The novel Verity by Collen Hoover hits a new level of psychotic, but in the best way possible, and here’s why. As a reader who is a novice to the book world, I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I began reading this book.
With that being said, I would still have to say that this is the best and worst book I’ve read in literal years. I say it’s the best because of how well the story flows and the excitement it made me feel while reading, and I say it’s the worst due to the amount of anger and confusion on how a person could think of such inhumane topics to put onto paper.
The plot takes so many unexpected twists and turns that by the end, I had no idea what to believe or think anymore, and I felt like I was just as confused and freaked out as the main character was.
Before I say any more of my thoughts on the novel, I should explain the overarching plot of the suspense-driven thriller, which goes as follows; narrator Lowen Ashleigh, who is a struggling, no-name author, gets a once-in-a-lifetime offer to complete a very well-known and beloved book series. The author of the popular series, Verity Crawford, mysteriously becomes unable to complete her last three books. Her husband, Jeremey Crawford, is left with an office full to the brim of manuscripts and papers that are just screaming to be looked through. Once Lowen is left alone to begin her research for Verity’s last three novels, she finds a hidden piece of writing that was never meant for anyone to ever find. But meanwhile, each day, Lowen slowly but surely develops romantic feelings for Jermey, which leads to many tension-filled nights and many more questions that remain unanswered.
Although the end plot when it came to Lowen and Jermey’s relationship was somewhat easy to predict from the first few chapters, I still physically couldn’t put the book down and wanted to know what was going to happen next.
While reading each chapter, I felt every emotion possible and was just waiting for the next psychotic twist that would unfold next. One thing that I can’t deny about Hoover’s writing style is that it is very easy to follow and very easy to get lost in.
You can’t help but feel for the characters and feel like you’re there with them in the made-up world, especially in this book. As I noted earlier, after finishing this book, you will probably feel very internally conflicted and not want to believe anything you had just read. You won’t know for sure who is a sane individual and who is not, but the answer is probably both.
As a way to close out this review, I’ll say one more thing, if Collen Hoover’s main intention for writing this book was to get people to gasp out loud, then she is an overachiever. Lastly, if you’re a fan of psychological thrillers that had a love child with a twisted romance, then you will want to read this book!
