Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Without Merit by Colleen Hoover

54 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. 

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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

katie_23's review against another edition

challenging dark funny medium-paced

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

this book SUCKS..istg first the incest then the plot twists being so…predictable. i could tell the ending from a mile away. sorry i give this a zero.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest and Drug use

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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Incest and 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. 

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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

kotashomelibrary's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Death, and Alcohol

Minor: Infidelity, Incest, Grief, Car accident, and Gaslighting

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

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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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Incest, and Animal death

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

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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.

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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

sueee573's review against another edition

sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Vomit, and Suicide attempt