An enjoyable book that took me a little while to get into. I found the plot unique and interesting to read as we follow the lives of Alice and Jake through their newly married journey in the Pact. The ending was a little abrupt but fitting.

The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond is one of those books where you think what the hell am I reading. But in a good way! I screamed at the book, rolled my eyes, and to my horror found myself understanding why the pact might work. Then back to being horrified all over again.

FIRST LINE OF THE MARRIAGE PACT BY MICHELLE RICHMOND

“I come to on a Cessna, bumping through the air.”

MY THOUGHTS ON THE MARRIAGE PACT BY MICHELLE RICHMOND

It revolves around a newly married couple, and how they got sucked into a crazy marriage pact. When I say crazy, I mean fully fledged looney tunes. They agreed to all kinds of things like each partner only gaining x amount of weight, rules about presents, and the frequency of holidays. With consequences if they didn’t comply.

It sounds baffling as to why they might agree to join, but when you read the book, you understand. Marriage is complicated, and some of the rules might even be helpful. I found myself considering the validity of parts of the pact.

My tongue-in-cheek Goodreads status at 13% was –

“Undoubtedly things will take a sinister twist. But right now the pact sounds sweet. Taking time to buy meaningful presents for your partner every month, and compulsory holidays together every quarter? Sign me up!”

Until the crazy got out of hand, and then it became plain terrifying. I was all a jitter from the tension, and the danger I knew was lurking so close. Maybe it all got a little unrealistic, but I was thoroughly gripped and couldn’t devour the pages fast enough.

Overall I found the book twisty, creepy and very compelling. More please, Ms Redmond!

Rating Report
Characters four-half-stars
Setting four-half-stars
Pace five-stars
Did I feel it? four-half-stars
Overall: four-half-stars

WHY SHOULD READ THE MARRIAGE PACT BY MICHELLE RICHMOND

I’d highly recommend this if you like psychological thrillers in a domestic setting, a snappy pace, lots of chills, and some thought-provoking ideas. Also recommended to fans of Tina Seskis, Mary Kubica and Ruth Ware.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for giving me a copy of this book for review consideration. As always, no matter what the source of the book, you get my honest, unbiased opinion.

When Alice and Jake are asked on the eve of their wedding whether they want their marriage to be forever they reply that they do. They receive a mysterious gift from one of Alice's clients, a box and a set of pens, shortly after their return from honeymoon they are contacted by a woman called Vivian who initiates them into 'The Pact', a social group whose aim is to ensure that marriages are lasting. However as time goes on, the rules of the Pact become harder and harder to follow and Alice and Jake realise they are into something that they can't escape from.

At first this book seemed quite interesting, the idea of a group which focuses on preserving marriages, but then it got weirder and weirder and I just stopped enjoying in.

Wow! This is one of those books you'll love it, hate it or a bit of both. For me it was most definitely both! The Pact is for all intents and purposes a cult with the ideology of what the perfect marriage should be. Their methods of ensuring lasting and happy marriages are suspect at best and down right scary at worst with horrific consequences if things don't go according to their behaviour modification techniques.

Jake, a marriage counsellor and therapist, and Alice, an attorney, are newly weds and without realising what they are getting themselves into join The Pact. At first all seems fine and The Pact ideology of a perfect marriage seems like a dream come true. Until they start breaking rules of The Pact without realising it and have to undergo behaviour modification at a facility in the desert.

The more they try and uncover the truth behind The Pact, the deeper they get themselves into a darker and more sinister side of The Pact. Things turn from bad to worse when Jake's ex-girlfriend from college days is suspected of having an affair with Jake. Jake and Alice are living in fear of unknowingly breaking rules and having to suffer the consequences thereof. They get to a point where they make a run for it with nothing but the clothes on their back.

This is a suspense filled novel with twists and turns along the way. A great read with a surprising outcome.

Very disturbing! I had to read this in two goes (I took a break in December and only read Christmas themed books) because it is very intense, suspenseful and makes you want to hide behind a cushion while reading.

Scary and dystopian!

I fully expect to see this made into a film. Superb fable of our times...

There's a great if somewhat ridiculous premise here: Newlyweds Jake and Alice are all loved up and intrigued when they are invited to join 'The Pact' - an invite-only exclusive club for the wedded. Its only goal: to keep that love pure and happy.

Of course people are not that simple. Nor is The Pact. Signing up means signing up to reams of regulations and if you forget to do something like buy a present for your spouse or spend too much time at work, there are consequences - serious ones.

So what happens if you decide your marriage might be better off outside The Pact? Well, you'll never know, because no one ever leaves - or so Jake and Alice are told.

