Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Without Merit by Colleen Hoover

41 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

loubielou92's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Animal death

Moderate: Incest and Death

Minor: Cancer

jeandie_leone's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Outing

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Animal death

Minor: Cancer

dwdillydally's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny slow-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

3.5

Without Merit (2017) by Collen Hoover
#youngadultfiction #mentalhealth #familydramafiction #slowromance #mildspicy #dwreads24

Finished my first Colleen Hoover book! I wasn't sure that I'd like her flavors (dark modern romance, dysfunctional characters), so I started with a title recommended for teens / young adults. When I say "for teens", this is NOT for tweens / preteens. Here are screenshots of the content warnings I tagged, and I'm happy to elaborate on any of them, if you ask.

Depsite alllllll the CWs listed, I do recommend this to the right teen or to us, non-trendy-readers who are Hoover-curious. If it's too much for you, then you probably won't enjoy Hoover's adult books 

There were so many scenes where I was telling the 17yo main character, "Oh no honey, don't do that. Oh nnnnoo!" 🫣 But overall, this book is about family trauma and mental health - vital to talk about. It's meant to be f_<ed up. How bad can the main character's day-to-day life get before she turns a corner and starts unraveling the mess around her? For me, it was rough to read from the start through the middle, then I slowly came around, and by the end, I was rooting for the main character. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Infidelity

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug abuse, Self harm, Confinement, and Animal death

Minor: Abandonment, Car accident, Cancer, Outing, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Eating disorder

dailbrae's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

1.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Cancer, Car accident, Grief, Medical content, and Terminal illness

Minor: Pregnancy, War, Animal death, Sexual assault, Vomit, Bullying, Alcohol, Incest, and Self harm

m_clarke's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

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

1.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Incest, and Animal death

emmaxo4321's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I started reading this a long time ago and got bored. So I decided to pick it up again and in one day I read 299 pages. Now it's not the best book its also not the worst eithier. But there's something in this that just made me kept going going and genuinely had me hooked I can't explain why. 

This book does go through suicide attempt. (Accidental) 

I thought the ending was cute but I thought it would of been better. Like I'm happy for the family but is that it ??

Parts in this book had me 😶😲 gobsmacked and shocked! Like what 🤯🤯 

Overall it had me hooked! 

Onto the next 😚

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide, Alcohol, and Cancer

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

livviolet's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Cancer

karifaye's review against another edition

hopeful reflective sad tense 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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Drug use, Cancer, and Animal death