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Verify
“Wow! Shades of Fahrenheit 451 and Orwell’s 1984. Painfully real and urgent. Read this book.” —Michael Grant, New York Times bestselling author of the Gone series
Bestselling author Joelle Charbonneau’s eerily timely, high-stakes page-turner is destined to start important conversations at this particular moment in our history.
Meri Beckley lives in a world without lies. When she looks at the peaceful Chicago streets, she feels pride in the era of unprecedented hope and prosperity over which the governor presides.
But when Meri’s mother is killed, Meri suddenly has questions that no one else seems to be asking. And when she tries to uncover her mother’s state of mind in her last weeks, she finds herself drawn into a secret world with a history she didn’t know existed.
Suddenly, Meri is faced with a choice between accepting the “truth” or embracing a world the government doesn’t want anyone to see—a world where words have the power to change the course of a country and where the wrong ones can get Meri killed.
Bestselling author Joelle Charbonneau’s eerily timely, high-stakes page-turner is destined to start important conversations at this particular moment in our history.
Meri Beckley lives in a world without lies. When she looks at the peaceful Chicago streets, she feels pride in the era of unprecedented hope and prosperity over which the governor presides.
But when Meri’s mother is killed, Meri suddenly has questions that no one else seems to be asking. And when she tries to uncover her mother’s state of mind in her last weeks, she finds herself drawn into a secret world with a history she didn’t know existed.
Suddenly, Meri is faced with a choice between accepting the “truth” or embracing a world the government doesn’t want anyone to see—a world where words have the power to change the course of a country and where the wrong ones can get Meri killed.
311 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 24, 2019
209 people are currently reading
9923 people want to read
About the author
Joelle Charbonneau
34 books2,664 followersI am a storyteller at heart. I have performed in a variety of operas, musical theatre and children's theatre productions across the Chicagoland area.
While I'm happy to perform for an audience, I am equally delighted to teach private voice lessons and use my experience from the stage to create compelling characters on the page. I am the author of the Rebecca Robbins mystery series (Minotaur Books), The Paige Marshall Glee Club mysteries (Berkley) and The Testing YA triology (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
While I'm happy to perform for an audience, I am equally delighted to teach private voice lessons and use my experience from the stage to create compelling characters on the page. I am the author of the Rebecca Robbins mystery series (Minotaur Books), The Paige Marshall Glee Club mysteries (Berkley) and The Testing YA triology (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 501 reviews
May 18, 2019
Joelle Charbonneau has good ideas. I’m always down for a book that’s taking on censorship, and I love me some dystopian fiction. But this book was a mess.
1. Timeline. We have no idea when this taking place, except for that it’s “decades” from now. You expect me to believe that in the span of 60 years (or 70, or 80, depending on which part of the book you’re at, because there’s no internal consistency here), the government was able to completely erase several words to the point where our characters can’t even figure out how one is supposed to be pronounced?? Sure, Jan.
2. The romance. Cringeworthy dialogue, insta-love... Like, they don’t even know each other and they’re stopping during the big action scene for some kisses.
3. So much about the premise as explained in the book makes no sense! Rich people are apparently willing to recycle their signed first editions rather than pay off the government to keep their status symbols. There’s not even a mention of a literary black market.
4. I live in Chicago, and I wouldn’t have recognized the setting as my city without the named landmarks.
5. It’s like she just capitalized a bunch of terms to make it sci-fi. Stewards and Marshals and Stokers.
6. The quality of the writing itself is just not good! Everything is told, nothing is shown. The lack of contractions makes the tone overly formal and stilted. The pacing is way off — this takes place over two or three days, according to our main character, which was another SURE, JAN moment. You go from being like “it can’t be true” to the LEADER OF THE DANG REVOLUTION IN TWO DAYS?????? Sudden character development like that feels inauthentic. Plus there were some tense shifts mid sentence. It just felt sloppy.
This book wants to be Fahrenheit 451 without any understanding of what made Fahrenheit 451 work.
1. Timeline. We have no idea when this taking place, except for that it’s “decades” from now. You expect me to believe that in the span of 60 years (or 70, or 80, depending on which part of the book you’re at, because there’s no internal consistency here), the government was able to completely erase several words to the point where our characters can’t even figure out how one is supposed to be pronounced?? Sure, Jan.
2. The romance. Cringeworthy dialogue, insta-love... Like, they don’t even know each other and they’re stopping during the big action scene for some kisses.
3. So much about the premise as explained in the book makes no sense! Rich people are apparently willing to recycle their signed first editions rather than pay off the government to keep their status symbols. There’s not even a mention of a literary black market.
4. I live in Chicago, and I wouldn’t have recognized the setting as my city without the named landmarks.
5. It’s like she just capitalized a bunch of terms to make it sci-fi. Stewards and Marshals and Stokers.
6. The quality of the writing itself is just not good! Everything is told, nothing is shown. The lack of contractions makes the tone overly formal and stilted. The pacing is way off — this takes place over two or three days, according to our main character, which was another SURE, JAN moment. You go from being like “it can’t be true” to the LEADER OF THE DANG REVOLUTION IN TWO DAYS?????? Sudden character development like that feels inauthentic. Plus there were some tense shifts mid sentence. It just felt sloppy.
This book wants to be Fahrenheit 451 without any understanding of what made Fahrenheit 451 work.
Read
October 16, 2024Imagine a world in which residents of a near-future Chicago enjoy peaceful, orderly, prosperous, and crime-free lives, where truth is prized above all else That's the city 16 year-old Meri Beckley knows and loves. She hopes to become a government-approved artist, just like her deceased mother, until a stranger hands her a piece of forbidden paper with "verify" written on it. Meri's search for the meaning of this unknown word leads her into a dangerous underground society of men and women, determined to share the books, history and words deemed subversive by the government. Give this well-written novel a try! -Louisa A.
July 15, 2019
2019 is not shaping up to be a year of great reads for me, particularly in the way of ARCs.
Verify might have been able to stand on its own at the height of the dystopian frenzy in 2012-2013. The idea has been done before, the characters have been done before, and the tropes have also been done before, yet there is just enough originality, and definitely enough similarity to the top ya dystopian novels that it could have slipped in under the radar and make the author a small bucket load of money.
Unfortunately for Charbonneau, it is not 2013, and I am not a mindless teenage drone happy to read this drivel. Nor are many readers that this book may target, though yes, I'm sure it will find a small readership in young teens. The problem with Verify is that we see nothing new. Charbonneau does nothing original with her idea, and it falls flat in a readers market that fairly recently suffered a glut of dystopia. Yes, it will inevitably have its day again, and I believe Verify may have done okay had Charbonneau waited for that day to come (despite reading like a predictable fanfic), but she didn't. Which leads me to the prediction that Verify will not do well in the shops, and it will definitely not inspire the high cross over adult readers which some ya does.
To succeed on today's market with the plot we had, Charbonneau really needed a MC with personality who we could root for. We needed fleshy secondary characters with their own individual motives. We needed a tight plot with unexpected twists following sneaky red herrings. We needed a love interest with chemistry, instead of a guy referred to as an old geezer. And finally, we needed stakes. The whole way through I felt the book was incredibly unrealistic and boring, with nothing to get behind. Without high stakes and motivations, there is no reason for a story, and in this book we had a seemingly perfect world where, yes, some historical facts have been changed, but absolutely nothing bad is happening to the genreal populace. They are happy and cared for, and honestly, if I were a citizen there I would never believe the government wanted anything other than my happiness, even if I was given the new facts. To change that, you need to give me some serious stakes! What happens if the truth comes out? What happens if people disagree with a minor issue in the government? Yeah some people die and disappear, but evendors that is poorly explained. And if that happens why the hell should these people keep collecting archaic knowledge? I don't know and frankly, I don't care.
Make me care, and I will give it a 5 star rating. Leave me feeling lost and bored, and you get a 1. I cannot recommend this book to anyone in good faith, I'm sorry Charbonneau.
Verify might have been able to stand on its own at the height of the dystopian frenzy in 2012-2013. The idea has been done before, the characters have been done before, and the tropes have also been done before, yet there is just enough originality, and definitely enough similarity to the top ya dystopian novels that it could have slipped in under the radar and make the author a small bucket load of money.
