My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Okay, I have some opinions about this book.
First of all, I’m so darn busy reading ARCs that it is super rare for me to take the time to read a book I actually purchased. This was the exception. I swear that every time I see somebody post a question on social media asking for recommendations for an “un-put-downable” book, I see two resounding answers lately:
No Exit by Taylor Adams (FREAKING AMAZING!)
and
Verity by Colleen Hoover
So here was are. I kept saying to myself that if people were putting Verity in the same category as No Exit, I just had to read it. And while I think it was very, very good (and I hate to compare), I didn’t find it quite as exciting as No Exit. But for me, that’s a really hard book to beat.
Verity is the story of a young writer named Lowen who is hired to finish the last few books in a famous book series written by Verity Crawford. Verity was recently in a tragic car accident that left her in a vegetative state, unable to finish her life’s work. When Lowen visits Verity’s home for research, she finds herself awkwardly living under the same roof as invalid Verity, her husband Jeremy, and son Crew. Suddenly, spooky and strange things start happening and Lowen wonders if she’s slowly going insane or if there is something unusual happening in the family home. Will she figure it out before it is too late?
I read this book extremely quickly. I very much enjoyed the format in which it was written. There were portions written from Lowen’s perspective and interspersed throughout the story where “chapters” of Verity’s autobiography, discovered by Lowen in the family home. The autobiography chapters serve to provide the reader with the backstory of Verity’s marriage to Jeremy. Every time I finished a chapter, I wanted to know what would happen next. I would absolutely categorize this book as a page turner.
While at a high level, I really enjoyed it, I think the one thing that brought it down to a 4 star read for me was the “believability” factor. There were a couple times where I just struggled to see the reality and felt like certain elements were far reaching (P.S. I do realize thrillers are often far fetched so I try to keep an open mind going in).
I would absolutely recommend this book, and think it was a fantastic read, particularly if you have the time to sit down and dedicate a few solid hours in a row. Because once you pick it up, you won’t want to put it down.
Home Sweet Houser 