Book Review: Verity by Colleen Hoover

 The first Colleen Hoover book I read a few months ago was It Ends With Us…and yes, I was fully succumbing to the TikTok hype when I picked it up. Prior to seeing multiple videos hyping it up everyday, I had always got the impression that Colleen Hoover’s books were too young/romance-y for my liking. And although I loved It Ends With Us, the next book of hers that I read was Regretting You, which I found cringe and far less moving. However, I decided to give Verity a go on a whim…and wow. This book was DARK. I loved it. 

The book follows Lowen, a struggling writer, who is head hunted by Jeremy Crawford, wife of the famous Verity Crawford, to finish the final three books in Verity's famous fiction series. Verity is tragically unable to complete these herself due to a car accident which has rendered her paralysed and unable to talk. Lowen accepts the job and moves into Jeremy and Verity's shared home in order to have access to Verity's notes. But whilst there, she discovers something else - an unpublished autobiography of Verity's, within which lie twisted secrets about the family she is living with. 

As mentioned above, I haven't read much Colleen Hoover before - but from what I have read, and from what I've seen across social media, this book is very different to her others. There is a romance involved in the story line, but it's a side plot in what is essentially a very creepy thriller. The book is dark and disturbing - which is probably why I enjoyed it so much! I am a big thriller fan, and it takes a lot to really scare me, but I did find this book terrifying at points. I think a lot of that is due to the book being very original in its plot, and the twists it contains - you realise very quickly that all is not as it seems, and the sense of dread this fills you with as a reader is remarkable. 

Safe to say, I absolutely flew through this book with my heart in my throat the entire time. The ending is pretty explosive, if a little predictable - everything ties up just a little too nicely for my liking. At least - that's the case for the initial ending. But there's another, final chapter. And it was this chapter which sealed this book as first class for me. I did not see that coming, and it was absolutely horrifying. It left me with that sense of unease which every good thriller does. 

To sum it up, I would say I found this book as disturbing and creepy as I found It Ends With Us emotional and moving. If you are a thriller fan, it is 100% worth a read.