Unfortunately for Charbonneau, it is not 2013, and I am not a mindless teenage drone happy to read this drivel. Nor are many readers that this book may target, though yes, I'm sure it will find a small readership in young teens. The problem with Verify is that we see nothing new. Charbonneau does nothing original with her idea, and it falls flat in a readers market that fairly recently suffered a glut of dystopia. Yes, it will inevitably have its day again, and I believe Verify may have done okay had Charbonneau waited for that day to come (despite reading like a predictable fanfic), but she didn't. Which leads me to the prediction that Verify will not do well in the shops, and it will definitely not inspire the high cross over adult readers which some ya does.
To succeed on today's market with the plot we had, Charbonneau really needed a MC with personality who we could root for. We needed fleshy secondary characters with their own individual motives. We needed a tight plot with unexpected twists following sneaky red herrings. We needed a love interest with chemistry, instead of a guy referred to as an old geezer. And finally, we needed stakes. The whole way through I felt the book was incredibly unrealistic and boring, with nothing to get behind. Without high stakes and motivations, there is no reason for a story, and in this book we had a seemingly perfect world where, yes, some historical facts have been changed, but absolutely nothing bad is happening to the genreal populace. They are happy and cared for, and honestly, if I were a citizen there I would never believe the government wanted anything other than my happiness, even if I was given the new facts. To change that, you need to give me some serious stakes! What happens if the truth comes out? What happens if people disagree with a minor issue in the government? Yeah some people die and disappear, but evendors that is poorly explained. And if that happens why the hell should these people keep collecting archaic knowledge? I don't know and frankly, I don't care.
Make me care, and I will give it a 5 star rating. Leave me feeling lost and bored, and you get a 1. I cannot recommend this book to anyone in good faith, I'm sorry Charbonneau.
August 8, 2021
This book wasn't my favorite, but still okay overall.
The main problem for me was that I couldn't connect with the characters, and that, unfortunately, was a bit of a deal breaker for me. Since relating to characters is often what really makes me enjoy a book, I felt myself skimming through a lot of it. I felt like the storyline was very interesting and had a lot of potential, but it just wasn't executed properly.
The plot was interesting enough, though. I was intrigued by the events taking place, and Meri's involvement in the resistance was mostly what kept me going through the book.
So unless you like dystopian books or books about censorship, I would just skip this one.
The main problem for me was that I couldn't connect with the characters, and that, unfortunately, was a bit of a deal breaker for me. Since relating to characters is often what really makes me enjoy a book, I felt myself skimming through a lot of it. I felt like the storyline was very interesting and had a lot of potential, but it just wasn't executed properly.
The plot was interesting enough, though. I was intrigued by the events taking place, and Meri's involvement in the resistance was mostly what kept me going through the book.
So unless you like dystopian books or books about censorship, I would just skip this one.
October 3, 2019
Verify is the first book in a new YA futuristic/dystopian duology.
I have previously read a bunch of books by this author, including her popular The Testing series. So I was excited to see the author's newest book.
The narrator of this book is 16 year old Merriel/Meri (1st person POV). The story takes place in Chicago some time in the future (maybe 70+ years).
This book starts shortly after Meri's mom has died. The world is very different than the one we live in now. Paper is obsolete. There is no travel. Almost no guns. The people believe everything that they are told.
Meri is an artist and her mother was an artist too. Meri is trying to figure out about the last paintings that her mom painted.
The beginning of this book was very interesting to me. There was a mystery element to the story. And I was very fascinated with everything that was happening. I liked seeing Meri at school. Her best friend was Rose. And I loved the two of them together.
The main male lead was 18 year old Atlas. He plays a big part in the story. But I was surprised that there was very little romance in this book.
There was a lot going on in the last half of the book. The last part of the story had a lot more action. But I liked it less. The book does not end in a cliffhanger. However, the story was definitely not finished. Overall, the book had an intriguing premise, which hooked me from the start. But unfortunately by the end I was less interested.
Thanks to edelweiss and HarperTeen for allowing me to read this book.
I have previously read a bunch of books by this author, including her popular The Testing series. So I was excited to see the author's newest book.
The narrator of this book is 16 year old Merriel/Meri (1st person POV). The story takes place in Chicago some time in the future (maybe 70+ years).
This book starts shortly after Meri's mom has died. The world is very different than the one we live in now. Paper is obsolete. There is no travel. Almost no guns. The people believe everything that they are told.
Meri is an artist and her mother was an artist too. Meri is trying to figure out about the last paintings that her mom painted.
The beginning of this book was very interesting to me. There was a mystery element to the story. And I was very fascinated with everything that was happening. I liked seeing Meri at school. Her best friend was Rose. And I loved the two of them together.
The main male lead was 18 year old Atlas. He plays a big part in the story. But I was surprised that there was very little romance in this book.
There was a lot going on in the last half of the book. The last part of the story had a lot more action. But I liked it less. The book does not end in a cliffhanger. However, the story was definitely not finished. Overall, the book had an intriguing premise, which hooked me from the start. But unfortunately by the end I was less interested.
Thanks to edelweiss and HarperTeen for allowing me to read this book.
June 10, 2021
Verify is the first book in Joelle Charbonneau Verify duology.
With a slight resemblance to Fahrenheit 451 but YA we find ourselves in a future where the government has removed physical books, words from our vocabulary and they are censoring the reality of what is happening around us. The main character is a 16-year-old girl called Merri that begins to discover that perhaps not everything is as it seems after witnessing an arrest of an individual for having a piece of paper.
I understand everyone's hate for this book, the insta-love,the writing, the annoying main character and the comparison to one of the best classics books ever.
In my opinion I enjoyed it, is not the best dystopian YA I ever read but the audiobook kept me entertained and eager to see what happens in the next book.
With a slight resemblance to Fahrenheit 451 but YA we find ourselves in a future where the government has removed physical books, words from our vocabulary and they are censoring the reality of what is happening around us. The main character is a 16-year-old girl called Merri that begins to discover that perhaps not everything is as it seems after witnessing an arrest of an individual for having a piece of paper.
I understand everyone's hate for this book, the insta-love,the writing, the annoying main character and the comparison to one of the best classics books ever.
In my opinion I enjoyed it, is not the best dystopian YA I ever read but the audiobook kept me entertained and eager to see what happens in the next book.
September 9, 2019
Verify tries to reach out to our generation with a warning message. Stay alert, read more books, be aware of what is going on in your world or someday the government is going to control your whole life by taking away words which in turn narrow the way people think, and then if anybody else DARES to speak of these words they are going to hunt HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE until EVERYBODY falls in line...*
Seems a tad unrealistic, yet at the same time, seems like small potatoes next to the daily BS we are going through on 2019.
*They also restricted people getting into the country or leaving it (am, yeah, seems close enough to what they want to do right now), made all books into e books, and then updated said books by removing any information they didn't want anybody to learn. They must have erased a whole bunch of shit.
So yes, the concept is interesting, though not entirely original. Verify moves at a lighting fast pace, which allows you to finish the book super fast, but at the same time it means the MC has barely any time to come to terms with her new "truth" before she dives head first into the written revolution and BECOMES A SORT OF LEADER ON IT. Cause the revolutionaries have been sitting on their ass with all the necessary info... you know what would help them? A GOOD COUPLE OF HACKERS. The same way that the government "erased" history books and words, maybe a good hacker (like they have in basically any other story) could hack the system and BRING THE WORDS BACK-- The history, the text. BUT that would be too easy and ruin the plot. Also, no hackers are available. And none of the characters can pick up a book and learn some hacking skills, and I am going on a tangent... .. .. .
Story races along, providing us with little time to get used to the new reality. I enjoyed the scenes where the MC has to confront her father's alcoholism, but we also get a couple of lines on how she has talked to him in the past and he never changes so we don't get an actual confrontation, just a lot of stony silences and disappointment with the MC screaming at her father inside her head. Another road nut fully explored in favor of her new revolutionary pursuits (also we have to take the parental figure out of the picture SOMEHOW for all the adventure to take place!)
I was not into the insta-love element of the story, nor was I interested in the rest of the cast. They just felt very cardboard cut crew of dystopian characters. They don't stand out and don't leave an impression. To be honest the MC barely does either. I don't see myself picking up the sequel. It just didn't have enough intrigue or originality for me to remember it in a few weeks time, I'm sad to say.
