Review: Verity by Colleen Hoover

 

(Here's my copy that as you can see I got at Target)

This is my first Colleen Hoover book, and from what I have seen, this is not what she typically writes. She's better known for her romance novels. This book, is far from romance, although technically romance is involved. 

I knew this book was dark when I picked it up. It's clear from the description on the back, but also from the content creators that I've seen review it. This book is not for the light of heart and whatever you are expecting going into it, you'll probably find yourself wrong at the end. 

This book tells the story of Lowen, a starving writer who is given a contract writing for a famous author who has been incapacitated. Immediately, we find out that Lowen doesn't seem able to have appropriate work relationships with men because she slept with her current agent. Lowen meets Jeremy, the husband of the before-mentioned writer that Lowen is filling in for. Both Verity, the writer/wife, and Jeremy's lives have been filled with tragedy as both their twin daughters died months apart and Verity gets in an accident that leaves her unable to move or communicate. Lowen moves in with the couple in order to work on the next book in Verity's series and in her search through Verity's papers, finds a manuscript in which Verity paints herself very negatively. Lowen is instantly hooked on reading it. 

There were a few things that bothered me in this book. I will say, there are many content warnings to be aware of, ableism, abortion, child death, sexual content, etc. I would again recommend checking  StoryGraph for further details on possible triggers. 

To start, this book is pretty ableist. The way Lowen talks about Verity, at one point stating she's like an egg whose yokes spilled out, is uncomfortable. However, a conversation with Verity's nurse leads me to believe that this is more about who Lowen is as a person than Colleen Hoover's description of people with disabilities. However, it is still something to be aware of. I also think the fear that Lowen feels towards Verity and her worry that Verity is faking her illness because she stares at her is somewhat problematic. 

On top of that, Lowen's attraction to Jeremy is entirely inappropriate and her fascination with reading about his sex life with Verity is uncomfortable. Unfortunately, more cannot be said without spoiling the story. 

Overall, the story was well-written and fascinating. I could not put the book down. It was dark and cruel and interesting. I can't say I enjoyed the book because there was just too much that didn't sit right with me. However, I will say it was a captivating read and one I'm glad I finished. I think I will be giving Colleen Hoover's work some more of my attention although I expect her other works to be very different.