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Without Merit
Goodreads Choice Award
Winner for Best Romance (2017)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.
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.
386 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 3, 2017
About the author
Colleen Hoover
106 books732k followersInternational and #1 New York Times bestselling author of romance, YA, thriller, women's fiction and paranormal romance.
I don't like to be confined to one genre. If you put me in a box, I'll claw my way out.
My social media username is @colleenhoover pretty much everywhere except my email, which is colleenhooverbooks@gmail.com
Founder of www.thebookwormbox.com charity and Book Bonanza.
I don't like to be confined to one genre. If you put me in a box, I'll claw my way out.
My social media username is @colleenhoover pretty much everywhere except my email, which is colleenhooverbooks@gmail.com
Founder of www.thebookwormbox.com charity and Book Bonanza.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 22,042 reviews
October 17, 2017
He could probably open his mouth and call me an asshole again and I'd still want to kiss the lips the insult came from.
CoHo really missed the mark with this one, in my opinion. I really do like that she's moving more towards Contemporary and darker subjects - as with It Ends with Us - but this messy book took on mental illness, sexuality, suicide, abuse, even the Syrian refugee crisis, AND a romance. None of them were done very well.
The book centers on Merit Voss and her family. They now live upstairs in a renovated church with their father and stepmother, after their father cheated on their sick mother. Said sick mother lives downstairs in the basement. Merit retreats further and further into herself as she feels ever more estranged from her siblings - especially older brother, Utah, and twin sister, Honor.
One day, a hot dude called Sagan kisses Merit unexpectedly. She reciprocates, but soon realises she has been mistaken for her twin and that she has just kissed Honor's boyfriend. To make matters worse, she can't stop thinking about him. And worse than that-- shortly after, Honor moves Sagan into the Voss household.
You know, there's a difference between creating well-rounded, complex and unlikeable characters, and just creating characters who get away with being obnoxious and selfish. It feels like the entire Voss family spend this book being assholes and it is all wrapped up and forgiven without any consequences. A lot of Merit’s actions are forgiven by us finding out that it wasn’t really true. Their father, too, shrugs off his infidelity with: “You think I'm not allowed to make mistakes?”
It's impossible to like or even care about anyone.
I also just don't understand why no one on the editing team is catching the homophobia, biphobia, ableism and slut-shaming in here. And it's straight from the mouth of our narrator who we are supposed to feel sympathy for! How do you like someone who says this when outing someone as bisexual:
“Maybe he couldn’t finish with me because he prefers dick. Utah’s dick, at least.”
Or this about another (sick) woman:
“You open your legs to him any time he wants it.”
Or just this entire exchange:
“It’s probably the whole gay thing you’re experimenting with. It’s making you sentimental.”
He glances back at me and narrows his eyes. “You can’t make gay jokes, Merit. You aren’t gay.”
“Does being gay make you the gay authority on who can or can’t tell gay jokes?”
“I’m not gay, either,” he says.
“Could have fooled me.” I laugh. “If you don’t think you’re gay, you’re sexually confused.”
He's bi/pansexual, by the way, which Merit already knows.
Perhaps you can try and excuse some of Merit's actions as being part of her depression (though as someone who has dealt with depression most of my life, I personally disagree that it excuses you for being a judgmental asshole) but that doesn't excuse the whole obsession with her virginity and her disdain for other sexually active women. This happens a lot in Coho's books. Sexuality is bad, and the heroine is considered more virtuous for having held onto her virginity like it's a prize to be won.
And while people are saying Without Merit is not really a romance, I'd actually disagree. It may have a plot outside of the romance, unlike some of Hoover's earlier books, but it is still very romantic. A lot of the story feels centred around the romantic tensions between Merit and Sagan. I didn't like either of them. Sagan mansplains everything to Merit, coddles her against her wishes by saying he won't make out with her for her own good (ugh), and then even says this which I think is supposed to be sweet:
“You were really easy to like today, Merit.”
How revolting.
I think the author wanted to tackle a lot of issues, but didn't handle any of them with the sensitivity required. Mental illness and sexuality are used as twists and plot devices, and it left a bad taste. In fact, I'm sometimes just not sure the author understands the issues she is writing about. Or she deliberately writes characters who don't, without explanation. One last quote:
"even though I'm an atheist, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank God that I have a wife who understands that.”
Huh. Someone is confused.
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December 5, 2017
Congratulations-winner of Best Romance 2017!
There is always a great deal of pressure when reviewing a highly anticipated novel before it’s release date. When this magical ARC was delivered to my doorstep and I read the press release, I knew this would be a really special read. I cleared my entire TBR schedule to be able to read this book immediately and I regret nothing. If you are the type who likes to go into a book fully blind, I’m going to stop right here and encourage that you to wait until you get your hands on Without Merit before reading any further, or reading any reviews for that matter. Do you see how short the blurb above is? It’s basically one line, and there’s good reason for that. I’m also going to discuss minor spoilers of It Ends with Us, as well as talk about some vague themes included in this current book, just as a fair warning.
Now that I’ve gone through the fine print, let’s start from the beginning. I’m hoping to refer more to my experience while reading this book and what I learned from it than the actual plot itself, as I feel this will better direct the right reader to this particular story. Anyone who devoured It Ends with Us last year knows that Hoover isn’t shy in dealing with tough subjects and trigger worthy issues (one of the many things I love about the woman), and I was blown away with the fictional tale shrouded in her personal family history to bring awareness to domestic violence and what can happen when the continuous cycle is broken. I’m not crying; YOU’RE crying! When everyone went bananas over that book last year, it made me pause and ponder if perhaps CoHo is moving her stories slowly in a different direction. Sure enough, I quickly discovered that Without Merit is unlike any book she’s written thus far; if I had to compare it to another book of hers I’d say it’s most like IEWU, except much less romantic. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that WM isn’t actually a romance. GASP! Does it contain romance in the novel? Sure, but it’s more of a side plot and it most definitely isn’t the focal point of the story. As you can guess, this was a risky move for the author in veering so far from her normal writing style, but I’m pleased to admit that it worked well, SO well. This new direction is something I feel will keep Hoover fresh, unique, and in demand for many years to come.
When I began reading, I noticed the differences almost immediately. I love how there are little twists and surprises in all of CoHo’s books, but the ones found in WM are far deeper and more complex than those tied to her more traditional romance style. The first 50 pages or so in the book is a major info dump; I was wondering where the author’s signature dry humor was and felt the build up of a more serious tone, which I think was necessary to prepare the reader for where she takes the rest of the story. Once I hit that mark, the story really took off and I read the remainder in a single sitting. I found I couldn’t tear myself away from the quirky, sad bunch of characters who managed to still make me feel hopeful that things would turn around for them. Hoover has brought together a cast that shows what it truly means to be human; the vulnerability of each and every one of us is felt through these realistic people and I think that is one of Colleen’s major talents which results in bringing repeat readers to her new books.
While Hoover chose to tackle domestic abuse and the horrific trauma involved surrounding the subject in her previous novel, here she has chosen to bring awareness to mental health, depression, and suicide among many other things. <— Trigger warnings clearly listed. While you may think this sounds like a dreary, heavy read, and you’d be partially correct, the author never allows the light of hope to dim. You may feel like this story seems crazy, wild, and unrealistic within the first 50% of reading it, but if you reach the ending you’ll see it all makes sense and portrays a very timely, important message. I truly felt this was CoHo’s most appropriate book for a younger audience, not only because the usual steamy, sexy romance is traded for a milder, coming of age and discovery, but because the message is just so dang important for our older teens and college aged students to hear. Cue the feels!
I know I’m rambling, and I’m truly sorry for that, but this is a ramble worthy book. I’ve already heard some people speculating that they are worried they’ll be disappointed in this dramatic change of style and genre for a beloved author; let me be the first to tell you, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. Holy guacamole, this book is amazing! I can’t remember a single book since IEWU that has caused me to take a step back and think about tough things for quite some time. I also think it’s truly appropriate that my 1,000th book logged as read on Goodreads was such an important one as this! Without Merit is a book that is worthy of your time and money; don’t sit in a queue of 200 people waiting for it to come in at the library. Buy it! Pre-order it! Add it to your TBR on Goodreads! Talk about it with your friends; I promise ladies and gentlemen, this one is worth the hype. As a mother of two young girls I took away so much from this book; it made me toss around scenarios and ideas of how I might react in a similar situation and what I need to do to be as involved, accepting, and loving toward my children as I can possibly be. Clasp your pearls to your chest and grab a hanky; this one is a tear jerker, but per classic Hoover, there is a ray of hope that turns into what a real happily ever after should look like. PS-that classic wit and humor does make many an appearance, I was just pulling your leg. 😉
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my copy; it was an absolute pleasure to provide my honest thoughts here.
You can pre-order WITHOUT MERIT here: https://www.amazon.com/Without-Merit-...
*********************
I don't even know what to say to do this book justice. What are words? How do I talk about this book sans spoilers? How can CoHo write books like this and not personally hold my hand while reading them? 😭
There is always a great deal of pressure when reviewing a highly anticipated novel before it’s release date. When this magical ARC was delivered to my doorstep and I read the press release, I knew this would be a really special read. I cleared my entire TBR schedule to be able to read this book immediately and I regret nothing. If you are the type who likes to go into a book fully blind, I’m going to stop right here and encourage that you to wait until you get your hands on Without Merit before reading any further, or reading any reviews for that matter. Do you see how short the blurb above is? It’s basically one line, and there’s good reason for that. I’m also going to discuss minor spoilers of It Ends with Us, as well as talk about some vague themes included in this current book, just as a fair warning.
Now that I’ve gone through the fine print, let’s start from the beginning. I’m hoping to refer more to my experience while reading this book and what I learned from it than the actual plot itself, as I feel this will better direct the right reader to this particular story. Anyone who devoured It Ends with Us last year knows that Hoover isn’t shy in dealing with tough subjects and trigger worthy issues (one of the many things I love about the woman), and I was blown away with the fictional tale shrouded in her personal family history to bring awareness to domestic violence and what can happen when the continuous cycle is broken. I’m not crying; YOU’RE crying! When everyone went bananas over that book last year, it made me pause and ponder if perhaps CoHo is moving her stories slowly in a different direction. Sure enough, I quickly discovered that Without Merit is unlike any book she’s written thus far; if I had to compare it to another book of hers I’d say it’s most like IEWU, except much less romantic. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that WM isn’t actually a romance. GASP! Does it contain romance in the novel? Sure, but it’s more of a side plot and it most definitely isn’t the focal point of the story. As you can guess, this was a risky move for the author in veering so far from her normal writing style, but I’m pleased to admit that it worked well, SO well. This new direction is something I feel will keep Hoover fresh, unique, and in demand for many years to come.
When I began reading, I noticed the differences almost immediately. I love how there are little twists and surprises in all of CoHo’s books, but the ones found in WM are far deeper and more complex than those tied to her more traditional romance style. The first 50 pages or so in the book is a major info dump; I was wondering where the author’s signature dry humor was and felt the build up of a more serious tone, which I think was necessary to prepare the reader for where she takes the rest of the story. Once I hit that mark, the story really took off and I read the remainder in a single sitting. I found I couldn’t tear myself away from the quirky, sad bunch of characters who managed to still make me feel hopeful that things would turn around for them. Hoover has brought together a cast that shows what it truly means to be human; the vulnerability of each and every one of us is felt through these realistic people and I think that is one of Colleen’s major talents which results in bringing repeat readers to her new books.
While Hoover chose to tackle domestic abuse and the horrific trauma involved surrounding the subject in her previous novel, here she has chosen to bring awareness to mental health, depression, and suicide among many other things. <— Trigger warnings clearly listed. While you may think this sounds like a dreary, heavy read, and you’d be partially correct, the author never allows the light of hope to dim. You may feel like this story seems crazy, wild, and unrealistic within the first 50% of reading it, but if you reach the ending you’ll see it all makes sense and portrays a very timely, important message. I truly felt this was CoHo’s most appropriate book for a younger audience, not only because the usual steamy, sexy romance is traded for a milder, coming of age and discovery, but because the message is just so dang important for our older teens and college aged students to hear. Cue the feels!
I know I’m rambling, and I’m truly sorry for that, but this is a ramble worthy book. I’ve already heard some people speculating that they are worried they’ll be disappointed in this dramatic change of style and genre for a beloved author; let me be the first to tell you, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. Holy guacamole, this book is amazing! I can’t remember a single book since IEWU that has caused me to take a step back and think about tough things for quite some time. I also think it’s truly appropriate that my 1,000th book logged as read on Goodreads was such an important one as this! Without Merit is a book that is worthy of your time and money; don’t sit in a queue of 200 people waiting for it to come in at the library. Buy it! Pre-order it! Add it to your TBR on Goodreads! Talk about it with your friends; I promise ladies and gentlemen, this one is worth the hype. As a mother of two young girls I took away so much from this book; it made me toss around scenarios and ideas of how I might react in a similar situation and what I need to do to be as involved, accepting, and loving toward my children as I can possibly be. Clasp your pearls to your chest and grab a hanky; this one is a tear jerker, but per classic Hoover, there is a ray of hope that turns into what a real happily ever after should look like. PS-that classic wit and humor does make many an appearance, I was just pulling your leg. 😉
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my copy; it was an absolute pleasure to provide my honest thoughts here.
