Hello everybody. Hello @HiveBookClub and welcome back to the sixth day of my mini series entitled Reading a Book Everyday for 7 Days. We are now reaching the end of this series but I guess everything needs to come to an end. This doesn't mean that I will no longer do this and to be honest I am looking for the next books which I am going to read for another edition of my mini series. But as of now, let's focus on the sixth book so, without a further ado dive in and I'll show you.
Before anything else if you are curious and interested to my other entries of my mini series then you can check it out in my blog too.
SIXTH BOOK
You probably heard someone say "Everyone have secrets". The sixth book of this mini-series is no different. Merit Voss is part of a unique living situation: she and her blended family live in Dollar Voss, a renovated church. Merit's father had an affair with her mother's old nurse, with whom he now has a child, and the family's once cancer-stricken mother now lives in the basement. Merit's twin sister is only interested in terminally ill lovers, her elder brother ignores her, and her younger half-brother absorbs all of the chaos and toxicity in the family. Merit is a feisty, quick-witted adolescent who observes her family externally while holding all of their secrets hidden. She is depressed about her life, acting as if she isn't a member of her own family, and believing that no one would notice if she didn't exist. Merit progressively stops coming to school, begins sleeping throughout the day, and becomes increasingly enraged by her family's circumstances. The only bright spot in her life at the moment is an interesting boy named Sagan, who is off-limits because he is dating Merit's twin. Merit suffers yet another setback.
Just like from the rest of the books I am very intrigued by the title because at first, I thought Without Merit refers to its literal meaning but as I go through the book the term "Merit" itself is the name of the female lead. I am a little scared because it might mean that she'll die but this story offers way more than the thoughts I've ever imagined by just judging the title. So, if ever I would picked my favorite points in the story it would be the following:
It is a story of a teenager coping up with depression
When I picked this book, I never had an idea that it would offer so much lengths and layers on characters. Merit knows numerous secrets in their family and she have been keeping it for a while. At first, I can't tell that she was depressed I thought she's just like this angry teenager but as the story unfolds you'll realize that she really is depressed. She then denied that she have one even if her family suggested she needs to go to a therapy or seek a professional help. I think it is common to portray deniel for some folks specially when one is showing a strong and independent facade. They perceived vulnerability as weakness and they don't want to tear down the perception of other people about them.
Depression is one of the most challenging issues of our society. Globally, 34% of teenagers aged 10 to 19 are at risk of developing clinical depression. Consequently, it is highly encourage to seek for intervention and help. Sadly, despite all of the advances made in studying depression and other mental illnesses, they remain stigmatized.
Importance of Family and Self-love
This book kinda reminds me of the Disney Movie, Encanto in a sense that it tackles on the familial issues. Merit seems to be like Dolores who knew numerous information like their individual secrets and her mouth is shut because somehow she does not want to complicate the whole situation. But in this book, Merit becomes so fed up and is willing to tell everybody the secrets which could possibly break their relationship. Later on, they somehow fix or at least willing to do it by going on a family therapy. Moreover, it also touches on the concept of self- love. Growing up, Merit relentlessly compares herself to her seemingly perfect twin sister. Thank goodness, she found herself on a right track on loving herself. Finally, these two elements are so important to the story and even in our own lives.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Without Merit by Colleen Hoover is a refreshing and eye-opening story which recognizes the value of mental wellbeing/illness, truth, and forgiveness in this decade. It informs readers that "normal" is a myth, and that its shape is determined solely by the viewpoint from which it is observed. Each family has flaws, but there is hope as long as there is love. It is amazing how the author introduce the flawed characters and how they deal with those issues individually and as a family.
The novel is primarily concerned with the deconstruction of perceptions and assumptions in order to disclose the reality. The first half of the book takes a while to establish the characters and storyline, so the pacing is a little slow at first, but things pick up after the midway point. I was a little doubtful at first, but the narrative was so compelling that I just cannot put it down. The genre of this novel can be classified as contemporary romance, but there is more to it. It talks about the people you care about and how quickly things may go wrong if you don't take care of yourself. It's not your standard youthful novel, and it'll elicit emotions and sympathy you didn't expect. I'll probably going to give this a 4/5. If you wanted to know the whole story and to fully relate with this post then, I would highly recommend this book to teenagers, young adults and adults. Who knows? This might be 5/5 to you. Ciao, book lovers!
Note: Every part of this mini series will be about on different novels by Colleen Hoover
MILLION THANKS FOR REACHING THIS FAR
Hello once again! Heads up hivers! Jenny Mauring here who lives in Mandaue, Cebu City Philippines, I am a self taught artist. I am a friend to some and strangers to many. I am a lady with light in her eyes, love in her bones and a sucker of artsy and creatives. Come and visit my blog @jmauring to check out my content. You can also connect with me through my Instagram account, that's @jmauring, Jenny Mauring in Facebook and YouTube Channel as well. Stay happy, healthy and crazy.