If you’ve read Verity and loved it (or hated it) please come and discuss it with me! Welcome to my plot summary and Spoiler Discussion for Verity by Colleen Hoover on Jen Ryland Reviews! Includes info on the NEW chapter in the Verity hardcover!
Spoiler Discussion for Verity by Colleen Hoover
This post includes:
A Full Plot Summary of Verity
An Explanation of the Ending of Verity
Spoiler Discussion for Verity
Verity: Team Manuscript or Team Letter? Is Verity’s manuscript a writing exercise or a confession?
UPDATED: What is in the NEW epilogue chapter in the new hardcover version of Verity? I have all the details and all I can say is …. WOW! Check it out and let’s discuss!
Liked Verity? Here’s what else you should read!
Plot Summary for Verity by Colleen Hoover
Struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh is headed to a meeting in New York City when she witnesses a pedestrian get hit and killed by a truck. A kind bystander offers her a clean shirt, as hers is now bloody.
Lowen, in debt after her mother’s recent death, is in the city to discuss a job. The publisher of bestselling author Verity Crawford needs a writer to finish some of Verity’s manuscripts. Interesting!
The bystander to the accident is none other than Jeremy Crawford, Verity’s husband. He confides to Lowen that Verity was in a car accident and that she was a big fan of Lowen’s work.
Lowen tells her agent (and ex) Corey that Jeremy has invited her to his house Vermont to go over Verity’s papers and notes.
Corey suggests she ask Jeremy to mail them to her, considering all the tragedy that’s befallen people close to Jeremy. (Jeremy and Verity call themselves “chronics” meaning people who have chronic tragedy in their lives. But are they really?)
One of Jeremy and Verity’s twin daughters died of an allergic reaction, the other drowned in a lake, then Verity had her accident. Bad things just seem to happen to people in Jeremy’s life.
But Lowen is like nope, sorry. I’m going to his house.
Lowen heads to Vermont, feeling nervous. She’s greeted by Jeremy and Verity’s young son, Crew. Jeremy suggests she pick a pen name, Laura, and tell everyone to call her that. (No one does.)
Lowen meets Verity, who seems unaware of anything around her, and Verity’s nurses.
Jeremy directs her to Verity’s office. In sorting through Verity’s papers, she finds a manuscript, which seems to be Verity’s autobiography. Lowen reads a portion about Jeremy meeting Verity and their instant attraction.
Lowen is rejected for an apartment she was hoping to rent. Jeremy offers her a loan and goes around without a shirt. This, combined with all the sex scenes in Verity’s autobiography, makes Lowen wildly attracted to him. Even when she thinks she sees Verity peering out her bedroom window.
In Verity’s autobiography, she is pregnant with twins and feels conflicted about it, even jealous at having to share Jeremy with them. Lowen feels judge-y about this and wonders if Verity actually wrote it at all.
Lowen notices that Jeremy has put a lock on her bedroom door and recalls an injury she got as a child while sleepwalking. The next day, she goes grocery shopping with Jeremy and is annoyed at two women flirting with him. She’s pleased when Jeremy shuts this down.
Crew, Jeremy and Verity’s son, tells Lowen he injured himself with a knife (which Verity sees) but then tells his father he fell off the bed. The knife vanishes.
Lowen continues reading the autobiography, which chronicles Verity’s continued attempts to end her pregnancy by doing things like taking pills and throwing herself down the stairs. This deepens Lowen’s dislike of Verity.
Lowen also continues to lust after Jeremy.
Lowen wakes up in Verity’s bed. Jeremy rushes to her side and she tells him about the sleepwalking incident that injured her as a child. The next morning, he offers to put a lock on the outside of her door.
In Verity’s autobiography, she nearly smothers her daughter Harper and then realizes that Jeremy might have seen her on the baby monitor.
Verity writes about how Jeremy accuses her of favoring Chastin, Harper’s twin sister. She tells him that the daycare thinks Harper is on the autism spectrum. Verity also lies and says she’s pregnant again.
Lowen and Jeremy finally have sex but in the middle of it she sees Verity watching.
Lowen reads the part in the autobiography where Chastin dies of an allergic reaction. Verity is sure that Harper killed her sister.
Lowen yells at Verity for being a terrible mother, and Verity wets her pants.
Jeremy and Lowen undertake a marathon sex session. In the morning, Jeremy wants to sneak out so that Crew doesn’t find him in Lowen’s room, but they are locked inside.
