For as much as I love mysteries, rarely do I pick up a “thriller.” I don’t know why but I’m not the kind to just pick one up if someone hasn’t directly recommended it to me. I have noticed, however, that Colleen Hoover is an extremely popular author that I have never read and as I had a whirlwind 36 hour trip to Washington DC on my horizon and the ‘Lucky Day’ (non-holdable) copy in at work, I decided that it was probably a good plane read. And yes, I read it an hour into my 5.5 hour flight and still had two hours to go when I finished it. Thank heavens for podcasts.
Our heroine is Lowen Ashleigh (I am not a fan of the names in this book, just stating that right off the bat), a midlist writer who is on her last penny after spending the last year or so as caretaker for her recently deceased mother. When she gets offered a massive paycheck (to this author, literally unbelievably massive, there is no way they would give this woman that kind of advance) to finish the last few books of very popular author Verity Crawford’s contract, she can’t afford to say no, even if she hates attention and isn’t looking forward to the potential media blitz this will bring to her. (YOU. MAKE. YOUR. LIVING. SELLING. YOUR. CREATIVE. PURSUITS. YOU NEED NAME RECOGNITION.)
Anyways, she takes the job and heads out to the beautiful Crawford house to spend a few weeks going through Verity’s notes (she may or may not have also been evicted) and prepare outlines for the books. At the house, we’ve got four people: Jeremy, Verity’s husband and the man Lowen witnessed an accident with at the beginning of the book for seemingly no reason; Crew, the five year old son and only remaining Crawford child as two twin girls have both died in the past few years; April, Verity’s nurse; and Verity herself who is in a vegetative state after a horrific car accident. Lowen is introduced to Crew and April as Laura as she’s using a pen name to distance herself from this project (why???) and she settles into a routine.
Which is almost immediately shaken up when she finds a manuscript among Verity’s papers that looks to be an autobiography and it is damning. She knows she shouldn’t read it but she also can’t stop. Nevermind that she might be falling in love with Jeremy (oh honey) and it seems like sometimes Verity’s eyes are following her. Things are definitely going to turn out fine.
This book. This book. I’ll admit, I powered through this because I wanted to know what was going to happen and Verity’s autobio was just absolutely preposterous. Every chapter of it was just more ridiculous and I couldn’t look away. While Verity is supposed to be our villain, though, Lowen was even weirder to me. We were supposed to like her! And she is falling in love with a grieving man in his own house while his COMATOSE WIFE is in the other room!
Oh, I also just have to mention that the deceased twin girls were named Harper and Chastin. The names in this book. I can’t.
People love this book, guys, and I don’t understand. Like, it was a fun two hour read where I just giggled at how silly each new plot twist was (and there are a lot of twists and turns!) while sighing at every character’s choices but according to reviews, people loved this. People cried reading this. I just—I don’t …
Verity by Colleen Hoover is published by Grand Central Publishing and you can find links to purchase it here or find it at your local library!
If you’re in the mood for a thriller, let me suggest some things you might enjoy more than whatever this was:
The Appeal by Janice Hallett: This is the best thriller I’ve read in a few years. Told completely through emails, it follows two law students trying to figure out how a small town theater troupe doing a fundraiser for a child with cancer ended in murder. The writing is fresh, each character has their own quirks and unique writing style, and you’re trying to piece things together as the students do as you’re looking at the same evidence they are. So much fun, I devoured this book.
The Night Shift by Alex Finlay: On New Years Eve 1999, an attack at a Blockbuster at closing leaves one teenager alive. Fifteen years later, a similar attack at an ice cream shop is eerily similar. Following the survivor of the first crime, the brother of the person that Blockbuster attack was pinned on, and the FBI agent investigating the current case, the different plot strings interweave in ways I wasn’t expecting. It’s nothing mind blowing but it’s an interesting read that will keep you guessing. Oh, and you actually like the main characters. Yeah, I’m subtweeting you, Lowen.
The Lifeguards by Amanda Eyre Ward: Okay, this one is more Big Little Lies, Little Fires Everywhere vibes. Three boys, from the same neighborhood and friends since birth, come home from their lifeguarding shift with devastating news and their moms have to figure out how far they are going to go to protect their children. Each mom has a very different backstory, secrets they are hiding from the other two (despite being friends since the boys were babies) and every once in a while there’s a section from the Greek Chorus of the neighborhood’s Next Door group.
Next Time
I’ve got to admit, this is way more fun to write when I’m not singing the praises of the book. I apologize if you liked it! But it just wasn’t for me.
Things continue apace over in my neck of the woods. The cats are starting to get along better, much to my delight. Sometimes they even snuggle and my heart melts.
In life news, I have no idea what I’m doing with mine. I’ve got itchy feet as this is the longest I’ve gone without moving cities in something like fifteen years and I’m also ready for a new job. I love all my coworkers but it’s time~
I am taking advice for what I should do, though! Should I move to Boston, Chicago, DC, back to New York? There’s even a little voice telling me that maybe this is when I go for my PhD. I’ve found that they are surprisingly affordable to do in New Zealand? And after last week, that has become incredibly appealing. I have no idea what I’m doing other than reading books and telling you all about them. So thanks for giving me that. ;)
That’s it for this issue! Thanks to my paying subscribers who are the real superstars of this endeavor! Remember: becoming a paying subscriber means you get to choose a book for me to read! So if you want me to read your favorite book or subject me to utter nonsense, click this button:
See you all in two weeks! Happy Reading!