The Marriage Act
Ratings38
Average rating4
DNF. Longwinded. Too much explanation, too little action. Also: too many points of view, rather confusing.
DNF @ 45%
After loving The One and giving it 5 stars, I was excited to see another book in the same setting, that being a near future UK.
The premise sounded great, given how it's not that far a reach to see how devices in our homes (Hey Alexa) and our internet usage can be monitored and used by the Government as they see fit. The whole Smart Marriage theory sounded so interesting too and I was into these elements of the book.
But, the big issue I had with this was the characters. There are 5 or 6 major character POVS and not a single one is likeable, perhaps maybe the old chap Arthur but his storyline is just plain sad.
I just couldn't keep listening to these awful people being awful, it was too much to even push through to the end which is a shame.
Perhaps I could have got on better with the physical book, as I did find a couple of the narrators a bit stilted and grating to listen to, but I'm good to just leave this and move on.
So this his book is set in the same nightmarish world as his previous books “The One” and “The Passengers” (both mentioned in The Marriage Act), and is equally, if not more terrifying as those two. The mantra here is, get married, get lower taxes, interest free loans, better housing, driverless cars (as seen in “The Passengers”), better healthcare, better education, etc. The government monitors every aspect of people's lives with the mandatory installation of listening devices all over the married couples homes in order to “offer advice” when a marriage might hit a rocky patch.
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG!!!
This was really enjoyable, the very definition of page turner. Due to the compete and utter insanity of the first two acts, act three did fall a little flat for me and I was left feeling a little bit disappointed with the ending. That said, I really hope we visit this world again although where we go from here is anybody's guess. Needless to say, it will be completely BONKERS.
PS what our for the psychopath, there's at least one in every John Marrs book.
So the idea was fascinating. But for me it developed so violently and horribly it lst somehow its appeal I guess. If these are the envisioned future couples it doesn't matter much the law, we're doomed.
Excellent premise, but disjointed and slow. I wanted to sink into one or two characters (Anthony or Corrine especially) instead flicked from one to another and back again through six or so storylines. Unfulfilling.
His sci fi thrillers are my favorite. I think this one was great and as someone who has read a lot of his books I can definitely see the growth in him as an author. The POVs were more distinctive and the connections between the characters were much more creative. I liked the plot twists and enjoyed that it wasn't a clean ending.
