Member Reviews

4.5⭐️

A thoroughly impressive read that kept me grabbing this book every time I had a minute spare. 🔥

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but this is the first book I have read by Marrs, and it did not disappoint! This speculative thriller is out of the norm compared to my usual reads, but who doesn’t like a book where Margaret Atwood meets Black Mirror? 😍

Very thought provoking and well fleshed out, each chapter of this read pieces together brilliantly, culminating very cleverly at the end.

I loved the topics explored and found them very fascinating. This read really does make you think about technology and how long it will be until it takes over. I would hate having AI listening to and dictating my life, and this was explored very well in the anti-acters chapters.

The adverts at the end of some chapters really demonstrated how terrible the Act was and also added to the ambiguity of how this read would end. I also loved the underlying theme that history repeats itself, with connections to real life past events.

The characters were fabricated exceptionally well and I feel like I got to really know them. Each character had a quality that you loved and also one that you hated about them and this really made this read engaging. I do have to say that I had to devise a character list as you are introduced to so many names and I struggled to keep up at first. I really enjoyed the subtle connections between some of the characters though, and this really cements how clever this read and Marrs is.🔥

This read is the fourth in Marrs’ collection of speculative thrillers and can be read as a standalone. I really wish I had read the others beforehand though and I will definitely be checking them out.

If you love short chapters, multiple POV, a cleverly crafted plot and an engaging read, this is a book for you! I highly recommend this read. 😍

Many thanks to John Marrs, NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for this ARC published on 19th January 23!📚

⚠️ Please check out the trigger warnings! ⚠️

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Thank you Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the chance to review this arc.

In this book we follow five different POVs- Roxi, a struggling influencer, Corrine, a housewife desperate to leave her marriage, Anthony, a computer programer with many secrets, Arthur, taking care of his ailing wife and Jeffrey, a relationship responder who has an unnatural fixation with his clients.

The Sanctity Of Marriage Act was introduced by the government to encourage people to get married, or if you are already married, stay that way with several incentives like better health care, tax breaks, better housing just to name a few. If you choose to stay single, are divorced or widowed you are a second class citizen.
The downside to this act, you may ask? The government can monitor your conversations anytime and if they pick up on keywords that they don't like, you may have a visit from a relationship responder who will help put you on the right track. If this sounds like something you can get behind, visit www.smartmarrige.co.uk and have your audite installed today! Or alternatively, join the Freedom For All group and protest for your rights!

Well, John Marrs has done it again. This man is brilliant at writing nightmarish yet completely plausable futures. You are reading and believing that this could happen in the future and that is scary! This book shows a very bleak future and what it's like if you choose to not conform. And it doesn't just stop at marriages.
I loved the use of social media and how it shows our reliance on it, and how easy it is for everyone to believe what is on the internet. It's very thought provoking.

Overall, this was a five star read for me and I will be recommending this book to everyone!

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Oh my...I loved every thought that must have gone into this book. Thanks to the "other John" who started this idea and gave John Marrs the brilliance he has to make this book what it was. Crazy look into what just could or may be in the future. The couples all had their uniqueness to them. This one I could not put down. I've been a huge John Marrs fan since I read "The One" in my opinion his books get better and better. Hope to see one on tv in the future as well...now wouldn't that be great!!!

Thanks to the author,the publisher and netgalley for an early release of this book.

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Another cracking near future thriller from the somewhat twisted mind of John Marrs. What makes this book so disturbing, for me at least, is the fact that a lot of the AI and social media in the story isn't really that far fetched when we look at the kind of tech we now have in our homes and on our devices. A scary story for sure, and hugely entertaining.

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📖BOOK REVIEW📖
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

#TheMarriageAct by @johnmarrs.author

⏩for synopsis

My first book by this author and certainly not my last…

Marrs has created a modern day orwellian style novel that perhaps acts as a warning to all of us who welcome AI technology into our lives 😱 (Alexa has just got her marching orders 😂)

Following four couples and their experiences with the Marriage Act, the books takes you on an interesting journey; I loved how each chapter followed another characters story - it really kept me on my toes and desperately wanting to read more but also wanting go back to the other characters stories. Considering this, I still found it easy to follow, keep updated and invested in each couples story.

Not much like ability is to be found here with the characters; they are all deeply flawed or are part of a bigger game which leaves a sour taste, but towards the end glimmers of redemption are found for some. I think this is genius and intentional - it’s keeps you the reader on the side lines looking in, witnessing the fall out of the characters lives through their choices, but this dislike also doesn’t stop you get completely absorbed with their goings on, actions and consequences.

It concludes satisfactorily, and while I did feel it was a long read, I wasn’t at any point bored and definitely will be reading more by the author!