You can pre-order WITHOUT MERIT here: https://www.amazon.com/Without-Merit-...
*********************
I don't even know what to say to do this book justice. What are words? How do I talk about this book sans spoilers? How can CoHo write books like this and not personally hold my hand while reading them? 😭
May 15, 2018
Not my favorite CoHo book but it was still an enjoyable and quick read. Full review to come!
Update
This was one of my most anticipated books of 2017 and somehow I have managed to put it off for a whole year smh. I'm finally picking it up so you can expect some reading updates coming your way soon!
Update
I HAVE IT! I HAVE IT! IT'S HERE!!!
---
Update
I don't want a freaking excerpt, I want the whole book! Is that too much to ask?
---
Update
What am I supposed to do with my life until October 3rd?
----
I don't even care what this book is about. I would read CoHo's grocery list.
Can I have it now? Thank you.
Update
This was one of my most anticipated books of 2017 and somehow I have managed to put it off for a whole year smh. I'm finally picking it up so you can expect some reading updates coming your way soon!
Update
I HAVE IT! I HAVE IT! IT'S HERE!!!
---
Update
I don't want a freaking excerpt, I want the whole book! Is that too much to ask?
---
Update
What am I supposed to do with my life until October 3rd?
----
I don't even care what this book is about. I would read CoHo's grocery list.
Can I have it now? Thank you.
May 17, 2022
Uhhhhhhhhm...
I liked some things. I hated some things.
I liked some things. I hated some things.
July 17, 2024
Nie no nie wiem, 1.5?
September 29, 2017
4.25 stars!!!
One thing I can say about Colleen Hoover is that she never writes the same book twice. I love that every time I pick up a book from her, it’s different than the last. She doesn’t have the same formula, but her writing is consistently strong and endearing. It’s refreshing! Without Merit is nothing like any of her other books. First of all, I wouldn’t classify this as a romance at all. It’s a book of self discovery and a coming of age tale.
Merit Voss comes from an interesting family. The Voss family is full of dysfunctional characters, and Merit is just as dysfunctional as the rest in a lot of ways. Merit is also the keeper of secrets in her family.
Merit is a unique character. I think she will be relatable to a lot of teenagers, and even adults. We all go through things. We all have familial relationships that aren’t 100% healthy, family members that are a tad bit crazy, and we all have hard times. I would like to say a lot about her story, but it would do a huge disservice to the reader. I loved that Colleen surprised me with this one. There were so many secrets and parts of the story I didn’t see coming, and that’s always a good feeling while reading.
There were characters I didn’t love at the beginning, but I did by the end. Everything is not how it seems when it comes to these characters and this family. People are redeemable. Forgiveness is key. There are so many important themes and great points made in this story. I’m excited for other friends to read it, because I can’t wait to discuss it more with others!
Without Merit is a book that hooked me from the first page. Merit’s story was original, powerful, and addicting. I loved the family drama, the surprises, and the topics that Hoover brought to light. Even though there wasn’t a ton of romance, I really did adore the love interest. There were so many fantastic characters in this book! If you’re looking for a book that will make you laugh, make you cry, make you feel, and one that’s heavy and light at the same time, and something that’s a little different, Without Merit is the book for you.
One thing I can say about Colleen Hoover is that she never writes the same book twice. I love that every time I pick up a book from her, it’s different than the last. She doesn’t have the same formula, but her writing is consistently strong and endearing. It’s refreshing! Without Merit is nothing like any of her other books. First of all, I wouldn’t classify this as a romance at all. It’s a book of self discovery and a coming of age tale.
Merit Voss comes from an interesting family. The Voss family is full of dysfunctional characters, and Merit is just as dysfunctional as the rest in a lot of ways. Merit is also the keeper of secrets in her family.
No one would be able to determine from the outside of our house that our family of seven includes an atheist, a home wrecker, an ex-wife suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia, and a teenage girl whose weird obsession borders on necrophilia.
No one would be able to determine any of that from inside our house, either.
“So many people dream of living in a house with a white picket fence. Little do they know, there’s no such thing as a perfect family, no matter how white the picket fence is.”
Merit is a unique character. I think she will be relatable to a lot of teenagers, and even adults. We all go through things. We all have familial relationships that aren’t 100% healthy, family members that are a tad bit crazy, and we all have hard times. I would like to say a lot about her story, but it would do a huge disservice to the reader. I loved that Colleen surprised me with this one. There were so many secrets and parts of the story I didn’t see coming, and that’s always a good feeling while reading.
There were characters I didn’t love at the beginning, but I did by the end. Everything is not how it seems when it comes to these characters and this family. People are redeemable. Forgiveness is key. There are so many important themes and great points made in this story. I’m excited for other friends to read it, because I can’t wait to discuss it more with others!
Without Merit is a book that hooked me from the first page. Merit’s story was original, powerful, and addicting. I loved the family drama, the surprises, and the topics that Hoover brought to light. Even though there wasn’t a ton of romance, I really did adore the love interest. There were so many fantastic characters in this book! If you’re looking for a book that will make you laugh, make you cry, make you feel, and one that’s heavy and light at the same time, and something that’s a little different, Without Merit is the book for you.
“Don’t make your presence known. Make your absence felt.”
February 11, 2019
***2 STARS***
Unfiltered review here... https://prettymessreading.com/without...
It was supposed to be better. . . *sad face*
First, I want everyone to know that this is not a romance novel, just in case you thought it would be. There’s a touch of romance, but nothing swoon worthy. That wasn’t a problem for me – I just had to adjust my mindset, but that only took me ten minutes, max. It’s more of a story about acceptance and understanding – finding yourself, so to speak. Just like many other Colleen Hoover books, there is an important message written in the words.
Colleen Hoover is the best of the best when it comes to writing. She’s fucking brilliant. I have read loads and loads of books so I know a good author when I see one. I know what I’m talking about. She’s one of the best. I expected her to show up and show out with her new book. She showed up but she did not show out. I really thought after a long break in between her books that she was going to come out HOT! That’s not what happened here.
And that’s okay. It happens. I’m not always 110% at everything I do but I’m still the shit.
Without Merit started out very well, I was hooked by the end of chapter one – there was already drama. YES! I love me some good old story time drama. I found Merit personality intriguing – at first. . . after awhile she just came off as crazy and annoying. I don’t have a little sister or brother, but I could imagine her as being the annoying little sister that gets on everyones nerves.
The storyline was attempting to paint Merit’s family as this crazy dysfunctional mess, but I didn’t really get that. My family drama growing up was a crazy dysfunctional mess, her family just had too many secrets and once they were exposed everything got better within a week or maybe it was five days. I can’t really remember and I’m not in the mood to go back and fact check so I will say it was between 3-7 days. It played out more as a misunderstanding than a dysfunctional family.
I don’t know you guys. It’s like, I can see what CoHo was trying to do here but it was just executed oddly. Yeah, oddly, that’s a good way to put it. There are some deep rooted issues in this book from depressions, to sexual identity, to cheating, to family roles, to alcohol and drug abuse. Somewhere in the story the mark was mixed.
Normally when I read a CoHo book my Kindle is filled with highlights and notes, but for Without Merit, I only have two. It may not be two because one of them is a popular one that was made to standout so I don’t know if that even counts.
When I reached the end of the book, I felt like there wasnt any real conclusion to the book. Everyone’s issues where still there at the surface. Nothing was really resolved. There was only a bandage put on top of everything that would eventually fall off.
Follow all things messy. . .
www.prettymessreading.com
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Unfiltered review here... https://prettymessreading.com/without...
It was supposed to be better. . . *sad face*
First, I want everyone to know that this is not a romance novel, just in case you thought it would be. There’s a touch of romance, but nothing swoon worthy. That wasn’t a problem for me – I just had to adjust my mindset, but that only took me ten minutes, max. It’s more of a story about acceptance and understanding – finding yourself, so to speak. Just like many other Colleen Hoover books, there is an important message written in the words.
Colleen Hoover is the best of the best when it comes to writing. She’s fucking brilliant. I have read loads and loads of books so I know a good author when I see one. I know what I’m talking about. She’s one of the best. I expected her to show up and show out with her new book. She showed up but she did not show out. I really thought after a long break in between her books that she was going to come out HOT! That’s not what happened here.
And that’s okay. It happens. I’m not always 110% at everything I do but I’m still the shit.
Without Merit started out very well, I was hooked by the end of chapter one – there was already drama. YES! I love me some good old story time drama. I found Merit personality intriguing – at first. . . after awhile she just came off as crazy and annoying. I don’t have a little sister or brother, but I could imagine her as being the annoying little sister that gets on everyones nerves.
The storyline was attempting to paint Merit’s family as this crazy dysfunctional mess, but I didn’t really get that. My family drama growing up was a crazy dysfunctional mess, her family just had too many secrets and once they were exposed everything got better within a week or maybe it was five days. I can’t really remember and I’m not in the mood to go back and fact check so I will say it was between 3-7 days. It played out more as a misunderstanding than a dysfunctional family.
I don’t know you guys. It’s like, I can see what CoHo was trying to do here but it was just executed oddly. Yeah, oddly, that’s a good way to put it. There are some deep rooted issues in this book from depressions, to sexual identity, to cheating, to family roles, to alcohol and drug abuse. Somewhere in the story the mark was mixed.
Normally when I read a CoHo book my Kindle is filled with highlights and notes, but for Without Merit, I only have two. It may not be two because one of them is a popular one that was made to standout so I don’t know if that even counts.
“Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness.” – Sagan
When I reached the end of the book, I felt like there wasnt any real conclusion to the book. Everyone’s issues where still there at the surface. Nothing was really resolved. There was only a bandage put on top of everything that would eventually fall off.
Follow all things messy. . .
www.prettymessreading.com
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/prettymessr...
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/prettymessre...
Twitter https://twitter.com/prettymessread
August 5, 2017
So many secrets in this house. And yet, the one secret I should have told years ago is the one I’ve kept the quietest.
Colleen Hoover is one of best authors I've ever read and her books are always sitting at the top of my recommendations lists for every kind of reader! Her books are absorbing, her characters are endearing, and each new story she writes is unique, relatable, and thought provoking. She has a very distinctive writing style that I absolutely love, I also respect and admire her as a person -- the charity she has started is incredible, and each time she announces a new book, I count down the days until I'm able to read it.
Without Merit is unlike anything she's written before. She returned to her YA roots with this one -- more in the vein of Slammed and Hopeless -- and yet this story is still very different even than those. It's a slow building, slow burning story that eventually takes you completely by surprise. The most important thing to keep in mind when reading this book is that perspective changes everything. The story doesn't tell, it shows you. It's real, raw, and painful. And yet also deeply heart-warming and healing. It conveys a powerful message that tackles tough subjects with grace. It's relevant and relatable. It's a book I'd want to give to every teen, but at the same time I believe everyone would enjoy it. The story takes you right into the dark, but also brings you back and leaves you smiling.
“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.
Other than the blurb, I don't really want to post too much about what the story is about. Colleen Hoover is one of the authors who has fully gained my trust over the years and for me just knowing that she wrote the book is enough to make me feel confident diving into the story blind. I would strongly encourage you to do the same.
Without Merit is a quietly powerful read. It's a slow build that didn't really keep my heart racing as I read, but I believe that was intentional. I don't think it was meant to be an angsty style of read. I think it was meant to be more of a fictionalized reflection of something closer to real life. Sometimes the things that influence a person's choices the most come quietly. This isn't the type of story where one huge, cataclysmic event changes everything. It's the opposite. It's a butterfly effect times ten. It's the result of many smaller events that all together build a storm.
No one would be able to determine from the outside of our house that our family of seven includes an atheist, a home wrecker, an ex-wife suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia, and a teenage girl whose weird obsession borders on necrophilia.
No one would be able to determine any of that from inside our house, either. We’re good at keeping secrets in this family.
The first chapter really sets the tone for the whole book. You're introduced to Merit's character -- her hopes and frustrations, and then there's this one moment where you suddenly realize that nothing is as it seems.
“So many people dream of living in a house with a white picket fence. Little do they know, there’s no such thing as a perfect family, no matter how white the picket fence is.”
Everything about her life was unusual, odd, different than normal -- like the Adams family of small town America -- and as the story goes on you could really see how much she suffered from a loss of identity. When you think about 'child neglect', your mind often jumps to extreme - abusive - cases. But it can manifest in so many ways. Sometimes a simple lack of attention can be enough to make a child feel so invisible that they lose their sense of self-worth.
I don’t matter here, either. If I dropped out of life, just like I dropped out of school, everyone’s lives would go on.
With or without Merit.
This story has many layers to it and they build. Like I said, it's the butterfly effect many times over. The writing is brilliant. And it builds so quietly that you don't even notice that a storm is brewing until the moment where everything just explodes. Implodes. Everything is turned on its end and as the reader you're RIGHT THERE with it.
I have Utah’s secret.
I have my father’s secret.
My mother’s secret.
Honor’s secret.
Luck’s secret.
I don’t want any of them anymore!
Maybe if I let all the secrets out, they wouldn’t make me feel like drowning anymore.
Perspective. You'll keep coming back to that theme throughout the book. And when you're finished it, you'll look back and just realize how much perspective matters. The Voss Family was brimming with secrets. But the thing with secrets is that they aren't always what they seem. Sometimes the villain isn't the bad guy. And as the quote at the top of the blurb says, “Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness.”
