Reviews

Without Merit by Colleen Hoover

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teagannunan's review against another edition

2.0

The book was a good read just not super intriguing and the storyline wasn't overly exciting. I still enjoyed reading it though, just didn't LOVE it like some of Colleen’s others.

ange555's review

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4.0

So I really enjoyed this book, I give it 4.5 stars. It was a really great read, as all of Hoover's books, but I don't think it's one of my all-time favourites. I think it had some really great aspects and I'm sure there are many people who will relate really well to Merit and the story. I'm not quite sure what it was that had me not enjoying it as much as her other books, maybe the fact that it is very different to her other stories, lacking that romance at the centre of the novel or the fact that I feel the ending was cut short and everything seemed to be resolved pretty quickly and easily. But man, Colleen Hoover can write, an I dont think there are many people who could have written this story and made it as good as Colleen Hoover can.

itsinesreis's review

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4.0

Sagan was the mysterious guy I wasn’t expecting in the story and why the fuck the mom stayed that long in a basement wtf girl u’re crazy and u got me crazy too, anyway it was a nice read :)

mrsbooknerd's review against another edition

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1.0

Colleen Hoover is author marmite. I either love her books so much that I obsess about them constantly, or I dislike them so much that it is a struggle to even finish.

Unfortunately 'Without Merit' fell into the latter category for a number of reasons but all of which stemmed from the same problem: Too many issues were tackled in this one novel and so everything became diluted. None of the characters were particularly well-developed, there was little emotion incorporated and there were so many plots that none were explored in any depth. It meant that I didn't like the characters, I didn't have a central plot to focus on and I felt like I'd watched a years worth of Eastenders just reading this one book.

I wanted to read a novel about a girl - Merit - who was suffering from depression. I wanted to know her intimately, to know what she felt, what her thoughts and emotions were. I wanted to see her cry for no reason and to lose interest in life. I wanted to know why her relationships broke down and why she thought that she was disposable in the family life. Instead, I barely knew Merit at all with any depth. Nothing except the sarcasm and brashness of a teenager. Merit came across as ridiculously immature and I didn’t feel that depression was captured particularly well.

Spoiler

I wanted to see that her relationship with Utah and Honor had suffered because Merit didn't feel worthy of them. I wanted to see whether they picked up on that or whether they just wrote her off, causing a bigger rift. What I didn't need was an abuse storyline chucked in that dealt with incest and abuse, and a storyline about Honor being obsessed with dying boys. It fractured the dynamic and took away focus from Merit's depression.
I wanted to know how Merit felt when her parents were so focused on their new lives that she was forgotten, or skimmed over. I didn’t need the complications of her mother being fake ill, mentally ill and still having an affair with the father.
I wanted to see how Merit loved her step-brother but was unable to accept Victoria. I didn't need the added bonus of Victoria coming with an estranged brother with a whole other backstory to contend with, not least the fact that he blew in one day and was naked and ready to despoil Merit the next.
I wanted to see how Merit's depression stopped her from developing a romance with Sagan. I didn’t need the added complications of his own history and back story. Although, I'd have preferred to see the Syrian crisis elements developed more and maintained in the novel, perhaps chucking out other issues to make way.

Choose an issue, make it the focus of the novel and make me fall into it, make me want to help Merit, make me feel sympathy for the family and make me understand them all completely and wholly.

I loved 'It ends with us' and 'Ugly love' because their plots were actually rather simple, but the depth of emotion and connection were astounding, I still think about them and get feels. There were no feels in 'Without Merit'.

Spoiler

When Merit tries to kill herself, I barely felt sympathy toward her, because I didn't feel as if I knew her or liked her well enough to care. I then disliked her family for not even going to see if she was okay afterwards. How can you support characters who were all so terrible?

I couldn't get over my initial dislike of Merit, and I didn't like Sagan either. He was far too preachy and wholesome. Likewise,

Spoiler

the father was an immoral character, Honor was judgemental and quick to throw Merit under the bus, Utah was painted as reprehensible but then supposedly forgiven as just being misunderstood… I didn't know any of them well enough to change my initial opinions of them, and actually, not all of them required a change of opinion

I did read the whole book, but largely out of determination not to DNF a book that I'd been looking forward to for months and had only been given at Christmas. 'Without Merit' just lacked emotion and focus, and wasn't up to the standard that other novels by Hoover have been. I wanted to be absorbed and emotionally scarred by 'Without Merit' but as a book, it was without merit.

wonderwomannz's review against another edition

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2.0

This is my first book I have listened to by Colleen, it was a recommendation from Goodreads.
I wasnt sure what to expect as I hadnt heard anything about it. I found it very hard to get into, but maybe at the 2hr mark I was more interested in it. This is different to what I normally listen to and really it wasnt my cup of tea. Remember not all books are enjoyed by everyone. Narrator was ok.

ambiemmm's review against another edition

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2.0

This would be a 4 stars if there wasn't that one scene that made me EXTREMELY uncomfortable... Anyhow, this book is filled with family drama to the brim. My jaw dropped so many times during this book. It was pretty good overall if you just ignore that one scene... IYKYK. Also definitely check the TW for depression, anxiety, suicide, and other things.