Without Merit by Colleen Hoover (Picked By: Jocelyn)
“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.”
Jocelyn: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ .5
While I tend to steer away from Colleen, I decided to find something more suited to my taste. I truly ENJOYED Without Merit. They had a vastly dysfunctional family, her love interest respected her need to be mentally stable, and there was not one person in that house that wasn’t flawed. It reminds you that all families have their crazy secrets. I have come to understand that no matter how hard I wish that my counterparts enjoyed more dynamics than just two protagonists procreating, nothing earns that fifth star like two people getting down and dirty.
Johana: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was the second time I’ve read this book, and I think I enjoyed it more this time around. The story held a nice balance between romantic, family, and self love. Not much to say, just read and enjoy it.
Lia: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
First of all, I’m surprised Jocelyn picked a Colleen Hoover book after she nearly attacked me for picking All Your Perfects, but I’m certainly not going to argue against it. This isn’t your typical love story from Colleen Hoover, which made me a little wary as a strictly romance reader lol. I was surprised by how much I liked it. Merit was a really solid character and it was fun to read about her extremely dysfunctional family. Go into this one blind, too. And as always, this author always has something up her sleeve, an element in which she integrates into almost all her books.
The Book Club Trio 