Will Colleen Hoover’s writing ever cease to amaze me? Although a question I am unable to answer at this time I can say that I have fallen unrequitedly in love with all nineteen of the works I have read by her. Hazel Grace Lancaster, from the very popular The Fault in Our Stars book, once said that she loved an author so much that she would “read his grocery lists.” My feelings about Colleen Hoover are similar. Everything I read by her, and I mean this in the best way possible, does nothing short of punch me in the heart. When the New York Times best-selling author announced that she would be releasing a novel that was unlike anything that she’s written before, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t skeptical at first. Despite me not understanding why she’d want to tamper with her already perfect to me writing style, I trusted her judgment. Long story short I was not disappointed.
Verity by Colleen Hoover first saw shelves on December 7, 2018. Despite being released a a little over a year ago, fans and readers alike have not yet found the words to describe their feelings for it. The novel starts off on a busy New York City street corner with its main character Lowen Ashleigh. Lowen is a struggling writer who after just losing her mother to terminal illness has now just received an eviction notice from her landlord. To say the least this young woman’s glass is anything but half full. Lowen soon finds herself moving into the house of Verity and Jeremy Crawford after accepting the offer to continue writing Verity’s best-selling novels. Ready to sort through years of notes and outlines in order to complete Verity Crawford’s work after a car accident has left the author in a vegetative state, Lowen uncovers a lot more than she had ever imagined she’d find.
An unfinished autobiography of Verity’s leaves Lowen in a heavy predicament of whether or not to share her findings with Jeremy, Verity’s husband, whom Lowen has been growing closer and closer to by the day. As Lowen falls deeper and deeper into Verity’s bone chilling confessions and recollections of how her life truly played out she starts to wonder if Verity’s state of consciousness and the severity of her injuries are really what everyone believes them to be. Deciding to keep the manuscript hidden from the grieving man she is quickly gaining feelings for, Lowen suffers in silence. As the days go by the young author finds herself lost in the horrific autobiography that is Verity’s life. Afraid now to even reside in a room in the house without the doors locked, Lowen grows colder to the sadistic woman who merely exists a floor away from her.
This standalone romantic thriller has done nothing short of captivate and take complete and merciless advantage over the minds of its readers. Racking up a total of 4.35 out of 5 possible stars on Goodreads, Hoover, no matter the style she writes in, has yet to disappoint her following. Personally, my last words of advice on this one: prepare to have your own mind at war with itself.