Perspective changes everything.
The story shows you every detail. It doesn't tell you what to think. It makes you draw your own conclusions. Without meaning to, you can't even help but judge situations. But then it shows you this one missing piece that makes you realize how wrong you were. It's very cleverly written and eye opening.
It’s incredible how much better a kiss can make you feel, right?”
I nod. “So incredible.”
His thumb brushes my cheek, then his satisfied grin falls into a pointed stare. “That’s exactly why I won’t do it again, Merit. You need to fall in love with yourself first.”
And OMG OMG OMG! There is a BRILLIANT bookstore scene!!!!!!!! I don't want to spoil anything but if you've been a longtime fan of this author and follow her, you'll get a serious kick out of that scene :D
As I said, this book is unlike anything else Colleen Hoover has written. It's a new direction for her and, like all her other books, it's a strong and stellar read I whole-heartedly recommend. If I had to describe it, I'd say it's very much like It Ends With Us in feeling, but instead this book is targeted at the teen age range rather than adult. But again, I do believe this is a book that everyone will enjoy! It's easily one of my favorite books of the year!
Rating: 4.5 stars! Mature YA Standalone.
Buy WITHOUT MERIT (Kindle)
Buy WITHOUT MERIT (Hardcover)
Buy WITHOUT MERIT (Paperback)
Buy WITHOUT MERIT (Audiobook)
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January 25, 2021
ive actively avoided this book for so long. it seems to be CoHos least liked novel and the story just doesnt sound like the CoHo i know and love. buuuuut this is the only book of hers i havent picked up and it was killing me to leave one book left unread. so i caved and i honestly should have done it sooner.
while this didnt quite make me feel anything emotionally (beyond general enjoyment) like her other books have done, this is still really good. it definitely has a more downer of a vibe compared to the majority of her other books, but i think the heavy/serious topics are handled in way that makes the characters relatable. i may not have as much family drama as merit, but i could understand how it feels to drift from a sibling, realising parents dont always have the answer, and how you have to take care of yourself because you can take care of others.
so overall, this is far from the horrible story i was worried it would be.
↠ 4.5 stars
while this didnt quite make me feel anything emotionally (beyond general enjoyment) like her other books have done, this is still really good. it definitely has a more downer of a vibe compared to the majority of her other books, but i think the heavy/serious topics are handled in way that makes the characters relatable. i may not have as much family drama as merit, but i could understand how it feels to drift from a sibling, realising parents dont always have the answer, and how you have to take care of yourself because you can take care of others.
so overall, this is far from the horrible story i was worried it would be.
↠ 4.5 stars
January 24, 2018
-3,5 stars-
Well, it's not one of my favorite CoHo book but still I enjoyed it... 🙂 And don't get me wrong, she is my No.1 author but I believe I'm the main problem in here because I think I was expecting something else. Like maybe similar to her other YA books (Hopeless or maybe November9 type of story) but still this book was really interesting to read and there were a lot of things to think.... And in the end I liked this book. I hope you give it a chance, who knows maybe you'd love it more than I did. 😘
Well, it's not one of my favorite CoHo book but still I enjoyed it... 🙂 And don't get me wrong, she is my No.1 author but I believe I'm the main problem in here because I think I was expecting something else. Like maybe similar to her other YA books (Hopeless or maybe November9 type of story) but still this book was really interesting to read and there were a lot of things to think.... And in the end I liked this book. I hope you give it a chance, who knows maybe you'd love it more than I did. 😘
August 23, 2020
Listen, it's been five months since I started reading this book and quite frankly I lack the enthusiasm or desire to finish it; therefore, it's a DNF for me. Shame that.
January 15, 2018
English - Español
This book would have served Colleen Hoover to write several. It is the first time I see that in the same book be treaten so many problems and psychological and psychiatric diseases. It's too much. Or as a friend of mine says "a lot with too much".
As this is a book of the genre YA of course Merit Voss is seventeen years old (is it so difficult to innovate and change even this?). She has an identical twin sister and has two brothers, one older than her and another small one from her father's new marriage.
Before they lived next to the church, but because his father was annoyed that the shepherd's dog barked a lot, when he had the opportunity to buy it, he bought it. They now live in the Reformed church and despite being an atheist they left the giant Jesus Christ statue in one of the corridors.
Merit says she lives in a house and not in a home. And this is correct. They live together in this madhouse, but no one, and especially the adults, are looking after the children. They are only seen at dinner and it is not a pleasant meeting. On the contrary, it is the ideal time to claim one another.
"It's just a house filled with people who are counting down the days until they don't have to live with each other anymore."
It all begins when Merit meets the beautiful Sagan and in an unforeseen act and without hardly talking they kiss. The best kiss of her life. The problem is that he's her twin sister's boyfriend. The plot so far not bad, but later Merit finds out that Honor has moved her boyfriend Sagan to the house and that complicates everything.
Spoilers alert:
They live in the church-house:
Barnaby Voss (father of the clan, an atheist who thanks God at times, has relations with the two Victorias)
Victoria (ex-wife who suffers from agoraphobia, lives in the basement, supposed cancer survivor)
Victoria (new wife, former nurse of the former wife)
Utah (older brother, gay)
Honor (only has sick boyfriends about to die)
Merit (depressive, suicidal, inferiority complex)
Moby (4 years, celiac)
Sagan (he has not spoken to his Syrian parents in seven years, Merit's love interest)
Luck (brother of Victoria the new wife, pansexual)
Topics include infidelity, psychiatric and psychosomatic illnesses, necrophilia (sort of), depression, suicide, sexuality, manic-compulsive obsessions, romance, family interaction and even the Syrian refugees. A soup with too many ingredients. At least for me.
Colleen Hoover's books have been a mixture I like, I don't like so much and I don't like. I definitely don't like this one. I didn't even like Sagan in the romance part, because in my case that whould count a lot. I am sorry.
✨✨✨
Este libro le hubiese servido a Colleen Hoover para escribir varios. Es la primera vez que veo que en un mismo libro se tratan tantos problemas y enfermedades psicológicas y psiquiátricas. Es demasiado. O como dice una amiga "mucho con demasiado".
Como este es un libro del género YA por supuesto que Merit Voss tiene diecisiete años (es tan dificil innovar y cambiar aunque sea esto?). Tiene una hermana gemela idéntica y tiene dos hermanos, uno mayor que ella y otro pequeño del nuevo matrimonio de su padre.
Antes vivían al lado de una iglesia, pero como a su padre le molestaba que el perro del pastor ladrara mucho, cuando tuvo la oportunidad de comprarla, la compró. Ahora viven en la iglesia reformada y a pesar de que es ateo dejaron la estatua de Jesucristo tamaño gigante en uno de los pasillos.
Merit dice que vive en una casa y no en un hogar. Y esto es correcto. Viven juntos en esa casa de locos, pero nadie, y en especial los adultos, están pendientes de los menores. Solo se ven en la cena y no es una reunión amena. Todo lo contrario, es el momento ideal para reclamarse unos a los otros.
Todo comienza cuando Merit conoce al hermoso de Sagan y en acto imprevisto y sin apenas hablar se besan. El mejor beso de su vida. El problema es que es el novio de su hermana gemela. La trama hasta aquí nada mal, pero más tarde Merit se entera que Honor ha mudado a su novio Sagan a la casa y esto lo complica todo.
Spoilers alert:
Viven en la iglesia-casa:
Barnaby Voss (padre del clan, ateo que aveces le agradece a Dios, tiene relaciones con las dos Victorias)
Victoria ( ex esposa que sufre de agarofobia, vive en el sótano, supuesta sobreviviente de cancer)
Victoria (nueva esposa, ex enfermera de la antigua esposa)
Utah (hermano mayor, gay)
Honor (solo tiene novios enfermos a punto de morir)
Merit (depresiva, suicida, complejo de inferioridad)
Moby (4 años, celiaco)
Sagan (no ha hablado con sus padres sirios en siete años, interés amoroso de Merit)
Luck (hermano de Victoria la nueva esposa, pansexual)
Se tratan temas de infidelidad, enfermedades psiquiátricas y psicosomáticas, necrofilia (no tan literal), depresión, suicidio, sexualidad, obsesiones maniaco-compulsiva, romance, interacción familiar y hasta de los refugiados sirios. Un sancocho con demasiados ingredientes. Al menos para mí.
Los libros de Colleen Hoover han sido para mí una mezcla de me gustan, no me gustan tanto y no me gustan. Este definitivamente no me gusta. Ni siquiera me impresionó Sagan en la parte romántica, que para mí eso hubiera salvado todo. Lo siento.
This book would have served Colleen Hoover to write several. It is the first time I see that in the same book be treaten so many problems and psychological and psychiatric diseases. It's too much. Or as a friend of mine says "a lot with too much".
As this is a book of the genre YA of course Merit Voss is seventeen years old (is it so difficult to innovate and change even this?). She has an identical twin sister and has two brothers, one older than her and another small one from her father's new marriage.
Before they lived next to the church, but because his father was annoyed that the shepherd's dog barked a lot, when he had the opportunity to buy it, he bought it. They now live in the Reformed church and despite being an atheist they left the giant Jesus Christ statue in one of the corridors.
Merit says she lives in a house and not in a home. And this is correct. They live together in this madhouse, but no one, and especially the adults, are looking after the children. They are only seen at dinner and it is not a pleasant meeting. On the contrary, it is the ideal time to claim one another.
"It's just a house filled with people who are counting down the days until they don't have to live with each other anymore."
It all begins when Merit meets the beautiful Sagan and in an unforeseen act and without hardly talking they kiss. The best kiss of her life. The problem is that he's her twin sister's boyfriend. The plot so far not bad, but later Merit finds out that Honor has moved her boyfriend Sagan to the house and that complicates everything.
Spoilers alert:
They live in the church-house:
Barnaby Voss (father of the clan, an atheist who thanks God at times, has relations with the two Victorias)
Victoria (ex-wife who suffers from agoraphobia, lives in the basement, supposed cancer survivor)
Victoria (new wife, former nurse of the former wife)
Utah (older brother, gay)
Honor (only has sick boyfriends about to die)
Merit (depressive, suicidal, inferiority complex)
Moby (4 years, celiac)
Sagan (he has not spoken to his Syrian parents in seven years, Merit's love interest)
Luck (brother of Victoria the new wife, pansexual)
Topics include infidelity, psychiatric and psychosomatic illnesses, necrophilia (sort of), depression, suicide, sexuality, manic-compulsive obsessions, romance, family interaction and even the Syrian refugees. A soup with too many ingredients. At least for me.
Colleen Hoover's books have been a mixture I like, I don't like so much and I don't like. I definitely don't like this one. I didn't even like Sagan in the romance part, because in my case that whould count a lot. I am sorry.
✨✨✨
Este libro le hubiese servido a Colleen Hoover para escribir varios. Es la primera vez que veo que en un mismo libro se tratan tantos problemas y enfermedades psicológicas y psiquiátricas. Es demasiado. O como dice una amiga "mucho con demasiado".
Como este es un libro del género YA por supuesto que Merit Voss tiene diecisiete años (es tan dificil innovar y cambiar aunque sea esto?). Tiene una hermana gemela idéntica y tiene dos hermanos, uno mayor que ella y otro pequeño del nuevo matrimonio de su padre.
Antes vivían al lado de una iglesia, pero como a su padre le molestaba que el perro del pastor ladrara mucho, cuando tuvo la oportunidad de comprarla, la compró. Ahora viven en la iglesia reformada y a pesar de que es ateo dejaron la estatua de Jesucristo tamaño gigante en uno de los pasillos.
Merit dice que vive en una casa y no en un hogar. Y esto es correcto. Viven juntos en esa casa de locos, pero nadie, y en especial los adultos, están pendientes de los menores. Solo se ven en la cena y no es una reunión amena. Todo lo contrario, es el momento ideal para reclamarse unos a los otros.
Todo comienza cuando Merit conoce al hermoso de Sagan y en acto imprevisto y sin apenas hablar se besan. El mejor beso de su vida. El problema es que es el novio de su hermana gemela. La trama hasta aquí nada mal, pero más tarde Merit se entera que Honor ha mudado a su novio Sagan a la casa y esto lo complica todo.
Spoilers alert:
Viven en la iglesia-casa:
Barnaby Voss (padre del clan, ateo que aveces le agradece a Dios, tiene relaciones con las dos Victorias)
Victoria ( ex esposa que sufre de agarofobia, vive en el sótano, supuesta sobreviviente de cancer)
Victoria (nueva esposa, ex enfermera de la antigua esposa)
Utah (hermano mayor, gay)
Honor (solo tiene novios enfermos a punto de morir)
Merit (depresiva, suicida, complejo de inferioridad)
Moby (4 años, celiaco)
Sagan (no ha hablado con sus padres sirios en siete años, interés amoroso de Merit)
Luck (hermano de Victoria la nueva esposa, pansexual)
Se tratan temas de infidelidad, enfermedades psiquiátricas y psicosomáticas, necrofilia (no tan literal), depresión, suicidio, sexualidad, obsesiones maniaco-compulsiva, romance, interacción familiar y hasta de los refugiados sirios. Un sancocho con demasiados ingredientes. Al menos para mí.
Los libros de Colleen Hoover han sido para mí una mezcla de me gustan, no me gustan tanto y no me gustan. Este definitivamente no me gusta. Ni siquiera me impresionó Sagan en la parte romántica, que para mí eso hubiera salvado todo. Lo siento.