Lowen reads the part of Verity’s autobiography where she kills Harper by capsizing a canoe and doesn’t save her. Then Lowen asks Crew about the day Harper died and he says that his mom says not to talk to Lowen.
Crew bites a knife, and Jeremy has to take him to get stitches.
The final chapter of Verity’s autobiography is Jeremy realizing that Verity killed Harper, Verity feeling despondent that her husband knows she’s a killer, and Verity contemplating driving her car into a tree.
Lowen finds Verity out of bed. She screams at Jeremy that Verity is faking and also a murderer. She gives Jeremy the autobiography and tells him to read it.
Verity admits to Jeremy that she’s been faking her condition.
Jeremy attacks Verity.
Lowen stops him, advising him to make Verity’s death look like an accident. He needs to to induce vomiting, then suffocate her so it looks like she choked to death.
Whoa, Lowen. Dark much?
What is the Ending of Verity by Colleen Hoover?
Seven months later, Lowen is pregnant and finishing Verity’s manuscripts in New York. She, Jeremy and Crew head back to the Vermont house and there Lowen finds a letter from Verity to Jeremy.
What does Verity’s letter say?
In the letter, Verity tells Jeremy that her “autobiography” was actually a writing exercise, a fictionalized version of real events that she was writing to “get inside the mind of a villain.”
Verity claims that she didn’t really try to end her pregnancy or kill the twins. It was all a “writing exercise.”
But Jeremy read the autobiography and, furious when he thought Verity killed his children, strangled her into unconsciousness, tied her up, crashed the car, put her in the drivers’ seat, and fled the scene.
After the accident, Verity pretended to be injured and, when Jeremy was in New York meeting with the publishers, made her plans to leave Jeremy and flee with Crew.
The one problem: Verity just couldn’t remember where she put the printed copy of the “autobiography,” the one that Lowen found so easily.
Horrified, Lowen rips up Verity’s letter and flushes it down the toilet. She can’t blame Jeremy for being fooled by the fake autobiography. Since they both killed Verity, she has to keep quiet.
What is in the new Epilogue in the new hardcover version of Verity?
What happens in the new epilogue chapter of Verity? Buckle up and let’s talk MORE spoilers for the epilogue.
The epilogue takes place six months after the main story ended.
Lowen and Jeremy’s baby daughter, Nova, is now three months old. They are living by the water in North Carolina. How sweet, right?
First off, the epilogue does NOT tell us whether the autobiography was true or the letter. Sorry.
But we get a LOT more info about that #couplegoals pair, Jeremy and Lowen.
Lowen has decided that whether the manuscript or the letter are true, Verity was a bad mother. Either Verity did terrible things to her children OR she wrote about doing terrible things to them. Both are bad. Okay, Lowen, but one is WAY more bad.
Never mind all that Team Manuscript/Team Letter nonsense. Lowen is much more worried about her sex life with Jeremy.
She is deeply, obsessively jealous of Verity’s beauty, her ability to bounce back after childbirth, and the amazing sex life she and Jeremy (supposedly) had. I guess Lowen does believe the manuscript was true because that is all Verity talked about.
To make herself feel better, she uses Verity’s Victoria’s Secret credit card to buy new lingerie. Oh, honey.
Lowen finds Jeremy lying in bed, reading a new thriller written by a gorgeous raven haired woman who looks a lot like Verity, and she feels jealous. Just jealous? Not nervous that he’s looking for her replacement?
Lowen initiates sex but still can’t escape the feeling that their sex life isn’t as good as Verity and Jeremy’s.
Lowen and Jeremy decide to take Nova and Crew to the beach. Lowen sets up a blanket and watches the kids while Jeremy goes for a run. All the better to pick up new and attractive women, right?
Lowen thinks of the time she asked Crew what she should name the baby and he said he didn’t care because the baby would die anyway. Wow. Please get this child a therapist.
Lowen also mentions that no one knows where they are living and they’ve all taken Lowen’s last name.
Suddenly a familiar-looking woman comes up to Lowen at the beach. It’s Patricia, the gossipy friend of Verity’s that Lowen met in the supermarket back in Vermont.
Patricia, who is walking her dog, is clearly shocked to see Lowen. Patricia does the math: the baby is three month old and Verity died about a year ago.
Jeremy comes back from his run, chats with Patricia, then tells Lowen to take the kids to the car.
Jeremy quickly all their belongings in the car and then goes back down to the beach and drowns Patricia.