With thanks to author #johhmarrs @netgalley and #macmillan books for allowing us to read this one early!

RELEASING: Jan 19th

-EMILY

@the_book_girls_1

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Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. What a fantastic read!! I absolutely loved it. Lots of different characters and storylines all joining together to create a brilliant ending. I am a big fan of the author and I have to admit this is his best work yet. I am giving the highest recommendation I can give! Everybody needs to read this book. A massive 5 stars from me.

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A high-octane and nerve-wracking thriller, The Marriage Act is another remarkably inventive and exceptionally exciting story from a talented author who is guaranteed to have you glued to the page.

Set in the same world as some of Marr's other books, The Sanctity of Marriage Act has cleverly been developed from the Match Your DNA idea which began in The One, brilliantly showing how governments/companies can convince you to take more and more of your freedoms if you're willing to sacrifice a little for the promise of more. From a bit of your DNA in return for your soul mate, to the invasion of your privacy and rights in return for better health care, future prospectives and financial well-being. What could go wrong?!

Using his trademark of multiple narratives to follow four sets of characters, this allows Marrs to explore various situations that stem from the same starting point. There are single characters who suffer because of their life choices, married couples who are forced to live a lie, and widowed characters who are desperate to hold on to their past. The complexity of Marr's books does mean that it can be difficult to get to grips with so many characters at the start, but you soon fit all of the pieces together and see things as a bigger picture.

And of course, it wouldn't be a John Marrs book with a bit of murder along the way. Not that this is needed to make this a terrifying read, as The Sanctity of Marriage Act is only a small part of this story. Marrs also looks at our use of social media and how ever-evolving technologies could soon be used, for both bad and good. Marrs' ideas are all terrifyingly believable, and it just blows my mind how well-developed his fictional world is.

I'm positive that you could enjoy this as a standalone, but I would recommend that you read The One and The Passengers beforehand to get the full experience. Because although the story is self-contained, Marrs is building on the futuristic dystopian world that his speculative thrillers are all set in, so you'll be able to admire Marrs' brilliance at its fullest if you have some prior knowledge of the technologies he has developed throughout his books.

If you enjoy dystopian worlds or like the idea of an easy-to-engage with science fiction/thriller combo with an exciting and original premise, John Marrs is your man!

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Thank you for NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read the ARC of this book! I loved John Marrs's previous book, The One so I was really excited to read this one. The concept was definitely interesting. The actual book fell a bit flat for me - I felt like there was way too much telling, rather than showing, especially when it came to backstories or exposition. There seemed to be a lot of setting up for the various characters. I don't think I actually got into the story until around 60% because most of the book felt like it was setting up for the story. There were also a lot of typos which took me out of the story. I'm not sure if this was because it is an ARC, and maybe the release date copy will have fixed these. Overall, I was quite disappointed, as I previously really enjoyed this author.

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I have previously enjoyed John Marrs books, but this didn’t excite me quite as much as his others.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

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I love John Marrs' books are so good. I have read several of his books. This one was interesting but I don't think it was for me. I liked the writing but I wasn't really feeling the whole premise of the book.

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John Marrs has done it again! Whether he is writing a thriller or speculative fiction, Marrs always manages to create something that is compelling and full of twists and turns.

In this book, we are exploring a future in which the UK government has introduced so-called Smart Marriages where couples are given the tax breaks, better housing, access to better NHS care, and many other perks in exchange for agreeing to let their relationships be monitored through smart devices in their homes as well as wearables.

I thoroughly enjoyed the way that this book felt like it believably plotted a course where a government slowly found more and more ways to control citizens and utilised current pop cultures references and events in a way that feels both very current but also didn't feel like it would age the book in a few years time. The way that this book makes smart marriages seem like just the beginning and discusses other authoritarian steps that were in the works.

Much like with The One, this book offers a good number of different POVs that enable the reader to truly get a feel for the different ways that this Act could impact the lives of people in different ways.

There were a lot of surprises and reveals that truly kept me guessing right up until the last page but it never got to the point that it felt gimmicky in any way.

This book has truly sealed that John Marrs is an auto-buy author for me and I am eagerly anticipating whatever he released next.

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Sign up to www.smartmarriage.co.uk and you could reap the rewards.
Imagine a world where artificial intelligence can decide whether your marriage is in trouble. Could a computer ever really understand the complexities of love? Is technology any match for human emotions?

You don’t need to have read ‘The One’ to enjoy this book but it does refer to the ‘dna match’ concept of that book. And like John Marrs’ earlier book ‘The Marriage Act’ skims so close to possible future reality that your hackles rise at the sheer injustice of it all.

Shocking and tense. The Marriage Act will have your pulse racing.

