bbrewer14's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Without Merit is a fast read and should honestly be classified as a YA novel based on the reading level. If not for the content (sexual, drug/alcohol, sexuality, mental illness, major dysfunction in family unit), I would definitely have thought I picked up a book in the wrong section of the library.
Colleen Hoover’s books are enjoyable to me, but despite how much I enjoyed this book, I will consider it a guilty pleasure since it was kind of poorly written and juvenile. The character names were over the top and despite the decent character development, the ending was so succinct and tidy that it left me wanting. The idea that life in a world as dysfunctional as the one of the characters presented in this book can be wrapped up with a tidy little bow was why I rated the book in the 3’s. It leaves you wanting more from the characters and the author.
The book’s focus is on the Voss family. Twin sisters Merit and Honor, older brother Utah, the father, the mother (Victoria), the stepmother (also Victoria), the young half-sibling Moby, the step-uncle Luck and a family friend Sagan make up the main characters. All of these people live in a remodeled church in a small TX town. The mother lives downstairs and suffers from a multitude of health issues. The father, the kids, the stepparent and stepuncle and friend all live upstairs. The main character, Merit, feels alienated and unwanted. The book explores her journey within her family and other relationships as she discovers the importance of listening, communicating, putting forth the truth, learning to forgive and navigating her teen years. Merit struggles as the self-proclaimed outcast of the family and goes on a journey to discover how to be a part of her family or if she even wants to remain in this world to do so.
It is a good book and is a decent choice to pass the time, but it definitely needed more time to become what it could have been if the author gave it more effort.
Colleen Hoover’s books are enjoyable to me, but despite how much I enjoyed this book, I will consider it a guilty pleasure since it was kind of poorly written and juvenile. The character names were over the top and despite the decent character development, the ending was so succinct and tidy that it left me wanting. The idea that life in a world as dysfunctional as the one of the characters presented in this book can be wrapped up with a tidy little bow was why I rated the book in the 3’s. It leaves you wanting more from the characters and the author.
The book’s focus is on the Voss family. Twin sisters Merit and Honor, older brother Utah, the father, the mother (Victoria), the stepmother (also Victoria), the young half-sibling Moby, the step-uncle Luck and a family friend Sagan make up the main characters. All of these people live in a remodeled church in a small TX town. The mother lives downstairs and suffers from a multitude of health issues. The father, the kids, the stepparent and stepuncle and friend all live upstairs. The main character, Merit, feels alienated and unwanted. The book explores her journey within her family and other relationships as she discovers the importance of listening, communicating, putting forth the truth, learning to forgive and navigating her teen years. Merit struggles as the self-proclaimed outcast of the family and goes on a journey to discover how to be a part of her family or if she even wants to remain in this world to do so.
It is a good book and is a decent choice to pass the time, but it definitely needed more time to become what it could have been if the author gave it more effort.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Animal death, and Vomit
Moderate: Suicide, Abandonment, Cancer, Chronic illness, Outing, Infidelity, Death, Drug use, Medical content, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Minor: Eating disorder, Grief, Alcohol, Bullying, War, and Cursing
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
brookey8888's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-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
2.75
Um was this entertaining? Yes. Was this good? No
This was honestly messed up from start to finish. If you don’t like miscommunication or no communication, this isn’t for you. I just can’t get over the way they didn’t talk about anything. Also, the step uncle things really weird especially the ending when he’s actually with someone and he was been in the family for a while. Um, the weird kiss like I don’t care a 13 year old should know better. I don’t understand that. The relationship was cute and I really liked him. Moby was the best part of this book. This does deal with really heavy topics so be prepared(attempted suicide, depression, agoraphobia).
