The Subject Matter of Colleen Hoover’s ‘Verity’ Raises Concerns for Its Film Adaptation

Verity is the next Colleen Hoover book set to receive a film adaptation after It Ends with Us. Given its subject matter, it will be interesting to see how the book is adapted to the screen.

While Hoover has emerged as one of the bestselling contemporary authors, her rise to fame hasn’t been without controversy. A big factor in her success as an author was BookTok. It’s well-known that the BookTok community has a penchant for “spicy” literature, so Hoover’s extensive array of romances and dark thrillers gained traction on the platform. However, a common problem with the books promoted by BookTok is that they often glorify toxic relationships and promote misogynistic sentiments, with users misinterpreting these things as just “dark romance,” or “kinky” or “spicy” content. Hoover’s books are one of the most commonly cited examples of this phenomenon.

Even with It Ends with Us, which Hoover intended to be a book about breaking the cycle of domestic abuse, she spends far too much time romanticizing Lily’s relationship with her abusive partner, resulting in some readers coming away with the idea that she should’ve stayed with her abuser. Meanwhile, Verity‘s plot and mishandling of sensitive topics raise similar concerns over how these issues will translate to the screen.

What is Verity about?

Verity is a psychological thriller from Hoover told from the perspective of Lowen Ashleigh. Lowen is a struggling writer who jumps at an offer to be a ghostwriter for a famous novelist. However, the circumstances of the ghostwriter gig are a bit unusual. Lowen is hired to finish a successful book series from acclaimed author Verity Crawford. The reason Verity can’t complete her own series is that she was involved in an accident that left her in a coma. Verity’s writing team and her husband, Jeremy, wish to conceal the woman’s current condition from the public, thus hiring Lowen to secretly finish the series while presenting it as if Verity wrote it.

For the job, Lowen travels to the Crawford residence where Verity, Jeremy, and their young son, Crew, live. She plans to spend a few days there perusing Verity’s notes. However, her trip takes a strange turn when she discovers Verity’s secret autobiography manuscript, which reveals the horrific truth behind the Crawford family’s many tragedies. To further complicate things, Lowen finds herself developing feelings for Jeremy.

On the surface, it sounds like a fairly intriguing and typical psychological thriller. But there are a lot of problems hidden within the book. One major complaint from readers is how the story becomes lost due to the numerous graphic sex scenes. While some viewers may enjoy the “spicy” content, many will notice the book contains a fairly shocking depiction of women. Beyond the mystery of the autobiography, the main story is actually about two women who are willing to truly do anything for the same man they’re both obsessed with. However, the man in question is manipulative, controlling, and violent. Additionally, while the women face consequences and are slammed for their terrible decisions, all the terrible actions of the man are simply glossed over.

Ultimately, Verity‘s story could be interesting if the movie chooses to focus more on the idea of a woman uncovering dark family secrets. However, the film will have to consider whether it should repeat the way women and toxic relationships are depicted in the book.