From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Ends With Us and November 9 comes a moving and haunting novel of family, love, and the power of the truth.“Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness.” The Voss family is anything but normal. They live in a repurposed church, newly baptized Dollar Voss. The once cancer-stricken mother lives in … Voss. The once cancer-stricken mother lives in the basement, the father is married to the mother’s former nurse, the little half-brother isn’t allowed to do or eat anything fun, and the eldest siblings are irritatingly perfect. Then, there’s Merit.
Merit Voss collects trophies she hasn’t earned and secrets her family forces her to keep. While browsing the local antiques shop for her next trophy, she finds Sagan. His wit and unapologetic idealism disarm and spark renewed life into her—until she discovers that he’s completely unavailable. Merit retreats deeper into herself, watching her family from the sidelines, when she learns a secret that no trophy in the world can fix.
Fed up with the lies, Merit decides to shatter the happy family illusion that she’s never been a part of before leaving them behind for good. When her escape plan fails, Merit is forced to deal with the staggering consequences of telling the truth and losing the one boy she loves.
Poignant and powerful, Without Merit explores the layers of lies that tie a family together and the power of love and truth.
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“Your emotions and reactions are valid…Don’t let anyone tell you any differently. You’re the only one who feels them”–
Like any other book from CoHo this is different. She gives me different feelings, experiences and food for thought
COMMUNICATION! As much as everyone says how important it is in relationships it’s probly the one thing that most people don’t do. This story started off a bit slow. I wasn’t sure where it was going but it picked up and I was intrigued. The way the characters handled their choices and issues felt so close to the truth.
Good, but not her best.
The household is chaos. Controlled somedays and not so much other days. It’s also quite a cast of characters. Entertaining and frustrating as a whole. Dysfunctional at its finest.
Merit is an average teenager in a not so average setting. Normal is not a word used to summarize her existence.
What is normal? What is perception? Great questions one needs to ponder when reading Merit’s story.
Sagan is a very unique individual and is quite easy to like. Despite his own heavy circumstances, he seems to be the catalyst and voice of reason to begin the healing this household needs.
Once the secrets are shaken loose of their tight hold, things go from bad to worse. Nothing is ever easy and what comes to light is how much this family loves each other, ow imperfect they all are, how they can all heal and begin communicating, and how they can all support each other.
There are some heavy messages in Merit’s story. Messages I can honestly say strike quite close to home. Without Merit is a book that will touch the heart of you and make you think. Another great Colleen Hoover novel!!
Amazing as usual! Not enough free time in my days to stop everything and devour this in one sitting!
Colleen Hoover knocks it out of the park yet again in her newest novel Without Merit. She is known for her gripping tales of love and twisted angst and this novel is no different. It is a must read that I devoured and it’s a wonderful addition to the many great works of Ms. Hoover.
“Not every mistake deserves a consequence.”
“Sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness.”
Without Merit is different from any other novel that I have read from her before. It gives off vibes from her other YA novels, but is on a level of its own. So as for this review, it will be different as not much of a summery of the tale, but believe me when I say, you won’t regret reading it! This wonderful and impactfull story will take you completely by surprise. It is powerful, so be ready! It will have you second-guessing your view on life. Words are weapons and Colleen will show you how powerful and dangerous they truly are.
“Maybe if I let all the secrets out, they wouldn’t make me feel like I’m drowning anymore.”
Sometimes things get too heavy and bring us down, destroy us from the inside out. Without Merit is a wonderful representation of this theme. It highlights how situations in someone’s life can have an impact on others and that impact could be the very thing that destroys them.
The writing was brilliant and I love how the chapters built on top of one another gaining more momentum until the end. Without Merit is truly a novel you do not want to miss. The heartfelt words that I gained in this story will forever be etched in my soul. FIVE STARS for another exceptionally written work of art.
I don’t think I could ever be disappointed by this author. I haven’t read everything she’s written yet, but every book has amazed me so far.
In Without Merit, we get to see a girl who is troubled and doesn’t realized the extent that trouble until it’s almost too late. I applaud the author for shedding light on a subject that is often swept under the rug and one that affects me on a very personal level.
I found myself relating to Merit at the same time as I was annoyed by some of her actions. I guess it’s fair to say that she reminded me of myself at that age, even though our problems were quite different. I was also intrigued by the history of Sagan’s family and found myself learning as I read. I’m not usually one to read in order to learn (as strange as that sounds, but hey, I’m not in school anymore!) But I was so drawn into the story and wanting to find out what was going on with Sagan, that I found myself enjoying the lesson, no matter how tragic. It’s not often that I read a book with a bit of history or political science in it and truly find myself lost in the story and not getting annoyed at it reading like a text book (which this did not.)
One underlying theme that really resonated with me, was that everyone has their own stress baseline. No one should consider their stresses more or less than anyone else simply because they are different. We all feel stress in our own way and for our own reasons and no one should make you feel belittled because of that. I hope a great many of high school kids will read this book and learn that lesson earlier than this 30 something woman did.
Overall, I have to say well done once again to Ms. Hoover. I know the YA/NA style of this book may not appeal to everyone, but I think the writing is superb and will entertain as it enlightens.
One of my favorite author. Can never go wrong!
not a fan. some teens may be clinically depressed. would not read again.
Colleen Hoover does it again. This book captivated me and took me to the depth of the struggle. I could stop reading and yet wanted so much more when it ended. Merit’s struggle and the way it was portrayed was so real and it felt like I was in the book. I loved the underlying stories and important meanings that filled the book.