Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Without Merit by Colleen Hoover

11 reviews

roseisvibing's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

reading this feels like being the pizza guy in that one scene from that one spider man movie. you're just. dropped into this chaotic, disgusting, horrendously written shitstorm and left with no idea of what the fuck is going on when you're done. do not read this if you want a book that deals with sensitive topics well- it just feels like more traumatic bullshit is being thrown at you with each new chapter. 90% of the dialogue is either weirdly forced or just fucking stupid. there were several moments (for example, the

THREE instances of incest/basically-incest, dialogue where an uncle flirts with his niece right after referring to her as such, weird descriptions of terminally ill people, straight up implausible plot moments that make you feel like you're watching a faked reality show on acid, descriptions of alcohol that sound like they were written by an 8 year old who has no understanding of how tolerances work, etc.

) where i was questioning how this got professionally published. if i let myself bang my head against a wall every time i wanted to while reading this, i would be in hospital with an extreme concussion right now. the only reason i finished it is because i was annotating it for my friend's bday present (we have a shared interest in critiquing/laughing at shitty books, so coho's worst rated book seemed like a silly funny gift. i am no longer sure of this). chris, if you're seeing this, i want you to know i endured six hours of colleen hoover's worst material for you. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Incest, and Infidelity

Moderate: Child abuse, Vomit, Drug abuse, Cancer, and Adult/minor relationship

ellabella2's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

it’s different from colleen’s book in that it focuses more on conflict within a family rather than a relationship between just two people. there is only one sex scene but it doesn’t actually happen it the characters end it making it so the book rarely has any physical forms of kissing in it. the love between the merit and sagan slowly form throughout the book but very slowly that it’s literally painful and in the end their connection/love isn’t how I expected her to write her books. no sex scenes just pure and innocent love

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Homophobia

daydaybookbay's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I had a tough time relating to Merit since I was on the outside looking in. This wasn't a twisty book, but when all the secrets were revealed, I had to finish reading. I would be interested in more YA novels by CoHo.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Mental illness, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Vomit, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Car accident, Outing, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Incest, Cancer, Drug use, and Bullying

Minor: Child death and Death

lindsayvale's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, and Animal death

vanella's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Outing, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Terminal illness, Infidelity, and Mental illness

nicolewithbooks's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Homophobia, Alcohol, Cursing, Grief, Gaslighting, Chronic illness, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying, Body shaming, Terminal illness, and Cancer

Neglectful parents

kk_reads2's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Grief, and Drug use

Moderate: Death

camilas_tbr's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment and Adult/minor relationship

niyaslilworld's review against another edition

dark hopeful sad medium-paced

2.0

I'm going to be honest, I really did not like this book. There was no actual plot and that would've been fine if the book had some sense of order, or made up for it in some other aspect. Unfortunately it didn't. Besides the lack of a storyline, it also felt unrealistic and weird, with very questionable situations at points. I found the main character especially to be unlikable, along with a lot of the others. The very minor "relationship", if you can call it that, between Sagan and Merit and the mental health awareness are both some of the very few reasons I'm willing to give this two stars.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, and Car accident

arthur_ant18's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Sexual assault, Medical content, Outing, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Biphobia and Homophobia