VERUM

By: Courtney Cole

Narrated by: Simone Tetrault

My name is Calla Price, and I’m drowning. My new world is a dark, dark ocean, and I’m being pulled under by secrets. Can I trust anyone? I don’t know anymore. The lies are spirals. They twist and turn, binding me with their thorns and serpentine tongues. And just when I think I have it figured out, everything is pulled out from under me. I’m entangled in the darkness. But the truth will set me free. It’s just ahead of me, so close I can touch it. But even though it shines and glimmers, it has glistening fangs, and I know it will shred me. Are you scared? I am.

©2015 Courtney Cole (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

A total mind game - my head hurts

I am so lost after reading book 2 in this trilogy. I loved the first book, Nocte. It flowed well and had an incredible twist at the end that I did not see coming. But this book had so many layers to it, and the reader isn't necessarily routed in reality reading it, so I feel like I'm in a fog and clueless. At each corner, I'm wondering if it's a hallucination, a delusion, or reality - it can get frustrating.

In this book, we travel with Calla and Dare back to England to visit her mother's family's estate. There are so many questions we're faced with to answer. Who is the boy in the gray hoodie? What does Calla's future hold after each reading of her cards? She feels like she's being watched...but by who? What the heck is Dare hiding? With this part of the mystery, you could come up with a billion different scenarios to get ahead of the story, but we don't actually find out confirmed details. We're left hanging at the end to wait out this mind game until book 3, Lux, releases.

“…your mind is closed. You don’t see things for what they are, you see things for what you think they should be.”

I do love how Courtney Cole writes. A staunch English major or copy editor would go nuts reading this one with its run-on sentences, lack of punctuation and repetitive words...but I call it brilliance. It flows like it's human. It flows like I'm riding a continuous wave into the beach. As a reader, I truly feel like I'm in Calla's mind - as scary as it is in there. And some of the most interesting quotes to include in a story...

"Run, little mouse. The hawk is coming, and you’re going to get eaten."

"It's a rabbit hole and I'm the rabbit and I'm crazy."

I need Lux, like ASAP!

Confusing, wild ride

Where does VERUM rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

As far as the audio goes, it was very well produced and one of the top voices I have listened too.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The story was very back and forth and confusing, but it was supposed to be. I do however wish we had someone on the outside telling us little snippets of the truth the while time instead of going round and round and round to find out what you thought was the truth was a lie.

What does Simone Tetrault bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She really brings all the characters to life for me.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I had to break it up and take pauses to digest the information I learned. It's a very deep book and I needed time to process.

Verum

Well...I was enjoying it,, but the sniveling and insecurities that the character burdened the reader with got to me. lets show more female characters with spunk and the ability to stand on her own feet.

This Series Should be One Book.

First off, I like this author. I truly enjoyed the "Beautifully Broken" series, and I was thrilled to discover this new series.

I bought this book immediately after listening to the first book, "Nocte." Book one and two are both well-written, and often wonderfully presented. In book one, I felt the author's idea pouring out of her; it was as if she awoke one morning, and had to get last night's dream on paper.

Throughout book two, I couldn't help but wonder if the author's original objective was not intended to be divided by three. This is purely supposition, but it felt as if someone said, "That's such a good idea! But you should divide it into a series, because, these days, everyone writes trilogies."

To illustrate the difficulty of dividing a story by three, a professor once asked us to take a well-known, simple children's story and make it into a trilogy. I used "The Three Little Pigs." Book one and three were relatively simple tasks, but most of us agreed that book two felt like filler. The second book was where we all veered off of the original story, creating unnecessary content in order to bridge book one and three. This book often brought that assignment to my mind. I kept thinking, this book is a bridge. Possibly, book three will eradicate this impression.

Perhaps I'm wrong; perhaps this story is going exactly as the author had originally planned and my impression is feasibly incorrect. Because of the story feeling inappropriately divided, I hesitate to judge this book completely; something tells me that this review would be different if book three was already published.

Just like book one, book two could easily be ruined by spoilers, which is why I haven't written too much about the actual plot. Another reason for my avoiding the plot's description is my constant state of disorientation. Without spoiling the story's revelations, I'll just say that I was often confused, wondering if I missed something, and just when I started to feel confident that it was all about to make sense...cliffhanger.

In all honesty, if halves were an option, I'd give this book 3.5 stars, but my adoration for Cole's previous work made me round up instead of down. I'm hopeful that the third book will redeem the story, but I think the publisher would be smart if they make book three available via "Kindle Unlimited with Whispersync," at least for a limited time. From reading numerous reviews of other books, I think it is safe to say that most Audible customers apply great value to their credits, and I suspect that this book has the potential to madden some listeners/readers into skipping book three.

With all of that being said, I've still recommended this book to friends (perhaps, if only to discuss my befuddlement?) and I intend to finish the series.

A bit harder to follow than the first.

I backed up a couple times in this book because I felt lost. I understand it's a psychological thriller but I typically stay connected to these types of storylines. I enjoyed it and I'm going straight to the third book while the second is fresh. So glad to have found this trilogy in the plus catalog!

not as good as the first book

good book...... really Crazy. i had a hard time focusing on the book. my mind kept wandering away and eventually i got tired of rewinding. does that mean i was bored? no. This book is meant to be read, with your full attention. I can't offer that.

Sad

Omg one more book I wanna listen but I don’t. I can’t put it down but it just really pissed me off
Ugh

The narrator ruined it.

Though I believe I would have liked the story, I haven't been able to finish it. All I was able to focus on was the narrator's mouth persistently popping after most of her sentences. I tried to speed it up hoping the mouth sounds would become less audible, but it just changed the sound from popping to clicking.

Maybe this won't bug most people, but it really is continual enough to cause a distraction for anyone who would notice.

I didn't want to give the book an unfair poor rating based on that, so I gave it 5 stars, as what I did hear was interesting.

And I know even less

Just when I thought I didn't know anything I know even LESS!!! My brain can't wrap my head around this even if it tried!! Thank god it took me years to finally read it since all the books are out now. If I would have had to wait ...

that's one bad LCD trip

After listening to book 2 my mind is a mess. I literally have a headache. I never took LCD but I imagine this is what a bad trip would feel like! still a really good book, but nothing like book 1. book 1 made sense book 2... I don't know what this is? lol. on to book 3! hopefully I don't end up like one of thr savages after listening!
(oh was it just me or did anyone else have the urge to scream "DONT BLINK!" in the secret garden? lol)