Verity by Colleen Hoover
A gripping, divisive thriller with a debated ending and explicit, disturbing content.
The short version
- Readers who like dark psychological thrillers and unreliable narrators
- Book clubs that enjoy debating an open ending
- Anyone wanting to read the book before the film
- Explicit sex scenes bother you
- You want to avoid content about child death or abuse
- You prefer a grounded, realistic plot
What owners like
- Hard to put down, with tension that builds quickly
- An ending that surprises readers and invites debate
- Unreliable narrators that keep every character suspect
Common complaints
- Explicit sex scenes some readers felt were unnecessary
- Disturbing passages about harm to children
- Parts of the middle feel slow or like filler
- The plot strikes some as unrealistic and overblown
Based on Hachette's publisher page, the Wikipedia article on the novel, and reviews on Debbish, Shelf Reflection and The Colgate Maroon News.
Research scores
Scored from the maker's specs and what owners report. Drew's own notes and photos will refine these.
Ownership
Drew's hands-on notes for this product are on the way. Long-term updates will be added to this timeline.
What it does
A psychological thriller about a struggling writer hired to finish a bestselling author's book series, who finds the author's hidden, disturbing autobiography in her home.
- Told mostly through Lowen, a writer staying in the Crawford family home
- Includes chapters from Verity's secret manuscript, which drive much of the suspense
- Built around unreliable narrators, so readers question everyone
- Ends on an open, debated twist rather than a neat answer
- A departure from Hoover's earlier contemporary romance novels
A good pick for readers who want a fast, twisty thriller with an ambiguous ending that keeps people arguing. The trade-off is heavy content: explicit sex and graphic material involving children put some readers off entirely, and a few reviewers found the middle repetitive and the plot far fetched.
How it compares
Specs
- Author
- Colleen Hoover
- First published
- Self published December 7, 2018
- Current publisher
- Grand Central Publishing (Hachette), reissued in 2021
- Pages
- 368 in the 2022 special edition hardcover; page counts differ by edition
- Formats
- Hardcover, trade paperback, large print paperback, media tie in paperback and ebook
- Genre
- Psychological thriller with romance
- Recognition
- #1 New York Times bestseller; British Book Award for Pageturner (2023)
- Film
- Amazon MGM Studios adaptation with Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett
Worth knowing
- Reviewers note explicit sexual content.
- Contains themes including child death, child abuse, self harm and murder.
Questions
Is Verity a romance or a thriller?
It is a psychological thriller with a romantic subplot, a change from Hoover's earlier romance novels.
Is Verity appropriate for teens?
Reviewers flag explicit sex and disturbing content involving children, so it is generally read as an adult novel.
Is there a Verity movie?
Yes. Amazon MGM Studios is adapting it with Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett.
Is Verity part of a series?
No. It is a standalone novel.
Sources
- Hachette Book Group: Verity by Colleen Hoover
- Wikipedia: Verity (novel)
- Debbish: Book review, Verity by Colleen Hoover
- Shelf Reflection: Verity by Colleen Hoover
- The Colgate Maroon News: The truth about Verity
Researched 2026-10-02. We bought this product; our page is built from the maker's details and what owners report across reviews and forums. We never copy Amazon customer reviews.