TITLE: Verity
AUTHOR: Colleen Hoover
PUBLISHER: Grand Central Publishing
RELEASE DATE: October 5, 2021
GENRE: Mystery Thriller; Romance; Thriller; Fiction
ABOUT THE BOOK
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 what really happened the day her daughter died.
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 (Description from Goodreads).
MY THOUGHTS
(***Please note that this review may contain spoilers***)
I want to first note that this is the second audiobook I’ve listened to this year. I’ve been listening to and from work now and I’m excited that I’ll be able to get through more books each year by doing this.
Switching gears to the reason for this post. I went into Verity knowing nothing about it. I didn’t read any reviews and simply liked the description. So I had no clue it was going to include lots of raunchy elements. Now, I’m not opposed to this, after all I did read the 50 Shades of Grey series too. I just wasn’t expecting it, so when it started up around chapter three I’m glad I was in my car alone listening to it.
I also listen to audiobooks while I’m walking from my car into the office, so after chapter three I decided not to listen to it all the way to my desk. I had a fear that my headphones would accidentally disconnect in the office on a very raunchy chapter and I’d probably get reported to HR by coworkers (haha).
The suspense and thriller aspects of the book came when Lowen started reading Verity’s autobiography. The more she read all the horrible things Verity was doing and thinking, the more she suspected that Verity wasn’t actually in a vegetative state. These are the parts of the book I really liked and wanted more of. I was constantly thinking about if Verity was watching her or if Verity would try to kill her because I definitely believed Lowen. Too many weird things happened that could only be explained if Verity wasn’t actually a vegetable.
Throughout the book, I had a feeling that Jermey was hiding something . I thought that perhaps he had put Verity in this state with some sort of medication and that he had to have known what she did to their daughter. It turned out to be a version of my prediction.
What I didn’t expect was the twist of Verity’s letter to Jeremy at the end saying she didn’t actually do any of the things she wrote and that it was an exercise to help her write from her character’s point of view. If it was actually true then he killed his wife for no reason, but for some reason I finished this book thinking that it was another manipulation tactic of Verity’s. I just couldn’t quite believe that someone could write that version of themselves when it wasn’t true. So I think it was a great twist and a great topic to debate about in a book club.
The movie adaptation will come out in October 2026 starring Anne Hathaway (Verity Crawford), Dakota Johnson (Lowen Ashleigh), and Josh Hartnett (Jeremey Crawford). I think it’s a great cast, but I’m curious to see how far they will go with the raunchy elements in the film. Dakota Johnson went pretty far with her character in 50 Shades of Grey, but I don’t see Anne Hathaway going that far. So I suspect it will be toned down in that area and focus more on the thriller/suspense aspects which I think will be intensified in the film.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I only wish there was a little less of the raunchy elements and more opportunities for it to be really suspenseful. I plan on seeing the film and doing a Book vs Movie post in the future.
OVERALL RATING
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS
Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times and International bestselling author of twenty four novels and novellas. Hoover’s novels fall into the New Adult and Young Adult contemporary romance categories, as well as psychological thriller.
Colleen Hoover is published by Atria Books, Grand Central Publishing, Montlake Romance, and HarperCollins Publishers.
Her novel, It Ends With Us has been adapted into film and now available on Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, GooglePlay and AppleTV.
Colleen’s other titles, Regretting You, Reminders of Him and Verity are also coming to the big screen over the next year. Regretting You released October 24, 2025, Reminders of Him releases March 13, 2026 and Verity in October 2026.
Colleen lives in Texas with her husband and three sons and loves Diet Pepsi (Description from author website).
Stories Unfolded 