RIP Patricia. Yes, the dog is fine. Thanks for asking 🙂
When they get home, Jeremy destroys all the evidence they were ever at the beach.
Lowen is horrified and briefly contemplates leaving, but decides he murdered Verity and Patricia to protect their family.
She gives him a “special present” in the shower as a reward and to prove her loyalty. He seems to enjoy his present. In his enjoyment he kind of chokes her, so hard she is sure it will leave bruises. But she doesn’t mind. Even though Jeremy almost choked Verity to death. Finally, he’s treating her more like Verity!
After the shower sex, Lowen goes to check on Nova, but she’s missing. Crew says he put her outside because she was crying. Fortunately, she’s fine.
Lowen cries herself to sleep. After deciding she’s become part of a family of Chronics.
Oh, Lowen. I’d sleep with one eye open if I were you….
Spoiler Discussion for Verity by Colleen Hoover
Is Verity a villain or is Jeremy a villain … or are they both evil?
Well, I don’t think we can resolve question one. But after that new epilogue, is there anyone out there who’s still on Team Poor Jeremy Finally Found Happiness With a New Wife?
Verity: Unlucky “Chronic” or a Psychopath?
I mean, either way, Verity is … something. Whether she actually killed Harper and wrote the autobiography confessing it OR she did a “writing exercise” that incorporated her guilt over Harper’s death and then lost it and wrote a letter trying to explain herself, she’s a bit odd.
Lowen says that Verity’s characters are “really fucked up” and Jeremy says that Verity has weird, religious parents.
So Verity’s not your average mom next door. But is she a murderer? Is she just crazy in love?
Verity makes the weirdest choices in this book. She writes a crazy, messed-up confession/writing exercise in which she recounts lots of sex scenes with Jeremy and then repeatedly attempts to murder her children.
Whether the pages are facts or fiction, instead of titling it “writing exercise” or reading it to Jeremy so he knows it’s a HUGE JOKE (if it’s just an exercise) OR or password protecting it or locking it away (if it’s real), she does the worst possible thing: she prints out a hard copy and promptly loses it. And when she realizes Lowen found the manuscript, she doesn’t sneak into her office at night and destroy it.
Finally, though she says her top priority is taking her son and escaping Jeremy (as it should be because he’s clearly cheating on her AND has tried to murder her) she hangs around forever, watching Lowen sleep with him while she pretends to be incapacitated. Because she’s still looking for the autobiography.
Is Jeremy a villain?
He initiated the meeting with Lowen and lied about Verity being a fan of Lowen’s work. And HE was the one who read Lowen’s books, not Verity. HE picked her to take Verity’s place (or to torture her).
I feel like Verity was afraid of him even before he tries to kill her, especially at the point she lies and tells him she’s pregnant again.
He had (according to Verity) already read the autobiography AND didn’t tell Lowen that when she told him to read it.
He definitely lied to Lowen. And quite possibly to Verity.
EDITED: Well, now that we have all read the epilogue I think it’s safe to say that Jeremy IS a villain.
Or do Jeremy and Verity have a twisted relationship and are both untrustworthy?
Verity claims that that the manuscript is a writing exercise suggested by her agent, Amanda. A writing exercise in which in which she is a monster who hates her children and kills them.
Jeremy finds it.
Whether it’s a confession or an autobiography, I think the reaction of most husbands would be that Verity was out of her mind with grief.
But Jeremy IMMEDIATELY assumes that his beloved wife and the mother of his children is a deranged murderer.
Verity never tries to explain because “he wouldn’t believe her.” Okay, then.
According to her, he strangles her and then stages the whole thing as a car accident.
Is Verity telling the truth? I don’t know. But I’m still suspicious of Jeremy. He lies a lot and he’s clearly violent.
Jeremy’s first reaction is to be furious at Verity, so firm in his belief that she murdered Harper and had wished both twins harm since before their birth that Verity realizes all is lost and she has to plot her escape. (Again, while romance readers might accept this level of crazy in love, many thriller readers are side-eyeing the entire situation.)
Then either 1) Verity attempts suicide by crashing her car into a tree OR 2) Jeremy injures Verity in the car accident because for whatever reason, divorce or calling the Child Protective Services on Verity isn’t an option.
Then after the accident, instead of either 1) cleaning up the misunderstanding or 2) getting a restraining order on Jeremy, Verity pretends to be incapacitated and unable to speak for months (again, huh???).
After that epilogue, is Lowen now a villain?
