When I first heard about this book I was quite intrigued by its synopsis. The author was known to me for her romance novels which are very popular although, I confess, I haven't read them. I don't like reading romance, it bores me quite a bit. Anyway, seeing that she had written a mystery novel that looked so interesting led me to buy it, not without first seeing what the many reviews one finds on the internet had to say about them. All of them are good, and that makes me wonder if they are not made just to sell. First I leave you the synopsis so you can see how interesting it sounds:
Cuando escuché por primera vez de este libro me intrigó bastante por su sinopsis. La autora la conocía por sus novelas románticas que son muy populares aunque, lo confieso, no las he leído. No me gusta leer romance, me aburre bastante. De todos modos, ver que había escrito una novela de misterio que parecía tan interesante me llevó a comprarla, no sin antes ver qué decían de ellas las múltiples reseñas que uno encuentra en internet. Todas buenas, y eso me hace preguntar si no las hacen sólo para vender. Primero les dejo la sinopsis así ven lo interesante que suena:
Synopsis/Sinopsis:
Lowen Ashleigh, a novelist on the verge of bankruptcy, receives an assignment that will change her life: Jeremy, the flamboyant husband of Verity Crawford, one of the most important authors of the moment, hires her to finish the series of books his wife was working on before suffering a serious accident that has left her in a coma. Lowen moves into the couple's mansion to supervise the notes Verity was working on, hoping to find enough material to begin her assignment, and there, hidden away, she finds an autobiography of Verity herself. Page after page, Lowen uncovers chilling confessions, including the memory of the night that forever changed the Crawford family's life.
Lowen Ashleigh, novelista al borde de la bancarrota, recibe un encargo que le cambiará la vida: Jeremy, el flamante marido de Verity Crawford, una de las autoras más importantes del momento, la contrata para terminar la serie de libros en la que trabajaba su mujer antes de sufrir un grave accidente que la ha dejado en coma. Lowen se instala en la mansión del matrimonio para supervisar las notas en las que trabajaba Verity, con la esperanza de encontrar material suficiente para empezar con su encargo, y allí escondida encuentra una autobiografía de la propia Verity. Página tras página, Lowen descubre confesiones escalofriantes, incluido el recuerdo de la noche que cambió para siempre la vida de la familia Crawford.
My opinion/Mi opinión:
As you can see it has all the necessary ingredients to be a very good mystery novel and it would have been if the author had not focused so much on the erotic romance and more on the argument. Totally wasted. What a pity! Maybe it's a good novel for readers just dipping into mystery genre books, but not for those of us who have been reading this for years.
Como ven tiene todos los ingredientes necesarios para ser una muy buena novela de misterio y lo hubiera sido si la autora no se hubiera centrado tanto en el romance erótico y si más en el argumento. Totalmente desperdiciado. ¡Qué pena! Quizá sea una buena novela para lectores que recién se sumergen en los libros del género misterio, pero no para aquellos que venimos hace años leyendo esto.
I don't know what I can say that's good... The idea is original, the characters aren't too bad and it might appeal to a lover of the erotic-romantic. It even seems to me that the book should be categorized as a romantic drama novel. You will find in its pages a lot of romance, a lot of eroticism of the most explicit and vulgar, pornography every five pages (I'm not lying). The characters are very few, flat and shallow, except Verity's who I found better worked. The protagonist seems like a teenager in heat in love with Verity's husband's physique, creating the first obstacle of the plot, when they start to fall in love. Even the forbidden love theme felt too shallow to me. Of the books Lowen has to write, he doesn't talk at all, it seems he forgot why he went to Verity's house.
No sé qué puedo decir que sea bueno… La idea es original, los personajes no están tan mal y puede resultar atractiva para un amante de lo erótico-romántico. Incluso me parece que el libro debería ser catalogado como una novela de drama romántico. Encontrarás en sus páginas mucho romance, mucho erotismo del más explícito y vulgar, pornografía cada cinco páginas (no miento). Los personajes son muy pocos, planos y poco profundos, excepto el de Verity que me pareció mejor trabajado. La protagonista parece una adolescente en celo enamorada del físico del marido de Verity, creando el primer obstáculo de la trama, cuando comienzan a enamorarse. Incluso el tema del amor prohibido me preció demasiado superficial. De los libros que Lowen tiene que escribir, no habla nada, parece que se olvidó a qué había ido a la casa de Verity.
Very quick to read because of the simplicity of the plot, which focuses on the autobiography she finds and the attraction she feels for Verity's husband, and the predictability of the events, which on top of that are few. Nevertheless, the ending was good, finally a twist that no one expects. You can write that down. I don't have much more to say than that it is one of those books from which I expected a lot and got little more than nothing.
Rapidísima de leer por lo simple de la trama, que se centra en la autobiografía que encuentra y la atracción que siente por el marido de Verity, y lo predecible de los acontecimientos, que encima son pocos. No obstante, el final fue bueno, al fin un giro que nadie se espera. Eso lo pueden apuntar. No tengo mucho más que decir que es uno de esos libros de los que esperaba mucho y apenas obtuve poco más que nada.
Credits: the banner is my design and I created it with Canva. I used the translator: https://www.deepl.com/es/translator.
Créditos: el banner es mi diseño y lo creé con Canva. Utilicé el traductor: https://www.deepl.com/es/translator.
I think we share similar thoughts concerning Verity. I expected so much, but I got a little bit more than nothing in return. Not the biggest fan of Hoover, but seeing her nail this mystery-thriller genre would have been amazing. Too bad Verity wasn't it.
Lovely review.🌺
Yes, we feel the same way about Verity. Thank you for reading this review. :)
The moment I read Colleen hoover and mystery novel on the same line. I knew it just has to be Verity. Honestly,that book creeped me out. Had me so confused at one point and it's probably one of the best books written by Hoover.
If this is the best book written by her, I wouldn't want to read the others. I'm not a fan.
Lowen and Jeremy as characters were those i didn't like. I actually liked how creepy the book appeared. Maybe it's because I haven't read so many books like that, my tastes aren't probably so high when it comes to them yet. An amazing review by the way
Thank you! I think she wasted a lot of that mysterious and creepy argument. It's a shame.