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Without Merit

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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:

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. A haunting novel about family, love, and the power of the truth showing that not every mistake deserves a consequence... and that sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness. 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. Wtf is this water in my eyes ? Is there an onion near me? Am I crying AGAIN? God damn, my emotions are everywhere. 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.

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Barnaby Voss (father of the clan, an atheist who thanks God at times, has relations with the two Victorias) 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. 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. 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.

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). 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.

And simply, it's because I haven't ever experienced or seen anything close to such dysfunctionality. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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. Poignant and powerful, Without Merit explores the layers of lies that tie a family together and the power of love and truth.Fed up with the lies, Merit decides to shatter the happy family illusion that she’s never been a part of. 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.

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." When is the life change supposed to happen, exactly? Do I have to eat the whole cookie to get the results?" 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.

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?" 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. 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. 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:

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