From the No. 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 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.
'Emotionally wrenching and utterly original, Without Merit’s characters stayed with me long after I finished' Sara Shepard, New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars
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I have read and hated two books by Colleen Hoover in the past few years, but when I found myself in the mood for a contemporary novel and saw that she had published a YA book, I decided to give her one last try.
Merit is the MC of this story and, shockingly, I didn't hate her. She runs into Sagan one day and feels instant chemistry, but through a series of misunderstandings and assumptions, decides that they can't be together. Sagan was an enjoyable character who I thought made a good romantic interest. I wouldn't mind reading more about him, honestly.
Without Merit contains the usual angst and drama you would expect in a Colleen Hoover novel, but this one was actually bearable and kind of cute at times. I think part of what made it more enjoyable was that the angsty romance wasn't the main focal point of the story. Merit and her family was much more at the forefront and, even though that's not my usual kind of read, I enjoyed it more than the author's other novels. If you've hated her other books, this might be the Colleen Hoover pick for you!
Actual Rating: 2.5 stars
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9 May, 2018:
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