Lowen finds the autobiography. Instead of being like “wtf both these people are crazy; I quit,” Lowen is like, “hey that Jeremy is pretty hot.” It’s the whole “my wife doesn’t understand me, my wife is a psycho” story.
EDITED: now that we have the new hardcover epilogue, Lowen has SO much explaining to do. Lady, get out of there.
Team Writing Exercise or Team Autobiography or Team Something Else?
Was So Be It just a “writing exercise” or was it a confession? What is the evidence?
Sadly, as I mentioned above, the new epilogue to the hardcover version of Verity offers no clues.
Evidence that Verity’s manuscript is an autobiography:
There are clearly elements of truth in the autobiography. Yes, Verity may have exaggerated stuff, but there are actual toothmarks on the headboard, so that’s real.
The fact that Verity fakes her condition to stay and find the manuscript is compelling to me. She really wants to get that thing back. And yet, as I argue above, when she has the chance to leave, she doesn’t.
Rufina (in comments) offers that Harper’s scar could evidence that the manuscript is true. Though when Lowen asks about the scar, Jeremy tells her that the doctors said it’s not unusual for a twin to have one.
Evidence that Verity’s manuscript is a writing exercise:
If she had really killed her child, would she have confessed in writing and then printed the confession out and lost it?
It’s very plausible that she was terribly guilty over Harper’s death and the manuscript was a way to explore those feelings of being a bad mother.
Verity says Amanda told her to do it, which is easily proven or disproven.
What’s the deal with Amanda?
My theories as I read were all over the place, but I was definitely suspicious of Jeremy. I was also side-eyeing Amanda, Verity’s editor. At that early meeting with Lowen, she’s putting on red lipstick at 9 am, hoping to catch Jeremy’s eye.
Plus, Amanda was the one supposedly suggested this ridiculous villain origin writing exercise to Verity as a way to a) further her career and MAYBE b) to break up Verity and Jeremy.
Kind of kidding, but that would have been a good twist to have Amanda pop up at the house and point out her teethmarks on the headboard to Lowen.
If I Liked Verity, What Else Should I Read?
I argue in my review of Verity that it is, at its heart, a Gothic romance.
In Gothic romance, the typical plot involves a vulnerable, sheltered young woman coming to live with a magnetic yet troubled man. He’s often a widower, sometimes with children. She falls in love with him but at the same time, is worried that he’s keeping a terrible secret from her.
Think Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, or Rebecca – I have a whole post on Rebecca!
In any case, one of the central questions in Gothic romance is: can our heroine trust the guy?
In Verity, is Jeremy a grieving father and devoted husband, or is he a sinister figure? Is Lowen his next victim? Well, after reading the sequel, I’m on Team Sinister.
Or, as suggested above are both toxic and playing sick games with each other. If you like this theory (or Verity) you should really read Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney and then come join my Spoiler Discussion for Rock Paper Scissors.
Things I did love about Verity:
Verity had a great sense of fun, and of playing with the conventions of romance and Gothic fiction. It did keep me turning the pages.
As I was reading, I couldn’t decide if Verity was a murderer or a victim. Was Jeremy a chronic or an abusive husband? Was Lowen just a crazy kid in love or a complete idiot?
After the epilogue chapter in the hardcover, Jeremy is definitely evil and Lowen has gaslit herself.
So much drama.
Things that drove me crazy about Verity:
The instalove. Yes, this is a mainstay of Gothic fiction, in which a sheltered, virginal young woman is captivated by a tragic, tortured man.
I wasn’t a fan of Lowen. I felt like she was creeping on Jeremy from the moment they both witness the accidental death of some poor pedestrian and Jeremy rips off his shirt to give to her. Then when she finds out he’s Verity’s husband she can’t wait to get to Vermont and hang out with him. Again, instalove.
The lack of clarity on Verity. Was she a liar and a murderer, or was she just a victim of Jeremy?
Whew that was quite the Spoiler Discussion of Verity. What did you think of the book? What is your take on ALL this?
Please leave a comment and, if you want to be notified of my reply, hit the bell icon!
If you liked Verity because of its twisted relationships, and love thrillers, I’d recommend Rock, Paper Scissors. If you’ve read it, come join our Spoiler Discussion for Rock Paper Scissors – people have a LOT to say!
