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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So many things happened to these characters, there was never a dull moment. And just when you think you know what’s about to happen, Ms. Hoover hits you over the head with the unexpected. I loved reading about this zany family!
I completely adore this book! It’s now taken a spot right up there with Maybe Someday as my favorite CoHo book. Merit is so endearing and quirky, I love her!
If you’re expecting and wanting a “typical” Colleen Hoover book, full of angst and tears and romance, you’re probably going to want to take a pass on this one.
Sure, there’s a touch of romance, but that’s not what this book is about. Without Merit is a messy story about an uncoventional family and the 17yo daughter who is just trying to figure out her place, in not only her family, but in life. It’s a small snapshot into the craziness that is the Voss’s family.
This book introduces some heavy topics, but it doesn’t dive in and focus on one particular problem. And I was completely okay with that. I don’t think it was necessary for Ms. Hoover to “fix” everything in this book. Sometimes you just have to enjoy a book, without looking too deep into it. I don’t know, maybe I’m the one who was missing something, but I don’t think Without Merit was meant to be this great force in literature, causing people to stop and think about issues that are weighing down the world. I just found it to be a really wonderful book about a truly captivating character.
Its beautiful. Without Merit: A Novel
What a read! This was my first Colleen Hoover book and I was not disappointed. I mean, those plot twists and the rollercoaster ride she took me on. Wow!!
A wonderful read that tackles some tough subjects with a bit of romance. It was hard to put this book down.
This one is very different to the past books of Colleens I have read, this one unusual in an outlandish kind of way. Its still an absolutely great read but its not the a heart wrenching one like the others of hers I’ve read. I would say this is borderline RomCom is a lose way.
Merit was absolutley misunderstood and I think the whole book is based on family secrets and misunderstandings, the lack of communication and honesty that is within families that lead people to jump to completley the wrong conclusions which couldn’t be further from the truth giving us a calamity of a story.
Absolutely brilliant if you are looking for a different kind of read, this book will leave you opened mouthed one minute and laughing hysterically the next
GENRE: definitely young adult
3.5 stars!
I just this past year decided to pop my Colleen Hoover cherry. I read “It Ends With Us” and “Ugly Love” then proceeded to buy all her books in paperback form. I became a CoHort. This book delivered a great message and the writing was intellectual and smooth. But in my head I worked this book up quite a bit.
So this is definitely a YA book. It touches on some very serious things. And to be honest with you I saw a lot of myself in Merit and I had rough teen years so I appreciated this book in that sense. I think this book is great for young women going through those struggles, I really wish this was around 21 years ago. Though you don’t grow out of depression and now it shows form in different aspects of your life it’s harder to relate to stuff like that.
I enjoyed all the characters and I even shed a tear after the family meeting and when they all met in Merit’s room. That is one thing this author knows how to do, is evoke emotion from a reader. She is amazing at that.
I think this is a good read just not what I was hoping for.
The book starts out like it’s going to be a bit dull: little to no dialogue, lots of inner dialogue. But it works; the inner dialogue is that of a seventeen-year-old with an interesting family life so I found myself pretty hooked early on.
There are also little side details that are hilarious. It’s rare that I laugh out loud or react at all really, to anything I read because everything’s so unoriginal. But Hoover’s voice is so funny, so I have to appreciate that.
However, this book is far from a comedy; serious issues are addressed and the reader should gain some perspective on serious problems. With what Hoover did here … presenting real problems, casually worked into the story and pointing out that labels are completely unnecessary and even make people stupid, I can’t help but love it and want everyone to read this.
So, job well done.
I found a few continuity and editing mistakes – very minor things.
Overall the book was well done and professionally produced.
Beautiful content and great writing.
4.5 stars.
This book was AMAZING!
I was hooked from page one and finished this in a day because I couldn’t put it down. The characters were amazing and had incredible backgrounds that brought them to life.
The story had me laughing, crying and anxious throughout. It gave a great perspective of seeing both sides of a situation. I cannot wait to read more books by this author.
Without Merit was an intriguing coming of age read that hooked me from the start. Original and quite addictive this book was full of drama and secrets upon secrets from a totally unconventional and zany family. Merit like all of us was focused on trying to find her place in both her family and the world admist all the dysfunction surrounding her. With so many different characters each struggling with their own issues this book covered a wide range of topics relatable to so many different readers. Each family member was an interesting piece to a puzzle I couldn’t wait to solve. My emotions bounced a bit all over the place as I couldn’t figure out whether I loved or wanted to smack some of the characters. Without Merit was a thought- provoking and heartfelt read different from anything else I’ve read before and I was definitely a bit sad to leave the Voss family behind.