This was honestly messed up from start to finish. If you don’t like miscommunication or no communication, this isn’t for you. I just can’t get over the way they didn’t talk about anything. Also, the step uncle things really weird especially the ending when he’s actually with someone and he was been in the family for a while. Um, the weird kiss like I don’t care a 13 year old should know better. I don’t understand that. The relationship was cute and I really liked him. Moby was the best part of this book. This does deal with really heavy topics so be prepared(attempted suicide, depression, agoraphobia).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Outing, Incest, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Vomit, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Grief, Infidelity, Islamophobia, and Mental illness
missrosymaplemoth's review against another edition
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Outing
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Death, and Cancer
Minor: Vomit, Drug abuse, Cursing, Alcohol, Sexual assault, and Homophobia
erica_reads_things's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
Pretty good book overall! Was a bit slow at times but the plot was interesting and all of the secrets and drama kept me wanting to know more. The end got a little.bit "after school special" cheezy, but it was still an overall good read with interesting characters and good development.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Outing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness
Minor: Terminal illness, Sexual assault, Animal death, Cancer, Sexual content, and Infidelity
evie_dora's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
i cannot put into words how messed up this whole book was.
Spoiler
we find out that Merit’s mum has an illness and lives in the basement of the house, while the rest of the family - including the mother’s carer who Merit’s father now has a child with - lives in the upper levels of the house. we later discover that merit’s mother actually suffers from a mental illness which makes her believe she suffers from a purely physical illness. the mother is repeatedly portrayed as villainous for her behaviour - and while i am not denying mentally ill parents can have a negative effect on their children, i do not like how the mother was treated because of her illness. merit almost loses her virginity to her step-uncle. she also kisses a guy who she believes to her twin sister’s boyfriend. when merit attempts su!c!de (for which there were NO content warnings that i could find) she writes letters to everyone living in the house outing all their secrets. this includes her brother’s - he sexually assaulted her when she was younger, and in turn, she outs him as gay to her entire family. all in all, this book was horrific.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Mental illness, Sexual content, Outing, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Infidelity, and Grief
Moderate: Incest and Animal death
Minor: Drug abuse
there was no content warning for the su!cide attempt, nor for any of the other possibly harmful content.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
lindseybarnett's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Excrement
Moderate: Outing, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Animal death, and Incest
Minor: Alcohol and Cancer
miaaaahh's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
I have so much to say about this book. I was honestly a complete train wreck. Like, Colleen Hoover, what the fuck was that bestie???
There was so much in the tiny book that gave me the ick and the only reason I ended up finishing it was so that I could write a full review like this to warn people to not read this book if they want to live a happy life. This book was so problematic and generally bad in most areas. This book had so much potential but just ended up going way overboard with everything.
Let’s talk about the characters. First and foremost, what were those character names? (Merit, Honour, Luck, Moby, Utah). It was so out of place in contemporary fiction. Also, I have to say, all of these characters are completely crazy and weird. I found Merit to be extremely unlikable and unrelatable despite the fact she's meant to be the representation of a depressed person. She gives no hints of it in the first part of the book then suddenly dumps it all in the second part. I understand that depression presents in many different ways but this didn't feel real in my opinion.
I also felt like there was no real plot in this book. The dysfunctional family gets more dysfunctional then nothing happens. I was ready for this book to wrap up around 60% of the way through. It had nowhere else to go after the main climax.
CW: incest, sa, suicide
Why did Merit want to lose her virginity with her step-uncle??
Why did Utah actually have sex with his step-uncle?? (AND WHY DID THEY STAY TOGETHER???) Why did Colleen Hoover make the only gay and bi characters be related? I feel like Utah could have had any other boyfriend. This could have been handled so much better.
If your defending yourself and others saying ‘it’s not technically incest’… you need to rethink that.
Even Merit's assault seemed out of place. I feel like Utah was never mentioned and now suddenly she hates him because of what he did. The audience was given no hints of Merit hating her brother or even any inclination as to what happened in the past. Some foreshadowing would have been nice.
Also, why isn't this talked about more, Merit technically assaults Sagen because he had no idea she was dressed in her twin's clothes. Why does she initiate a kiss and even be prepared to go all the way? This whole scene made me uncomfortable and no one ever talks about it.
