Gripping and wonderfully creepy, "Verity" was a super engaging read from start to finish. The trope of having two narrators detailing different timelines is not new, and I actually don't typically enjoy having a ~book within a book~ as this trope is presented here; however, I think it worked well in this book because even though we were reading Verity's account of her life, we were still reading it from Lowen's perspective and therefore able to pretty much stay within one timeline/with one character mentally.

This book also had very strong characters, who were all relatable in different moments and ways and whose likability make the plot feel much more high-stakes. When I care about the characters, I care much more about the bad things that are seemingly about to befall them.

I also appreciated that the "Lowen is making things up/crazy" thread didn't last for too long. I absolutely HATE when books fall into that trap, that the main character sees something crazy but then isn't believed when they explain it and the whole thing gets so much worse, "if only they'd listened!!" etc. etc. Yes Jeremy does doubt Lowen a little bit (which seems kind of understandable from a realistic viewpoint but is annoying knowing what we know as the reader), but he pretty quickly gets on board with what she's saying and nips that annoyance in the bud.

I can't talk about the adventure of this book without talking about the JAW-DROPPING ending.

Spoiler

I was happy in a weird way with the resolution of the story, since even though Jeremy and Lowen did a bad thing it really seemed justifiable under the circumstances. Or, what we THOUGHT were the circumstances!! But when Lowen finds the note from Verity explaining what "really" had happened, and how her confessional autobiography was simply a writing exercise, I gasped. What's so great/annoying about this twist is that YOU STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT THE TRUTH IS! You don't want to believe the letter is true, because then their actions are so sad and monstrous; but if her autobiography is true, isn't that the exact kind of manipulative and fake letter Verity would write to try and save herself/her relationship with Jeremy? What an excellent mind-eff, and though as I said it's a frustrating end it's also brilliant.

Bravo Colleen Hoover, for composing a compelling story with great characters and an excellent atmosphere that kept me jumping out of my skin until the last page (and even beyond).