Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Verity by Colleen Hoover

101 reviews

rory_john14's review

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Abortion, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Kidnapping, Ableism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization

kyraelisabeth's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Grief, Sexual violence, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Ableism, Child death, Mental illness, and Murder

bea2001's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement

lynini's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

the plot twists are insane. i was so shocked by the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Child death, Chronic illness, and Confinement

sambolin's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Verity lives up to they hype of the mystery and tension. Even writing this I’m still a little freaked out by the concept. The almost open-ended-ness of the ending is definitely going to sit with me for a long time. However, the obsession over a man that’s only traits I can remember are being handsome and loving his children was taken a little overboard. There were many times I was rolling my eyes and even the smut felt a little much. The mystery and creepiness in the book were great- the relationships not as much. I did find the story within the story interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Abortion, Toxic relationship, Violence, Confinement, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Fatphobia

dev921's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Vomit, Ableism, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Pregnancy

lindasoderlundd's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Child death, Cursing, Murder, Body shaming, Infidelity, Vomit, Child abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Grief, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Car accident, and Confinement

Minor: Terminal illness, Animal death, Alcohol, Cancer, and Suicide attempt

tatimarie8284's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

kept me hooked from the beginning. i loved the switching povs from lowen and verity. so many twists and turns yet i did not expect the ending.

Spoiler

i’m definitely team manuscript though

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Infidelity, Murder, Abortion, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, and Sexual content

Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Self harm, Vomit, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, and Cursing

sldibened's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Murder, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Cursing, Body shaming, Car accident, Violence, Abortion, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, Fatphobia, Gore, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Sexual content

emmaxab's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

The second half of this review does contain spoilers - I’ll add a paragraph break and a warning beforehand :) 

 

Right - I swore off Colleen Hoover’s books because I knew that they included a lot of toxic relationships, and that’s just not something I find myself wanting to read about. But I heard through a friend (hi Emily :) that this was a singularly good book and the blurb intrigued me, so I thought that I’d give it a go. I’m glad I did (I don’t give books star ratings, but I’d probably say this was a solid 3 out of 5 (and I’m quite generous with my stars)). 

 

I enjoyed the fact that this was a suspense/thriller novel - not a genre I typically read as I’m a scaredy cat at heart - but truthfully this book did not feel that scary to me. Creepy, definitely, but scary? Not particularly. The scariest thing was probably the narrator’s unwillingness to do anything to actually get herself out or call anyone (when she had multiple opportunities to do so). 

 

Whilst I was reading I couldn’t help but draw similarities to Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, a book I love - which probably worked to Verity’s disadvantage, as it paled in comparison. Even though less ‘scary’ things happen in Rebecca, Maurier’s ability to create a sense of unease me feel far more fear than Verity did. There’s also similarities between the heroes of the book - Maxim de Winter and Jeremy Crawford - the fact they are older and richer than our heroine, and in the way the narrators have a healthy suspicion of them that is overpowered by their hatred for Verity/Rebecca. The fact both are named by the corresponding (not) heroine too, is interesting, and makes me think that maybe Rebecca was a real source of inspiration for this novel. 

 

SPOILER WARNING (MILD): 

 

The passage where I first felt that there was a clear sense of inspiration/similarity between the two was when Hoover writes about Lowen, the narrator, driving up to this big house in the Vermont countryside, where the hero and wife live: 

 

“The GPS is leading me down a long, windy road flanked by flowering dog-wood trees and houses that keep getting bigger and more spread apart. […] Two tall brick columns loom on both sides of the driveway - a driveway that never seems to end. I crane my beck, trying to see the length of it, but the dark asphalt snakes between the trees. Somewhere up there is the house, and somewhere inside that house is Verity Crawford.” - Verity 

 

Something gave me the feeling that Hoover was doing her own version of the opening chapter of Rebecca - the whole “last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again” type. Only, Verity isn’t written that well - and the writing seems to flounder the more the book goes on; as the plot unfolds, and the twists are twisting, the writing gets more and more sloppy. This was really disappointing - because I don’t think the plot was all that bad. 

 

SPOILER WARNING (HEAVY): 

 

The issues I had with the writing came to a head with the letter Lowen finds under the floorboards. This was such a pivotal scene - it was the last twist that is meant to leave the reader guessing beyond the book. As a twist it was powerful, but it didn’t have nearly as much impact as it should have done because the writing suddenly became rushed, sloppy, and the pacing went completely out of the window. I understand that it’s meant to be a kind of cliffhanger of sorts, but we should have witnessed the effect it had on Lowen a little more. (If you want my thoughts as to whether to believe the letter or the manuscript - given how badly the letter scene was written, I think it’s a better book if the manuscript is true, but if the letter had been given more precedence and better writing then it could have been the more interesting, creepy narrative as Lowen is still with Jeremy). 

 

In short, I believe the potential creepiness of it all was lessened by the writing and the romance (unbelievable at best, absolutely sh*t at worst), which was probably why I was able to read it as I tend to steer clear of the genre. That being said, I read it in less than 24 hours - so maybe I was more invested than this review suggests. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Violence