From Colleen Hoover, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Starts with Us and It Ends with Us, comes a moving and haunting novel of family, love, and the power of the truth. Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness. The Voss family is anything but normal. They live in a repurposed church, newly baptized Dollar Voss. The once cancer-stricken mother lives in the basement, the father is married to the mother's former nurse, the little half-brother isn't allowed to do or eat anything fun, and the eldest siblings are irritatingly perfect. Then, there's Merit. Merit Voss collects trophies she hasn't earned and secrets her family forces her to keep. While browsing the local antiques shop for her next trophy, she finds Sagan. His wit and unapologetic idealism disarm and spark renewed life into her--until she discovers that he's completely unavailable. Merit retreats deeper into herself, watching her family from the sidelines, when she learns a secret that no trophy in the world can fix. Fed up with the lies, Merit decides to shatter the happy family illusion that she's never been a part of before leaving them behind for good. When her escape plan fails, Merit is forced to deal with the staggering consequences of telling the truth and losing the one boy she loves. Poignant and powerful, Without Merit explores the layers of lies that tie a family together and the power of love and truth.
"Merit Voss is part of a unique living situation: her once “cancer-stricken” mother lives in the basement, her father had an affair with her mother’s nurse, who he now has a child with, Merit’s twin sister Honor is exclusively attracted to terminally ill boyfriends and her brother Utah acts as though she doesn’t exist. only Moby, her little half-brother absorbs all of the family’s craziness and negativity. I expected a light romance, and what I got was a story with layers and depth. She feels down about her life, and believes no one would care if she weren’t around. The reader can witness her journey through depression, from feeling discouraged to trying to attempt suicide. The only light is an intriguing boy named Sagan, who happens to be off-limits since he is dating Honor. I LOVED THE BEGINNING, sagan kissing her because he thought she was Honor, it was like a mini plot twist on the first pages so that you get hooked. everyone in her family attack her daily and she always has a temper. WITHOUT MERIT, this part was really hard to read, seeing her so angry, sad, unheard... thanks again colleen for a book that stresses the importance of family, communication and loving ourselves."