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I loved the short sharp chapters this book offers, with different character's lives being shown through each. This dystopian book is set in the future and has a very worrying plot. The Smart Marriage gives the couple better heathy care, living conditions and also low tax brackets but with these perks comes problems. If you divorce you have nothing left, if you are widowed you get a minimal time to marry again. The government are in control and listen in to the characters lives, very big brother style. which in this day and age is horrifying but seems somewhat possible. A true master piece from John Marrs, with clever writing and through provoking ideas

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3.5 stars
Having enjoyed other books by John Marrs, I was keen to read this one.
Whilst the storyline was intriguing, the amount of different characters had me confused at times. With chapters from each character all separated it takes a few minutes to work out who you’re reading about and what their role in the story is.
I did enjoy the book and found the concept of Smart Marriage where you are monitored by the government quite scary.
I really felt for Arthur and the other stand out character is Jeffrey as he’s such a nasty piece of work.
Overall a good read.
Thanks to Pan MacMillan and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

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This was the first book I've read by John Marrs and I really enjoyed it. It was creepy, suspenseful and thrilling.the characters were great and it was written very well. Would definitely recommend.

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This is a dark Dystopian thriller which allows us to see what could happen in the all too near future with the use of AI!

This is now my 5th John Marrs book and he has again kept me gripped with his writing! The twists and turns kept me intrigued!

The marriage act is in the same category as "The One" which I was pleased to hear as it was my first ever book I read by Marrs and gave it a 5 star review!

Cleverly written and chilling!

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This was a great, but scary, book! It's The Marriage Act by John Marrs which I received from Pan Macmillan via Netgalley. It will be out on the 19th of January.

This book was scary and not in the thrilling/horror way but scary in the futuristic way and in the sense that it could actually all take place. This could as well happen in reality and that makes it utterly horrible. It's set in the near future where marriage is law and if you are not member of the Sanctity of Marriage Act, you will be discriminated against. You will be seen as a second-class citizen. If you are married and follow the government, they can infiltrate in your homes and in your everyday life. There are sets of rules to be followed, and the government, when the AI in your home sees your marriage is a bit stuck, can intervene.

I couldn't put down this book at all! It read so easily and the story was interesting and exciting making it an absolute thriller to read. I loved the main characters and hated the 'horrible' characters which the author described perfectly. He managed to convey the perfect amount of unease and irritation to love the story.

Definitely a recommendation!

5/5⭐

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One of the authors speculative thrillers set in Britain in the near-future when artificial intelligence (AI) is the government’s answer to the counties economic and social crises. The mainstay of which is the Sanctity of Marriage Act which rewards couples who marry to the detriment of singles and married couples who don’t sign up to Smart Marriage. This book follows a number of characters - there are a lot of characters in the book so it did take a few chapter for me to get properly onboard. I’m going to single out the two that made the most impression on me: Jeffrey is a Relationship Responder, sent to help couples that AI considers need marriage counselling; he is one of the most odious, manipulative characters I’ve read for a while. On the other end of the scale was Arthur whose story broke my heart.

Briefly, as the government stance on ‘controlling’ the population tightens not everyone agrees with them. The movement fighting to end this dystopian rule are still underground but it’s growing…

I really enjoyed this book, it was a compulsive read, dark and at times terrifying as you can imagine some of this taking place in our lifetimes. Brilliantly plotted with people facing some harrowing consequences if they don’t follow the rules. Twists and turns kept me guessing and it’s not always those who deserve it who suffer. A great read, great characters, great plot - but how close is this to the reality of our future? Be afraid!
4.5⭐️

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I was glad to get to the last page of this odd book. Lots and lots of very odd ideas added to plenty of similar ones I’ve already read in maybe slightly different forms. Not for me.

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The Marriage Act
by John Marrs

I read and really enjoyed "The One" last year so was intrigued to see where the author would go with this premise. Although the year is never mentioned, it's obvious from references about King William, Harper Beckham's bikini range and the fact that characters may barely remember Brexit that we are a generation into the future. For reasons that are never made clear, Britain is enjoying an economic boom thanks to the Sanctity of Marriage Act, which guarantees tax breaks, better housing, fast track healthcare access etc to couples who commit to super marriage, essentially turning singles, widows and normal marrieds into second class citizens living in slummy oldtown ghettos.

What could go wrong?

This is fast paced, with Marrs characteristic cliff hangers at the end of each short chapter, but the highly convoluted plot with shallow, underdeveloped characters and implausible scenarios left me indifferent. There were one or two characters I think I was supposed to be rooting for, but I just didn't care. The writing is unpolished, with unnatural over-explaining dialogue and slapstick drama. Not for me.

Publication date: 19th January 2023
Thanks to #panmacmillan and #netgalley for the egalley

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