Delighted to find this discussion! I’ve just finished the book and have been dying to talk about it! I’m not sure I fit into either team but if pressured I think I would have to go with ‘team manuscript’. I do, however, think Jeremy may have read the manuscript earlier as was puzzled why he made a decision to murder Verity based on such a brief skim read. Surely this implies he already knew its contents? But then if he had already read the manuscript why ever did he care for Verity at home, like that? So many things don’t add up eg for Verity to successfully fake her injuries for such a long time – even to the point of being incontinent seems unlikely if she was the loving innocent mother she claimed to be in the letter. Also the manuscript describes Jeremy throwing the chicken/dumplings dinner at the wall so clearly he had anger management issues? Or was that part of Verity’s fiction?
Thanks for joining us. I agree – there are things that don’t add up on both sides so I can’t make up my mind!!!
RE Incontinence – I think Verity did it on purpose. Like when Lowen spoke to her and she peed herself, that was for sure an on purpose act! I think Verity was a Class A psychopath but Jeremy was just as bad too!
Well, if you have read the new chapter, Jeremy has definitely outdone himself in the psycho department!
Hi, I have just finished the book and have chosen to not read a bonus chapter. I am team manuscript, but believe that Jeremy is also a villian. He had read at least one of Lowan’s books and I believe chose her to be the co-author. He is just to perfect to be believable. I think Verity did everything she said to the children, but Jeremy knew she was unstable and sublety encouraged her behavior. Lowan, is a twit and lacks integrity. Jeremy will begin to mold her into his Ideal woman, when he fails there will be another accident.
I have been thinking about this book for a loooooong time due to everyone’s amazing comments. And I am coming out in the same place. Jeremy is not a good guy – he plotted to bring Lowen there, maybe to taunt Verity into admitting she was faking her condition.
Also yes, Lowen better watch out because she is clearly replaceable AND an accessory to murder. If I were her I’d sleep with one eye open!
I read Verity a couple of years ago, and just started listening to the audiobook this morning. There are already details that I’ve forgotten just two hours in, but I do not get a sense at all that Lowen was “creeping on” Jeremy in the beginning. She probably would not have gone to their house in Vermont at all if it weren’t for the eviction notices and having to be out of her apartment in two days. I am “Team Manuscript” — Verity is the villain and really did all of those horrible things. Some things are implausible when you stop to think about them (no matter what might be the reality), but I got sucked into the story and went along for the ride, not thinking too hard about them at the time because I was too busy turning the pages to find out how the book ended!
I’m more of a thriller fan than a romance fan, and don’t care for explicit sex scenes but I skimmed through those and “enjoyed” (it’s hard to say that about a book with such a dark theme!) the rest. An updated book has now been released with a new chapter that may have answers, but I likely won’t be reading it unless my local public library gets a copy.
Well I am happy to help I have a summary of the new chapter that I am about to add to the post. It should be up in an hour!
Awaiting this summary of the new chapter …..
It’s UP, let me know what you think!!!
I am so glad I stopped reading part way into this nasty, violent, depressing book. It amazes me what passes for a good novel, regardless of how skillful the writing is. Surely Hoover can turn her hand to better stories.
Well, she’s known for angsty stories with a lot of steam, so I think she just turned up the volume on all of that and added a very dark and twisted psychological element. This reads Gothic to me but also the more I think about it, a throwback to 80s movies. Maybe I’ll do a post on that.
I wonder if Jeremy actually wrote the ‘writing exercise’ to incriminate Verity?
I thought of that. He does enjoy reading a lot! He does have a high opinion of himself lol.
But then would he have written the letter too? Because if he wrote the manuscript, and she wrote the letter, the letter should have said “I didn’t write the manuscript.” Right? I think? This one makes my head hurt a bit!
I just started and finished this book in a matter of hours and I am SHOOK. I have to say though (and maybe it’s just the romance reader in me) but I am team manuscript. I can’t seem to get over the fact that she wrote a whole authors note at the beginning describing how she needed to write with nothing between her soul and the pages. Why would an authors note be necessary? Amanda told her to write from the perspective based off of stories in her life, so why the authors note to explain that what you were going to be reading was going to be dark. And why didn’t she stop? If it wasn’t real and she was caring mother she claimed to be, wouldn’t she have read the first few chapters and been horrified at the way she talked about harper? I’m not a mother but I don’t think any decent mom would be able to even entertain the thought at writing those awful things about YOUR OWN CHILDREN!! Also, in all that time pretending to be sick you’re telling me that she couldn’t come up with one single idea on how to tell Jeremy the supposed truth? Also the whole knife thing is incredibly confusing. Why did crew have the knife in the first place? Why did Verity hide it? How would crew ‘accidentally’ have cut himself on the neck with a knife? Also why did he bite down on the knife when Lowen was asking him questions about verity? Was he so scared of his mom that he felt the need to inflict pain on himself that he outed her? So. Many. Questions. Not. Enough. Answers. Anyways, I think the letter was supposed to be one last big giant ‘F U’ to Jeremy and Lowen. Not that Jeremy’s not crazy cause he definitely is, but I think Verity is the psychopath here.
