Book review: Verity — Colleen Hoover
I picked this over-hyped book thinking it would be a suspenseful romantic thriller. It was indeed a suspenseful page-turner but I was shocked by the dark disturbing twist the plot took which made my whole body revolt. There are many trigger warnings in this book like self-harm, graphical description of child abuse & abortion.
Synopsis
The story begins with a struggling writer called Lowen who is on the brink of being evicted from her house and finds herself a lucrative job. She is hired by Jeremy, husband of bestselling author Verity (who is injured and unable to write), to complete her unfinished series. She goes to live in Verity’s house to sort the manuscript but accidentally discovers Verity’s autobiography which was not intended to be read by anyone. Lowen’s curiosity gets the better of her and she secretly reads it and encounters the dark side of Verity which changes her opinion about the ailing author. Chapter after chapter all malicious intent of Verity unfolds and Lowen battles with the dilemma to expose this manuscript to Verity’s devoted husband which will change his opinions of his wife.
I liked the style of writing which is a seamless story within a story and a compulsive page-turner. However, I didn’t prefer the story that was being told. The buildup to the suspense was filled with twists and turns but the premise of the suspense was a bit lacklustre. I was not convinced by the reason for Verity to write her autobiography and keep it a secret. Kudos to the author for creating a creepy character. I would never want to meet a character like this in the real or fictional world.
The narrator Lowen’s character was very underwhelming. She is blinded by her infatuation with Jeremy that she is readily believing all the words she reads without room for suspicion. At the start of the book, Lowen has a mysterious side too with her sleepwalking habit. But it is just left abruptly without any major revelation. Not to mention Jeremy’s character which is too good to be true.
Even the romantic element in the book came down to several explicit descriptions of obsessive sex. In my opinion, the story would have moved on fine with a lesser number of such encounters.
You wouldn’t miss anything phenomenal if you give this a skip.
Preethi