WOW!!
Not what I was expecting.
But I was pleasantly surprised on how much I enjoyed by the end.
I really enjoy Colleen Hoover’s writing. And when I started reading this book I was a little thrown off because for me it had a different feel to it. Or maybe it was just the storyline was so crazy. But the more I fell into the story the more I could feel her writing and her words.
For me the story was of a girl coming into her own and finding herself as a young adult with a touch of romance. So if your looking for a heavy romance you won’t find that here.
Merit is a young girl who is struggling with herself and life around her. And it doesn’t help that she doesn’t live in a normal house and everyone in her live is hiding a secret.
Hoover hits on some hard topics in this book. Some I think many people struggle with. And there is a lot of chaos within the family which again I’m sure many people can relate. Perception is a big thing. I think we need to open our eyes a little more and start paying more attention on what’s around us.
Complimentary copy provided by Simon & Schuster Australia, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
In my opinion, this is not your typical CoHo style writing. But if you follow Colleen on social media, this is soooo Colleen! I felt like I was reading one of her posts instead of a story.
Anyway I enjoyed it!
This is a story full of secrets, family drama and mental health issues. The story is intense and very different than her previous books. I liked it because I really enjoy the POV Colleen gives to her characters telling their story.
This story isn’t my favorite of Colleen’s but it was still good. Colleen knows how to make sure you feel every feeling in every book of hers. You laugh, get angry, cry, get confused, want answers. And all over again.
This book is amazing. If you thought you had a dysfunctional family, think again. This is the story of a teenager who lives in utter chaos.Dad is remarried and has a child and lives on the main floor.In the basement , lives the agorophobic ex-wife. Merit has a identical twin sister , who is everything that Merit is not and a brother,who has secrets of his own. Throw in a first love scenario to this juggling act, and we have a stressed out Merit who is tired of doing it all alone.
Without Merit took me by surprise. I fully expected it to be a great book just like every other Colleen Hoover novel I’ve read. Ever since this book came out I’ve been told how its a great story about a unique family. And there is A LOT of unique things about the Voss family. Their names for one. They live in a church. One of them collects old trophies. And that’s just to name a few of the things that make the Voss family unique.
Without Merit is a fun one of a kind coming of age story, but it’s so much more than just a fun young adult story about a quirky family.
It’s about how we shouldn’t judge people’s actions without knowing their true motives. It’s about the effects and importance of mental health. It’s about the dangers of secrets and keeping our feelings bottled up. It’s about the importance of communicating with and understanding those around us. It’s about how sometimes we are so focused on our judgements and living in our own reality that we have no clue that the villains in our reality aren’t villains. They are simply human beings struggling with their own experiences and realities.
Well, that’s one messed up family and I devoured every wicked and twisted thing they had going on. Without Merit takes us through the life of a teenager and the struggles that she has and will endure. It certainly isn’t pretty but it’s powerful and it sheds light on situations that many people can relate to. If this review seems vague, it’s because I want to keep it as simple as possible in the hopes that readers go into this without any preconceived notion.
Merit goes through a lot of different emotions that most would consider typical teenager behavior but once you dive down into the heart of everything going on in that family, there’s certainly something else shadowing over them. All families are bit dysfunctional, right? It’s what makes us who we are. It’s what you do with it that counts.
Every single character in Without Merit pays a very intricate role in the overall story. Each one being a piece of the puzzle and when they are finally all connected together, you start to realize just how powerful that story is. I actually gasped when the connection to the title was reviled. For me, this was a slow burn type of book. It took me a bit longer to fully connect but after reading it I realized why and I was actually thankful for it.
Without Merit is a powerful and enlightening story that is relatable to many and I think will make an impact on a lot of people. That’s just Colleen Hoover’s trademark, though. Making us cry, feel and relate to everything that she writes. That’s the power in her writing and the stories that she tells.
Well this was…different. It took me a minute to get into it after the first chapter. I was just trying to figure out what french toast was going on. But once I got more into it, I thought it was a pretty decent story. There was never a dull moment at Dollar Voss. Of course you have all the very interesting characters. I was however on the fence with Merit, I’m just not sure if I really like her. I did really like Sagan, I think he was my favorite. I don’t know, it didn’t blow me away but I am glad that I finally read it.
5/5 Even though this was different than her usual, she still hits all the feels. No matter what book of Colleen’s you pick up you can’t go wrong. “Cheesus Christ”