I don’t read horror at all. I’m terrified of quite literally everything, so I tend to stay away from that genre. Though Colleen Hoover’s Verity isn’t exactly labelled as a horror novel, in many ways, it quite felt so. Verity is undoubtedly one of the most horrifying, disturbing books I’ve ever read, even though the exhilarating plot made me complete the entire book in a single sitting. With Collen Hoover, I’m usually expecting a contemporary romance, more than suspense. It Ends with Us is one of my favourites, and I had similar high hopes for Verity as well.
In the book, a struggling author Lowen is hired to complete the last books of a bestselling author Verity, who is now bedridden after a serious accident. Lowen is tasked with sorting through Verity’s notes in order to complete the book series, in line with what Verity had planned. However, she stumbles upon an autobiography, which is filled with dark, disturbing secrets. The book alternates between Lowen’s life staying at the author’s home and Verity’s autobiography.
“My mother used to say that houses have a soul, and if that is true, the soul of Verity Crawford’s house is as dark as they come.”
To be quite blunt, the autobiography contains some of Verity’s deepest thoughts, which are written quite explicitly with no sugar-coating, and in my opinion, they are quite at par with that of a psychopath. For example, Verity details trying to murder one of her children, while still in the womb. Yes, this is a truly horrifying book. Lowen contemplates telling Verity’s husband Jeremy about the details of the book but is caught in a moral dilemma, as she does not want to further scar a man who is already struggling under the loss of two of his children. She knows that revealing the secrets of the autobiography, would in one sense be beneficial to her, as she and Jeremy grow closer, as it would surely result in the dissolution of Jeremy’s and Verity’s marriage.
Verity’s blank eyes follow Lowen throughout the house, and some of the scenes with her are straight out of a horror movie. These scenes induce a sense of deep paranoia, yet kept me glued to the book. The ending of the book, with the explanation of what exactly the autobiography is, is stellar. One of the most important aspects of this book are there are no clear antagonists- every character is morally grey. Although it might appear that Lowen and Jeremy are the good guys, the ending will get you questioning that for sure.
Verity definitely is not meant for young adults, with Verity’s autobiographic being EXTREMELY graphic in nature and traumatizing. The more you think about the book after the ending, the more you realize how twisted the entire thing is. Don’t be fooled by Colleen Hoover’s usual style of writing, with the clichéd romance novels. Verity is far from a sweet romance, and will definitely give you the chills.