September 27, 2017
I would like to take a moment and say that I appreciate the fact that there are authors out there who are willing and motivated to write about issues close to their heart and issues that are happening in the world today. CoHo does this and once again, I feel like this book will have a great impact. With that being said, and the fact that I'm a huge Colleen Hoover fan (I've read them all except Too Late -- I'm getting there!), I don't have a problem with saying that this was not my favourite book of hers. And you know what? That's fine. Cool, even. Not every reader is going to like every book and that's just dandy. Doesn't mean she's not a fantastic author or I'm suddenly not a fan of hers, it just means that this story didn't work as well for me as it may for some other people.
And before I forget, I need to mention that Colleen makes herself a character in this book. She made herself a secondary character! HA! She's such a savage and I love it! I started laughing when I realized what was going on, it was fantastic.
I feel like I need to start by saying how addictive this book is. Once again, Hoover delivers a story packed with emotional clarity, dry humour, shaking your head with a smile on your face craziness, and unconventional themes. She does these things quite well time and time again. From the moment I picked this book up, I couldn't stand to put it down. I was excited, dare I even say giddy, even though I wasn't 100% sure what was even happening. There's a lot to take in and with so many secrets to be had, there are plenty of things to focus on. Basically until you learn where 'Without Merit' comes from, I was enamoured. It was more so after this point though that the main theme of the book became apparently, and I started to lose interest. It felt like there was a big bunch of logs slowing down the river I was floating down. NOT because of this theme/issue, might I add. I just lost its spark for me. I was no longer addicted. I was no longer bouncing with giddiness. I was holding out all of my hope for Sagan and Merit because I didn't really know where the author was taking this story or how to come back from the bomb that had just been dropped. Until everything just...was. There was a lot of family drama unleashed and even more secrets (perhaps a tad too much on both accounts), and I don't really know why it turned for me so suddenly. Even some of this drama or some of the characters presence seemed over the top or forced to me in one way of the other.
Something I really look for and/look forward to in books is the climax. I love the tension building higher and high between a set of characters until all of a sudden everything explodes. I love the chaos this brings and to see everyone work their way back. The only instance I can think of in Without Merit was when the secrets came out, but there was still a significant chunk of the book after this to come. From this stand point, I felt like since there was still so much story to come, I didn't want to think of this as the big moment that I was looking for. I was left waiting and waiting for something big to happen next, but it was just getting slower and slower the farther I got.
Okay, so the big twist or issue or theme or whatever you want to call it, let me just get this out in the open. I appreciate that Hoover pushes the boundaries constantly on what we perceive as conventional. Where it's romance, fiction, young adult, so be it. If there's a line, Hoover pushes it and maneuvers it where she wants. That's awesome. I applaud her for this. Sort of in the same sense as her last book, It Ends With Us, the book changes at some point into dealing with an issue that you did not expect. It just seems that in this particular sense, this book wasn't as successful to me as a reader as some of her others have been. I understand why she wrote this how she did. I understand the powerful statement that this can bring. I understand the help that this book can and will give some readers. I agree that this book is important. But in the same breath, just because I agree it's important, doesn't mean I particularly liked it a whole lot. Which is crappy, because I loved the beginning.
I'm not sure how to properly phrase this in a way that won't make people want to rip my head off, so I'm just going to go for it. If this paragraph doesn't make sense, you don't agree, or you think I an idiot, that's cool, please just move on. Basically, I feel a little bit cheated with this book. Everyone has genres that they like, yes? Well this is a CoHo book, who is known for her monumental, everlasting, earth shattering love stories. Without Merit is very vague, between both the cover and blurb so you don't have a good sense of what you're going in to. But between the author (come on, we all know what we're getting when you hear the name Colleen Hoover) and the opening chapter -- OMG MY HEART -- well, I expected one of those monumental, everlasting, earth shattering love stories. And I didn't get it. I feel like I was lead on or something because that seemed to be the way the book was heading, until it wasn't. I was rooting for Sagan and Merit so hard until, well, it became a story that I didn't want it to. And frankly, who cares what I want, I get that, but when you're expecting one thing, hoping for one thing, and you don't get it... Well, it's a little disappointing. Even Goodreads has Romance tagged as one of the genres but yet, here we are.
So with that being said, let me get this off my chest. This is not a love story. It's not a romance. It's a coming of age novel about a 17 year old girl and a family full of secrets and deceptions, all trying to coexist somewhat peacefully. It deals with mental disorders and people making mistakes. It deals with the fluidity of sexuality and how everything can change based on your perspective of the world around you. But no where in this did I find a love story. And I feel like some people will come at me saying "well it's a story of Merit learning to love herself and her life!", but is it though? Because from my point of view, the story ended before any of that could happen. I thought it was abrupt and forced into a neat little package but considering how much said packages exploded only several days prior, I really don't see how this can be.
I'm not sure how strong of a resolution this story has, because I'm still left with some questions or concerns. Add in the fact that yes, even though we get explanations for all of the secrets, lies and deceits, it still didn't change my perception of some of these characters. Her dad for instance, I think is a major DB and I don't think saying something along the lines of "you have no idea how hard it's been / I may be an adult but that doesn't mean I have my life together" is a viable excuse for his actions time and time again. Even the reasoning for Honor's issues, I didn't find that this absolved her of everything put into the readers mind based on Merit's thoughts. I didn't like either of these characters come the end of the book. Hell, I don't even know how much I liked Merit come the end of the book either. I liked Sagan, so that's a bonus, but I don't even know exactly where he came from in the first place. So would I say this story is resolved? Definitely not.
This seems like a big, depressing pity party and I apologize for that. I wish more than anyone that I didn't feel this way about this book but alas, here we are, and I felt the need to get this off my chest.
I buddy read this book with my girl Quinn and overall we have fairly similar thoughts. Granted we generally like the same things, I just felt like this tidbit should be mentioned.
*An ARC was received in exchange for an honest review.
And before I forget, I need to mention that Colleen makes herself a character in this book. She made herself a secondary character! HA! She's such a savage and I love it! I started laughing when I realized what was going on, it was fantastic.
I feel like I need to start by saying how addictive this book is. Once again, Hoover delivers a story packed with emotional clarity, dry humour, shaking your head with a smile on your face craziness, and unconventional themes. She does these things quite well time and time again. From the moment I picked this book up, I couldn't stand to put it down. I was excited, dare I even say giddy, even though I wasn't 100% sure what was even happening. There's a lot to take in and with so many secrets to be had, there are plenty of things to focus on. Basically until you learn where 'Without Merit' comes from, I was enamoured. It was more so after this point though that the main theme of the book became apparently, and I started to lose interest. It felt like there was a big bunch of logs slowing down the river I was floating down. NOT because of this theme/issue, might I add. I just lost its spark for me. I was no longer addicted. I was no longer bouncing with giddiness. I was holding out all of my hope for Sagan and Merit because I didn't really know where the author was taking this story or how to come back from the bomb that had just been dropped. Until everything just...was. There was a lot of family drama unleashed and even more secrets (perhaps a tad too much on both accounts), and I don't really know why it turned for me so suddenly. Even some of this drama or some of the characters presence seemed over the top or forced to me in one way of the other.
Something I really look for and/look forward to in books is the climax. I love the tension building higher and high between a set of characters until all of a sudden everything explodes. I love the chaos this brings and to see everyone work their way back. The only instance I can think of in Without Merit was when the secrets came out, but there was still a significant chunk of the book after this to come. From this stand point, I felt like since there was still so much story to come, I didn't want to think of this as the big moment that I was looking for. I was left waiting and waiting for something big to happen next, but it was just getting slower and slower the farther I got.
Okay, so the big twist or issue or theme or whatever you want to call it, let me just get this out in the open. I appreciate that Hoover pushes the boundaries constantly on what we perceive as conventional. Where it's romance, fiction, young adult, so be it. If there's a line, Hoover pushes it and maneuvers it where she wants. That's awesome. I applaud her for this. Sort of in the same sense as her last book, It Ends With Us, the book changes at some point into dealing with an issue that you did not expect. It just seems that in this particular sense, this book wasn't as successful to me as a reader as some of her others have been. I understand why she wrote this how she did. I understand the powerful statement that this can bring. I understand the help that this book can and will give some readers. I agree that this book is important. But in the same breath, just because I agree it's important, doesn't mean I particularly liked it a whole lot. Which is crappy, because I loved the beginning.
I'm not sure how to properly phrase this in a way that won't make people want to rip my head off, so I'm just going to go for it. If this paragraph doesn't make sense, you don't agree, or you think I an idiot, that's cool, please just move on. Basically, I feel a little bit cheated with this book. Everyone has genres that they like, yes? Well this is a CoHo book, who is known for her monumental, everlasting, earth shattering love stories. Without Merit is very vague, between both the cover and blurb so you don't have a good sense of what you're going in to. But between the author (come on, we all know what we're getting when you hear the name Colleen Hoover) and the opening chapter -- OMG MY HEART -- well, I expected one of those monumental, everlasting, earth shattering love stories. And I didn't get it. I feel like I was lead on or something because that seemed to be the way the book was heading, until it wasn't. I was rooting for Sagan and Merit so hard until, well, it became a story that I didn't want it to. And frankly, who cares what I want, I get that, but when you're expecting one thing, hoping for one thing, and you don't get it... Well, it's a little disappointing. Even Goodreads has Romance tagged as one of the genres but yet, here we are.
So with that being said, let me get this off my chest. This is not a love story. It's not a romance. It's a coming of age novel about a 17 year old girl and a family full of secrets and deceptions, all trying to coexist somewhat peacefully. It deals with mental disorders and people making mistakes. It deals with the fluidity of sexuality and how everything can change based on your perspective of the world around you. But no where in this did I find a love story. And I feel like some people will come at me saying "well it's a story of Merit learning to love herself and her life!", but is it though? Because from my point of view, the story ended before any of that could happen. I thought it was abrupt and forced into a neat little package but considering how much said packages exploded only several days prior, I really don't see how this can be.
I'm not sure how strong of a resolution this story has, because I'm still left with some questions or concerns. Add in the fact that yes, even though we get explanations for all of the secrets, lies and deceits, it still didn't change my perception of some of these characters. Her dad for instance, I think is a major DB and I don't think saying something along the lines of "you have no idea how hard it's been / I may be an adult but that doesn't mean I have my life together" is a viable excuse for his actions time and time again. Even the reasoning for Honor's issues, I didn't find that this absolved her of everything put into the readers mind based on Merit's thoughts. I didn't like either of these characters come the end of the book. Hell, I don't even know how much I liked Merit come the end of the book either. I liked Sagan, so that's a bonus, but I don't even know exactly where he came from in the first place. So would I say this story is resolved? Definitely not.
This seems like a big, depressing pity party and I apologize for that. I wish more than anyone that I didn't feel this way about this book but alas, here we are, and I felt the need to get this off my chest.
I buddy read this book with my girl Quinn and overall we have fairly similar thoughts. Granted we generally like the same things, I just felt like this tidbit should be mentioned.
*An ARC was received in exchange for an honest review.
March 18, 2018
So, I wasn't sure where this story was heading at first. It was random, the family dynamic was messy and that's a fuckin understatement, but I decided to read on as usually with a Hoover book, it'll be gut-wrenching at some point.
And it was.
Not in the style of It Ends With Us necessarily, but in its own way. As I got more and more invested in the story, I teared up quite a few times.
I think Colleen Hoover is getting better and better with her books.
I like that there was a specific focus on family and mental health rather than just sex and boy-drama. It made for a nice change.
What I've realised and learned in this book is that I 'thought' the family aspect felt unrealistic. But then I thought to myself, what about the family made it unrealistic for me?
And simply, it's because I haven't ever experienced or seen anything close to such dysfunctionality.
I mean, it's fiction, but that doesn't necessarily mean that such a mess of a family doesn't exist just because I haven't experienced it in my 27 years of living. The secrets, the lies, the dishonesty is something that is all too real and I love how everything came together towards the end.
Acceptance, but still messy.
And it was.
Not in the style of It Ends With Us necessarily, but in its own way. As I got more and more invested in the story, I teared up quite a few times.
I think Colleen Hoover is getting better and better with her books.
I like that there was a specific focus on family and mental health rather than just sex and boy-drama. It made for a nice change.
What I've realised and learned in this book is that I 'thought' the family aspect felt unrealistic. But then I thought to myself, what about the family made it unrealistic for me?
And simply, it's because I haven't ever experienced or seen anything close to such dysfunctionality.
I mean, it's fiction, but that doesn't necessarily mean that such a mess of a family doesn't exist just because I haven't experienced it in my 27 years of living. The secrets, the lies, the dishonesty is something that is all too real and I love how everything came together towards the end.
Acceptance, but still messy.
February 10, 2019
4 Stars
Wow. Just when I thought I was done with YA, I stumble upon CoHo’s book and she pulls me back in again.
Can she get any better? I doubt it.
So meaningful. So deep. So good.
QUICK REVIEW:
Enjoyment: 4/5
Writing style: 5/5
Storyline: 5/5
Hero: 4/5
Heroine: 5/5
Secondary characters: 5/5
Hotness/steam: 2/5
Romance: 3.5/5
Angst: 4/5
Darkness level: 2.5/5
Humor: 3/5
Depth of the book: 5/5
POV: heroine, 1st person
Triggers:
Wow. Just when I thought I was done with YA, I stumble upon CoHo’s book and she pulls me back in again.
