Without Merit is a book that deals with teenage depression, insecurities (not just teenage ones), mistakes and flaws and misconception.

“Everyone’s lives would go on. With or without Merit."

It evolves around the Voss family that is made of absurd life twists and seemingly broke relationship. Father, his kids, his current wife and his ex-wife all living together in a former church. Yes, church.

Merit is the narrator and main character. We get to see the story play out from her perspective. And this is the first thing that got me gutted – exactly, it’s her perspective. Merit is just one of the characters in the book that doesn’t see and hear everything. Therefore, her point of view is just hers and does not mean it’s the right one, the correct one. That is how life goes I guess and Colleen hits the bull’s eyes with the point she presents in Without Merit.

Each of the character has its own story. That’s one of the things I love about Colleen’s writing – she doesn’t just use the supporting characters to hold the narrator’s hand and give them hug and crappy advice when they don’t even need it the most. Each of Colleen’s character is given a spotlight for a while to show their own story, to kind of prove themselves to the reader.

It was the same with this book of course. There are stable characters that will be with you throughout the whole story. Either a part of the family or friend. They each have a story that Merit, and consequently all of us readers, don’t really see. They are flawed, some might even say broken, but to me, they are perfect. Perfect as in real. (By this point I should apologize for not making sense bunch of times, but I really am speechless!)

The writing – what can I say about that? It’s Colleen and that itself speaks about the style and quality. If you are a long-time reader of hers you will see her usual word play again, how she uses metaphors to express the absurdity of certain situations. And trust me, there are a lot of crazy moments in Without Merit. For example, the fact that Merit collects trophies she didn’t win to kind of make shitty things that happened to her more memorable.

For hardcore CoHorts – you have a little nice surprise to look forward to. I’m sure you’ll recognize it straight away!

I hope so far, no spoilers! And now, I just want to share with you my favorite line:

“You shouldn’t feel so special, Merit. We are all a degree of fu**ed up.”

Without Merit taught me a lot of things in matter of hours it took me to read it. You live your lived from your own perspective and sometimes miss what others see because you are blinded by it. That’s also why you can’t compare your miserable sad broken stories with other – no one’s story is harder than ours and ours is not more difficult than someone else’s. Also, you don’t have to carry the secrets of those around you if all they do is pull you down, weight you down. They are not your burden to carry. And last, but not least:

“Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Sometimes the only thing a mistake deserves is forgiveness.”

I’m giving this book 5 stars, although it’s hard to just put a 5-star label on it when for me it’s value is much greater.

With Merit and love,

Rebecca A I All Books Obsessed

P.S. Thank you for reading my review!

I have actually read the entire book, but I loved how this book targeted several serious problems thst frequent our world nowadays, and did so very gracefully. Colleen Hoover doesn't write a bad book.

Perfection! I love this little teaser, and cannot wait to read the full novel! Definitely recommend!

This book is AMAZING.... all of Colleen Hoover's books are written in a way that make you feel a part of the story. The main character Merit collects trophys she never won or earned but it's a way to cope for her, it's just one of her quirks. Her family live in a rehabbed church...a church...and are a far cry from normal..... i would love to live in a church that was rehabbed. There has not been a book she has written that hasn't disappointed me yet and this is another example of her flawless writing. I cant wait for All Your Perfects to be published, I already have it preordered!

This is my first time reading something by this author. Once I started I could not put this book down. Oh my I loved Colleen writing style. This is a must read book.

The sample definitely encouraged me to purchase and read this book!

Another fantastic read from Colleen Hoover. Fresh and imaginative with a way that ties things up like no other.

Without Merit foi lançado em outubro, e mesmo com o livro na estante, eu preferi adiar a leitura. O segundo semestre de 2017 foi realmente muito atribulado para mim, por isso decidi não conhecer Merit e Sagan assim, logo de cara. Por estar preocupada com outras coisas, eu sabia que não daria a devida atenção à história.

