Jeremy was an extremely effective character. She was complex with a lot of depth and nuance. I didn’t necessarily LIKE Lowen, but she was a solid character. The character development in this book was pretty strong. But if you can stomach it, this is a worthwhile read. I would urge anyone who finds such subjects in literature traumatic to steer clear of this book. Honestly, as a mother, the really intense chapters involving such blatant and severe child abuse were a lot to take in. This is a book you do not want to put down, even though each subsequent chapter brings more and more shocks that will disturb you to your core. The house has such a creepy, gothic vibe which is just accentuated by the anxiety-fueled plot. This book is extremely dark and disturbing. Things get worse for her when strange things start occurring in the house, leading Lowen to believe things are not actually as they seem. When Lowen uncovers a secret autobiography penned by Verity, she uncovers secrets that could hurt Jeremy and his son, two people Lowen has grown to care for deeply. After an accident, Verity is in a vegetative state and Lowen has been hired to take over authorship of Verity’s famous book series. She moves into Jeremy’s home to sift through the papers of Jeremy’s wife, the famous author, Verity Crawford. When the enigmatic and handsome Jeremy Crawford enters the picture to make an employment offer, she has no choice but to take the job despite it making her uncomfortable. Her mother has just died after a long illness, her career is floundering, and she’s completely broke and on the precipice of homelessness. Lowen Ashleigh has been down on her luck for some time. Otherwise, whereas It Ends With Us is a pretty straightforward plot, this one is twisty and intriguing with more than a few curve balls. There is also a very intense undercurrent of abuse, though in this case it is pretty intense child abuse versus the spousal abuse from the first, so be warned. Again with the odd naming conventions, though I do rather like the name Verity Crawford.

This is an incredibly different book than the last Hoover novel I read, It Ends With Us.

A book called verity