This was my first Colleen Hoover book, and what a way to introduce me to a new author. I mean…they just…but did it go…wait…what?! From what I have heard, this is a big departure from the types of stories she normally tells. Let’s see if I can give this review justice.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: This book blew up big time last year on my Facebook book clubs. It was published in December 2018, and it thrived in 2019. I had friends that would recommend it to me ALL. THE. TIME. Have I read it yet? I NEED to read it! I would never believe it. I was intrigued, and I was able to snag the book at the start of quarantine for free. Then my in-person book club decided to read it. I have no idea why I was waiting so long to read it, but now was my time.

I AM HERE FOR THIS: Wow. I mean…wow. Words escape me when speaking about this book – and that is not good given that I am building a blog off of SPEAKING ABOUT BOOKS! But in this case, this is a good thing, as I really enjoyed this twisted tale.

We have Lowen and Jeremy, who meet in the world’s worst meet cute, only to find out that Jeremy is the husband of a popular author Verity Crawford. Verity was in an accident, and to keep the money train rolling in, Jeremy commissions an author to continue her best-selling series. That person is LOWEN! Lowen comes to the house to review Verity’s notes, only she finds a different kind of document – a manuscript that is Verity spilling the beans on her life story.

And what a life that was – children dying. A whole lot of sex. Some more sex (nothing 50 shades style but enough to make the windows fog a bit) and a shady shady life.

I don’t want to say anymore about the plot, as there are twists and turns that are around every corner, and the ending just left me breathless. I had a book hangover for 2 days, as I could not read another story until I finished thinking this over and processing the ride I had just finished. Everyone told me not to do any spoilers so the ending would smack you in the face. And they were right.

I COULD LEAVE THIS BEHIND: There are some very disturbing scenes in this book that I could have lived my life happily having never read it. It involves a mom being…errr…not-so-kind to her kids. And that is putting it mildly. Reading it as a mother myself, it would turn my stomach and make me hug my kids a little tighter, which was awkward when they were doing things like gymnastic Zoom calls or eating breakfast. One mom in my book club posted that she couldn’t finish the book because of it (she did end up finishing it, but only after we talked her through it).

FINAL THOUGHTS: What a ride. This is that rare book that you THINK you know what’s coming, only to be given a twist you never saw coming, so ohhhhh it’s going to end up here. Then NOPE. And right when you think it is going to end, the final twist just really shakes everything you ever knew in life and throws it back on you, almost making you want to re-read the whole thing again to see what you missed.

As I mentioned earlier, I read that Hoover does not typically write these thriller type of books, so she self-published this one, as her publisher balked at the idea. If this is true, then how silly of them. They missed an amazing opportunity on this one, because this book gets you talking. The one thing I love about stories are when they make you feel something. Not every book has you walking away feeling happy as can be. So if I really hate someone, really love someone, or really want to shake someone and shout at them, then the book has done its job. I walked away from this feeling all of the above, none of the above and I just cannot fathom what is true and what is not.

The moms in my book club loved it. I really enjoyed it. And now I am on the Facebook fan page to discuss it over and over again,