HI Breck! Okay, I can’t disagree with anything you said. I couldn’t write anything like that. BUT have you read the new chapter in the hardcover edition. Or my summary of it? Jeremy is definitely as bad as Verity is.
Yessss! I cried reading this, and almost didnt keep going as it was disturbing, having 3 children of my own, but Im glad I finished it. I partly believe the letter just for my own heartbreak sanity of her not doing those things to her kids.
One clue that stood out to me is the name itself: Verity means truth. Of course, it could be a red herring, but in my mind, it might be a clue that Verity is the one telling the truth – it’s in her name!
Also, call me old-fashioned, but Jeremy seemed WAY too excited to hang out with Lowen/get her in bed. For a man who not only has a wife but recently lost TWO (!) children in devastating accidents, you’d think hooking up with a cute girl would be the last thing on his mind. And in he and his wife’s old bed??? That’s just incredibly creepy, and an upstanding honest dude should at least be slightly freaked out.
Hi Honor (I absolutely love that your name is Honor, one of the nine noble virtues, and one of the titles of Verity’s books….)
So I guess you are Team Letter? I mean, if Verity is telling the truth, she is still a pretty messed-up person … so no honor for her.
It’s simply impossible to believe in just one person in this story, as someone said earlier, the book is narrated by two women in love, one definitely crazy, and the other sleepwalking, And throughout the story we don’t know anything about Jeremy, it was just a different point of view about him that maybe things would be easier for us.
Aggrhhh this book is really good, because after all there is no truth only theories and doubts. And another if you’re from Literature you know that you should never trust a writer, but the theory that Jeremy also wrote is incredibly possible. Seems like the book is about writers with dark thoughts and dark pasts, just imagine that Jeremy a ghostwriter, or maybe Verity a ghostwriter, I CAN’T BE THE ONLY ONE WHO THOUGHT THEIR NAME “SIMILAR” LIKE A PSEUDONYM, from the beginning I thought “how cute even their names are similar, they both end with y” I mean I still think it’s cute for Colleen to do that, but maybe it means more than that
Hi Mel,
YES, I agree. It’s impossible to believe any of them. Unless Lowen lied in the new chapter (maybe over guilt at her role in killing Verity), Jeremy is a murdering psycho. Verity is either a very twisted person OR in such a toxic relationship that she literally had a complete mental breakdown OR a murderer too. ALL of them are either writers (Verity and Lowen) or people very interested in writers and writing (Jeremy – does he have an actual job? In the manuscript, he says he works cleaning offices and then the next manuscript installment says after two years of dating, Jeremy gets transferred to Los Angeles. Transferred from where and from what job???)
It actually makes sense that her name means truth, but if Verity tells the truth…WHAT IS THE TRUTH? The letter? Or the manuscript?
Anyway keep freaking out haha
Yep, Mel, THIS is the question. I keep changing my mind…
And maybe Jeremy wasn’t “crazy” from the beginning when did your story with Verity begin, maybe like the Crew, losing the one he loves drove him crazy.
That’s why all the doubts about him exist, whether or not he is reliable, because after all, everyone in this story is traumatized, I don’t even fully believe Lowen she sleepwalks and is afraid of herself.
Hii, I just finished the book last night and would love to share my view on this book after reading all of your comments. I am team manuscript because the following points:
1) The manner in which the manuscript was written
Why would Verity have written that section at the beginning of the manuscript if it wasn’t an autobiography, but a writing exercise. Also if she wanted to publish the manuscript as a learning exercise for other writers, like she said she wanted to in her letter, wouldn’t she have said something about it being a learning exercise in the manuscript? The way she had written it, it just seems like an autobiography. If you were an author, what would you possibly could have learned out of that manuscript? It sounds like an excuse of why it gets so disturbing towards the end, since she literally says the following in her letter: ‘I needed to tie the chapters together with an overall storyline so that the autobiography was more cohesive, so I pushed the envelope with every scene to make it more jarring. More disturbing.’ Why would it have to get more disturbing to make a good storyline? Also why would the manuscript have to have a good storyline, if it was meant as a writing exercise or as something to help other writers? What also doesn’t add up in this quote is that she literally calls it an autobiography after having just explained that it isn’t. It seems that she had a slip up in her writing, since it is an actual autobiography.
