Without Merit

Merit Voss collects trophies and secrets that she doesn't deserve. While browsing the local antique shop for her next trophy, Sagan caught her eye. As his wit and unapologetic idealism disarm her, she finds renewed life inside her until she discovers that he is unavailable. After learning a secret, no trophy can fix, Merit retreats into herself and watches her family from afar.

Getting fed up with the lies, Merit shatters the illusion of a happy family she's never been a part of before leaving them behind. Merit's escape plan fails, and she must deal with the devastating consequences of telling the truth and losing the boy she loves.

There is nothing good about this book. The book dealt with mental illness, sexuality, suicide, abuse, and even the Syrian refugee crisis, AND it had a romance, too. All of them were poorly done.

The story revolves around Merit Voss and her family. Because their father cheated on their sick mother, they live upstairs in a renovated church with their father and stepmother. The sick mother lives downstairs in the basement. It is not surprising that Merit retreats more and more into herself as she feels further alienated from her siblings—especially her older brother, Utah, and twin sister, Honor.

One day, Merit gets kissed by a hot dude named Sagan. When she reciprocates, she realizes she has been mistaken for her twin and kisses Honor's boyfriend. To make matters worse, she cannot stop thinking about him. Even worse, shortly after, Honor moves Sagan into the Voss household.

There is a difference in writing between creating well-rounded, complex, and unlikeable characters and just creating self-centered, obnoxious characters. Voss and his family certainly behave like assholes in this book, but it is all pardoned and forgotten without consequence.

I dislike more things about this book. The characters' actions are often selfish and hurtful, yet they are never held accountable. This lack of consequences undermines the story's credibility and makes it difficult to sympathize with them. Additionally, the plot feels disjointed, with certain events feeling rushed or unresolved, leaving readers frustrated and unsatisfied.

Ultimately, the lack of accountability and disjointed plot make this book frustrating and unsatisfying read.

too many random and unnecessary things happened lol

I heard a lot of mixed reviews and honestly almost stopped halfway through. I'm glad I stuck it out. Not the best book ever, but it was good!

I couldn't put this book down. I wanted to, but I couldn't. I was tired and needed sleep, but instead, I kept reading.

I don't know if I was more fascinated with the book's main character, Merit, or her bizarre family. To think of a family living in a repurposed church was odd enough. The fact that they kept the crucified Jesus on the wall because it was built-in was even weirder.

Merit and Honor are identical twins in their last year of high school, but that's sort of where their similarities end. It doesn't help that Merit is attracted to the guy she thinks is her twin's boyfriend. This is only one of Merit's misperceptions, but it's hardly her fault. No one tells anyone anything in the family. Dad never says why he divorced mom, who still lives in the church/house basement. Or why he married his ex-wife's nurse.

The twins' older brother, Utah, is as confused as everyone else, especially after their step-uncle, Luck moves in. But then, Sagan, who Merit believes to be her sister's boyfriend, has also moved in—not that anyone told Merit. And I won't even try to tell you how the former church's former pastor's dog plays into all this, but he/she/it does.

What starts as a book of a calamity of people turns into a book about the truth about family. Hoover does a masterful job of never leaving us wondering about anyone in a book full of strange motivations.

Needless to say, I had to finish it, just to know if these crazy (but basically nice) people made it through the chaos. Get the large print edition of this book so you can read it when your eyes are tired because putting it down isn't an option.

enough drama to satisfy me but too much incest... like more than Colleen Hoover usually writes in a book.

I am a Colleen Hoover stan through and through, love her writing, love the drama she brings to the table but the women clearly has an incest kink and she gotta sort that out in therapy and not in the NY times best sellers chart.

3.5
This is not like the other CoHo books I've read, in this we get various messed up characters who have secrets that they don't want anyone knowing. And the book shows us how nobody is perfect and how everyone is different from each other.

Honestly during the first 45% (roughly) I thought I might dnf it coz it took almost an entire chapter to describe the house(which was a church b4) and I wasn't interested in knowing abt it. But after the 50% mark it got really interesting coz all the characters flaws and secrets were getting revealed bit by bit and it got so drama filled.
I was getting annoyed with the mc Merit during the first few chapters but after a while I got used to her and she didn't bother me anymore.

Also during the last few chapters there were some scenes that were so funny and I kid you not it was abt 2:30AM and I was trying so hard not to make a noise by laughing coz it was that funny.

But aside from that the book deals with some dark topics and I really appreciated how it was dealt, it was very chaotic yes, but at the same time done properly. (Not listing the triggers here coz it might spoil the book, but dm me if you want to know them:)

I don't think this is a romance(coz the romance in this was on the side and the book was more focused on Merit and her family), more like a character study.

If you are looking for a very messing,chaotic book filled with very flawed characters this book is perfect for u:)

Very different from her other books. I really liked it, I´m not sure if all her usual readers will like it as it is not that romance infested but it is still a very good book that deals with some important subjects.

3 stars for a Colleen Hoover book? Maybe yes. This is a confusing book, while I do get what Colleen wants to say about the protagonist, all other aspects are in a blur. Everyone has their own intro that did not grow as the book progresses, which was unlikely considering her other books were not as monotone as this. Monotone? That's not harsh– it's honest; I mean there should not have been other introduction on the other characters if she were not going to at least give them a chapter or two. ALL of them has their or 3 page fame, I just wish there could have been more. The ending was a major cliffhanger but thinking about it now, the whole book was! Only Merit had the answers with my pile of questions. :(

I enjoyed this so much that I am not sure how to put it into words. As much as I like the romance novels but the difference in this book was really well done. Don't get me wrong you will get your romance, there are just other topics, that open your eyes.
Another intriguing, captivating read from Colleen Hoover. This hits on the functional dysfunction of family, and how we live, love and evolve through it all. I was so engaged into how the Voss families legacy would emerge, that I was reading in every free moment that I could grab. I love the introduction of a gay character! Colleen Hoover I think this is my favorite book I have read so far this year!

So this was different. Not in a bad way. It still had the same writing and unique characters I've come to expect in a Colleen Hoover novel. The thing that sets Without Merit apart from her previous novels is that the romance aspect of the book isn't the main focus.

The main focus is Merit Voss and her quirky family, including her identical twin sister, two brothers, her dad and step-mother, and her mother who still lives in the basement of the Voss family home despite being divorced from her father. Each family member harbors their own secrets and issues and instead of confronting them, they pretend like they don't exist.

Merit is not very likable in this book. She has a very negative view of everyone in her family and very low self confidence. She finally hits a breaking point and the Voss family is forced to deal with everything they've been sweeping under the rug for so long.

I really liked this book and appreciate that Colleen tried to branch out a little bit from her typical romances and focused more on the dynamics of this crazy family. My only issue is that I wish we would have gotten an epilogue a few months or a year in the future after they've been in therapy because I feel like the story ended without really wrapping anything up. I still have so many questions.