Seems a tad unrealistic, yet at the same time, seems like small potatoes next to the daily BS we are going through on 2019.
*They also restricted people getting into the country or leaving it (am, yeah, seems close enough to what they want to do right now), made all books into e books, and then updated said books by removing any information they didn't want anybody to learn. They must have erased a whole bunch of shit.
So yes, the concept is interesting, though not entirely original. Verify moves at a lighting fast pace, which allows you to finish the book super fast, but at the same time it means the MC has barely any time to come to terms with her new "truth" before she dives head first into the written revolution and BECOMES A SORT OF LEADER ON IT. Cause the revolutionaries have been sitting on their ass with all the necessary info... you know what would help them? A GOOD COUPLE OF HACKERS. The same way that the government "erased" history books and words, maybe a good hacker (like they have in basically any other story) could hack the system and BRING THE WORDS BACK-- The history, the text. BUT that would be too easy and ruin the plot. Also, no hackers are available. And none of the characters can pick up a book and learn some hacking skills, and I am going on a tangent... .. .. .
Story races along, providing us with little time to get used to the new reality. I enjoyed the scenes where the MC has to confront her father's alcoholism, but we also get a couple of lines on how she has talked to him in the past and he never changes so we don't get an actual confrontation, just a lot of stony silences and disappointment with the MC screaming at her father inside her head. Another road nut fully explored in favor of her new revolutionary pursuits (also we have to take the parental figure out of the picture SOMEHOW for all the adventure to take place!)
I was not into the insta-love element of the story, nor was I interested in the rest of the cast. They just felt very cardboard cut crew of dystopian characters. They don't stand out and don't leave an impression. To be honest the MC barely does either. I don't see myself picking up the sequel. It just didn't have enough intrigue or originality for me to remember it in a few weeks time, I'm sad to say.
March 16, 2022
*Source* Publisher
*Genre* Young Adult, Dystopian
*Rating* 3.5
*Thoughts*
Verify is the first installment in author Joelle Charbonneau's Verify duology. This is a series that may legitimately be compared to Fahrenheit 451, and Orwell's 1984. 16-year old Merriel (Meri) Beckley hasn't been the same since her mother died. She hasn't applied for the City Art Program which is one of Chicago's most desired places to work. Her father started drinking heavily, and on top of all of that, Meri witnesses someone being arrested for having a piece of paper which sends her on a quest for answers which leads to more than she could ever hope to imagine.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...
*Genre* Young Adult, Dystopian
*Rating* 3.5
*Thoughts*
Verify is the first installment in author Joelle Charbonneau's Verify duology. This is a series that may legitimately be compared to Fahrenheit 451, and Orwell's 1984. 16-year old Merriel (Meri) Beckley hasn't been the same since her mother died. She hasn't applied for the City Art Program which is one of Chicago's most desired places to work. Her father started drinking heavily, and on top of all of that, Meri witnesses someone being arrested for having a piece of paper which sends her on a quest for answers which leads to more than she could ever hope to imagine.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...
February 23, 2020
Nice promising new series. I have to know what happens next to the main characters and the plot . I did not like the insta love and some plot holes but otherwise the book was fine .
September 23, 2019
Compelling and a bit scary, Verify is a book that needs to be read by many teens.
Meri's world, a future Chicago, is as close to a utopia as any city has ever been. Everyone and everything is safe. There is no poverty and very little crime. The environment has been preserved, partly by getting rid of paper. All communications are done electronically. Miri believes everything she hears on the three TV channels that have been provided by the government. What else is needed? Citizens are paid for turning in any books or paper they find and must pay a tax to use paper for anything. It is much better for the environment--or at least that's what they want you to think.
Since Meri's mother died in a freak accident, Meri's father has pretty much checked out. Meri meets some people who don't necessarily think the world is a better place at all. In fact, they are convinced the government is controlling everything you see and hear. But is that such a bad thing? Look how happy everyone is. But is everyone really happy? Meri wants to find out why her mother died and why she had become so distant in the last weeks before her death, so she begins to question everything she has believed.
Think about a world without paper. No books. Everything online. If someone were controlling what is released online, what is to stop them from eliminating words (such as "Verify") from the dictionary? Or entire chapters from textbooks. Or entire books.
If you are interested in relationships, it seems there might be a romance developing, but in no way does this relationship take away from the story. We'll have to see about this in future installments. (Something to look forward to.) The characters are interesting and the situations eye-opening. Verify has been compared to Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 and would be a great addition to any curriculum studying those texts.
Things are not all they seem in Meri's world, and she is in for a rude awakening. The tension mounts nicely as we reach the conclusion. I got through this one very quickly. And, sure to be a series, Verify leaves the reader wanting more! Charbonneau certainly has another winner in Verify.
Meri's world, a future Chicago, is as close to a utopia as any city has ever been. Everyone and everything is safe. There is no poverty and very little crime. The environment has been preserved, partly by getting rid of paper. All communications are done electronically. Miri believes everything she hears on the three TV channels that have been provided by the government. What else is needed? Citizens are paid for turning in any books or paper they find and must pay a tax to use paper for anything. It is much better for the environment--or at least that's what they want you to think.
Since Meri's mother died in a freak accident, Meri's father has pretty much checked out. Meri meets some people who don't necessarily think the world is a better place at all. In fact, they are convinced the government is controlling everything you see and hear. But is that such a bad thing? Look how happy everyone is. But is everyone really happy? Meri wants to find out why her mother died and why she had become so distant in the last weeks before her death, so she begins to question everything she has believed.
Think about a world without paper. No books. Everything online. If someone were controlling what is released online, what is to stop them from eliminating words (such as "Verify") from the dictionary? Or entire chapters from textbooks. Or entire books.
If you are interested in relationships, it seems there might be a romance developing, but in no way does this relationship take away from the story. We'll have to see about this in future installments. (Something to look forward to.) The characters are interesting and the situations eye-opening. Verify has been compared to Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 and would be a great addition to any curriculum studying those texts.
Things are not all they seem in Meri's world, and she is in for a rude awakening. The tension mounts nicely as we reach the conclusion. I got through this one very quickly. And, sure to be a series, Verify leaves the reader wanting more! Charbonneau certainly has another winner in Verify.
October 4, 2021
I kind of really enjoyed it. But also I need to read book 2 now 😂
September 18, 2019
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight .
I genuinely thought that this was a contemporary book about a girl dealing with the loss of her mother until about 30% in. (I don't read synopses before I start a book, so sue me 🤷♀️) The thing is, there is nothing at the start to indicate that it's taking place in a different time period/world than our current one. Also, it wasn't even a particularly compelling contemporary about a girl dealing with the loss of her mother either. I felt very little for Meri, and almost stopped, until I remembered that it wasn't a contemporary after all.
Meri just didn't do much for me as a main character, I'm afraid. Especially during the first half, she's mostly fixated on her art and her mom, which is fine except I just couldn't make myself care. Then she encounters What's-His-Name (I genuinely don't remember, nor do I care enough to look it up), who apparently was in cahoots with her late mother. They were trying to start the Mild Revolution™ which is a Revolution that is I guess run out of an underground library and doesn't seem all that important in comparison to today's social climate, but okay. Anyway, they fall in insta-love, as you do.
What are they revolting against, you ask? Well. In a world remarkably similar to our own but with slightly fewer words, they're fighting to... reinstate the words. And books and ideas and such, but yeah. My question is, how exactly was any government able to completely wipe words from the public vernacular in mere decades? It doesn't compute. Some of the people who know the words are probably still alive, right? Can you edit history in such short time? I really feel like no, especially in the digital age, but let's just pretend for the sake of argument.
If you manage to suspend that disbelief (and it will require lots of suspension, make no mistake), things do pick up a bit in terms of action. But then we get Meri as the leader of said Mild Revolution™ that she only heard about two days prior. That... is pretty hard to swallow. Like sure these people who have devoted their lives to the cause are going to believe this rando who showed up yesterday, and ditch their entire life's work/plans to follow her. Sounds legit.
Bottom Line: It's a bit of a mess, but it's a quick enough read and mildly entertaining if you're able to suspend all the disbelief.