2) The canoe
If they were actually sinking because of Harper, why wouldn’t Verity call out to both of her kids, hold your breath, in stead of whispering it to one of them. It seems like less work to just scream it out. And Harper is an eight year old child, I wonder if she would have the strength to tip over a canoe.
3) What Verity did while in the house
When Verity saw that Jeremy and Lowen were let’s just call it kissing on the couch and Lowen saw her she looked angry. She was clenching her fists. This fits the Verity from the manuscript the best, since she is overly possessive of Jeremy. If the Lowen from the letter was standing at the top of those stairs I think she would have been sad and hurt, not angry. It is however very likely Lowen thought she looked angry, because she already had an idea of what Verity is like from the manuscript. That Verity would have been mad, so she just saw what she thought she saw.
The fact that she locked them in their room so she would know when they got out seems like bogus to me. She would have heard Jeremy coming up the stairs and he would have checked on Crew before he would check on her. This would have given her enough time to hide the letter and get back in bed. She also only locked them in one time, and she didn’t write this letter in one go. This means that she knew other ways to write the letter without being caught.
4) Jeremy having to find the letter
In her letter she tells Jeremy that she really hopes Jeremy finds the letter someday, but that maybe he won’t. She also writes in the letter that she would call him someday to tell him where to find the letter. If she calls him to tell him where to find the letter, why wouldn’t he find it? I don’t know if this is really an argument, but it doesn’t make sense.
5) Choking her baby
What mother in her right mind would write about choking their own child to death. This isn’t something you just come up with.
6) the knife in her room
How did Crew get the knife? If it was in her room for self protection, how did Crew get it? But this is also a question if the manuscript is real. It still doesn’t make sense.
I am however also on board with the Jeremy is a psychopath theory, i mean come on, he killed two women. One of them didn’t even do anything wrong. No one in their right mind would do that. So why Lowen is still with him, i don’t know. She’s just weird i guess.
Hello Noortje and welcome to the discussion,
I love your points but the problem I always have making up my mind is that the “facts” really depend on who was telling the story (and how).
1) I agree with you on side-eyeing the “writing exercise” which sounds to me like a lie or self-justification
2) The canoe story in in the manuscript so could either be a confession or just Verity spinning wild lies, OR others have suggested, what if Verity didn’t write the manuscript/writing exercise at all? Since your comment suggests you did read the facts in the additional new chapter, I think it’s entirely possible that Jeremy wrote the manuscript. But then who wrote the letter? Maybe he convinced Verity after her accident that she wrote it and the letter is her attempt to explain what she thought she did?
3) I don’t think Lowen has a lot of credibility at ALL because she’s basically chasing/fantasizing about/cheating with the husband of a woman sitting right in front of her.
4) Agree with you on the letter. If she wants Jeremy to find it, why not just give it to him?
5) Agree IF she wrote the manuscript
6) The knife is weird but poor Cruz must need extensive therapy after being stuck with these weirdos
Jeremy is definitely a psychopath. Lowen is amoral at the very least. Verity is either a victim of domestic abuse and gaslighting who was trying to “save” her kids or another psychopath.
Yes Jeremy is a psychopath, but I don’t think he would have written the manuscript or the letter, because I don’t know, for me the plot of the whole book would have been different, you know, Collen would have changed the way Verity acts, I’m sure the manuscript Jeremy didn’t write, he could be a ghost writer (or not, now I think that theory is pretty crazy haha, he just liked to read anyway).
Oh yeah, I can’t forget, in the extra chapter Jeremy acts coldly towards Lowen about her having already read the manuscript, he ignores that she gave those things so macabre… because if he knows she read the manuscript why he doesn’t try to treat her sweet and different from Verity – he’s toxic, doesn’t seem like the understanding type of person -. So, according to the letter, I don’t think he ever read the entire manuscript, Verity assumes he did, so he smothered her.
Or maybe he just likes to ignore that he ever read it, but it doesn’t make sense how sensitive he is to Lowen!
“I know she read that bizarre thing so I wonder what she’s feeling…” He literally read another woman’s book in her face, not for a moment did she not think that Lowen might feel the same way as Verity?! Or I don’t know “Wow, I’m going to read it in secret, because Lowen might go crazy too!” He does not care!
