the story as a whole has very... what is the word... weird?. However it was very addictive and I just wanted to keep reading, but WHAT was that ending??? i still cant get over it. Im very mad !!! I do recommend it though, even if I got angry a few times, if a book does not bring up any kind of emotions, its not a good book, right?

Perfekt !

I finished this book in a day and I normally don’t read too often. It’s really good but a tad too much detailed sex for me

THIS REVIEW INCLUDES SPOILERS !!! I've indicated when they start and end so read at your own risk. This review has also been posted on Goodreads.I think Verity for me personally doesn't tick all the boxes to be considered a 4-star book. The book was mainly plot-driven and whilst the actual writing itself was okay (at times), it's not enough for me to give it any more than a 3.5 (after writing this whole review I think I might've been too generous).In terms of how the book was written, it felt like I was reading something on Wattpad (absolutely no disrespect to Wattpad authors) and there were times when I had to stop and stare at the words I was reading in disbelief. And not the type of disbelief you'd want a reader to be feeling. There are a lot of unnecessary sex scenes as well that I just straight-up skipped because they didn't add to the plot at all and it honestly got quite repetitive. Also, so many plot holes, don't get me started. I'm starting to think my three stars were generous.I kept reading though because I wanted to know what happened next and find out what the big shocking ending was. A lot of the transitions from scenes/chapters were also just Lowen saying she needs to do something and then it happening in the next scene. So for example Lowen would say 'I need to read the manuscript' and the next chapter would be the manuscript or 'I need to eat' and the next scene would be her going to the kitchen.Like I said before it's definitely mainly plot-driven and I think the main reason why the plot is so popular is because of the shock factor and the twist right at the end, which is why I kept reading. Also, it's lowkey very similar to Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I find quite a lot of the elements in Verity to be drawn directly from the novel by Maurier, so I guess she took inspiration from that.**START OF SPOILERS**The first half of the book dragged on quite a bit, it went quite slow for me and I found Jeremy's introduction quite odd. He didn't seem very likeable to me and I didn't really trust him at all. The way he was also open to Lowen's advances and even initiated it just made me not like him even more. This is partly why I believe the letter; if he had in fact read the manuscript before then I get why he'd be more open to cheating on his wife. But if he hadn't read the manuscript then why on Earth was he behaving that way???? Have some decorum, please.There's also the fact that I wasn't a big fan of Lowen herself. The way she hyper-fixated on Jeremy at certain parts of the book (actually all throughout the book) made me dislike her; he's a married man leave him alone. Also, Lowen seems to have psychotic tendencies (amplified in the extended chapter), and some of the things she did just annoyed me? I don't know, I just didn't like her much, I'm sorry.I did, however, like Verity. I think she was the character that had the most substance and I'd like a separate book that's just an extended version of her manuscript. The more I read her chapters the more my mouth fell open in shock and I lowkey wanted to skip the normal chapters to find out what happened and hurry up and finish the book so I never have to read it again. With that being said throughout the whole book she was this psychopathic, sex-obsessed, monster of a woman, so while she did have the most substance out of all the characters it wasn't very good substance.Also with the whole manuscript and letter discussion, I feel like Hoover's done it in a way there's no actual support for either one because there's always some plot hole or something that just makes it more confusing. There are quite a couple of loose ends (that don't get tied up in the extended chapter). I don't know if this is a good thing (probably not), but it's one of the many things that frustrates me about the book.A lot of the things just didn't make sense to me. How did she fake the brain scan? Why couldn't they have just asked the editor/publisher or whoever it was that told her to write that abomination of an autobiography if what Verity is saying is true? Instead of being creepy why didn't she ask Lowen or April for help? Why did she wait so long to go and look for the manuscript? If she didn't want anyone to find it why wasn't it locked away somewhere or hidden (like her letter was) or even password protected? Why on Earth did she print it out? Couldn't she have just gotten Crew to get it from her office? Why was Jeremy's first instinct to kill her, on both occasions? I have so many questions about this book.END OF SPOILERSAll in all, it was an okay book. I don't want to be too harsh and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, to be honest. I'd recommend reading it if you want to read a light thriller but also don't expect much from the writing and don't expect to want to finish it. I nearly gave up less than halfway through and I only kept reading it because a friend told me to. Half of the book was just sex scenes as well which was frustrating. But also read Rebecca!! If you're looking for a gothic romance I'd 100% check that out.

*contains spoilers*This is my first Colleen Hoover novel and I think I can safely say that it won’t be the last.Colleen has cleverly depicted the life of a struggling author against the life of a successful author presenting pieces from the point of view from the antagonist in their series.What I enjoyed most about this book was how quickly I felt I was able to bond with Lowen and feel nothing but a sense of hope and will that she catch a break and receive some sort of happiness.For me there was a slight underwhelming feeling as the relationship between lowen and Jeremy formed so quickly as it felt rushed and too soon considering the tragic circumstances of the family’s situation.I was also a little underwhelmed towards the end when Jeremy reveals verity to be well and of sound mind all along - I was hoping to see some sort of struggle between them or some kind of acknowledgement of lowen by f verity but it didn’t come. The final letter by Verity was an unexpected twist but one can’t help but wonder why Lowen would still want to be with the man who knew his wife was a potential killer and then killed her himself !It was a fantastic suspenseful novel which I would highly recommend for anyone to read. It has its ups and downs but it is a real page turner with a fantastic and original plot.