I genuinely thought that this was a contemporary book about a girl dealing with the loss of her mother until about 30% in. (I don't read synopses before I start a book, so sue me 🤷♀️) The thing is, there is nothing at the start to indicate that it's taking place in a different time period/world than our current one. Also, it wasn't even a particularly compelling contemporary about a girl dealing with the loss of her mother either. I felt very little for Meri, and almost stopped, until I remembered that it wasn't a contemporary after all.
Meri just didn't do much for me as a main character, I'm afraid. Especially during the first half, she's mostly fixated on her art and her mom, which is fine except I just couldn't make myself care. Then she encounters What's-His-Name (I genuinely don't remember, nor do I care enough to look it up), who apparently was in cahoots with her late mother. They were trying to start the Mild Revolution™ which is a Revolution that is I guess run out of an underground library and doesn't seem all that important in comparison to today's social climate, but okay. Anyway, they fall in insta-love, as you do.
What are they revolting against, you ask? Well. In a world remarkably similar to our own but with slightly fewer words, they're fighting to... reinstate the words. And books and ideas and such, but yeah. My question is, how exactly was any government able to completely wipe words from the public vernacular in mere decades? It doesn't compute. Some of the people who know the words are probably still alive, right? Can you edit history in such short time? I really feel like no, especially in the digital age, but let's just pretend for the sake of argument.
If you manage to suspend that disbelief (and it will require lots of suspension, make no mistake), things do pick up a bit in terms of action. But then we get Meri as the leader of said Mild Revolution™ that she only heard about two days prior. That... is pretty hard to swallow. Like sure these people who have devoted their lives to the cause are going to believe this rando who showed up yesterday, and ditch their entire life's work/plans to follow her. Sounds legit.
Bottom Line: It's a bit of a mess, but it's a quick enough read and mildly entertaining if you're able to suspend all the disbelief.
January 9, 2021
This is an amazing book about the power of words & truth and how they can change lives. When I looked at this book and saw reviews referencing Fahrenheit 451, I was excited because I read that book recently. The idea that government removed words from our vocabulary and pushed their reality to make people believe that crime had been eradicated instead of hidden isn't really so farfetched. Meri buys into the government's truth until her mom is killed and Meri is accidentally exposed to the truth.
I love the idea of an hidden, underground library where people save books (and the truth). I wanted to live in that library. The characters are terrific and the premise is scarily believable. I loved this book and look forward to the next one.
Joelle Charbonneau is an amazing writer and I loved her Testing series. I don't know why I haven't read more books by her. I look forward to changing that. :)
I love the idea of an hidden, underground library where people save books (and the truth). I wanted to live in that library. The characters are terrific and the premise is scarily believable. I loved this book and look forward to the next one.
Joelle Charbonneau is an amazing writer and I loved her Testing series. I don't know why I haven't read more books by her. I look forward to changing that. :)
March 6, 2024
A very YA watered down series version of Fahrenheit 451. It has a slow start, but if you can get past the first 3 chapters, it gets better after that and picks up a lot.
September 26, 2020
I may have never dared to thread the complexities of Fahrenheit 451, but when Moonlightcrate spoke about a book where a heroine is fighting for the return of books, I was instantly captivated. Regrettably, the content wasn’t as absorbing as the premise.
Bias and free opinion is non-existent in Meri Beckley’s world. A new hope is spreading among everyone now that only the truth gets shared. Meri is fairly happy, until her mother ends up dead, and Meri has no idea why. Pushed forward by grief, she’s anxious to solve the questions on her mind and to uncover what her mother was working on. The truth is most of the time an opinionated lie, and Meri realizes that the reality she has been living in is quite inaccurate. She knows everything now, and as the powers of words go, fighting it might kill her.
The setting is Chicago, but in general context, the United States, where the government has decided to withdraw from outside world issues and instead focus its financial and military strength on its own citizens. In this dystopian future, books and paper are considered inappropriate, nearly illegal. High-tech electronics have satisfied all our needs by now, since recycling has become a main priority. In reality, that was just a cover-up to design a reality, where specific words disappear and people are being controlled by only seeing one option and never the alternatives. While I am convinced the writing could have benefited from focusing on atmospheric descriptions, it was coherently enjoyable enough to make me keep swiping pages. The novel immediately hits off with the first clues to the mystery, based on paintings and elusive appearances. While it was truly intriguing to see how everything made sense in the end, the execution, unfortunately, didn’t really speak to me. Honestly, I feel like this novel would have been better received during the dystopian train in 2012, but now the political intrigue and the revolution aspect felt like nothing new. It doesn’t dim the realism of it all, for Verify elaborated on laws and programs that might not seem too futuristic right now, but I wasn’t entirely overwhelmed.
Meri is a mature girl who pushes all her sorrow into hard work. She needs something to keep her distracted, so the sense of hopelessness doesn’t destroy her. She’s fascinated by art and design, just like her mother taught her to. Occuring to be bitter at times, she’s actually quite lonely, and longs to be taken care of the way she needs. Additionally, she’s perceptive, and focused on the future. She doesn’t like being wrong, but she’s daring to the point of being reckless too. Not wanting to stand by and wait, she’s hungry for action. Atlas is cocky, and sounds quite a bit privileged due to the information he’s grown up with. He’s a born fighter who can think fast, and tries to remain tactical throughout his decisions too. He tries to push his feelings of anger and regret away, but also refuses to stand still when others are in danger. He’s ferociously loyal, and…. that’s about all we know about him. Sure, he possessed flaws, and wanted to be the savior most of the time, but overall, he was more a simple love interest than an actual elaborated character. However, not even the romance persuaded me. It happened in a blink, over a mere five days, and since I didn’t feel connected to Atlas at all, I didn’t understand the interest.
Though chaotic, it wasn’t really a horrible plot, but I think readers would have treasured it more if it came out eight to nine years ago. The wild action was considerably well paced, and Meri was a fascinating, imperfect heroine. Verify pushes the important matter of censorship forward, and the educational message was certainly something I could stand behind, but it overshadowed the detail the other characters could have gotten. In general, they evoked no emotion to me, and had not more than two specific traits to name. I couldn’t rate the book more than 2 stars myself, but I’m convinced that some readers might still enjoy it. It’s important to know technology can’t be allowed to win, so we can still be dependent on ourselves. Never stop asking questions. Be inquisitive, and continue to learn, preferably, by reading books.
Bias and free opinion is non-existent in Meri Beckley’s world. A new hope is spreading among everyone now that only the truth gets shared. Meri is fairly happy, until her mother ends up dead, and Meri has no idea why. Pushed forward by grief, she’s anxious to solve the questions on her mind and to uncover what her mother was working on. The truth is most of the time an opinionated lie, and Meri realizes that the reality she has been living in is quite inaccurate. She knows everything now, and as the powers of words go, fighting it might kill her.
The setting is Chicago, but in general context, the United States, where the government has decided to withdraw from outside world issues and instead focus its financial and military strength on its own citizens. In this dystopian future, books and paper are considered inappropriate, nearly illegal. High-tech electronics have satisfied all our needs by now, since recycling has become a main priority. In reality, that was just a cover-up to design a reality, where specific words disappear and people are being controlled by only seeing one option and never the alternatives. While I am convinced the writing could have benefited from focusing on atmospheric descriptions, it was coherently enjoyable enough to make me keep swiping pages. The novel immediately hits off with the first clues to the mystery, based on paintings and elusive appearances. While it was truly intriguing to see how everything made sense in the end, the execution, unfortunately, didn’t really speak to me. Honestly, I feel like this novel would have been better received during the dystopian train in 2012, but now the political intrigue and the revolution aspect felt like nothing new. It doesn’t dim the realism of it all, for Verify elaborated on laws and programs that might not seem too futuristic right now, but I wasn’t entirely overwhelmed.
Meri is a mature girl who pushes all her sorrow into hard work. She needs something to keep her distracted, so the sense of hopelessness doesn’t destroy her. She’s fascinated by art and design, just like her mother taught her to. Occuring to be bitter at times, she’s actually quite lonely, and longs to be taken care of the way she needs. Additionally, she’s perceptive, and focused on the future. She doesn’t like being wrong, but she’s daring to the point of being reckless too. Not wanting to stand by and wait, she’s hungry for action. Atlas is cocky, and sounds quite a bit privileged due to the information he’s grown up with. He’s a born fighter who can think fast, and tries to remain tactical throughout his decisions too. He tries to push his feelings of anger and regret away, but also refuses to stand still when others are in danger. He’s ferociously loyal, and…. that’s about all we know about him. Sure, he possessed flaws, and wanted to be the savior most of the time, but overall, he was more a simple love interest than an actual elaborated character. However, not even the romance persuaded me. It happened in a blink, over a mere five days, and since I didn’t feel connected to Atlas at all, I didn’t understand the interest.
