Colleen Hoover. You either know exactly who she is or this name is absolutely foreign to you. If you have any interest in reading, and actively use social media platforms like Tiktok, you are bound to be familiar with at least some of Hoover’s work. She’s known for her young adult romance novels that aren’t afraid to touch on taboo subject matter. Her wildly popular series “It Ends With Us” being an excellent example, touching on the complexities of the trauma brought on by domestic abuse.
I first heard of the book Verity earlier this year from an instagram reel that briefly detailed the horrors encompassed within the three hundred and fourteen page novel. I, being someone with a life-long passion for indulging in disturbing literature, had concluded that I needed to get my hands on this book one way or another. Soon enough I found the book on clearance at Walmart. Whether my prayers had been answered or I had been bestowed with a curse was debatable. I read it from cover to cover within a matter of seventy-two hours. I have never picked up a work by Colleen Hoover again.
I detest spoilers, therefore, I am warning the readers of potential spoilers. The novel opens with the gut-wrenching line of “I hear the crack of his skull before the splattering of blood reaches me.” This disturbing first line cages the reader’s attention as the novel continues on by following the protagonist, Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling author living in New York, who is offered to complete the last three books in the popular “The Noble Virtues” series, written by Verity Crawford, who was left unable to complete the series after an accident. Lowen accepts the offer, and is invited by Verity’s attractive husband, Jeremy, to come and stay with him, Verity and their young son, as she scavenges Verity’s office for anything that could help her complete the book series. However, Lowen stumbles upon a manuscript written by Verity that was never intended to be seen by anyone. The manuscript contains details of Verity’s life from the first day she met Jeremy and goes into horrific detail about the death of Verity’s autistic daughter a few months after the death of her twin sister. The manuscript is packed with sickening passages entailing the twisted and disturbed mind of Verity as she navigates her relationship with Jeremy and her absolute hatred for motherhood.
Hoover’s novel spans three hundred and fourteen pages with only one hundred pages contributing to the plot. The remainder is mostly cringe worthy sex scenes between Jeremy and Lowen or Jeremy and Verity. It is impressive how much smut Hoover was able to squeeze into a novel about a delirious women who potentially murdered her autistic daughter. Sex within literature can add to the plot or add more depth to a character. However, this is all pointless sex that does nothing for the plot. I want to know why Verity felt as though her twin daughters were competing against her to gain her husband’s affections, not how many different ways it’s humanly possible to have intercourse.
Though the premise of the plot itself has kept me on edge for the entire duration of the book, Hoover focused more on the explicit scenes rather than properly executing the plot, especially with the ending. This resulted in the story contradicting itself at times, leaving the reader less thrilled and more confused. I also found that the romance between Lowen and Jeremy felt rushed and forced onto the readers. The reader is barely three pages into the book when they are already bombarded with hints at a potential relationship between the two. Additionally, Hoover’s novel is written in a casual style, and occasionally her potential as a writer shines through with her use of commentary. Hoover is excellent at writing about situations and the feelings they evoke emotions. However, there isn’t much of anything beyond that.
“Trauma p*rn” is an internet term used to describe media in which characters seem to go through never-ending pain and suffering. This term is an excellent way to describe the lack of dimension Hoover gives to her characters, with their only depth being how sad and traumatized they are. The three main characters of the novel all fit into cliches seen again and again within the young adult fiction category; the self-absorbed diva, the not-so-smart hunk and the shy nerd who is the polar opposite to the diva. Although, to give Hoover some credit, Verity’s character is the most well developed, as the book does an excellent job at painting her as a beautiful and successful writer who deep down is a psychopath unable to feel any compassion for her own blood and flesh.
Colleen Hoover’s work proved lackluster, leaving me with a sense that I have finished reading a semi-well written Wattpad fanfiction. Her work is nothing extraordinary, and it’s in her best interest she leaves thrillers to more skillful authors.