––––
I found this book way too long, way too complicated, and way too problematic. Colleen Hoover bit off more than she could chew with this one. It's like she had multiple ideas for books and decided to put them all into this one clusterfuck of a novel. Also, this is a PSA to all authors, please stop using incest as a point of conflict in your books. It's disgusting and I think we're all sick of it now. I wish someone had warned me about that before I read it.
––––
!!IMPORTANT!!
Please, everybody, if you ever read this book and love it and consider recommending it, please tell the person you are recommending it to:
1. Incest is involved
2. There are scenes of SA
3. There is a graphic suicide attempt scene
I wish someone had mentioned these things before I read it. I was only told the good things and I feel like I'm worse off after reading this book now. Please consider what other people are going through and how reading certain things can make them feel worse.
Before writing this, I read a bunch of 4 and 5 star reviews praising this book and not mentioning any of this. I think it's important to mention these things for the sake and safety of other people. (Even if you liked the book and found nothing wrong with it, you should mention this when recommending it.)
––––
Before I finish this, I would like to add the two good things about this book:
1. Moby was a good character. I feel like he was just unfortunate he's in this family.
2. I actually like Merit's collection of trophies and the reasons she collected them. I was very sweet.
In conclusion, this book was too much. WAY too much.
I also felt like there was no real plot in this book. The dysfunctional family gets more dysfunctional then nothing happens. I was ready for this book to wrap up around 60% of the way through. It had nowhere else to go after the main climax.
CW: incest, sa, suicide
Spoiler
Why is no one talking about the incest plotlines in this damn book!? It happens multiple times people!! And the blatant way that Merit assaulted Sagen and no one talked about it after the fact.Why did Merit want to lose her virginity with her step-uncle??
Why did Utah actually have sex with his step-uncle?? (AND WHY DID THEY STAY TOGETHER???) Why did Colleen Hoover make the only gay and bi characters be related? I feel like Utah could have had any other boyfriend. This could have been handled so much better.
If your defending yourself and others saying ‘it’s not technically incest’… you need to rethink that.
Even Merit's assault seemed out of place. I feel like Utah was never mentioned and now suddenly she hates him because of what he did. The audience was given no hints of Merit hating her brother or even any inclination as to what happened in the past. Some foreshadowing would have been nice.
Also, why isn't this talked about more, Merit technically assaults Sagen because he had no idea she was dressed in her twin's clothes. Why does she initiate a kiss and even be prepared to go all the way? This whole scene made me uncomfortable and no one ever talks about it.
––––
I found this book way too long, way too complicated, and way too problematic. Colleen Hoover bit off more than she could chew with this one. It's like she had multiple ideas for books and decided to put them all into this one clusterfuck of a novel. Also, this is a PSA to all authors, please stop using incest as a point of conflict in your books. It's disgusting and I think we're all sick of it now. I wish someone had warned me about that before I read it.
––––
!!IMPORTANT!!
Please, everybody, if you ever read this book and love it and consider recommending it, please tell the person you are recommending it to:
1. Incest is involved
2. There are scenes of SA
3. There is a graphic suicide attempt scene
Spoiler
even if they were placebo pillsI wish someone had mentioned these things before I read it. I was only told the good things and I feel like I'm worse off after reading this book now. Please consider what other people are going through and how reading certain things can make them feel worse.
Spoiler
reading a suicide scene really got to me for a bit and I really wish someone warned meBefore writing this, I read a bunch of 4 and 5 star reviews praising this book and not mentioning any of this. I think it's important to mention these things for the sake and safety of other people. (Even if you liked the book and found nothing wrong with it, you should mention this when recommending it.)
––––
Before I finish this, I would like to add the two good things about this book:
1. Moby was a good character. I feel like he was just unfortunate he's in this family.
2. I actually like Merit's collection of trophies and the reasons she collected them. I was very sweet.
In conclusion, this book was too much. WAY too much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
mypatronusisajedi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-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: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
Moderate: Sexual content, Cursing, Child abuse, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, and Outing