Though chaotic, it wasn’t really a horrible plot, but I think readers would have treasured it more if it came out eight to nine years ago. The wild action was considerably well paced, and Meri was a fascinating, imperfect heroine. Verify pushes the important matter of censorship forward, and the educational message was certainly something I could stand behind, but it overshadowed the detail the other characters could have gotten. In general, they evoked no emotion to me, and had not more than two specific traits to name. I couldn’t rate the book more than 2 stars myself, but I’m convinced that some readers might still enjoy it. It’s important to know technology can’t be allowed to win, so we can still be dependent on ourselves. Never stop asking questions. Be inquisitive, and continue to learn, preferably, by reading books.
November 11, 2019
This was an interesting book to read. I think there were a few strong points that stopped me from knocking it down a star but overall it was a very basic dystopia with a few plot holes you just couldn't ignore.
The Setting:
This book takes place in Chicago, but very different from the one we know. This one is nice and idealistic with only screens and pretty scenes or is it...? Overall in the beginning I found the book really preachy about the dangers of not reading any books outside of online ones and I could have taken that as just a little quirk of the author but there are some major plot holes that make their preaching completely ineffective. We are expected to believe that in just 70 years people are just... not using words anymore? I can't believe that, even the oldest of Gen Z would only be 90 years old and that's a generous estimate on when Gen Z starts people would still be using words and frankly I think if the word verify fell out of use the world wouldn't end. why? Because that's not how life works
The Main Character:
Every book will eventually fail if their main character is really unlikable and even though I didn't hate the MC too much she still really got on my nerves. Our main character is a girl named Meri who is so so stupid I figured out every attempted plot twist before they could even get off the ground with it and she was just lacking in so much common sense. The entire story happens because she becomes obsessed with a guy she randomly saw get arrested by the police nobody pays attention to things like that if I see someone getting arrested I notice and steer clear and that the most thought that ever goes into it. In the beginning of the book she was legitimately angry at her father for being sad her mother died, guess what girl she was his wife. The world doesn't revolve around your suffering and he is hurting too. She is a major Mary Sue and it gets worse around the end of the book, she puts the lives of her and Atlas in danger because she wants to save someone and gets praised for it? It felt like a cheap grab to try and make her seem super cool and brave but the plot line never goes anywhere and is just left dangling so it feels very rushed.
The Romance:
It's not a dystopia YA novel without some romance and even though I don't like that aspect of the genre I can identify when it is done well, in this book it wasn't. From the second she got obsessed with Atlas being arrested I knew we had a love interest abound, there is no love triangle so I give it props for that but it was such a rushed romance. They basically went from just joking around and being friends to seeing how far they could shove each others tongues down their throats it was weird and honestly made me kind of dislike the characters as a whole. I got really excited when romance started to not play a role because I thought hey, maybe I've finally found a book where a male and female character can be just friends with no romantic tension but oh how wrong I was.
The Revolution:
There isn't much to say about the revolution because they didn't do much during it. Let me give you a little daydream, a person in a hoodie and cap runs up to you from an ally, shoves a copy of a dictionary in your hand and runs off while screaming to read it. Are you going to read that entire dictionary word to word? Of course not that would be stupid and yet that's the exact revolutionary strategy that they use, there must have been an easier way. Just focus on some of the words that you know were removed and send out papers about them, it would be easier and if someone got caught they could say that the paper was given to them but no logic could save their stupid revolution.
The Setting:
This book takes place in Chicago, but very different from the one we know. This one is nice and idealistic with only screens and pretty scenes or is it...? Overall in the beginning I found the book really preachy about the dangers of not reading any books outside of online ones and I could have taken that as just a little quirk of the author but there are some major plot holes that make their preaching completely ineffective. We are expected to believe that in just 70 years people are just... not using words anymore? I can't believe that, even the oldest of Gen Z would only be 90 years old and that's a generous estimate on when Gen Z starts people would still be using words and frankly I think if the word verify fell out of use the world wouldn't end. why? Because that's not how life works
The Main Character:
Every book will eventually fail if their main character is really unlikable and even though I didn't hate the MC too much she still really got on my nerves. Our main character is a girl named Meri who is so so stupid I figured out every attempted plot twist before they could even get off the ground with it and she was just lacking in so much common sense. The entire story happens because she becomes obsessed with a guy she randomly saw get arrested by the police nobody pays attention to things like that if I see someone getting arrested I notice and steer clear and that the most thought that ever goes into it. In the beginning of the book she was legitimately angry at her father for being sad her mother died, guess what girl she was his wife. The world doesn't revolve around your suffering and he is hurting too. She is a major Mary Sue and it gets worse around the end of the book, she puts the lives of her and Atlas in danger because she wants to save someone and gets praised for it? It felt like a cheap grab to try and make her seem super cool and brave but the plot line never goes anywhere and is just left dangling so it feels very rushed.
The Romance:
It's not a dystopia YA novel without some romance and even though I don't like that aspect of the genre I can identify when it is done well, in this book it wasn't. From the second she got obsessed with Atlas being arrested I knew we had a love interest abound, there is no love triangle so I give it props for that but it was such a rushed romance. They basically went from just joking around and being friends to seeing how far they could shove each others tongues down their throats it was weird and honestly made me kind of dislike the characters as a whole. I got really excited when romance started to not play a role because I thought hey, maybe I've finally found a book where a male and female character can be just friends with no romantic tension but oh how wrong I was.
The Revolution:
There isn't much to say about the revolution because they didn't do much during it. Let me give you a little daydream, a person in a hoodie and cap runs up to you from an ally, shoves a copy of a dictionary in your hand and runs off while screaming to read it. Are you going to read that entire dictionary word to word? Of course not that would be stupid and yet that's the exact revolutionary strategy that they use, there must have been an easier way. Just focus on some of the words that you know were removed and send out papers about them, it would be easier and if someone got caught they could say that the paper was given to them but no logic could save their stupid revolution.
January 2, 2022
This is a less good Fahrenheit 451. It's not as well-written and less entertaining. Also it lacks a broader philosophy beyond censorship is bad. Once it starts touching on other political issues of revolution it gets sloppy. It would be great if actual political philosophy experts or historians wrote these YA dystopian morality plays but alas, they do not.
August 21, 2019
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
"The only way we can be sure what we want to do when we go out into the world is to first understand what is happening in it."
2.5/5 stars: ★★1/2☆☆
Meri has grown up in a world where nothing one hears should ever be questioned. The government never lies. Her teachers never lie. The news never lies. Everything she has ever heard must be true, and everyone around her seems happy and carefree because of that. But when Meri's mother dies and leaves a series of clues for her daughter to follow, Meri soon finds that the world is not at all what it seems, and that words have greater power than she or anyone around her has ever been allowed to realize.
Verify is essentially a YA version of 1984 by George Orwell. In fact, the latter is even referred to, and not so subtly, multiple times throughout Verify. This, and the fact that the story is based in a near-future version of Chicago, the city I grew up in and currently live in, made this a very enjoyable read. That being said, I did feel like the writing was clunky at times. The dialogue and actions of the characters rarely felt genuine, so it was hard to get properly sucked into the story when I kept thinking how weird the characters' interactions often were. Honestly, this felt like a debut novel, but it's actually far from it.
Don't let my complaints turn you away from this book, though, if you're a big fan of dystopian stories. I generally am not, which makes it pretty easy for me to find fault in this one, but at least it's a bit different than most of the YA dystopians I've read before it. There was a little romance, but it wasn't central to the story. There were interesting (and painful) family dynamics, and women working together for a common cause. I was pretty cool to keep reading about places I see every other day, though, around Chicago. Still, while I do appreciate 1984 and while this book was certainly a neat and interesting little story, I didn't adore it like I wanted to.
All in all, I can see this being popular in schools as a more approachable version of 1984, as it would be good for 6th-9th grade students, for example, but I often felt like I was being slapped in the face with lessons about freedom of speech and the value of information (which I 100% agree with, but would have appreciated more if it were more subtle).
