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dayanitha's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault and Grief
Minor: Suicide
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
3.75
Finished reading: March 20th 2024
"In the end, it didn’t matter, because she couldn’t rewrite the past. She could only ensure she didn’t repeat her mistakes."
It's no secret that I consider John Marrs to be one of my favorite thriller authors, and I've read and loved the majority of his books. It's true that I tend to enjoy his dystopian/speculative thrillers most though... The Marriage Act is a stand-alone set in the same alternate near future as for example The One and The Passengers. I'm still not sure why I hadn't read it until now considering it was a most anticipated release last year... But since I was approved for the ARC of his newest story set in the same universe, I decided to play catch-up and read The Marriage Act first. It's true that each book can be read as a stand-alone, but there are some references to the previous books that you might not pick up otherwise. I have to say that this author is SO exceptional at creating extremely plausible and basically terrifying alternate futures... And this story is no different. The concept behind The Marriage Act is no less than brilliant, and its premise blew me away. Why not give it the full five stars then? This mostly had to do with the multiple POV structure slowing down the pace considerably, and the POV switches were too frequent as well. It took a little while to successfully keep all the characters apart, although I can't deny that the way the different POVs start connecting is very clever. What also put a minor damper on things was the fact that the majority of the characters are extremely unlikeable and flawed, and this made it hard to start rooting for them. The Marriage Act can get pretty dark and a lot of unpleasant secrets and trigger warning worthy topics are incorporated along the way... Some was used to show just how corrupt and terrifying this alternate future was, but still. There is no denying that the story as a whole will stay with me for quite some time though, and it's another successful speculative thriller that makes you wonder if things could really escalate to that level.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Stalking, Ableism, Grief, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Murder, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Violence, and Rape
theinstabookworm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What's so deeply unsettling about this book is that it's not out of the realm of possibility for a similar society to exist in the real world in the future. We've already seen recently how the government can control our rights and this book takes it one step further with AI intervention. The Audite is akin to Alexa and Echo in the real world, but Audite records the conversations of each of our main characters and their spouses and monitors them for the government. 🤯
Some things didn't age well (i.e. mentions of Twitter, IGTV), but that's a very minor detail and not something that had any kind of effect on my reading experience. Also, I found the pace to slow a bit in the middle, but it did pick up. Marrs is an auto-buy author for me and I'm very excited for his two new thrillers coming out this year!
Favourite quote: "Don't do as you're told when you know something is morally wrong. Have the strength to stand up for what you believe in. Don't be afraid to confront your enemy or they will continue to rise in the most unexpected ways."
Some things didn't age well (i.e. mentions of Twitter, IGTV), but that's a very minor detail and not something that had any kind of effect on my reading experience. Also, I found the pace to slow a bit in the middle, but it did pick up. Marrs is an auto-buy author for me and I'm very excited for his two new thrillers coming out this year!
Favourite quote: "Don't do as you're told when you know something is morally wrong. Have the strength to stand up for what you believe in. Don't be afraid to confront your enemy or they will continue to rise in the most unexpected ways."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Suicide, Murder, Dementia, Death, and Grief
naereads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Car accident, Ableism, Addiction, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Classism
d0505's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Grief, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Toxic relationship, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, and Forced institutionalization
soobooksalot's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This is the third John Marrs book I've read and the third I've greatly enjoyed!
Thank you to Harper Collins Canada and Bookclubbish for my giveaway win copy of The Marriage Act!
It's the not-so-distant future. Marriage in Britain is greatly encouraged, and by formalizing through The Marriage Act, aka "Smart Marriage". Couples in such are privvy to benefits in the economy and service access.
But the Act also comes with serious consequences if the requirements aren't met. Relationships are continually monitored, and can be intercepted at the first hint of issue.
John Marrs has created a most detailed and fascinating dystopian thriller, told in alternating chapters among four couples in differing relationships.
The opening chapter is a shocking indication of what's to come.
Recommended, and enjoy!
Thank you to Harper Collins Canada and Bookclubbish for my giveaway win copy of The Marriage Act!
It's the not-so-distant future. Marriage in Britain is greatly encouraged, and by formalizing through The Marriage Act, aka "Smart Marriage". Couples in such are privvy to benefits in the economy and service access.
But the Act also comes with serious consequences if the requirements aren't met. Relationships are continually monitored, and can be intercepted at the first hint of issue.
John Marrs has created a most detailed and fascinating dystopian thriller, told in alternating chapters among four couples in differing relationships.
The opening chapter is a shocking indication of what's to come.
Recommended, and enjoy!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Grief, Gun violence, Death, Dementia, Murder, Sexual content, and Suicide
effy's review
4.25
The multiple POVs in this book meant that it took me a minute to get into this book but once I did I really enjoyed it. This was a welcome return to form for Marrs as he was completely unafraid to go as dark and twisted as the story demanded. The concept of the "Smart Marriage" was a really interesting one and the direction that it went essentially asking whether a government that was comfortable with monitoring that aspect of the population's lives would stop there.
This book was full of quite a satisfying number of twists and turns that left me audibly gasping as they were revealed. Whilst all of Marr's speculative works do have quite a Black Mirror feel to them, this was probably the book that felt most like an episode of Black Mirror and I was so here for it!
I feel quite emotional about the fact that finishing this book means that for now, my journey with John Marrs is at an end but I know that this is just a temporary break of journey until the next book comes out because Marrs is now one of my favourite authors whether he is writing thrillers or speculative fiction. Until next time...
This book was full of quite a satisfying number of twists and turns that left me audibly gasping as they were revealed. Whilst all of Marr's speculative works do have quite a Black Mirror feel to them, this was probably the book that felt most like an episode of Black Mirror and I was so here for it!
I feel quite emotional about the fact that finishing this book means that for now, my journey with John Marrs is at an end but I know that this is just a temporary break of journey until the next book comes out because Marrs is now one of my favourite authors whether he is writing thrillers or speculative fiction. Until next time...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Grief, Death, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mental illness, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
stacey_reads_books's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I quite enjoyed this book. It was that kind of satirical, dystopian fiction where it's not too much of a push to imagine that this could happen in the not too distant future of society. It held my interest and there were a few twists that I didn't see coming but I did have difficulty connecting with some of the characters, at times they felt a bit 2D. Possibly that is because there were many different characters and the book rotates between the POV of a few of them.
Content Warnings
Minor: Emotional abuse, Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Murder, Sexual content, Stalking, Violence, Chronic illness, and Suicide
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