Can she get any better? I doubt it.
So meaningful. So deep. So good.
QUICK REVIEW:
Enjoyment: 4/5
Writing style: 5/5
Storyline: 5/5
Hero: 4/5
Heroine: 5/5
Secondary characters: 5/5
Hotness/steam: 2/5
Romance: 3.5/5
Angst: 4/5
Darkness level: 2.5/5
Humor: 3/5
Depth of the book: 5/5
POV: heroine, 1st person
Triggers:
April 8, 2022
What, a goddamn train wreck.
Colleen has out done herself here.
Colleen has out done herself here.
January 1, 2024
"Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness."
I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on this one so I'm honestly really excited to report back that I loved it. It's definitely a slower start than other Coho books, but it had the Coho shine to it anyways. I love being confused at the beginning of a story and then having every question answered as it progresses. It's one of my favorite things about Coho.
This was a story about depression. The ins and outs and in betweens. I love that over and over it's written that depression can take so many different forms of exhaustion. That it's not as visible as we may think. That it can take so many different forms that, more often than not, the person with depression has no idea they're going through it every day. I think it's very eye opening to see it written in a way that makes it clear depression is more than just being very sad. It's a sum of so many different, contrasting feelings put together.
I love that every character had a purpose, and every character had a hand in helping Merit to start her journey in treating her depression. I love that these secrets she keeps, and watching her confront them, isn't glossed over. That each one is hard, and painful, and we see her work through them anyways. I love that she isn't miraculously "cured" in the end... but truly starting her journey with the help of a professional.
I think that's the most perfect ending to a story I've ever read. Knowing she's going to speak to someone is like a new beginning, which is so much better than a happy ending. Though there is a little bit of that too.
I love books about family. Forgiving family. Working through family pain. I love knowing that we all feel so similarly about the lives we start with, and I love knowing that (even if it's fictional) enough people fight for their family afterwards that it's written about so much... and so kindly, after.
I loved when Luck brought everyone in to Merit's room to show her that "normal" isn't real, and that everyone has their own things they're dealing with, which leads me into...
I think my favorite part of this story was Sagan reminding Merit that we all have different stress levels for the things we're going through. I think that's just such an important reminder, so I wanted to end this the way I began it, with a quote:
"It annoys me when people try to convince other people that their anger or stress isn't warranted if someone else in the world is worse off than them. It's bull. Your emotions and reactions are valid, Merit. Don't let anyone tell you any different. You're the only one who feels them."
Basically, don't let anyone make you feel like your pain is less than theirs simply because theirs sounds heavier, harder, and More. They aren't experiencing what you are. You're the main character of your own story and everything you think and feel is valid. And important. And real. Any comparison of feelings is never valid because we all experience things so differently. That's why talking it out with someone who experienced something similar can be so helpful.
I hope that Merit and her family can share their experiences and allow some healing to come into their home. I can only imagine it will with the hopeful ending Coho leaves us with.
I think, because of where I am in my life right now, this book felt like one big book of validation and comfort. It felt like that hug that Merit needed from her dad. And I loved it.
I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on this one so I'm honestly really excited to report back that I loved it. It's definitely a slower start than other Coho books, but it had the Coho shine to it anyways. I love being confused at the beginning of a story and then having every question answered as it progresses. It's one of my favorite things about Coho.
This was a story about depression. The ins and outs and in betweens. I love that over and over it's written that depression can take so many different forms of exhaustion. That it's not as visible as we may think. That it can take so many different forms that, more often than not, the person with depression has no idea they're going through it every day. I think it's very eye opening to see it written in a way that makes it clear depression is more than just being very sad. It's a sum of so many different, contrasting feelings put together.
I love that every character had a purpose, and every character had a hand in helping Merit to start her journey in treating her depression. I love that these secrets she keeps, and watching her confront them, isn't glossed over. That each one is hard, and painful, and we see her work through them anyways. I love that she isn't miraculously "cured" in the end... but truly starting her journey with the help of a professional.
I think that's the most perfect ending to a story I've ever read. Knowing she's going to speak to someone is like a new beginning, which is so much better than a happy ending. Though there is a little bit of that too.
I love books about family. Forgiving family. Working through family pain. I love knowing that we all feel so similarly about the lives we start with, and I love knowing that (even if it's fictional) enough people fight for their family afterwards that it's written about so much... and so kindly, after.
I loved when Luck brought everyone in to Merit's room to show her that "normal" isn't real, and that everyone has their own things they're dealing with, which leads me into...
I think my favorite part of this story was Sagan reminding Merit that we all have different stress levels for the things we're going through. I think that's just such an important reminder, so I wanted to end this the way I began it, with a quote:
"It annoys me when people try to convince other people that their anger or stress isn't warranted if someone else in the world is worse off than them. It's bull. Your emotions and reactions are valid, Merit. Don't let anyone tell you any different. You're the only one who feels them."
Basically, don't let anyone make you feel like your pain is less than theirs simply because theirs sounds heavier, harder, and More. They aren't experiencing what you are. You're the main character of your own story and everything you think and feel is valid. And important. And real. Any comparison of feelings is never valid because we all experience things so differently. That's why talking it out with someone who experienced something similar can be so helpful.
I hope that Merit and her family can share their experiences and allow some healing to come into their home. I can only imagine it will with the hopeful ending Coho leaves us with.
I think, because of where I am in my life right now, this book felt like one big book of validation and comfort. It felt like that hug that Merit needed from her dad. And I loved it.
October 3, 2017
Update 10/3/17
NOW LIVE! http://amzn.to/2xe62BQ
4 stars!
Right off the bat I just want to say, there’s not much I can tell you about the plot of this book. I really want to, but it’s all just one giant spoiler, and I don’t want to be that person so please don’t put that on me. What I can say, is that from the very beginning of this book Colleen Hoover keeps you on your toes and you have no idea where she will go next with this story.
I also want to make one thing clear, this book is unlike anything else Hoover has written. She’s said so herself, but I think it merited reminding < ---- see what I did there? And I love that about Hoover. She never delivers the same thing twice, she continues to evolve and grow as a writer. As a reader, I really appreciate this, because it means I never know what to expect. And in a way, when she brings us something new it’s her way of respecting the reader, knowing that we will grow with her.
Without Merit revolves around the life of a high school senior, and while this does deal with young adult characters, this book read more like an adult contemporary fiction novel. Not that anything was super graphic or inappropriate, but it’s all in the writing style. Honestly, I think if Oprah read this book she would put it in her book club. I really mean that. I think this book is an amazing conversation piece, bringing up and addressing family issues (and more but that’s spoilery) and a great book for book clubs. When this book releases, I foresee A LOT of discussion surrounding it.
Everyone at some point has thought their family was fucked up, believe me as an adult that has become abundantly more clear to me. But what if your family really was fucked up in some way? If I were to compare this novel to anything, it would be the movie August Osage County. By that I don’t mean every little single thing that happens, but more conceptually. I also compared November 9 and the old movie Same Time, Next Year, the concept is similar but the execution is different.
It also at times felt like I was reading a play in terms of how the scenes and dialogue were delivered between the characters. And we are the audience watching this play unfold. This book at its heart is a family trying to work out its issues, and come out the other side hopefully in a good way.
I devoured this book the second I got (giant shout out to Atria for giving me my first ever Colleen Hoover arc, that rocked my world). I stayed up until 3 am reading this baby, and it took me a long time to process my feelings on it. I think there’s going to be a lot of differing opinions on this book. I think the majority of Hoover’s fans will love this book, despite maybe not expecting what it’s about. But what I think is even better is that this specific novel will open up a new reader base to her work and hopefully we will gain a lot of Cohorts with it.
ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
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4 stars!
Right off the bat I just want to say, there’s not much I can tell you about the plot of this book. I really want to, but it’s all just one giant spoiler, and I don’t want to be that person so please don’t put that on me. What I can say, is that from the very beginning of this book Colleen Hoover keeps you on your toes and you have no idea where she will go next with this story.
I also want to make one thing clear, this book is unlike anything else Hoover has written. She’s said so herself, but I think it merited reminding < ---- see what I did there? And I love that about Hoover. She never delivers the same thing twice, she continues to evolve and grow as a writer. As a reader, I really appreciate this, because it means I never know what to expect. And in a way, when she brings us something new it’s her way of respecting the reader, knowing that we will grow with her.
Without Merit revolves around the life of a high school senior, and while this does deal with young adult characters, this book read more like an adult contemporary fiction novel. Not that anything was super graphic or inappropriate, but it’s all in the writing style. Honestly, I think if Oprah read this book she would put it in her book club. I really mean that. I think this book is an amazing conversation piece, bringing up and addressing family issues (and more but that’s spoilery) and a great book for book clubs. When this book releases, I foresee A LOT of discussion surrounding it.
Everyone at some point has thought their family was fucked up, believe me as an adult that has become abundantly more clear to me. But what if your family really was fucked up in some way? If I were to compare this novel to anything, it would be the movie August Osage County. By that I don’t mean every little single thing that happens, but more conceptually. I also compared November 9 and the old movie Same Time, Next Year, the concept is similar but the execution is different.
It also at times felt like I was reading a play in terms of how the scenes and dialogue were delivered between the characters. And we are the audience watching this play unfold. This book at its heart is a family trying to work out its issues, and come out the other side hopefully in a good way.
I devoured this book the second I got (giant shout out to Atria for giving me my first ever Colleen Hoover arc, that rocked my world). I stayed up until 3 am reading this baby, and it took me a long time to process my feelings on it. I think there’s going to be a lot of differing opinions on this book. I think the majority of Hoover’s fans will love this book, despite maybe not expecting what it’s about. But what I think is even better is that this specific novel will open up a new reader base to her work and hopefully we will gain a lot of Cohorts with it.
ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
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December 21, 2022
Don’t get me wrong! I’m devoted fan and I can happily read anything Colho writes and I reread most of her books several times but I couldn’t love Without Merit no matter how much I try!
I think this is my least favorite book of hers!
I didn’t like the characters. I didn’t care about that dysfunctional family problems. Nope, this didn’t work for me!
I’m still rounding up 2.5 stars to 3 because I’m not powerful enough to give any Colho books less than three stars and the opening of the story was still promising!
Am I the only one felt like this? I think I am because this book also won Goodreads choice awards from romance category!
I couldn’t think I would write unpopular review about a Colho book but this is absolutely first and I hope it will be last!
I think this is my least favorite book of hers!
I didn’t like the characters. I didn’t care about that dysfunctional family problems. Nope, this didn’t work for me!
I’m still rounding up 2.5 stars to 3 because I’m not powerful enough to give any Colho books less than three stars and the opening of the story was still promising!
Am I the only one felt like this? I think I am because this book also won Goodreads choice awards from romance category!
I couldn’t think I would write unpopular review about a Colho book but this is absolutely first and I hope it will be last!
October 3, 2017
Live amazon https://www.amazon.com/Without-Merit-...
5 stars ❤
I loved Without Merit so much it was a powerful, intense,fun and emotional story.From the beginning to end the journey is riveting!Colleen Hoover completely drew me into Merit's and the other members of her family story!
Merit is a unique heroine, I love her and I could relate with her.My heart was aching for her, she and her family doesn't communicate and can’t seem to find a solution to their problems as a family.All the characters have to deal with issues.There are some secrets between them and once they will be reveal things will change.I loved that Without Merit isn't focused to a romance but more in the family and the meaning.Everything about their family felt realistic.
The romance is a secondary to the story but it was really good.Without Merit was one of my highly anticipated books for this year and Colleen Hoover for one more time did an amazing job!A captivating and mesmerized story!
5 stars ❤
I loved Without Merit so much it was a powerful, intense,fun and emotional story.From the beginning to end the journey is riveting!Colleen Hoover completely drew me into Merit's and the other members of her family story!
Merit is a unique heroine, I love her and I could relate with her.My heart was aching for her, she and her family doesn't communicate and can’t seem to find a solution to their problems as a family.All the characters have to deal with issues.There are some secrets between them and once they will be reveal things will change.I loved that Without Merit isn't focused to a romance but more in the family and the meaning.Everything about their family felt realistic.
The romance is a secondary to the story but it was really good.Without Merit was one of my highly anticipated books for this year and Colleen Hoover for one more time did an amazing job!A captivating and mesmerized story!
September 2, 2023
One thing that I admire about Colleen Hoover is her ability to write such beautiful, refreshing, and powerful novels!
Without Merit is nothing like her previous books that I have read. I would not classify this book as a romance at all (I mean maybe a little here and there). This to me would be a story about self discovery and finding your place in the world. This story is real, raw, beautiful, and painful at times. Hoover will steal your heart with this one.
Merit Voss comes from a very interesting and dysfunctional family (which I think most of us do have some dysfunctionality in our families whether you choose to admit it or not).
"No one would be able to determine from the outside of our house that our family of seven includes an atheist, a home wrecker, an ex-wife suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia,
and a teenage girl whose weird obsession borders on necrophilia.
No one would be able to determine any of that from inside our house, either."
Merit is a very unique and refreshing character. She is struggling with sadness and trying to fill a "void" that she can't quite figure out. Merit is a character that is very relatable to many of us. We all struggle with hard times, we have crazy and dysfunctional family members that we want to punch in the face at times, and live with the general ups/downs of life.