"The only way we can be sure what we want to do when we go out into the world is to first understand what is happening in it."
2.5/5 stars: ★★1/2☆☆
Meri has grown up in a world where nothing one hears should ever be questioned. The government never lies. Her teachers never lie. The news never lies. Everything she has ever heard must be true, and everyone around her seems happy and carefree because of that. But when Meri's mother dies and leaves a series of clues for her daughter to follow, Meri soon finds that the world is not at all what it seems, and that words have greater power than she or anyone around her has ever been allowed to realize.
Verify is essentially a YA version of 1984 by George Orwell. In fact, the latter is even referred to, and not so subtly, multiple times throughout Verify. This, and the fact that the story is based in a near-future version of Chicago, the city I grew up in and currently live in, made this a very enjoyable read. That being said, I did feel like the writing was clunky at times. The dialogue and actions of the characters rarely felt genuine, so it was hard to get properly sucked into the story when I kept thinking how weird the characters' interactions often were. Honestly, this felt like a debut novel, but it's actually far from it.
Don't let my complaints turn you away from this book, though, if you're a big fan of dystopian stories. I generally am not, which makes it pretty easy for me to find fault in this one, but at least it's a bit different than most of the YA dystopians I've read before it. There was a little romance, but it wasn't central to the story. There were interesting (and painful) family dynamics, and women working together for a common cause. I was pretty cool to keep reading about places I see every other day, though, around Chicago. Still, while I do appreciate 1984 and while this book was certainly a neat and interesting little story, I didn't adore it like I wanted to.
All in all, I can see this being popular in schools as a more approachable version of 1984, as it would be good for 6th-9th grade students, for example, but I often felt like I was being slapped in the face with lessons about freedom of speech and the value of information (which I 100% agree with, but would have appreciated more if it were more subtle).
January 4, 2021
This review is hard for me to write. I really liked the concept behind the book, and the ending, in particular, bears real promise. However, the execution felt lacking.
Meri is fairly surface level as a main character. Other than being driven by grief around her mother's death, we don't know that much about her. And she pushes back against what she learns, but then like a day later is fully on board to the extreme? Meh.
The book also doesn't really deal with anything in it much, though I suspect that will come in the sequel. It's all a bit two dimensional.
The dystopia concept is relatively good, but nothing particularly new. Though I liked the way that words coming out of use was talked about. The timeline however is supposed to be like 70 years? Come on, you couldn't completely erase so many similar words in that time. I do think it could happen for a few, but for so many, I'm not sure it felt plausible for people to forget the concept and stop wanting a word to describe it. Like verify as an example - why didn't people just say they'd check something instead? And you can't completely delete every synonym for something so common place. I feel some of the other words were a lot more believable.
I wanted to enjoy this, but it just fell short. 2 stars.
Meri is fairly surface level as a main character. Other than being driven by grief around her mother's death, we don't know that much about her. And she pushes back against what she learns, but then like a day later is fully on board to the extreme? Meh.
The book also doesn't really deal with anything in it much, though I suspect that will come in the sequel. It's all a bit two dimensional.
The dystopia concept is relatively good, but nothing particularly new. Though I liked the way that words coming out of use was talked about. The timeline however is supposed to be like 70 years? Come on, you couldn't completely erase so many similar words in that time. I do think it could happen for a few, but for so many, I'm not sure it felt plausible for people to forget the concept and stop wanting a word to describe it. Like verify as an example - why didn't people just say they'd check something instead? And you can't completely delete every synonym for something so common place. I feel some of the other words were a lot more believable.
I wanted to enjoy this, but it just fell short. 2 stars.
November 11, 2019
Really enjoyed the first installment to Ms. Charbonneau's new "Verify" series. This new series delves into the world on censorship where the news is only what the city wants you to hear. There are no books and no paper. Yes, there is no violence, no guns, etc., and everything seems honky dorey. But, like they want you to believe, things are not as they seem. Anyone who goes against what they say just disappears. Meri's mother was run down "by accident" the police say but again, Meri finds out that she was murdered. Now Meri is off to find out the truth. With the help of the underground that finds her, Meri is on a quest to find out the truth with the help of Atlas(code name), who is looking for his father who has disappeared. I loved Atlas' name (thought of maps here) and Meri's code name, Merriam (like the dictionary). Am looking forward to the next installment in 2020 (ugh, too long to have to wait). Will be recommending to the high schoolers who like dystopian reads.
March 8, 2020
This was... Okay. It was one of those books that suffered from the intended message taking over the story, to the point where the plot and characters are pushed aside. I never connected with the story, nor its characters, and some of the situations were laughable.
With that being said, I know I'm a critical reader which is the only reason I didn't rate this lower than 3 stars. I can see people, especially younger YA readers, looking past some of the technicalities that I found myself irritated by. The message is still an important one, even if I didn't personally like the way it was presented.
With that being said, I know I'm a critical reader which is the only reason I didn't rate this lower than 3 stars. I can see people, especially younger YA readers, looking past some of the technicalities that I found myself irritated by. The message is still an important one, even if I didn't personally like the way it was presented.
Read
February 1, 2020Protect the truth or you might never know it's been lost.
Meri lives in a world that's as close to perfection as possible. In a peaceful, environmentally friendly Chicago, she's full of pride and at peace with the wonders the government has given the country. But when Meri's mother dies in an astonishing accident, no one seems to question it. Desperate for answers, she tries to understand the parts of her mother's legacy that remain. She never expects to uncover a whole world of hidden truth. Suddenly she must decide to accept the life she's always known or embrace the real world where the wrong word may just get her killed.
A story of the importance of the written word. A look at what happens when no one questions anything - until someone does.
Trigger warnings for alcoholism and parental death.
Frustrated and upset, Meri struggled to cope with her mother's death. As her dad was rarely able to offer a lot of emotional support, she sought answers and comfort in her art. Raw and kind of angry at the world, Meri acted as anyone would, but her inability to see the pain of those around her was off-putting. The teen was passionate about art, but as the plot thickend, that along with any true character growth went out the window. Action packed moments and split-second, dangerous decisions revealed the rest of her "personality traits" in ways that felt stilted and unnatural. I wanted to empathize with her, but it was very difficult.
From her grieving father, to her best friend Rose, to the knowledgeable Atlas and the rest of the underground movement, the people in Meri's life affected her in different ways. Sadly, most of the supporting cast and their relationships were unoriginal and lacked depth. Although they were both wallowing in pain, Meri despised and left her father alone to wade through his addiction. It was therefore out of character that she suddenly cared about him at the end. Rose was there for her when no one else was, but that was all the farther their friendship went. By far the most cleverly named, the people of the resistance group fell victim to being cardboard cutouts of characters that have been crafted in a plethora of other books. Atlas, the boy who "flipped back the covers" for her, introducing her to the truth, and held a wealth of information. I cared about him and the fight to find his family. However, all of that got swallowed by unnecessary instalove. The secondary characters left me yearning for more.
The future is beautiful, right? In a utopian like world that was closer to dystopian then it initially seemed, features both good and bad were eradicated. By diving into the artistic side of things, Meri's world mirrored a plausible outcome for our own, if it had been given the proper timing. As scary as this was to contemplate, the timeline and logistics of Verify forced me to suspend a lot of disbelief. Truly, poor pacing resided in not only the history, but throughout the whole book as well. Discussing important topics like censorship, freedom of speech, and the importance of nor taking everything at face value, this young adult novel practically shouted ideas that I could get behind. However, those ideas were not given adequate time to flourish, not used in clever ways. Relying on lots of action and rather predictable twists that led to difficult to a believe ending, this book was only superficially enjoyable. Set off by an artistic mystery rooted in grief, Joelle Charabonneau created an intriguing premise and the bones of her work show promise, but the execution of the book just left so much to be desired.
I can Verify that this book had potential, but sadly it fell short.
Meri lives in a world that's as close to perfection as possible. In a peaceful, environmentally friendly Chicago, she's full of pride and at peace with the wonders the government has given the country. But when Meri's mother dies in an astonishing accident, no one seems to question it. Desperate for answers, she tries to understand the parts of her mother's legacy that remain. She never expects to uncover a whole world of hidden truth. Suddenly she must decide to accept the life she's always known or embrace the real world where the wrong word may just get her killed.
