Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Without Merit

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

dailbrae's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

m_clarke's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

emmaxo4321's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

daydaybookbay's review against another edition

Go to review page

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