By Colleen Hoover
Published October 2021
336 Pages
I keep seeing Colleen Hoover books pop up all over the place, whether they’re ARCs or new releases or just a lot of them being reviewed. I wasn’t familiar with her work, so I thought I’d pick one at random to read. The author note indicates Verity isn’t her normal genre – I believe she’s primarily a romance novelist. But this one was billed as a thriller and I was in the mood, so this is the one I chose.
Here’s the blurb: Lowen Ashleigh is a writer whose career is at a standstill. In fact, she’s about to be evicted when she’s offered the opportunity to finish a series by bestselling author Verity Crawford, who has been injured in an accident. Despite her misgivings, Lowen accepts the assignment and finds herself installed in Verity’s home with her husband, Jeremy, and five year old son.
The Crawford family has endured more than its share of tragedies. In addition to Verity’s accident, they’ve suffered through the death of two daughters.
As Lowen sifts through Verity’s office looking for notes on the series, she unearths an autobiography that wasn’t intended to see the light of day. In it, Verity reveals herself to be not only a psychopath, but the direct cause of her family’s misfortunes. And she could very well still be a threat.
I had high hopes for this novel, and I’m sure you already know where this review is going to go. Considering the relatively high ratings it’s received, I’m in the minority. First off, I’d call this more of a suspense novel than a thriller. It relies heavily – perhaps too heavily – on the shock value of Verity’s autobiography. I’ll admit, a lot of it was really difficult to read and it did add somewhat to the tension in the house (where a “brain dead” Verity was installed in an upstairs bedroom), but a lot of it felt over the top.
Of course, there was romance between Lowen and Jeremy. I apologize for that spoiler but you could see it coming from a mile away. There was nothing unique in that plot line. The final twist fell flat for me. As the tagline states, it was meant to make the reader ask “Whose truth is the lie?” I felt like it was trying for a Gone Girl vibe. Instead, it just left the book feeling unfinished and I’m not a fan of that. I like my reads to be wrapped up neatly at the end.
Ultimately I rated this novel 2.5 stars. ⭐⭐+
Maybe I’ll like this author’s romances more.
Until next time, thank you for visiting.
Want to form your own opinion about Verity?
Ann Dudzinski 
I have been hearing about Collen Hoover literally everywhere but like you have been very reluctant to give her a try just because of all the hype surrounding here. I think I will give her a chance eventually to form my own opinion but I have learned as a reader that strangely the books getting a lot of hype are usually the ones who disappoint you the most haha
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My coworker and I were discussing this book the other day – she felt the same way and read it for the same reason! She’s going to try out a romance and let me know how she likes it since she’s my go-to for romance recommendations.
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