A story of the importance of the written word. A look at what happens when no one questions anything - until someone does.
Trigger warnings for alcoholism and parental death.
Frustrated and upset, Meri struggled to cope with her mother's death. As her dad was rarely able to offer a lot of emotional support, she sought answers and comfort in her art. Raw and kind of angry at the world, Meri acted as anyone would, but her inability to see the pain of those around her was off-putting. The teen was passionate about art, but as the plot thickend, that along with any true character growth went out the window. Action packed moments and split-second, dangerous decisions revealed the rest of her "personality traits" in ways that felt stilted and unnatural. I wanted to empathize with her, but it was very difficult.
From her grieving father, to her best friend Rose, to the knowledgeable Atlas and the rest of the underground movement, the people in Meri's life affected her in different ways. Sadly, most of the supporting cast and their relationships were unoriginal and lacked depth. Although they were both wallowing in pain, Meri despised and left her father alone to wade through his addiction. It was therefore out of character that she suddenly cared about him at the end. Rose was there for her when no one else was, but that was all the farther their friendship went. By far the most cleverly named, the people of the resistance group fell victim to being cardboard cutouts of characters that have been crafted in a plethora of other books. Atlas, the boy who "flipped back the covers" for her, introducing her to the truth, and held a wealth of information. I cared about him and the fight to find his family. However, all of that got swallowed by unnecessary instalove. The secondary characters left me yearning for more.
The future is beautiful, right? In a utopian like world that was closer to dystopian then it initially seemed, features both good and bad were eradicated. By diving into the artistic side of things, Meri's world mirrored a plausible outcome for our own, if it had been given the proper timing. As scary as this was to contemplate, the timeline and logistics of Verify forced me to suspend a lot of disbelief. Truly, poor pacing resided in not only the history, but throughout the whole book as well. Discussing important topics like censorship, freedom of speech, and the importance of nor taking everything at face value, this young adult novel practically shouted ideas that I could get behind. However, those ideas were not given adequate time to flourish, not used in clever ways. Relying on lots of action and rather predictable twists that led to difficult to a believe ending, this book was only superficially enjoyable. Set off by an artistic mystery rooted in grief, Joelle Charabonneau created an intriguing premise and the bones of her work show promise, but the execution of the book just left so much to be desired.
I can Verify that this book had potential, but sadly it fell short.
April 5, 2023
“Words have power. They are the way we pass along history and knowledge and thoughts and ideas. Sometimes conflicting ideas about the same subject. Books - real books like the one in your hands - give everyone equal access to those ideas. Limit the words people can see and you limit their power. Limit the words heard on the news and you shrink people's understanding of the world to what you want them to see. Is it really a choice if you aren't able to see all the options?”
It may just be because I’m a complete sucker for this kind of dystopian novel where books and words have been taken from the people and the protagonist’s main goal is to bring them back, but this book kept me in high anticipation for what came next!
It may just be because I’m a complete sucker for this kind of dystopian novel where books and words have been taken from the people and the protagonist’s main goal is to bring them back, but this book kept me in high anticipation for what came next!
September 9, 2025
“Words have more power than you can imagine.”
The best fiction is a lesson in truths. Verify is an edge of your seat adventure in self-determination shadowed by parental loss in a not so distant future, where paper is a thing of the past and peace has been secured through policy. Why would you ever question anything when your government gives you everything?
But when one girl pieces together the puzzle of paintings her mother will never finish, she starts to see that her world is flawed. Her government lies. Her government kills. And if she isn’t careful, she’ll be next.
Verify is the story we need right now. It’s what happens when the freedom of speech and information are threatened. When books are banned and words are stolen. When we lose the choice to question.
Read it.
The best fiction is a lesson in truths. Verify is an edge of your seat adventure in self-determination shadowed by parental loss in a not so distant future, where paper is a thing of the past and peace has been secured through policy. Why would you ever question anything when your government gives you everything?
But when one girl pieces together the puzzle of paintings her mother will never finish, she starts to see that her world is flawed. Her government lies. Her government kills. And if she isn’t careful, she’ll be next.
Verify is the story we need right now. It’s what happens when the freedom of speech and information are threatened. When books are banned and words are stolen. When we lose the choice to question.
Read it.
July 13, 2021
Fascinating, timely premise -- boring execution.
I really wanted this to be better. :(
I really wanted this to be better. :(
February 17, 2022
I loved the idea of this book, but it ended up being something I couldn’t enjoy. I rolled my eyes every few pages at the clichés, ridiculous situations, pointless details, teenage pouting, and of course, inevitable teenage love story.
July 28, 2019
*I received a copy via the publisher in return for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book.*
Meri Beckley is forced on the run when she discovers the world she lives in isn’t as truthful as she was thought it was. Months after the death of her artist mother, Meri tries to understand her mother’s thoughts in her unfinished pieces. Then one day, someone thrusts a piece of paper in her hands with one world: verify. There she discovers questions no one is willing to answer and learns a history that she didn’t know existed. However, the government is close on her tail, and she has no choice but to fight back.
This book is a mess. I’m actually surprised that this book is being published in the state that it is in. If this was 2013, Verify could have stood a chance in the dystopian young adult market, but right now, it’s nothing new and falls exceptionally flat. I really wish I could say this book just wasn’t for me, another reader might like it, but I honestly can’t in good faith recommend this book to anyone.
Meri Beckley discovers the government is censoring anything that doesn’t align with their views. She learns of a secret organisation whose primary role is to remind the world of the history they have forgotten, but their work is continuously halted by secret government agents which snatch members off the street, never to be seen again. Meri meets Atlas, whose father ran this secret organisation but went missing, and takes the risk of reaching out to Meri in hopes that her mother might’ve passed some information before her death.
The plot’s conflict was all over the place, and it doesn’t really settle on anything. It felt somewhat stretched out to become a duology because there is no shred of resolution that felt like the first novel was finished. This world is ridiculously dull, and the lack of stakes just made me laugh. Nothing really keeps you rooting for Meri, and we’re told how to feel, rather than seeing. The book’s climax where Meri and the others spread their message all over the city felt uninspiring. Meri is hopeless, she learns of a secret organisation where certain words can trigger the police to come after you, but she continues to act reckless, and we’re supposed to believe in the space of like a week, she is suddenly a key player in this “revolution” when she’s done nothing but cause trouble.
She’s a paper lead, with no personality, no reason or spark to root for her. The secondary characters were so forgettable, existing for scenes where they’re needed and quickly discarded. A love interest that I just felt terrible for, honestly, and there was zero connection between them. I had to laugh when they kiss in the middle of their vital life or death mission. Honestly, this entire book was so underwhelming that nothing could really save it.
Verify is set far enough in the future that the government can easily remove everyday words from our vocabulary to the point where no one knows how to pronounce them. Paper usage is frowned upon and illegal to own. In this universe, much of the world’s darkest history is erased. But the only thing parts of history the book relies on is the Underground Railroad and WW2. I would’ve loved to see Meri reflect on the history and what happened during those times. But it’s very vague and doesn’t even talk about them at all. If you’re going to use specific elements from history, the least you could do is acknowledge them in your books, rather than being vague.
Overall, I can see what this book is trying to do, in a digital era, information is distorted and unverified information has the potential to do great ruin in our lives. But this entire book was unclear and not at all enjoyable to read, which is such a shame because its premise is so important. I don’t think this book is worth reading.
If you want to read a YA book about the power of information and censorship, I’d suggest The Great Library series by Rachel Caine. (It’s not at the forefront like Verify, and it’s more fantasy aligned)
Meri Beckley is forced on the run when she discovers the world she lives in isn’t as truthful as she was thought it was. Months after the death of her artist mother, Meri tries to understand her mother’s thoughts in her unfinished pieces. Then one day, someone thrusts a piece of paper in her hands with one world: verify. There she discovers questions no one is willing to answer and learns a history that she didn’t know existed. However, the government is close on her tail, and she has no choice but to fight back.
This book is a mess. I’m actually surprised that this book is being published in the state that it is in. If this was 2013, Verify could have stood a chance in the dystopian young adult market, but right now, it’s nothing new and falls exceptionally flat. I really wish I could say this book just wasn’t for me, another reader might like it, but I honestly can’t in good faith recommend this book to anyone.