Em dezembro, resolvi que era hora de ler o último livro do ano e, é claro, escolhi Without Merit, não só porque já havia protelado demais, mas principalmente porque queria fechar meu ano literário com categoria, tipo, lacrando mesmo, sabe? Lembro ter pensado, "Colleen não desaponta nunca," e estava certa. QUE LIVRO, MEU BRASIL. QUE LIVRO!

Assim como em It Ends With Us que tem a violência doméstica como tema, em Without Merit, Colleen Hoover volta a tratar de um assunto extremamente difícil — não só de ser abordado, mas de ser compreendido por outros — e dramático para quem é dia e noite desafiado pelo mal do século, a depressão. Essa é a segunda vez que a autora escreve um livro que deveria ser para muitos. Ele atua como um alerta para aqueles que possuem os sintomas que podem levar à depressão, e proporciona um vislumbre de como é o dia a dia daqueles que convivem com ela. No entanto, este é um livro para poucos.

A história de Merit Voss é repleta de drama. Dramas que para você e para mim são um porre, e extremamente desnecessários, mas que para ela, são válidos e muito maior do que se imagina. É exatamente esse o grande apontamento de Hoover ao narrar a história de Merit: mostrar o quanto essa doença é estigmatizada e incompreendida, assim como foi este livro.

Without Merit é um livro sem prólogo e epílogo. A falta deste último me incomodou de verdade, porque eu sou o tipo de leitora que precisa de um desfecho pós desfecho, se é que você me entende. As últimas palavras do último capítulo não matam a minha sede de saber o que aconteceu depois; como ficou a vida daqueles personagens. Por isso tenho que admitir que me senti órfã com a inexistência de um epílogo. Além disso, é uma obra narrada sob um único ponto de vista, o de Merit, mas que conta com muitos personagens presentes durante a história — Lucky, Honor, Utah, Victoria, Moby, os pais de Merit, Sagan — algo que não lembro de ter visto em nenhum outro livro da autora. Todos esses personagens aparecem constantemente e possuem voz na trama.

Duas outras características marcantes do livro são os desenhos criados por Brandon Adams que estampam as páginas no decorrer da narrativa, e o modo como Hoover trabalhou com a atualidade para contar a história de Sagan. Eu simplesmente amei o fato dela ter pensado nisso e traçado os contornos da vida do rapaz com base nesse acontecimento.

Sendo assim, só tenho a dizer que Without Merit é o livro perfeito para aqueles que o lerá de mente aberta, disposto a deixar de lado por um momento aquela Colleen de O Lado Feio do Amor para encontrar a Colleen de It Ends With Us. Faço isso, e essa não será apenas uma leitura, mas sim, um belo exercício sobre perspectiva e compreensão.

I have the rest of the book as a hardcover and can’t wait to dive into it. Love Colleen Hoover!

Love, love, love! All I can say is Mrs Hoover is amazing! Merit is full of spunk and I love a character who doesn't fit the mold. All the characters in this novel were just fantastic. This should be required reading for teens.

Yes! I cannot wait to read the rest of this amazing book!

New book from Colleen Hoover? Count me in! Excited to purchase the full novel and continue reading!

Utterly amazing and thought provoking book. I could not get enough. I purchased the book and devoured it. I definitely recommend Colleen Hoover to anyone who'll listen.

I love everything Colleen Hoover, and I loved getting to sneak a glimpse into Without Merit. I love the book even more, but the excerpt we were given was such a tease & I simply devoured it!

Thie beginning was fabulous, I'm a big fan of Colleen Hoover!

I love Colleen Hoover, but Without Merit was just not my cup of tea.I read a lot of YA for my job working in a middle school library, so I'm used to the kind of writing and knew that I shouldn't expect Colleen's regular writing style-- but it still fell flat for me.

Only the best from Colleen! She is a bright, shining light in the book world. I will always shout her books as recommendations.

This was an excerpt of Without Merit by Colleen Hoover. This was a great read and I cant wait to read the rest of the books.

Definitely wanted more. After reading just the small part. Definitely buy and read the rest!