A review by claragrsn
Without Merit by Colleen Hoover

4.0

this is only my second Colleen Hoover book, and since i know she mostly writes romance novels i expected this to be one ; i quickly realized that while it does have romance, this story is mostly about Merit's—the main character—self journey and her relationship with all the members in her family. i had read the reviews on this book beforehand and most people weren't that impressed by it, so my expectations weren't very high when i started reading, but i was pleasantly surprised !

Merit has a large dysfunctional family and often feels invisible among them, which is why i found myself relating to her on more than one occasion. i also loved how Colleen handled the subject of depression, and made it a point in the novel to try and destigmatize it, which i really appreciated. also, she really makes the reader feel like they are a part of the Voss family, because you see all of their flaws and sometimes hate them, but at the end of the day you learn to forgive their mistakes alongside Merit—except for Utah : he's a creep and can rot in hell. as for the name choices in this book, it was definitely unusual and i'm not sure i like all of them, but it's definitely a bold choice and there's a special place in my heart for the name Sagan <3 so pretty !!