This story is so powerful and has some many layers to it. The writing is absolutely brilliant! The story builds and builds and finally it all just comes tumbling down like a snowball effect. And YOU the reader are right there to witness it ALL.
Merit is the keeper of secrets in the Voss household. A huge theme that enfolds in this novel is perspective. All of the members in this household each had a secret of their own that Merit has kept. But, sometimes secrets aren't always what they seem right? Perspective changes everything in this novel. You will keep coming back to this theme and ironically PERSPECTIVE is what made this NOVEL come ALIVE. I think we are all very quick to judge situations when we are not in them ourselves (even if it's not consciously).
"Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness."
This is an eye opener that holds such powerful messages about love, depression, grief, and sexuality. This is a strong and stellar read that I recommend to everyone. This is one of my favorite reads for 2017. I can't get enough of Hoover!!! :)
Without Merit is nothing like her previous books that I have read. I would not classify this book as a romance at all (I mean maybe a little here and there). This to me would be a story about self discovery and finding your place in the world. This story is real, raw, beautiful, and painful at times. Hoover will steal your heart with this one.
Merit Voss comes from a very interesting and dysfunctional family (which I think most of us do have some dysfunctionality in our families whether you choose to admit it or not).
"No one would be able to determine from the outside of our house that our family of seven includes an atheist, a home wrecker, an ex-wife suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia,
and a teenage girl whose weird obsession borders on necrophilia.
No one would be able to determine any of that from inside our house, either."
Merit is a very unique and refreshing character. She is struggling with sadness and trying to fill a "void" that she can't quite figure out. Merit is a character that is very relatable to many of us. We all struggle with hard times, we have crazy and dysfunctional family members that we want to punch in the face at times, and live with the general ups/downs of life.
This story is so powerful and has some many layers to it. The writing is absolutely brilliant! The story builds and builds and finally it all just comes tumbling down like a snowball effect. And YOU the reader are right there to witness it ALL.
Merit is the keeper of secrets in the Voss household. A huge theme that enfolds in this novel is perspective. All of the members in this household each had a secret of their own that Merit has kept. But, sometimes secrets aren't always what they seem right? Perspective changes everything in this novel. You will keep coming back to this theme and ironically PERSPECTIVE is what made this NOVEL come ALIVE. I think we are all very quick to judge situations when we are not in them ourselves (even if it's not consciously).
"Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness."
This is an eye opener that holds such powerful messages about love, depression, grief, and sexuality. This is a strong and stellar read that I recommend to everyone. This is one of my favorite reads for 2017. I can't get enough of Hoover!!! :)
September 30, 2017
*****FOUR STARS*****
{ARC Generously Provided by ATRIA Books}
No one would be able to determine from the outside of our house that our family of seven includes an atheist, a home wrecker, an ex-wife suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia, and a teenage girl whose weird obsession borders on necrophilia.
Merit Voss is a seventeen-year-old girl who not only has to deal with the normal teenage angst most kids go through, but add on her strained relationships with her very eccentric family. She seems to think that everyone else in her family has major issues but doesn’t necessarily notice that she too has some odd eccentricities. Merit collects trophies from garage sales and thrift shops. Whenever she is in need of a “pick me up”, she goes in search of a new trophy to add to her collection. Her family’s home used to be the town’s church. Her father hated the Pastor’s barking dog so much that he found a way to buy the church when the Pastor was not able to keep up with the mortgage payments. Now the entire Voss family lives in the semi-renovated church which still has the huge statue of Jesus on the cross in what they have turned into the family room. Merit’s dad ended up having an affair years ago when her mother was sick which later resulted in her parent’s divorce and her dad’s remarriage to the woman he ended knocking up. What's bizarre is that her mother lives in the basement apartment of the church since she became severely agoraphobic.
Merit has decided to stop going to school and it seems as though the whole family is so wrapped up in their own lives that no one really notices what Merit has done. During one outing to a thrift shop she notices a cute guy checking her out and then somehow while she is leaving the store, the guy ends up kissing her. This is a monumental kiss that she feels zinging through her from her head to her toes, but then as if fate is messing with her, he ends up being her twin sister’s boyfriend. Merit is completely distraught over the fact that there is something her twin sister, Honor, has that she is finally envious of. The twins are nothing alike. While Honor is carefree and popular at school, Merit is more of a loner, quiet, and barely has any friends.
When Sagan, Honor’s boyfriend, starts showing up for dinner every night at the Voss’s, Merit is beside herself. She does everything in her power to keep her distance and to have as little interaction with Sagan as possible. Merit later meets a very odd man, named Luck, while shopping at the local supermarket and decides to give him a lift to his sister’s home. Turns out Luck’s sister is Merit’s step-mom, Victoria. It takes no time for Luck to fit right in since he’s as peculiar as the rest of the family members.
When Merit stumbles across some pretty huge and disturbing family secrets and then is forced by Sagan to see some of her own transgressions, she goes down a path of destruction and decides to call her entire family out on all of their secrets. Will uncovering all of the Voss family secrets tear them apart or heal all the wounds from the past?
Will a romance between Merit and Sagan be able to thrive or will Merit’s inability to acknowledge that she is drowning emotionally keep these two from finding happiness together. Merit will learn that things are not always what it seems on the surface and that she may have been too quick to cast judgment.
WITHOUT MERIT releases on October 3rd!
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{ARC Generously Provided by ATRIA Books}
No one would be able to determine from the outside of our house that our family of seven includes an atheist, a home wrecker, an ex-wife suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia, and a teenage girl whose weird obsession borders on necrophilia.
Merit Voss is a seventeen-year-old girl who not only has to deal with the normal teenage angst most kids go through, but add on her strained relationships with her very eccentric family. She seems to think that everyone else in her family has major issues but doesn’t necessarily notice that she too has some odd eccentricities. Merit collects trophies from garage sales and thrift shops. Whenever she is in need of a “pick me up”, she goes in search of a new trophy to add to her collection. Her family’s home used to be the town’s church. Her father hated the Pastor’s barking dog so much that he found a way to buy the church when the Pastor was not able to keep up with the mortgage payments. Now the entire Voss family lives in the semi-renovated church which still has the huge statue of Jesus on the cross in what they have turned into the family room. Merit’s dad ended up having an affair years ago when her mother was sick which later resulted in her parent’s divorce and her dad’s remarriage to the woman he ended knocking up. What's bizarre is that her mother lives in the basement apartment of the church since she became severely agoraphobic.
Merit has decided to stop going to school and it seems as though the whole family is so wrapped up in their own lives that no one really notices what Merit has done. During one outing to a thrift shop she notices a cute guy checking her out and then somehow while she is leaving the store, the guy ends up kissing her. This is a monumental kiss that she feels zinging through her from her head to her toes, but then as if fate is messing with her, he ends up being her twin sister’s boyfriend. Merit is completely distraught over the fact that there is something her twin sister, Honor, has that she is finally envious of. The twins are nothing alike. While Honor is carefree and popular at school, Merit is more of a loner, quiet, and barely has any friends.
When Sagan, Honor’s boyfriend, starts showing up for dinner every night at the Voss’s, Merit is beside herself. She does everything in her power to keep her distance and to have as little interaction with Sagan as possible. Merit later meets a very odd man, named Luck, while shopping at the local supermarket and decides to give him a lift to his sister’s home. Turns out Luck’s sister is Merit’s step-mom, Victoria. It takes no time for Luck to fit right in since he’s as peculiar as the rest of the family members.
When Merit stumbles across some pretty huge and disturbing family secrets and then is forced by Sagan to see some of her own transgressions, she goes down a path of destruction and decides to call her entire family out on all of their secrets. Will uncovering all of the Voss family secrets tear them apart or heal all the wounds from the past?
Will a romance between Merit and Sagan be able to thrive or will Merit’s inability to acknowledge that she is drowning emotionally keep these two from finding happiness together. Merit will learn that things are not always what it seems on the surface and that she may have been too quick to cast judgment.
WITHOUT MERIT releases on October 3rd!
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2wiVRyr
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Kobo: http://bit.ly/2xgXDBh
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October 17, 2017
Colleen Hoover is a very popular author, and it isn't hard to see why. I've hated as many of her books as I've liked, but there is something compulsively readable about her stories. I think if she gets anything right, it's her pacing, which is nearly always spot on. I can read one of her books for hours without getting bored. Angry, maybe, but not bored.
Trigger warnings: suicidal thoughts or tendencies, depression, and mental illness.
Without Merit is a very busy book that tries to accomplish a lot of things. There is the set-up of how Merit is so interesting because she collects trophies and doesn't wear make up, and there is a promise of some big secrets (which there are a lot of, actually), but it feels like Colleen Hoover is really pushing this uber-quirky vibe to make her book different. Everything from the cast of characters with their outrageous names to the fact that they live in a converted church is made to make the book feel more unique, more "out there," for better or for worse.
There is too much going on with Without Merit to make many of the messages effective. And there are a lot of messages, some of them valid, some of them off the mark. Many are after school special-feeling, but many are somewhat impactful, even if the impact gets muted by the busy plotline filled with minor twists and turns.
One thing I have to address is an issue that gets more or less swept under the rug and forgiven way too easily. I won't talk about it because I don't want to give away spoilers, but events like those that happened to Merit are extremely damaging and should not be forgiven in a simple conversation. I hated how Colleen Hoover made it seem like forgive and forget was the right thing to do in that situation.
In terms of the characters, Sagan was too much of an angelic, can-do-no-wrong person, IMO. He was the "good one" in a field of more complex characters, and it irked me.
I also didn't like how there was so much miscommunication. If there was just a minor amount of communication between any of the MCs, much of the drama would have been avoided and the book wouldn't have gotten on my nerves as much. I also agree with other reviewers about the biphobia, slut-shaming, and lack of learning from mistakes/experiences. I think this book is framed to be open-minded about mental illness and sexuality but it is anything but.
Overall, this book wasn't what I expected. It isn't a romance, but more of a family drama story with a love aspect thrown in. It is also very depressing and bleak, so know that going in.
While it was more mature than some of the YA stuff I've seen from Hoover, I didn't quite enjoy it, and I'm frankly not pleased I paid full price for it.
Trigger warnings: suicidal thoughts or tendencies, depression, and mental illness.
Without Merit is a very busy book that tries to accomplish a lot of things. There is the set-up of how Merit is so interesting because she collects trophies and doesn't wear make up, and there is a promise of some big secrets (which there are a lot of, actually), but it feels like Colleen Hoover is really pushing this uber-quirky vibe to make her book different. Everything from the cast of characters with their outrageous names to the fact that they live in a converted church is made to make the book feel more unique, more "out there," for better or for worse.
There is too much going on with Without Merit to make many of the messages effective. And there are a lot of messages, some of them valid, some of them off the mark. Many are after school special-feeling, but many are somewhat impactful, even if the impact gets muted by the busy plotline filled with minor twists and turns.
One thing I have to address is an issue that gets more or less swept under the rug and forgiven way too easily. I won't talk about it because I don't want to give away spoilers, but events like those that happened to Merit are extremely damaging and should not be forgiven in a simple conversation. I hated how Colleen Hoover made it seem like forgive and forget was the right thing to do in that situation.
In terms of the characters, Sagan was too much of an angelic, can-do-no-wrong person, IMO. He was the "good one" in a field of more complex characters, and it irked me.
I also didn't like how there was so much miscommunication. If there was just a minor amount of communication between any of the MCs, much of the drama would have been avoided and the book wouldn't have gotten on my nerves as much. I also agree with other reviewers about the biphobia, slut-shaming, and lack of learning from mistakes/experiences. I think this book is framed to be open-minded about mental illness and sexuality but it is anything but.
Overall, this book wasn't what I expected. It isn't a romance, but more of a family drama story with a love aspect thrown in. It is also very depressing and bleak, so know that going in.
While it was more mature than some of the YA stuff I've seen from Hoover, I didn't quite enjoy it, and I'm frankly not pleased I paid full price for it.
December 22, 2017
probably the most impressive thing about colleen hoover books is that every single one manages to mangle a different social issue.
by that standard, this one is the most impressive of all. because it mangles, like, 8 of them.
that's enough of a review.
---------------
there is no one worse at naming characters than colleen hoover.
merit. honor. luck. utah. sagan. barnaby. two people named victoria. moby.
AND I AM BARELY A FRACTION OF THE WAY INTO THIS BOOK
---------------
pretty classic that this is good ol' coho's lowest rated book and the only one that hasn't made me want to stab my eye out with a disposable fork by the 20 page mark
but hey, there's still time.
by that standard, this one is the most impressive of all. because it mangles, like, 8 of them.
that's enough of a review.
---------------
there is no one worse at naming characters than colleen hoover.
merit. honor. luck. utah. sagan. barnaby. two people named victoria. moby.
AND I AM BARELY A FRACTION OF THE WAY INTO THIS BOOK
---------------
pretty classic that this is good ol' coho's lowest rated book and the only one that hasn't made me want to stab my eye out with a disposable fork by the 20 page mark
but hey, there's still time.
December 1, 2017
5 spectacular stars! With MERIT!🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
CoHo did it again!!! Last year the book that had the biggest impact on me was Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us.... that book still sticks with me today, it wrecked me, it hit me where I live, it was just simply perfection.... so I was a bit nervous to pick up this book, how could it possibly live up to my expectations? Well I’m happy to say it definitely did!!!
