The gothic suspense and plot is a 10, but nymphomania and a hasty end makes it a 6.
Summary:
Best-selling author Verity Crawford has suffered a family tragedy, been paralyzed in a car accident, and is unable continue the last three books in her thriller series. Young author Lowen is brought in by Verity's husband, Jeremy, to finish the series. It's the chance of a lifetime so she quickly travels to the Crawford home to sort through Verity's notes. But what she finds isn't fictional notes, it's an autobiography written before Verity's accident. And the secrets in it are more disturbing than anyone could have imagined. At first, Lowen refuses to share the manuscript with the grieving father, but as the tale gets more disturbing and Lowen starts to develop feelings for Jeremy, she wonders if it's better to get the truth out in the open, no matter who it might destroy.
Verdict: 6/10
I understand that Colleen Hoover is trying to shock the reader. That's part of the purpose of gothic horror. But this was too much. Verity’s autobiography is extremely explicit. I get putting in one or two scenes to get the point across, but when there’s a graphic scene every chapter, it loses interest and impact. Even Lowen says she's tired of reading about Verity's sex life. Hoover admits through her characters that it's too much but still doesn't stop writing it!
Gothic is meant to disturb, and in that sense, this novel is effective. But I feel like including the thoughts of a vindictive, narcissistic, and possibly psychopathic mother is enough. You don't have to detail a blowjob every 10 pages for me to know she's messed up.
If it hadn't been for the over-sexualization, I may have really liked this book. There were a lot of subtle references to gothic classics like Jane Eyre and Rebecca. And the suspense and dread that something sinister was approaching gives off seriously creepy vibes. It's the kind of book that makes you want to look over your shoulder while you're reading.
Hoover is great at first and last sentences. The cliff hangers were killer and left me flipping pages as fast as I could read. My mind kept spinning more and more theories: was Verity really a crazy killer? Was Lowen making all of this up in her head? Had Jeremy really written the manuscript and framed Verity so that he could appear more sympathetic and lure in Lowen?! Had Crew played a part in any of the deaths? I just had to know how it ended.
But the real ending felt so dull compared to my own version. SPOILER ALERT AHEAD!
It wasn't just that Lowen's crush on Jeremy felt a bit forced or that it wasn't clever to add a complex level of guilt and a duality of what could be true. But the “antagonistic journaling” twist seemed like a cop-out. It left the reader with more confusion than anything. And all of the parts that you thought could be important clues (the nurse's suspicion, the allusions to Crew being off/evil, the sleep-walking and Lowen's past that she's trying to run from), they all ended up having little to no bearing on the story. It wasn't like introducing an artful and thought-out Christie red-herring, as those actually play out. These just died on the page with no purpose. It was like Hoover tried to be more complex by throwing everything she can into the mix, not really thinking of how it would work.
I just think there were better endings and to say it was all fiction in the last 20 pages seems a bit too late from my perspective.
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