Type of read: Commuter Read.

What made me pick it up: I continually get sucked into Hoover's books. I want to hate them so much but there's always something that makes me pick up the next one. I absolutely hate that I love their books.

Overall rating: Very much gives 'Shameless' vibes. 'Without Merit' is so completely absurd you wonder if people truly live like this or how Hoover comes up with the content for their books. There's something about knowing that the characters are underage that wigs me out. To be honest, I think I will have to take a CoHo break after reading 'Without Merit.' This may be the one that finally breaks me. The characters were all over the place, the writing was not conducive to an audiobook - to be fair, I would have gotten annoyed with it in the print version as well, too much "me," "dad," "Honor," etc. after sentences depicting who said what and when - and it was just a chaotic mess of trying to shove way too much into one storyline. More than anything, I feel like 'Without Merit' was trying to be a self-help or reach out to those affected by the same instances and struggles of the characters but it just came across as disingenuous and forced. Not impressed, would not recommend it, and definitely taking a CoHo break.

Reader's Note: 'Without Merit' has themes of incest, sexual assault/abuse, suicide, and sex. There are some LGBTQ+ references that aren't always in the most accepting/positive light.