This book is different from any CoHo book I’ve read before..... but definitely in a good way.... this book was about family, dysfunction, love, and secrets....
Merit lives in a small Texas town and is certain her family is the most dysfunctional family ever.... and she may not be all that wrong, from the fact that they live in a renovated church with the marquee still on the lawn to the fact that both her stepmother and mother live in the same house..... Merit was such a fantastically developed character.... even if you couldn’t completely relate to her, you sure did want everything to work out for her.... she made me really think about the negative and positive side to having an identical twin (she had an identical twin Honor).... she also made me think about the burden of family secrets....
This book touched on many difficult subjects.... but it was all done very subtly using all these wonderful characters who slowly reveal their secrets to us through Merit.... I also appreciated that there weren’t any clear answers given as to what everybody “needed“ To do to fix themselves..... The fix just simply began with letting go of secrets and learning to communicate..... this family has a ways to go, but I truly believe there is hope
This character driven book definitely takes you on a rollercoaster of emotion and it is absolutely a ride I am thrilled I took! Highly recommend two fans of this author and anyone else who enjoys a book with amazing characters young or old!
PS: there is a really adorable romance running through this book as well, it just kind of takes a backseat to the rest that is going on, but it is still super sweet💕
CoHo did it again!!! Last year the book that had the biggest impact on me was Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us.... that book still sticks with me today, it wrecked me, it hit me where I live, it was just simply perfection.... so I was a bit nervous to pick up this book, how could it possibly live up to my expectations? Well I’m happy to say it definitely did!!!
This book is different from any CoHo book I’ve read before..... but definitely in a good way.... this book was about family, dysfunction, love, and secrets....
Merit lives in a small Texas town and is certain her family is the most dysfunctional family ever.... and she may not be all that wrong, from the fact that they live in a renovated church with the marquee still on the lawn to the fact that both her stepmother and mother live in the same house..... Merit was such a fantastically developed character.... even if you couldn’t completely relate to her, you sure did want everything to work out for her.... she made me really think about the negative and positive side to having an identical twin (she had an identical twin Honor).... she also made me think about the burden of family secrets....
This book touched on many difficult subjects.... but it was all done very subtly using all these wonderful characters who slowly reveal their secrets to us through Merit.... I also appreciated that there weren’t any clear answers given as to what everybody “needed“ To do to fix themselves..... The fix just simply began with letting go of secrets and learning to communicate..... this family has a ways to go, but I truly believe there is hope
This character driven book definitely takes you on a rollercoaster of emotion and it is absolutely a ride I am thrilled I took! Highly recommend two fans of this author and anyone else who enjoys a book with amazing characters young or old!
PS: there is a really adorable romance running through this book as well, it just kind of takes a backseat to the rest that is going on, but it is still super sweet💕
January 9, 2018
4 It's all about PERSPECTIVE STARS
Esta vez la conclusión es tan importante, que la pondré al inicio de la reseña:
En conclusión: Without Merit es una historia de drama adolescente, que nos deja ver de una forma realista, triste y complicada lo que es vivir con una enfermedad mental.
Les recomiendo que lo lean, por supuesto, pero además les recomiendo mucho que lo lean antes de leer mi reseña, que lo empiecen sin saber nada sobre la historia, y no porque los spoilers les arruinen la historia, creo que lo que les puede arruinar la lectura es tener la interpretación de alguien más. Léanlo y saquen sus propias conclusiones, no se dejen llevar por las perspectivas de nadie más, plis no dejen que la opinión de alguien más opaque sus propias enfoques.
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
Creo que es la primera vez que leo un libro de Colleen que no gira en torno a una relación romántica. Se los aviso, para que no empiecen el libro con una idea equivocada, que, si la tiene, desde el inicio tenemos el tan usado amor a primera vista entre dos personas que se acaban de conocer, típico de sus libros. Pero NO es el eje de la historia, la línea central es una familia, una familia llena de problemas, circunstancia desfavorables y complicaciones que tienden a sentirse en algunos momentos exageradas.
Si, es una historia de familia, una muy complicada familia, con integrantes por demás peculiares.
Todo inicia cuando Merit una chica de 17 años decide ya no ir a la escuela, no por nada trágico o especifico, ella simplemente tiene el sentimiento de ser invisible. Vive en una casa que solía ser una iglesia y toda la historia sobre cómo termino viviendo ahí es muy peculiar y ridícula, cuando leí esa parte no entendí porque la autora le daría tanta importancia a eso, pero por supuesto como en todo libro de CoHo, cada detalle tiene un papel importante.
Merit tiene una hermana gemela, Honor, con la que no se lleva bien, es más ni si quiera se tratan, cada quien lleva su vida separada de la otra, tiene un hermano mayor con el que tampoco tiene ningún tipo de relación, Utah, no se hablan, no se entienden, cada uno imagina que el otro no existe. También tiene un medio hermano de 4 años, Moby, que es lo más lindo y adorable de toda la historia, es hijo del segundo matrimonio de su padre. Todos viven en la casa-iglesia, con la segunda esposa de su padre y su madre, así es la mamá de Merit también.
Al avanzar, la historia me hacia dudar de todo , me recordaba a cuando leí Never Never y Nocte, que no me podia fiar de la protagonista.
En este caso, vemos la historia desde la perspectiva de Merit, y no es una perspectiva en la que podamos confiar definitivamente, desde el inicio se notaba su bias, la manera en la que se expresa de su hermana se burla de ella a pesar de que su hermana pasa por una tragedia que la cambio mucho.
Ella es cínica, sarcástica, y vive en su propio mundo, donde ve las cosas a su manera sin tomarse el tiempo de pensar en los demás, trata muy mal a todos, la parte en la que más la odie fue cuando le dijo al pobre de Moby que casi fue un bastardo.
En algunos momentos yo veía claramente lo que sucedía, pero la protagonista no lo veía porque estaba demasiado encerrada en su propia cabeza, que no se permitía verlo.
Es complicado entender a la protagonista y es lo que más le aplaudo a Coho en este libro, que nos hace detestarla tanto en algunos momentos, también nos hace sentir mal con ella, nos hace querer ayudarla, nos hace entender, pero no entender lo que sucede. Si ya sé que lo que acabo de decir no tiene sentido, pero las enfermedades mentales raramente tienen sentido para los que nunca las has pasado.
La calidad de la escritura es muy buena, tiene muchos detalles divertidos que hace ligera la lectura, como el tan mencionado cameo de Colleen, así es, esta historia se desarrolla en la ciudad donde vive la autora, y se puso a sí misma en el libro, y metió su librería en la historia, todo muy entretenido, lo de la Pepsi me saco una carcajada.
Mis partes favoritas:
-Los dibujos de Sage, y la historia del rey.
- Cuando conocemos la historia de Sagan.
Para ser una historia Young Adult, y sabiendo que la historia tendrá muchísima difusión y llegará a miles de jóvenes en todo el mundo. Agradezco infinitamente a la autora que mencionara la guerra en medio oriente, la crisis de refugiados de Syria, que nos diera, los pocos detalles que nos cuenta Sagan sobre Bashar al-Assad s , me dejo en completo shock y con una necesidad de querer saber más sobre ese tema, espero que muchos se sientan de esa manera, y que cuando veamos a alguien en la calle como Sagan, no lo etiquetemos como terrorista, pero lo veamos como un refugiado que ha perdido todo y solo está tratando de hacer lo mejor de su situacion. Bravo Colleen Hoover, más autoras valientes, por favor.
-La parte final cuando Luck hace la comparación de la depresión con otras enfermedades, como la intolerancia a la lactosa, o alergias. Me pareció una analogía tan simple pero que explica de forma exacta como debemos ver las enfermedades mentales, no es algo que se quite, así como así, es algo con lo que se nace y se puede aprender a vivir.
Segunda conclusión: Me di cuenta de que me gustan más los libros de Colleen Hoover que publica recientemente, sigo sin querer leer sus libros pasado ya que me han dejado malas experiencias, pero sin duda seguiré leyendo cualquier libro en el futuro que publique.
Esta vez la conclusión es tan importante, que la pondré al inicio de la reseña:
En conclusión: Without Merit es una historia de drama adolescente, que nos deja ver de una forma realista, triste y complicada lo que es vivir con una enfermedad mental.
Les recomiendo que lo lean, por supuesto, pero además les recomiendo mucho que lo lean antes de leer mi reseña, que lo empiecen sin saber nada sobre la historia, y no porque los spoilers les arruinen la historia, creo que lo que les puede arruinar la lectura es tener la interpretación de alguien más. Léanlo y saquen sus propias conclusiones, no se dejen llevar por las perspectivas de nadie más, plis no dejen que la opinión de alguien más opaque sus propias enfoques.
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
"I’m tired of everything I say not having meaning to anyone. I’ll just stop talking so that when I do talk, my words will count. Right now it feels like any time I talk, my words circle right back into my mouth like a boomerang and I’m forced to swallow them again.”
Creo que es la primera vez que leo un libro de Colleen que no gira en torno a una relación romántica. Se los aviso, para que no empiecen el libro con una idea equivocada, que, si la tiene, desde el inicio tenemos el tan usado amor a primera vista entre dos personas que se acaban de conocer, típico de sus libros. Pero NO es el eje de la historia, la línea central es una familia, una familia llena de problemas, circunstancia desfavorables y complicaciones que tienden a sentirse en algunos momentos exageradas.
Si, es una historia de familia, una muy complicada familia, con integrantes por demás peculiares.
Todo inicia cuando Merit una chica de 17 años decide ya no ir a la escuela, no por nada trágico o especifico, ella simplemente tiene el sentimiento de ser invisible. Vive en una casa que solía ser una iglesia y toda la historia sobre cómo termino viviendo ahí es muy peculiar y ridícula, cuando leí esa parte no entendí porque la autora le daría tanta importancia a eso, pero por supuesto como en todo libro de CoHo, cada detalle tiene un papel importante.
Merit tiene una hermana gemela, Honor, con la que no se lleva bien, es más ni si quiera se tratan, cada quien lleva su vida separada de la otra, tiene un hermano mayor con el que tampoco tiene ningún tipo de relación, Utah, no se hablan, no se entienden, cada uno imagina que el otro no existe. También tiene un medio hermano de 4 años, Moby, que es lo más lindo y adorable de toda la historia, es hijo del segundo matrimonio de su padre. Todos viven en la casa-iglesia, con la segunda esposa de su padre y su madre, así es la mamá de Merit también.
Al avanzar, la historia me hacia dudar de todo , me recordaba a cuando leí Never Never y Nocte, que no me podia fiar de la protagonista.
En este caso, vemos la historia desde la perspectiva de Merit, y no es una perspectiva en la que podamos confiar definitivamente, desde el inicio se notaba su bias, la manera en la que se expresa de su hermana se burla de ella a pesar de que su hermana pasa por una tragedia que la cambio mucho.
Ella es cínica, sarcástica, y vive en su propio mundo, donde ve las cosas a su manera sin tomarse el tiempo de pensar en los demás, trata muy mal a todos, la parte en la que más la odie fue cuando le dijo al pobre de Moby que casi fue un bastardo.
En algunos momentos yo veía claramente lo que sucedía, pero la protagonista no lo veía porque estaba demasiado encerrada en su propia cabeza, que no se permitía verlo.
Es complicado entender a la protagonista y es lo que más le aplaudo a Coho en este libro, que nos hace detestarla tanto en algunos momentos, también nos hace sentir mal con ella, nos hace querer ayudarla, nos hace entender, pero no entender lo que sucede. Si ya sé que lo que acabo de decir no tiene sentido, pero las enfermedades mentales raramente tienen sentido para los que nunca las has pasado.
La calidad de la escritura es muy buena, tiene muchos detalles divertidos que hace ligera la lectura, como el tan mencionado cameo de Colleen, así es, esta historia se desarrolla en la ciudad donde vive la autora, y se puso a sí misma en el libro, y metió su librería en la historia, todo muy entretenido, lo de la Pepsi me saco una carcajada.
Mis partes favoritas:
-Los dibujos de Sage, y la historia del rey.
- Cuando conocemos la historia de Sagan.
Para ser una historia Young Adult, y sabiendo que la historia tendrá muchísima difusión y llegará a miles de jóvenes en todo el mundo. Agradezco infinitamente a la autora que mencionara la guerra en medio oriente, la crisis de refugiados de Syria, que nos diera, los pocos detalles que nos cuenta Sagan sobre Bashar al-Assad s , me dejo en completo shock y con una necesidad de querer saber más sobre ese tema, espero que muchos se sientan de esa manera, y que cuando veamos a alguien en la calle como Sagan, no lo etiquetemos como terrorista, pero lo veamos como un refugiado que ha perdido todo y solo está tratando de hacer lo mejor de su situacion. Bravo Colleen Hoover, más autoras valientes, por favor.
-La parte final cuando Luck hace la comparación de la depresión con otras enfermedades, como la intolerancia a la lactosa, o alergias. Me pareció una analogía tan simple pero que explica de forma exacta como debemos ver las enfermedades mentales, no es algo que se quite, así como así, es algo con lo que se nace y se puede aprender a vivir.
