REVIEW: It Ends With Us (book) by Colleen Hoover

It Ends With Us is, I suppose, marketed as romance, but I'd call it more women's fiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Domestic abuse is a huge part of this story. Don't be fooled by the romance novel trappings and marketing.

This is the story of Lily, a young woman who grew up wondering why her mother stayed with her abusive father. Now her father is dead, and Lily has moved to Boston and started up her own business, a flower shop. Her father's death and other events prompt her to think about her past, so she gradually reads her way through her teenage diary entries (which were always structured like letters to her favorite celebrity, Ellen DeGeneres). Her diary reminds her of her first love, Atlas, a young man who ran away from his own abusive family and lived for a time in the abandoned house next door to Lily's home. 

As Lily reminisces about Atlas, she meets Ryle, an ambitious surgeon who tells her right from the start that he isn't interested in relationships or romance. Still, they're attracted to each other, and Lily gradually falls in love. As things with Ryle take a turn and he becomes abusive, Lily has to grapple with complicated emotions and memories of her past. She becomes even more torn when she runs into Atlas for the first time in years.

REVIEW: Verity (book) by Colleen Hoover

Verity is a thriller with a gothic edge. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Lowen is a struggling writer who recently spent a period of time as her mother's caretaker, up until her mother's death. Now she's headed to a mysterious meeting that could be a turning point for her career. The author Verity Crawford has been in a car accident, is now in a vegetative state, and can no longer complete her bestselling series. Lowen has been chosen as the author best suited to go over Verity's notes and "co-author" the final books for her. Verity's husband, in particular, wants Lowen on board, and so she accepts, even though she isn't sure she can produce work nearly as good as Verity's. It's not like she has much of a choice, anyway - she desperately needs the money.

The Crawford family has been visited by quite a bit of tragedy: first the deaths of Verity and Jeremy's twin daughters, and then Verity's accident. Lowen goes to Verity's isolated home, intending to spend just a few days going over her papers. Soon, however, she finds herself glued to what appears to be Verity's unpublished autobiography. Verity's books were always written from the perspective of the villain, which Lowen didn't necessarily think indicated anything about Verity' nature, but Verity's autobiography has her wondering otherwise. It reveals her to be a cold and ruthless liar who'd do anything to keep Jeremy, her husband, to herself. 

What sort of person was Verity? It's a question Lowen can't stop thinking about, even as she finds herself falling for Jeremy. Did he know what his wife was really like? Should she tell him?