Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Without Merit, by Colleen Hoover {ends 10/30}

My father is an atheist, although that isn't at all why he chose to purchase the foreclosed house of worship and rip it from the hands o...

My father is an atheist, although that isn't at all why he chose to purchase the foreclosed house of worship and rip it from the hands of the people. No, God had no say in that matter.

He bought the church and closed the doors simply because he absolutely, vehemently, without doubt, hated Pastor Brian's dog, and subsequently, Pastor Brian. 

Funny story about this book: I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I actually had forgotten that I had signed up for the book tour (thanks, past self ...) and almost didn't review it. Without Merit is definitely a book that you cannot skip.

Official synopsis:

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.

This novel reminded me a bit of the Running with Scissors family combined with elements of David Sedaris's books. Merit is a twin, but isn't close with her sister, Honor. They live with their brother, Utah; half-brother, Moby (named after Moby-Dick, not the singer); father, Barnaby; step-mother, Victoria; and biological mother, also named Victoria, who lives in the basement. On top of all of that, they live in a church that their father bought from foreclosure just to spite the local pastor. 

All of the characters created here are very unique, which is why I liked the novel so much. Merit likes to collect trophies—but not trophies she personally has won, but rather, trophies that she finds in thrift stores. Her sister, Honor, likes to pursue relationships with teen guys who are on the brink of dying; her first boyfriend died during their relationship, and for some reason that stuck with her. Another relative gets thrown into the mix later on, too, which shakes up the family dynamic, and there are also secrets revealed by Merit in the latter half of the novel which threaten to break up the family.

My only complaint about this book is that the last few chapters take a while to wrap up—all of the plot points had mostly been finished, but the novel continued on for a few more chapters.

Other than that, I really enjoyed this book, and I'll have to check out more novels by Colleen Hoover in the future.

4.5 stars out of 5.

{click here to purchase}

GIVEAWAY:

Enter to win below. This is a group giveaway that the other blog tour participants and I are hosting on our blogs.

Five lucky winners will receive a signed hardcover copy of Without Merit!

Giveaway will end on Monday, October 30th.

Good luck!

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