“Having depression is no more out of your control than Sagan’s intolerance to milk, or Utah’s paleskin, or Honor’s bad vision. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. But it’s not something you can ignore or correct on your own. And it doesn’t make you abnormal. It makes you just as normal as these idiots,”
Segunda conclusión: Me di cuenta de que me gustan más los libros de Colleen Hoover que publica recientemente, sigo sin querer leer sus libros pasado ya que me han dejado malas experiencias, pero sin duda seguiré leyendo cualquier libro en el futuro que publique.
Want to read
October 3, 2017LIVE! | AMZ US | AMZ UK | B&N | KOBO | iBOOKS |
I. C.A.N.N.O.T. W.A.I.T.!
Stand-alone.
LIVE! | AMZ US | AMZ UK | B&N | KOBO | iBOOKS |
Blurb:
Book Blurb:
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.
I. C.A.N.N.O.T. W.A.I.T.!
Stand-alone.
LIVE! | AMZ US | AMZ UK | B&N | KOBO | iBOOKS |
Blurb:
Book Blurb:
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.
October 19, 2017
➦You know, sometimes while reading I keep thinking "Hey, I could totally write a story like that!" Provided that I could write. lol
➦I'm not implying that it's easy to write a book. But I guess if I really REALLY wanted to, I could. Checklist, let's go:
✔spend ages on learning how to write without sounding like an imbecile
✔come up with a somewhat decent romance story and characters
✔hire an editor
✔probably re-write the damn thing 100 times
✔publish it anyways because I do what I want!
➦What's the point of all this, you ask? I think anyone can write a book. But some people, like Coleen Hoover, have a special ability (it's sorcery, people) to create characters that are so completely chaotic, disjointed and flawed but somehow unite to create one amazing, cohesive story. A story that not only sends a powerful message, but that can also make you feel giddy at one moment and sad the next. I don't really think I could do that even after a lot of puff puff.
➦Yeah, it is all right. I leave it to the professionals.
October 3, 2017
“Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness.”
{calls help line}
person: how may I help you?
me: i have lost the ability to even
THIS IS HOW YOU SPELL COLLEEN HOOVER:
Q U E E N
She has done it again. She had zero mercy on my poor, smol heart. She ripped it into tiny little pieces by her heartfelt, breathtaking plot, "addictive like crack" writing, and A+++++ characters. She crushed me with feels like If I could sum up this book into one word, it'd be tears. Why? It's all I've ever known since reading this book. Colleen Hoover, I'm coming over to your house with my tears because I just hdfjhdskjghfdkjgfhdkjgfhdgkjf what is english??? i cannot english???
Speaking of tears, I heardfrom google that 65% of your body is made up of water. Mmmmm, interesting because….
20% : wasted on the cover like *slow claps*, talk about aesthetics. I feel like whoever designed this, quite literally, went into my brain and took out everything I ever wanted for this cover.
20% : wasted from page 1 until the end of the book. Including, the acknowledgments too because it was a big reality check that the DAMN BOOK WAS OVER.
15% : wasted on the fact that I’m just an emotional human being, okay?? Anything sets me off. I should come with an attached warning. Warning: be gentle while handling.
5% : wasted over being disappointed that no one hasn’t invented a restart button. To be honest, how long do we have to wait? Until 3017? Because I want to read this again. Now.
5% : Wtf is this water in my eyes ? Is there an onion near me? Am I crying AGAIN? God damn, my emotions are everywhere.
Anyway.
I had the pleasure of receiving this book a week before the official release date. I’m not even going to deny the fact that I did this as soon as the book was in my hands.
Listen, I couldn’t contain myself. It had to be done. I have no regrets. Okay, I lied. I totally regret screaming for 5 minutes straight. My throat didn't deserve this cruelty. In all honesty, I apologize if you're reading this entire review like, "omg this is such a hot mess". Well, I'll be kind enough to provide y'all aan excuse translation for this whole thing.
Translation:
OH MY GOODNESS SOMEONE HOLD ME LIKE MY BODY WASN’T READY FOR THIS.
You have been warned but I'm 1000% y'all are going to be joining me in the, "tears. tears everywhere" , club.
I refuse to be alone in this.
Alright.
Where do I begin.....Where do I begin.....
In all seriousness. You will find depression, suicide, etc within this book. I decided to add trigger warnings because everyone is different. Some people are perfectly okay with going into this book without knowing anything but other people may want to be prepared for what's in store for them. Don't worry, it's not the "focus" and makes you feel like the author went over board. I believe, y'all shouldn't know too much info about the plot because it's 3000 times better to watch it unravel. Makes the experience way way WAY better. Trust me, from one reader to another, i felt like this book hit me in the face and was like, "listen you will love me or love me?"
Alrighty
No amount of words will be able to describe the eternal love I've developed for this book. I want to scream. I want to cry. Okay, why not both???? Like I said, ever since this book, I've been one tall glass of emotion. Without Merit, is going to be stored somewhere deep inside my heart. It's not like I had a choice. This book demanded to move inside my heart and was like, "yo i'm just gonna live here".
"Don't make your presence known. Make your absence felt."
This is unlike anything I've ever read by Colleen Hoover. I've always known that she had this specialty to create phenomenal books that either make you never forget them or make you never forget them. This book was intense, wild, mesmerizing, unique, and enjoyable. It broke my heart in so many places. I can't even label what this book made me feel like. Maybe ask me in the next 3 years.
"I'm not even sure home is a word that can be used to describe where I live. It's just a house filled with people who are counting down the days until they don't have to live with each other anymore."
What I can most definitely tell you with absolute certainty is that Colleen Hoover made me really look at things at a different perspective. She forced us to acknowledge the fact that there is individuals who deal with some of the issues being tackled within this book. It's authentic, aching, and inspiring; it's a damn good eye opener.
"It’s incredible how much better a kiss can make you feel, right?”
I nod. “So incredible.”
His thumb brushes my cheek, then his satisfied grin falls into a pointed stare. “That’s exactly why I won’t do it again, Merit. You need to fall in love with yourself first.”
I felt the struggles, discarded feelings, worries, anguish, and fears. I found myself completely immersed and nodding at every fucking thing. I'm telling you, time will cease to exist and your only worry is flipping to the next page to find out what’s next.
I don't want to discuss the characters or anything about the plot. Not even the romance like oh my goodness I'm holding back soooooo much on that one. #ishipit #iloveit #yes #itsnoteventhemainfocus #anotheryes
"Have you ever had one of their sugar cookies?" Sagan asks.
"Nope." I take a sip of my water.
"It'll change your life." He hands me the cookie and I take a bite. And then another. It really is the best cookie I've ever eaten, but he exaggerated.
"When is the life change supposed to happen, exactly? Do I have to eat the whole cookie to get the results?"
Sagan narrows his eyes at me. "Smartass," he says playfully."
I need a moment. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.
All I will provide is : This book will make you go through a roller coaster of endless feels. You will put this book down several times to just breathe. AND I MEAN BREATHEEEEEE BECAUSE OH LORD HAVE MERCY WHAT IS AIR??? It will keep you on the edge like I forever found myself gripping my chair, my bag, a random stranger's hand, literally EVERYTHING WITHIN REACH.
This perfection called Without Merit will be out on October 3rd. Sorry for fangirling early but who could blame me? It was meant to be gushed upon and I simply couldn't hold myself back. I'll be lurking for updates on this book. And I'll slowly slide into your comment section and let out everything I've been holding back :) :) :)
"I don’t matter here, either. If I dropped out of life, just like I dropped out of school, everyone’s lives would go on. With or without Merit."
Now, I'm going to kindly excuse myself and go hug the book while crying because god damn these tears won't end.
P.S: Thank you Colleen Hoover for liking my review. You da bomb dot com <3
P.P.S: God damn, you need to be sponsored by some Tissue company.
{calls help line}
person: how may I help you?
me: i have lost the ability to even
THIS IS HOW YOU SPELL COLLEEN HOOVER:
Q U E E N
She has done it again. She had zero mercy on my poor, smol heart. She ripped it into tiny little pieces by her heartfelt, breathtaking plot, "addictive like crack" writing, and A+++++ characters. She crushed me with feels like If I could sum up this book into one word, it'd be tears. Why? It's all I've ever known since reading this book. Colleen Hoover, I'm coming over to your house with my tears because I just hdfjhdskjghfdkjgfhdkjgfhdgkjf what is english??? i cannot english???
Speaking of tears, I heard
20% : wasted on the cover like *slow claps*, talk about aesthetics. I feel like whoever designed this, quite literally, went into my brain and took out everything I ever wanted for this cover.
20% : wasted from page 1 until the end of the book. Including, the acknowledgments too because it was a big reality check that the DAMN BOOK WAS OVER.
15% : wasted on the fact that I’m just an emotional human being, okay?? Anything sets me off. I should come with an attached warning. Warning: be gentle while handling.
5% : wasted over being disappointed that no one hasn’t invented a restart button. To be honest, how long do we have to wait? Until 3017? Because I want to read this again. Now.
5% : Wtf is this water in my eyes ? Is there an onion near me? Am I crying AGAIN? God damn, my emotions are everywhere.
Anyway.
I had the pleasure of receiving this book a week before the official release date. I’m not even going to deny the fact that I did this as soon as the book was in my hands.
Listen, I couldn’t contain myself. It had to be done. I have no regrets. Okay, I lied. I totally regret screaming for 5 minutes straight. My throat didn't deserve this cruelty. In all honesty, I apologize if you're reading this entire review like, "omg this is such a hot mess". Well, I'll be kind enough to provide y'all a
Translation:
OH MY GOODNESS SOMEONE HOLD ME LIKE MY BODY WASN’T READY FOR THIS.
You have been warned but I'm 1000% y'all are going to be joining me in the, "tears. tears everywhere" , club.
I refuse to be alone in this.
Alright.
Where do I begin.....Where do I begin.....
In all seriousness. You will find depression, suicide, etc within this book. I decided to add trigger warnings because everyone is different. Some people are perfectly okay with going into this book without knowing anything but other people may want to be prepared for what's in store for them. Don't worry, it's not the "focus" and makes you feel like the author went over board. I believe, y'all shouldn't know too much info about the plot because it's 3000 times better to watch it unravel. Makes the experience way way WAY better. Trust me, from one reader to another, i felt like this book hit me in the face and was like, "listen you will love me or love me?"
Alrighty
No amount of words will be able to describe the eternal love I've developed for this book. I want to scream. I want to cry. Okay, why not both???? Like I said, ever since this book, I've been one tall glass of emotion. Without Merit, is going to be stored somewhere deep inside my heart. It's not like I had a choice. This book demanded to move inside my heart and was like, "yo i'm just gonna live here".
"Don't make your presence known. Make your absence felt."
This is unlike anything I've ever read by Colleen Hoover. I've always known that she had this specialty to create phenomenal books that either make you never forget them or make you never forget them. This book was intense, wild, mesmerizing, unique, and enjoyable. It broke my heart in so many places. I can't even label what this book made me feel like. Maybe ask me in the next 3 years.
"I'm not even sure home is a word that can be used to describe where I live. It's just a house filled with people who are counting down the days until they don't have to live with each other anymore."
What I can most definitely tell you with absolute certainty is that Colleen Hoover made me really look at things at a different perspective. She forced us to acknowledge the fact that there is individuals who deal with some of the issues being tackled within this book. It's authentic, aching, and inspiring; it's a damn good eye opener.
"It’s incredible how much better a kiss can make you feel, right?”
I nod. “So incredible.”
His thumb brushes my cheek, then his satisfied grin falls into a pointed stare. “That’s exactly why I won’t do it again, Merit. You need to fall in love with yourself first.”
I felt the struggles, discarded feelings, worries, anguish, and fears. I found myself completely immersed and nodding at every fucking thing. I'm telling you, time will cease to exist and your only worry is flipping to the next page to find out what’s next.
I don't want to discuss the characters or anything about the plot. Not even the romance like oh my goodness I'm holding back soooooo much on that one. #ishipit #iloveit #yes #itsnoteventhemainfocus #anotheryes
"Have you ever had one of their sugar cookies?" Sagan asks.
"Nope." I take a sip of my water.
"It'll change your life." He hands me the cookie and I take a bite. And then another. It really is the best cookie I've ever eaten, but he exaggerated.
"When is the life change supposed to happen, exactly? Do I have to eat the whole cookie to get the results?"
Sagan narrows his eyes at me. "Smartass," he says playfully."
I need a moment. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.
All I will provide is : This book will make you go through a roller coaster of endless feels. You will put this book down several times to just breathe. AND I MEAN BREATHEEEEEE BECAUSE OH LORD HAVE MERCY WHAT IS AIR??? It will keep you on the edge like I forever found myself gripping my chair, my bag, a random stranger's hand, literally EVERYTHING WITHIN REACH.
This perfection called Without Merit will be out on October 3rd. Sorry for fangirling early but who could blame me? It was meant to be gushed upon and I simply couldn't hold myself back. I'll be lurking for updates on this book. And I'll slowly slide into your comment section and let out everything I've been holding back :) :) :)
"I don’t matter here, either. If I dropped out of life, just like I dropped out of school, everyone’s lives would go on. With or without Merit."
Now, I'm going to kindly excuse myself and go hug the book while crying because god damn these tears won't end.
P.S: Thank you Colleen Hoover for liking my review. You da bomb dot com <3
P.P.S: God damn, you need to be sponsored by some Tissue company.
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