Meri Beckley discovers the government is censoring anything that doesn’t align with their views. She learns of a secret organisation whose primary role is to remind the world of the history they have forgotten, but their work is continuously halted by secret government agents which snatch members off the street, never to be seen again. Meri meets Atlas, whose father ran this secret organisation but went missing, and takes the risk of reaching out to Meri in hopes that her mother might’ve passed some information before her death.
The plot’s conflict was all over the place, and it doesn’t really settle on anything. It felt somewhat stretched out to become a duology because there is no shred of resolution that felt like the first novel was finished. This world is ridiculously dull, and the lack of stakes just made me laugh. Nothing really keeps you rooting for Meri, and we’re told how to feel, rather than seeing. The book’s climax where Meri and the others spread their message all over the city felt uninspiring. Meri is hopeless, she learns of a secret organisation where certain words can trigger the police to come after you, but she continues to act reckless, and we’re supposed to believe in the space of like a week, she is suddenly a key player in this “revolution” when she’s done nothing but cause trouble.
She’s a paper lead, with no personality, no reason or spark to root for her. The secondary characters were so forgettable, existing for scenes where they’re needed and quickly discarded. A love interest that I just felt terrible for, honestly, and there was zero connection between them. I had to laugh when they kiss in the middle of their vital life or death mission. Honestly, this entire book was so underwhelming that nothing could really save it.
Verify is set far enough in the future that the government can easily remove everyday words from our vocabulary to the point where no one knows how to pronounce them. Paper usage is frowned upon and illegal to own. In this universe, much of the world’s darkest history is erased. But the only thing parts of history the book relies on is the Underground Railroad and WW2. I would’ve loved to see Meri reflect on the history and what happened during those times. But it’s very vague and doesn’t even talk about them at all. If you’re going to use specific elements from history, the least you could do is acknowledge them in your books, rather than being vague.
Overall, I can see what this book is trying to do, in a digital era, information is distorted and unverified information has the potential to do great ruin in our lives. But this entire book was unclear and not at all enjoyable to read, which is such a shame because its premise is so important. I don’t think this book is worth reading.
If you want to read a YA book about the power of information and censorship, I’d suggest The Great Library series by Rachel Caine. (It’s not at the forefront like Verify, and it’s more fantasy aligned)
August 10, 2022
I read Verify this year because of our monthly novels for school and I liked it! I was in a bit of a reading slump before this because of constantly not having any idea of what books to pick from my school’s library, but my friend (who doesn’t like, pretty much hates, reading) liked this so I read and it was okay/good.
Also, I am 11 and I do think this book is better for younger readers (middle school) probably if I read this when I’m older I wouldn’t enjoy it as much.
⚠️slight spoiler⚠️
And I didn’t really enjoy the romance because it didn’t really make sense. Like, Atlas just gave Meri the piece of paper and they met and somehow fell in love. It just doesn’t really make sense because Meri and Atlas somehow end up like each other and kissing once or twice and they never brought up the topic of dating except for when Atlas would tell Meri to act like they were on a date so the Marshals wouldn’t suspect anything.
⭐️End of spoilers⭐️
Overall, I would say this is an okay book. It’s not bad but it’s not good, it’s just okay. If you’re looking for a really good book I probably wouldn’t recommend this, but if for some reason you’re looking for an okay book this is good for that.
Also, I am 11 and I do think this book is better for younger readers (middle school) probably if I read this when I’m older I wouldn’t enjoy it as much.
⚠️slight spoiler⚠️
And I didn’t really enjoy the romance because it didn’t really make sense. Like, Atlas just gave Meri the piece of paper and they met and somehow fell in love. It just doesn’t really make sense because Meri and Atlas somehow end up like each other and kissing once or twice and they never brought up the topic of dating except for when Atlas would tell Meri to act like they were on a date so the Marshals wouldn’t suspect anything.
⭐️End of spoilers⭐️
Overall, I would say this is an okay book. It’s not bad but it’s not good, it’s just okay. If you’re looking for a really good book I probably wouldn’t recommend this, but if for some reason you’re looking for an okay book this is good for that.
May 18, 2019
Thanks so much to Edelweiss for this ARC! When I was looking through their selection of eARCs, this cover stood out to me. I clicked it, and the first thing my eyes laid upon was the comparison between it to Scythe, which is my favorite dystopian novel. I instantly clicked Request, knowing that I would love it. I'm happy to say that I was able to verify that fact as I finished it today!
We are shown a world much different from our own via Chicago some decades from now. Crime has been obliterated. Homelessness is not an issue. Paper has become obsolete as there was a fight to recycle and keep the planet clean. This is the world that Merriel has grown up in. She has recently lost her mother and is struggling to keep her father from drinking himself to death, but otherwise her existence has been a fairly happy one. Unfortunately, things are not as they seem. While trying to solve the puzzle of the painting that her mom left unfinished after she had her accident, Meri stumbles upon a mystery.
A piece of paper is handed to her with a word she has never heard before on it. When she tries to look it up, there are no articles, but weirder still-- an alarm sounds and people start acting strangely. She decides to get to the bottom of the word out of curiosity, but finds something she never expected. She meets people who knew her mother, and slowly uncovers their true goals. Her mind spins as she starts to question everything she never knew to question before; history books, government, even her own friends and family. These are things that seem like common sense to us, but as the book shows how this trust was fraudulently gained and people reigned in like derby horses, it was more and more clear to me that this was a future that could horribly but realistically happen.
The state that we are in now as a country is a terrifying one. We are divided, and there are forces on both sides trying to make a change for 'the common good'. It's scary to think of the lengths that the people we put in charge might go to continue to keep that place of power. I think this series is going to be exceptionally eye-opening, and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. Meri's courage and loyalty is something I aspire to, and I hope that I can make her proud by remembering that my words have power, and that I need to use them wisely, and to always keep asking questions, because we can't become complacent. We just can't.
We are shown a world much different from our own via Chicago some decades from now. Crime has been obliterated. Homelessness is not an issue. Paper has become obsolete as there was a fight to recycle and keep the planet clean. This is the world that Merriel has grown up in. She has recently lost her mother and is struggling to keep her father from drinking himself to death, but otherwise her existence has been a fairly happy one. Unfortunately, things are not as they seem. While trying to solve the puzzle of the painting that her mom left unfinished after she had her accident, Meri stumbles upon a mystery.
A piece of paper is handed to her with a word she has never heard before on it. When she tries to look it up, there are no articles, but weirder still-- an alarm sounds and people start acting strangely. She decides to get to the bottom of the word out of curiosity, but finds something she never expected. She meets people who knew her mother, and slowly uncovers their true goals. Her mind spins as she starts to question everything she never knew to question before; history books, government, even her own friends and family. These are things that seem like common sense to us, but as the book shows how this trust was fraudulently gained and people reigned in like derby horses, it was more and more clear to me that this was a future that could horribly but realistically happen.
The state that we are in now as a country is a terrifying one. We are divided, and there are forces on both sides trying to make a change for 'the common good'. It's scary to think of the lengths that the people we put in charge might go to continue to keep that place of power. I think this series is going to be exceptionally eye-opening, and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. Meri's courage and loyalty is something I aspire to, and I hope that I can make her proud by remembering that my words have power, and that I need to use them wisely, and to always keep asking questions, because we can't become complacent. We just can't.
October 13, 2019
Chicago! The Windy City with The Pier, Grant Park, The Magnificent Mile and probably even The Bean! But this is future Chicago and one we all probably hope for: almost non-existent crime, no gangs, revitalized neighborhoods, and all manner of people living the good life together. Meri never had any reason to think that there was anything sinister behind such a phenomenal shift from her present-day United States and beloved Chicago and that of just 30 years ago. But then her mother is killed and a stranger hands her an illegal piece of paper with an unknown word printed on it. Verify? What does it mean and how does it affect her life? Joelle Charbonneau begins a new series that looks to be just as terrific as The Testing but with such ties to today that readers may wonder if our current environmental and “fake” news trends could yield a country where more “undesirable” citizens just disappear, the less palatable parts of world history are now forgotten and powerful words just disappear from everyone’s vocabulary. Highly recommended for fans of dystopia in grades 7 and up. As in most of Charbonneau’s YA lit, there are no significant language issues or sexual content, but the deeper concepts are simply not suitable for most students younger than that. Thanks for the dARC, Edelweiss.
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