Without Merit by Colleen Hoover Pages: 384
Published by Atria Books on October 3, 2017
Genres: New Adult, Romance, contemporary
Source: eARC from Publisher
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.
Without Merit is a young adult standalone from the great Colleen Hoover. I have read a couple of Colleen’s previous books and I enjoyed them both, but I haven’t read all of her books. (though they are on my TBR) Without Merit felt like a very different kind of read to me. It felt unexpected. It features a family that felt realistic in some ways and so hauntingly broken in other ways. There really isn’t a great way to describe Merit’s family. It is dysfunctional and atypical, that’s for sure. Without Merit is the kind of book that you can’t stop reading, because you have to know what direction the story is going to veer off to next. For starters, merit’s family lives in a church. View Spoiler » But her family living in a church is only the tip of the iceberg with them. Honestly, I really enjoyed the zany ride that Without Merit took me on. I can honestly say, I have not read a single book like this one out there.
Without Merit is told entirely from Merit’s point of view, which I found to be the perfect narration method to tell this story. I really enjoyed getting to know Merit. Right from the moment she told her trophy stealing story. I thought it was hilarious. That is what I think I love most about Colleen Hoover’s stories….she does not shy away from talking about really difficult subject matter. And without Merit deals with a lot of tough themes, but there are always zany moments to balance out the difficult. Without Merit had so many funny characters and conversations and really interesting personalities that this story never felt overly dark or depressing to me. It felt like life. Life is sometimes tough, and sometimes dark but there are also moments of levity. Colleen Hoover is the queen of balancing tough subject matter with big personalities and moments of levity. It is why I have enjoyed all of the books I have read from her. And why I want to read more.
Without Merit is a story that should be read. I know it made me stop and think at multiple points while I was reading it. Yes, I enjoyed the romance and yes Merit is a completely unique and utterly fascinating character, but the book felt totally fresh to me, as a whole, which is what I loved most about it. If you are looking for a flat out great read, pick up Without Merit. I can’t wait to see what you think of the story.
Visit www.WithoutMeritbook.com for teasers, tour dates and more.
.@Bookbriefs <3 #WithoutMerit by @ColleenHoover like nobody’s business. Don’t believe me? @Atriaindies check out my review Click To Tweet
To enter, fill out the rafflecopter below to win
Win 1 of 5 signed hardcover copies of WITHOUT MERIT! Contest is open until October 30th
Note: Book Briefs Contest Policy applies. All of the prizes, terms and conditions of the giveaway should be contained in the rafflecopter below. No Purchase necessary to enter. Void where prohibited by law.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Leave a Reply