The book follows the newlyweds as they try to adhere to the code because they can see the good things it is trying to do (such as make a rule of going on a trip together every three months, to make sure you treasure each other). Then they start to make little mistakes that don't necessarily matter to each other, but do to The Pact. Soon there are visits by officials, punishments that can't be escaped, and maybe even the real risk of death...

As mentioned this is totally and utterly ridiculous. However it's so ridiculous that once begun you have to follow it through to the end. Fortunately, it's also quite fun along the way.

The Marriage Pact revolves around Alice, a lawyer, and Jake, a therapist. Three days before the couple is to be married, Alice meets Liam Finnegan. She is working as an associate on his case and, when he tells her how much he loves weddings, she invites him to attend her upcoming wedding. The day before the nuptials, Liam sends the couple a gift: a locked wooden box labeled “The Pact.” This present brings them into the fold of The Pact where the members are determined to do whatever it takes to make their marriages succeed. Members are to adhere to The Manual which outlines the rules and regulations of this secret group. Rules like always answer the phone when your spouse calls, give your spouse a gift each month and plan a trip together each quarter seem like nice gestures that can be easily achieved. The fact that there is a section labeled Arbitration, however, raised red flags for me but apparently not for Jake and Alice.

Jake and Alice decide to accept the invitation to join The Pact. At first, nothing seems untoward and they go about their days as a newly married couple. When Jake runs into an old college friend at a party hosted by another Pact couple, he is a little unnerved because she indicates there is something sinister about this group. The cult-like nature of The Pact further intensifies when Alice begins to get overwhelmed at work and doesn’t come home many nights until very late. The Pact deems this a violation and she is whisked away from home to a secret facility in the desert to face the consequences of putting her job first. When she returns, she is determined to follow the rules whereas Jake is getting more and more concerned, especially after having secret meetings with his old college friend to discuss The Pact.

Just how far will The Pact go to ensure its members follow the rules to making their marriages work? Quite far, it turns out.

The book is told from Jake’s first person POV. I liked Jake for the most part but I did not really care for Alice. Having her presented to us only through Jake’s eyes could be part of the issue. Her character is painted with Jake’s insecurity and she comes across as kind of empty and also a bit untrustworthy. Another downside of Jake’s POV is the intrusion of his practice and patients into the story. I didn’t give a fig about his patients and his little blurbs on marriage got my nerves quickly.

At first I enjoyed The Marriage Pact. There is a bit of a big brother thing going on where The Pact seems to know everything the couple does. It’s creepy but also intriguing. Unfortunately, as the story progresses, I realized how stupid Jake and Alice are for joining what is an essentially a cult that threatens disciplinary action if they do not follow the rules. Expecting them to blow off their jobs for The Pact is ridiculous, especially for Alice who is in the middle of preparing for a trial. It becomes even more absurd with the type of discipline that is meted out. Not only that, the way over long passages detailing the discipline are just too much. It comes across as shock value.

It’s definitely not a win for me. I did like the beginning but found the more The Pact interfered in Jake and Alice’s lives, the less I liked the book. I think if it had stuck to the creepy big brother is watching them vibe, it would have been far more interesting but when it became more about shock value, I started to lose interest. There are some good ideas and good writing but I just feel it missed the mark for me.

This book reminded me a little of John Grisham's The Firm, and I must say, I thought it just as good. The premise was certainly an interesting one, and the build up of tension was done really well. The ending was a surprise and not what I expected at all!

Waiting for the other shoe to drop...unputdownable horror, definitely not a feel-good book!
Extremely captivating plot, mostly weird, manipulative, very disturbed characters, actually gave me nightmares!
What starts out as an interesting supposedly harmless experiment for the newlyweds soon turns into an absolute nightmare, terror and sadistic control freakery. The ending is an anticlimax and rather wishy-washy.
Thanks to Penguin UK - Michael Joseph, and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you expect your average run of the mill domestic psychological thriller you might be disappointed. The Marriage Pact is a lot more complex, creepier and slightly dystopian. But a satisfying read nevertheless.
Alice was a musician who is now a lawyer and has married Jack who is a marriage therapist. They are happy and comfortable and in their thirties and both want a marriage for life.

As a wedding present they receive a box as a gift and an invitation to join The Pact a club supposed to help couple to stay in happy marriages. They are both interested in joining a sign a contract without giving it to much thought.

But things are not what they seemed. I can't say much more without spoiling the plot.

Overall I would give it a 4.5. Although different from many psychological thriller a lot deeper than most, it is captivating and entertaining. The main characters are interesting, complex and three dimensional and we hear the story from Jack's point of view, if we don't know what Alice is really thinking it is because he does not know him himself.

