#review Verity, by Colleen Hoover #5stars #CoHort

MY REVIEW:

Talk about every writer’s worst nightmare! I won’t tell you why this book is like every writer’s worst nightmare, because that would be like starting a review with a big fat spoilery slap to the face… but it is! As a writer, this book is a nightmare come true(ish), as a reader it’s AMAZING! Colleen has done it again, guys!  No wonder she’s my favorite author!

It’s nice that Jan 2020 ended last night, as I finished this book, officially making it a record breaking month for me – bookish wise – in two ways. I finished more books in one month than I ever have before AND every single one of them I’ve rated four and five stars!! If that isn’t the best start to a year, I don’t know what is!

Verity is a shocking read, and it’s executed flawlessly. Lowen, the main character is a small time writer who winds up taking her first big time job. It’s a heaven sent for her to seal the deal on this job because she’s flat broke, being evicted even. Her agent is able to help her land a contract as a ‘co-writer’ to an author who’s series is at a stand still. Verity Crawford, the critically acclaimed NYT best selling gal has been in an accident and is unable to finish her work. SO, Lowen has been hired to fill the bill.

What’s awesome – is that Lowen meets Jeremy, Verity’s husband, before she even realizes it. The beginning is extremely gripping, knocking your breath away right out the gate. Lowen not only witnesses an accident where a pedestrian is hit by a car, but she’s actually sprayed by his blood. Jeremy is a bystander who watches it all happen and helps Lowen by assisting her into a nearby bathroom, giving her his shirt and helping her clean up. She’s on her way to the interview when it happens… an interview with Jeremy as the guy who winds up hiring her! Talk about a gripping start!

Jeremy invites Lowen to come and stay at he and Verity’s home, so that she can meet Verity and do all the research she needs to do by using whatever she can find of Verity’s notes and documents in her office. When Lowen arrives, she finds out that Verity is in much worse shape than the public is aware of. This family has been through hell!!

Verity and Jeremy had twin daughters who died at 8 years old. The first to pass was Chastin who had a peanut allergy, and died from anaphylaxis. Followed by Harper, who drown in the lake next to their home. They have another son, Crew who is now five. He’s adorable, I just love him. Verity was in a car accident shortly after Harper’s death which rendered her practically brain dead. She’s a blank slate, hardly responsive, and has to be cared for 24/7. There’s a nurse who spends day in and day out at their home (well, creepy mansion really) and Jeremy does the job at night.

But, something isn’t right at this place. There’s unsettling and undiscovered wrongdoings lurking within, and Lowen can feel the anxious energy right off. It only gets worse as she begins digging around. She finds an autobiography that Verity had buried away in her office. What she reads in it is insane. Verity has written herself as a complete  sociopath, and described her obsession of Jeremy so intensely that even their children are nothing but a threat to the marriage. A threat that may just be better off elliminated, even in the womb, but doesn’t happen the way she hoped. As Lowen reads on, she becomes suspicious of that Verity’s crash didn’t render her braindead at all, but that she’s faking it. All The While she and Jeremy develop feelings for eachother along the way.

The end of this book is like a bomb! One twist after another. Not only was I on the edge of my seat, but I even pissed my husband off because I completely ignored him for like an hour lol. I didn’t hear one word he said to me, and when I finally devoured the last page I had to hang out in the bathroom for a few minutes to get ahold of myself. It’s been a while since a book really threw me for such a twisty loop, so thank you Colleen Hoover for throwing that gigantic wrench in my face! Hands down five stars! Excellent book!!

DESCRIPTION:

An Amazon top 100 bestseller of 2019
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.

Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of the night their family was forever altered.

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.

Due to graphic scenes and mature content, this book is recommended for readers 18+