Colleen Hoover, the TikTok sensation famous for her book “It Ends with us,” is not only limited to the romance genre when it comes to writing. She is an incredible writer who has written books in various genres, including psychological thrillers.
Verity, a romance psychological thriller, was published in 2018, and it blew away the readers with its twists and turns. This New York Times bestselling author has been writing for over a decade now, with her loyal fan base mostly being all young adults.
The author writes all her stories with a realistic touch, and the same goes with her book Verity. Her idea was how real-life happenings can be more scary than paranormal things. She admitted that her personality resembles the book’s main character.
This article will discuss the book’s summary and characters. We have also added the Verity book review and some famous quotes to remember, and will stay with you for a long time.
| Title | Verity |
|---|---|
| Author | Colleen Hoover |
| Publication Year | 2018 |
| Genre | Romantic Suspense |
| Setting | Present-day United States, primarily in North Carolina |
| Protagonist | Lowen Ashleigh |
| Antagonist | Verity Crawford |
| Themes | Morality , Consequences, Trust, Betrayal, Identity, Self-Perception |
| Plot Summary | In Verity, struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh is hired to finish the book series of renowned author Verity Crawford, who is in a coma. While going through Verity's notes, Lowen discovers a hidden autobiography that reveals dark secrets and chilling confessions. As she delves deeper, Lowen becomes entangled in a web of manipulation, deceit, and blurred lines between truth and fiction. The novel explores identity, trust, and the consequences of living a lie. |
| Major Characters | Lowen Ashleigh, Verity Crawford, Jeremy Crawford, Crew Crawford |
| Literary Significance | Verity has received critical acclaim for its gripping and suspenseful narrative, as well as its exploration of dark and complex themes within the romantic suspense genre. Colleen Hoover, known for her contemporary romance novels, demonstrates her versatility as an author by delving into a more intense and mysterious storyline with Verity. The novel has captivated readers with its shocking twists, psychological tension, and thought-provoking exploration of human nature. |
Table of Contents
Summary of Verity by Colleen Hoover
Verity’s story starts with the line, “I hear the crack of his skull before the spattering of blood reaches me.” This first line hooks and intrigues the reader’s mind immediately.
1. The Creation of The Plot
Lowen Ashleigh, the protagonist, a struggling writer, is splattered with blood when a truck hits a person. With her blood-soaked shirt, she is ushered to a nearby cafe by a handsome man named “Jeremy Crawford.”
After an accidental meet-up, they meet again at the publisher’s office, where Lowen is offered a big opportunity. A popular author named Verity Crawford is medically unfit to complete the book series she started, where she wrote stories from the villain’s point of view. She is introduced to Jeremy again as Verity Crawford’s husband.
Lowen is offered to finish this project as a ghostwriter, but she is not thrilled to accept the offer. However, she instantly connected with Jeremy after a heart-to-heart private conversation with him about her mother’s death, Jeremy’s loss of her twin daughters in an accident, and Verity’s recent ill condition.
2. The Climax of The Story
With the eviction from her apartment and the amount of money she is offered for this project, she agrees to take the project and travels to Vermont with Jeremy.
After reaching the couple’s house, she saw the mute and paralyzed woman, Verity. While working, she stumbles upon the autobiography written by Verity. While reading the autobiography, Lowen figures out how disturbed Verity is.
The autobiography reveals when Verity learns that Jeremy is more fond of their children than her, she tries to abort her twin girls with a hanger.
As days pass, the intimacy between Lowen and Jeremy grows. Through the autobiography, Lowen learns that Verity intentionally kills Harper (Verity and Jeremy’s daughter) by drowning her in the lake due to her suspicions about Harper killing Chastin (the other twin daughter).
3. The End
Back to the present, Lowen tries to finish the novels, but strange things keep happening in the house. She is suspicious of Verity faking her illness and faced incidents where she sees her moving around. She confronts Jeremy about her suspicions and forces him to read the autobiography.
The rest of the story reveals many unexpected secrets and how it leads to the death of the protagonist Verity. However, in the end, the story leaves all the readers confused with many questions only they can solve or not.
Review of Verity
Verity is the story of a married couple and the tragic incidents of their lives. The protagonist Verity Crawford is a famous writer with an obsessive and sick-minded personality. Her husband, Jeremy Crawford, goes through a hard time while handling her secrets. With the entry of another protagonist, the real story starts to unfold, and secrets are revealed.
Through this story, Colleen Hoover has depicted that a normal-looking person can have such dark thoughts and how obsessiveness can lead to dangerous actions that can harm people.
CoHo readers felt excited, sad, and sometimes disgusted while reading this creepy and twisted thriller story. Verity is a gripping tale that elaborates on the dark side of a human. The mysterious ending left us questioning the facts of the whole story.
We as humans take action or make choices that can change our life. A single mistake can turn our lives upside down. Finding the truth is hard because everybody is a victim and has their own story to narrate.
Through this book, the author wanted to show us the dark psychology of the human mind. With the amazing twist, Colleen Hoover successfully gave us one of the best thriller stories of our time. A book that will give you chills!
Characters in the Novel Verity
All the characters of this novel are written differently. The three main characters go through a revelation of the ugly truths of their lives. The list of the characters you will come across in this book are:
1. Verity Crawford
The popular author who met with an accident and became paralyzed and mute. A woman with obsessive behavior and a murderer of her own daughter. She is the wife of Jeremy Crawford and mother to her three children – Harper, Chastin, and Crew. Verity has a lot of secrets to reveal that lead to her own death.
2. Jeremy Crawford
Husband of Verity, who grieves the loss of his daughters. He is a loving husband and a great father. But his wife’s dirty doings lead him to lash out at her. After losing her twin daughters, Jeremy focuses on protecting his only son, Crew. Later, he assigns the unfinished book series of his wife to Lowen.
3. Lowen Ashleigh
A 32 years old struggling writer who lives in New York City. Recently she lost her mother due to cancer. After getting the news of eviction from her apartment, she is offered the opportunity to ghostwrite an unfinished book series of Verity, a famous author. She leaves for Vermont to complete the series, and her curiosity toward Verity Crawford leads her to the revelation of some disturbing secrets.
4. Harper And Chastin Crawford
Twin daughters of Jeremy and Verity. Both were never properly cared for by their mother. Harper dies by drowning, and Chastin due to a reaction to her peanut allergy.
5. Crew Crawford
Five-year-old son of Verity and Jeremy. The only surviving child of the couple. A quiet child who witnessed the death of her elder sister.
Quotes
You will find deep and meaningful quotes in this book that are hard to forget. Some of those memorable quotes are:
“I wasn’t heroic. I wasn’t simple. I was difficult. An emotionally challenging puzzle he wasn’t up for solving.” “I think the idea of me is better than the reality of me.”
“What you read will taste so bad at times, you’ll want to spit it out, but you’ll swallow these words and they will become part of you, part of your gut, and you will hurt because of them.”
“The world was her manuscript. No surface was safe.”
“I stretch truths where I see fit. I’m a writer.”
“I was good at spewing bullshit. It’s why I became a writer.”
“The things lurking around inside the mind can be just as dangerous as tangible threats.”
Conclusion
Colleen Hoover is a versatile writer who plays with different genres, making readers happy with her talent. Her book Verity elaborates on the extremely dark side of the human mind.
This twisted novel captured the readers and is liked by many, shocking the author herself. Verity, a mysterious psychological thriller, gave us the hope that Colleen Hoover would release more amazing stories like this for us.
We hope this detailed Verity book review helped you to decide if you want to read it. We definitely recommend everyone to read this book.