A word of advice, don't start reading this book expecting something totally realistic, it won't be at least if we think of our daily reality. There are a few things that are maybe not really plausible, but it is a book of fiction so go with the story without worrying if it can happen or not. .

I found the premise of this book interesting however, I also found the methods of torture used quite disturbing and very graphic.

I must confess to be a little disappointed with The Marriage Pact. It was intrigue which held my attention throughout the book. This covert ultimate arbitrator known as the Pact seems to register your every action. Despite the pantomime, “He’s behind you!” moment when everyone and his dog knows that there’s a triangulation app on Alice and Jake’s phones and maybe an open microphone too, it only goes someway to explain the information the Pact hold. I found this frustrating. Equally annoying was the gullibility of the newlyweds signing away their freedom to explore their new lives together. It had a formulaic feel good ending following a root and branch organisational reform by the Pact’s leader who was in terminal decline. Hardly realistic.

Great read really enjoyed it. Makes u think about marriage and why it works or sometimes doesnt! Slightly extreme concepts of dealing with 'errors' here tho!! Liked the twists and will definitely recommend. Thanks for letting me review this book.

This was a book where I needed to read to the end but the subject was quite disturbing and became more so as the story unfolded.

Great writing and the characterization was compelling.

Thanks for the copy in exchange for my review.

I was intrigued by the concept in this book, how far would people go to have their marriage last forever?

Alice and Jake are newlyweds and receive an invite to join ‘The Pact’ as a wedding present. They have a brief overview and sign up without much hesitation. Now this for me is where I had to start suspending disbelief. Alice is a lawyer and yet, rather than do any due-diligence or research she signs a contract because she might miss a party otherwise!

They soon find out The Pact has numerous rules that must be followed with punishments and charges for breaking them. The tactics they use are something out of an old fashioned psychological experiment.

I finished the book just to see what happened but it was a meh ending.

Not really for me, sorry.

When she gives a throwaway invitation to her imminent wedding to a client she has just successfully represented, Alice does not expect him to attend. He does, and thus begins Alice and her husband’s induction into an unusual group whose core purpose is to uphold the sanctity of marriage.
You could have a worse agenda, you might think, but Alice and Jake soon come to realise the burden of adhering to the strict guidelines, and the penalties for contravening them.
Michelle Richmond has come up with a good plot, and the narrative fairly bombs along, but this book still feels a bit long. Much of the action in the Correction Centre is repetitive and doesn’t add to the horror. I have stopped wondering why the protagonists in a book don’t just take a step back and say, hold on, this is just wrong, so I find no fault with Jake and Alice for acting as they do.
I was fascinated by the selection of the setting for the organisation’s founder – Rathlin Island off the coast of Northern Ireland, even though the book’s action mostly takes place in west coast USA, but I’m not much wiser having read it.
That the ending is slightly bizarre, is my final complaint, and despite all of that, this book is still a decent holiday read.
With thanks to Netgalley and Penguin UK- Michael Joseph

Okay I admit I thought the premise was fascinating. Not just because it is messed up in a culty oppressive kind of way, perhaps more so because it is a feasible premise. It is exactly the kind of big brother organisation people like to be a part of, especially if it makes them feel elitist.

Cults like Scientology spring to mind when I read books like this. Their self anointed title of omnipotent makes them believe they can do and say anything they want to. Abuse, torture, maligning reputations are right up their alley, and all whilst making their sheople pay for the privilege of being played for a fool.

It has both a masochistic and sadistic streak all the way through it. Alice almost seems to enjoy or thinks she deserves the punishment she receives. She also appears to want Jake to feel the same way. Take your punishment, enjoy it and learn from it. Talk about messed up brainwashing and playing on the vulnerabilities of people.

The goal of The Pact is to keep marriages sustainable, intact and supposedly happy. The Pact comes with a whole manual full of rules and punishments. You break a rule and you get treated to the equivalent of justice via cult dictatorship.

Richmond doesn’t just question what makes a marriage work long-term she also shines a great big spotlight on groups, religious or otherwise, masking as havens for those who need to feel as if they are more important than others and those who just want to belong.

It’s a compelling thought-provoking read.

Alice and Jake make a pact with an unknown organisation to obide by the rules of a manual to keep their marriage strong. Little do they know that the rules are easy to break and painful when they have to repay the penalty. A real page turner until the ending. I am always disappointed when a story leaves it up to you to decide on what you think the ending is - as if the author got bored and couldn't really be bothered to finish it properly. Until this, I really enjoyed this story.

I really enjoyed this book. I found it very intriguing and captivating, the plot is kind of strange, but I think it works. I'm definitely going to read another one of Mrs. Richmond's books soon.