If a stranger took my phone and went through my explore page on Instagram, they can tell very easily what phase of life I’m in. Between 2017 and early 2021, my explore page was filled with posts and videos of gym rats and fitness routines. From mid-2021 to December 2021, it was all about baby bumps and labour inducement and now, you guessed right! It’s all about cute babies and their milestones!
When I began using the hashtag #bookstagram, posts of proper bookstagrammers appeared and nestled comfortably between the many posts of baby bumps and babies. This was my introduction to the CoHorts – fans of the author, Colleen Hoover. I remember being overly curious about her books because the reels about her novels by varying bookstagrammers seemed unending.
I am not keen on romance books or movies but I am a sucker of love songs, so I decided to give her novel, ‘Verity’, a chance. Reading ‘Verity’ was akin to having a cut up, chunky wedge of juicy watermelon on a hot summer day. Like eating that watermelon, I was no longer parched but the feeling was temporary. The sweetness and the relief, though what I desperately needed, is not enough to keep me satiated through the remainder of the hot afternoon. This is the best way I can describe what ‘Verity’ did for me. It was light, easy but also cheesy…very cheesy (see below for an example).
There were very few characters. Aside from Loewen, Jeremy and Verity, there were only a few other characters that participated in any dialogue at all. There was also barely any in depth description of what Loewen looked like. As a reader, I like to teleport into the world of a book but I found myself almost blindly trying to picture what Loewen looked like. Was she tall? Short? Sexy? Plain? What did her legs look like? What did she sound like? How was her gait? The same applied to Jeremy. Aside from knowing he was attractive, there wasn’t much more. For many, this might be a great thing. We all have picked up books where an entire chapter is filled with unnecessary descriptions of trees and the weather leaving very little room for the plot itself but I find it’s all about balance.
This book relies heavily on suspense. I knew without a doubt what would happen in the end. Many readers too might but the real talent of Colleen was in the way she delivered the obvious to us with her words. The major con for me was all of the sexual descriptions but I understand that it was part of the ‘story within the story’ and thus intentional but for semi-prudes like myself, it was a bit much. Overall, it was a good read. Just what I needed ‘in that parched moment’.
It's Fifi 