Reviews

The Marriage Act by John Marrs

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a_ghostly_scene's review

dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I know I know....why not just round it to 5 stars?? I feel like the majority of chapters ended abruptly/on a cliffhanger which was a bit frustrating. But WOW is this book is going to stay with me a long time!!!! Super dark and interesting read about technology, power, and consequences of our choices.

PS listening to this on audiobook is a dream -- different narrators for each POV

cbingen520's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

tashacollibob96's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

himpersonal's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.25

This one is another book related to Marrs' earlier book The One. I really liked The One, but all the books since have been a mixed bag. I keep going back to them, though, because I like the intellectual questions they force me to ponder regarding how we leverage technology. In this case, we are looking at questions of technological and political ethics, privacy, and the present-day allure of everyone trying to be an influencer.

The books I've enjoyed in this little bookverse are The One and The Passengers. The Family Experiment was a miss for me. I still need to read The Minders. And this one is a bit of a half-and-half (half good and half annoying). I wish I'd read them in order. Maybe I might have enjoyed this one more, but as usual, I was subject to the supply and demand of the library queues. So I read them in whatever order I got them. The only thing they had in common was each character's individual relationship with their One DNA tests.

I would have enjoyed this book more if there had been fewer characters. The characters were largely unlikeable. They didn't feel very well thought out. Some of them felt formulaic - like I've encountered them in another book (his or someone else's). But I think the characters needed to be unlikeable for Marrs to make the points he was making (and they were made with very little subtlety). His position on the big questions is pretty clear (makes me want him to write a book about Hegseth's orders today to the Pentagon to stop offensive cybersecurity operations against Russia - I'm sure there's a book in there Marrs might like to write about this latest US kowtow to Putin).

I think the love triangle involving Jeffrey was frivolous, though. And Roxi's empty self-worth was so abhorrent that I wanted to skip all the pages she was showing up in. The only character I had the remotest sympathy for was Arthur. Too bad for him though!

Really sleepy. Will end the review here. I would say you could skip this book, and you won't really be missing much. If you read only The One, I think you'll be satisfied in knowing the dangers of tech that Marrs is trying to press and impress. I'll probably read The Minders, which is the only book in this bookverse I have yet to read, but I'd only be reading it to feel complete.

The reveal in the epilogue, while unexpected and appreciated, it would've made for a better book without it.

thebookkeepers's review

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

My third book by John Marrs, and as always - I couldn’t put it down. I love how this author literally makes my jaw drop with some of his creative choices and his books always leave me reeling. The Marriage Act is eerily set in a not so distant future that feels like a possibility of where society is heading. And spoiler: it’s like a horror story. I loved the many POVs and the full cast audiobook was fantastic. While The One still holds #1 in my ratings, this one was right up there with The Passengers.

Content Warnings