This review contains spoilers of Verity by Colleen Hoover.
Content Warning: Abuse, Death, Mental Health, Violence, and Sexual Assault
Exploring Character Intent and Actions
Many books craft a story with a clear villain and a hero, providing the reader with a clear plotline and the idea of which characters to root for and against. Though much of Verity by Colleen Hoover presents Verity Crawford as the villain in the story, as told by her autobiography, multiple characters perform heinous acts, particularly Lowen Ashleigh. This review aims to explore Lowen as the primary villain of Hoover’s novel.
A Romantic Encounter Leading to Dark Events
Verity begins with the gruesome accidental death of a passerby, which brings Lowen, a small-time writer on the verge of financial ruin, together with Jeremy Crawford, the husband of famed writer Verity Crawford. Lowen is presented with the opportunity to continue Verity’s book series as a ghostwriter due to an accident which left Verity incapacitated and in a comatose state.
After some convincing, Lowen accepts the offer and travels to the Crawford’s house, where she is provided with Verity’s notes to help her craft the next books in the series. In Verity’s office, Lowen finds an autobiographical manuscript detailing Verity’s experiences from meeting Jeremy to jealousy leading to a failed self-abortion attempt, child abuse, the death of Chastin (one of her twins), and the murder of her other daughter (Harper). The more Lowen digs into Verity’s past via her manuscript, the more she begins to feel for Jeremy romantically.
Simultaneously, mysterious, chilling activities begin occurring in the Crawford household, such as randomly locked/unlocked doors, disappearing items, and odd comments from Crew (the only remaining Crawford child) about recent talks with his mother. These inconsistencies lead Lowen to push Jeremy to read the manuscript, as she is convinced Verity is faking her comatose state. Once Jeremy reads the autobiography, he confronts his wife about the death of Harper. After admitting her unconscious state was, in fact, fake, Lowen and Jeremy manage to kill Verity while making her death appear accidental.
With Verity dead, Jeremy, Lowen, and Crew can start afresh as a new family. Months later, with Lowen near the end of a pregnancy, she uncovers a letter written by Verity addressing the manuscript as a writing exercise to allow her to better approach writing from a villain’s perspective.
Additionally, the note mentions a previous attempt by Jeremy to murder Verity after reading her manuscript, as he took it to be truthful and sought revenge for the death of their daughter. Because of this murder attempt, Verity faked a coma so she could later escape with Crew. This information leaves readers with the question of who was telling the truth, Verity or Jeremy.
Read Verity Here
Written by Colleen Hoover
Grand Central Publishing (Reprint: October 26, 2021)
ISBN-13: 978-1538724736
336 pages, Paperback
$6.99
Who’s the Actual Villain?
Though Verity and Jeremy are seen as the story’s villains, depending on which version the reader believes, the real villain of the novel is Lowen. From the beginning, she shows clear attraction to Jeremy despite witnessing a death up close. While the initial romantic spark can be excused as Lowen was unaware of Jeremy’s marriage status, it only took a few days of staying at the Crawford house to once again romanticize him.
Though she attempts to dispel her feelings a few times, she gives in quite quickly, as evidenced by the thought, “When Jeremy’s eyes are on mine, it feels like an exploration of the deepest parts of me.” near the beginning of her stay. As Lowen continues to delve into Verity’s autobiography, which dictates Verity’s and Jeremy’s relationship in and out of the bedroom, her romantic feelings evolve.
In one of the final chapters, Lowen lashes out at Verity after seeing her crawling on the floor via a monitor. While trying to incite a response from Verity to prove she is faking her illness, Lowen makes multiple horrific comments, including wishing for Verity to die by choking on her own vomit and her intent to sleep with Jeremy.
With multiple attempts at ridding Verity from the house, including suggesting a care facility to Jeremy, it seems Lowen’s ultimate goal has been to replace Verity for quite some time. Though it was Jeremy’s idea to murder Verity, Lowen ultimately crafts the plan to kill her via the very method she previously threatened.
Lowen’s motives throughout the entire book are purely selfish, demonstrating the evils one is willing to perform for one’s desires. These callous actions, including the ability to pursue a married man with an “ailing” wife, highlight Lowen as the true villain of the story.
Verity is a psychological thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat for the entire book. With its twists, turns, and unexpected ending, it’s reminiscent of Gone Girl. This is an excellent read for anyone who enjoys delving into the darker side of humanity. Be warned; you will likely need a lighter read afterwards as it features some very dark elements.
Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times 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.
In 2015, Colleen’s novel CONFESS won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance. That was followed up in 2016 with her latest title, It Ends With Us, also winning the Choice Award for Best Romance. In 2017, her title WITHOUT MERIT won best romance.
Her novel CONFESS has been filmed as a series by Awestruck and is available on Prime Video via Amazon and iTunes. Katie Leclerc and Ryan Cooper star in the series.
Colleen founded The Bookworm Box, a charity bookstore and book signing event, with her family in 2015. The Bookworm Box hosts a book signing (Book Bonanza) each year which features over 200 authors as well as an annual auction to raise funds for food banks and other charities across the nation. To date, The Bookworm Box has donated over $1,000,000 to help those in need.
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