And another, WHY THE FUCK DOES NO ONE IN THIS BOOK HAVE A FRANK TALK TO EACH OTHER???
I just pity how fucked up everyone is psychologically.
AND SOMEONE HAS TO TALK TO DAMN AMANDA!
lol I love your comments!!!
Maybe Jeremy is not a ghost writer but he is obsessed with female romance writers: Verity, Lowen, and then the dark haired version of Verity that Lowen thinks he’s replacing her with. He’s also SO manipulative. I feel like he definitely read at least the beginning of the manuscript (the sex scenes lol) and wanted Lowen to read them so she’d be jealous of Verity.
In the extra chapter, poor Lowen is so desperate, buying lingerie because she feels like he STILL thinks his dead wife (whom they killed!!!) is hotter and sexier than she is. I felt so vindicated after that chapter because I always got a bad vibe from him and felt that if this is a romance, it’s a super-toxic and twisted one.
And hahah yes Amanda I’m totally side-eyeing her.
Crew can also explain some things but he is also complex
He’s “freaked out” and maybe learned from the way Verity treated Harper and Chastin, like in the extra chapter when Nova starts crying and he just throws her out of the house, or he got it from Verity or Jeremy, or it was simply related to the traumas.
Anything is possible. Crew definitely knows what has been happening, poor kid. I feel bad for him. He needs a lot of therapy.
Hi Noorootje, I wanted to say first that I loved all your points, fantastic!!! I read the book the day before yesterday, and at first I believed in the letter, yesterday I was believing in the manuscript even more after entering this site, this afternoon I was faithfully believing in the letter, and now after reading your comment I believe in the manuscript without a doubt hahaha.
1- I think she just didn’t put “this is just an exercise dear readers” because she wanted to be faithful to the dark side made everything come true, wanting to really create an aversion to her, bad.
2- Your point about Canoa makes me think that maybe not everything in the manuscript could be true, like 100%. Because I certainly believe that the canoe scene was not a simple accident, whether Verity was to blame or not.
3- I agree with that point, maybe Lowen saw what he wanted, but whether Verity is bad or not, possessive or not, even I would clench my fists…
– And it made me remember the time Jeremy and Lowen left the house to eat with Crew, what happened in that house in the meantime? Did the nurse know something or not? –
And yes, I don’t understand, why would she lock the door, I’m sure she didn’t lock it to write the letter, there are certain points in the letter that I believe were written a long time ago, not just in one night.
4- THAT WAS YOUR POINT THAT I LOVED MOST! Completely agree until I had to stop reading the letter and think for a while, I was like, “huh? If you were to call him, clearly would he find it?”
But this “contradicts” itself because in fact he might not find her, she would call him, he wouldn’t even listen… and things happen with time, maybe he would move house, the letter would corrode somehow… ← until then I was believing the letter, creating theories in favor of Verity hahaha –
5- Believe us human beings are capable of imagining the worst dark things happening to the ones we love, but it makes sense, since she never dreamed of Harper killing Chastin… so why would she imagine that without having a VERY plausible situation, since she says he invented the dream.
6- The knife is the biggest mystery for me, in these three days I’ve been thinking about the book, the knife is the loosest point in the whole story, and another Crew cut himself, was it an accident, or did Verity hurt him? Why does he later stick the knife in his mouth himself (or was that Lowen’s dream? I don’t remember haha)
Here is my hot take: The manuscript was real. No mother can write something that sinister about her children. Verity is also a psychopath who fakes a traumatic brain injury for over four weeks. That is NOT normal. She is so obsessed with Jeremy she faked her injury thinking he would put her first again and care for her because he had his suspicions about Harper. I do think Jeremy had some motive in picking Lowen, but I think he was a decent guy. Verity wrote the letter because she knew she couldn’t keep this up for long and she wanted Lowen to find it and she knew she would. She wanted to try to prove she wasn’t crazy and make Lowen question her decisions to be with Jeremy. If in fact the letter were true, why would Jeremy always make sure Verity was ok if he tried to kill her twice?? The letter was a decoy to continue her manipulation. After
Jeremy reads the manuscript and realizes what Verity has done and continues to do since she faked her injury there was no way to trust her and he had to do what he did to protect himself and Crew.
Hi Lyndsey! I can go along with all that except the part about Jeremy being a decent guy. I never thought he was and then that new bonus chapter kind of proved it. I think all three of them were pretty terrible. I could definitely agree Verity was the worst of them, though!