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planky's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicide and Murder
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury
killmoore_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I started the marriage act after getting about 50 pages into the Family Experiment and I'm really glad I did. Talk about infuriating though.
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
corkycheyenne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
3.75
Graphic: Death and Suicide
misha_ali's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book is about legislation that governs marriages (lower taxes, prices on things, faster access to public services, etc. if you are part of a "Smart Marriage" as opposed to the old kind) with the caveat that the government installs devices that record ten minutes random of your discussion during the day with your spouse to make sure your marriage is "on track". If not, you're assigned mandatory reminders and tips to improve the marriage and a relationship counsellor if things don't improve with a final review by the courts that could mandate a divorce irrespective of the wishes of the people married.
Initially, I found the multiple point-of-view chapters a bit hard to follow because there is so much variety but this quickly evens out with a few reveals and things swiftly escalate towards conclusions for each of the storylines. I appreciate the rich diversity of people we follow, from a retired fireman dealing with a spouse with dementia but reluctant to let her be taken away as per the dictates of the Smart Marriage, a woman secretly working with the group opposed to Smart Marriage and trying to leave her Smart Marriage, a Smart Marriage therapist, a social media obsessed woman who takes on a controversial stance just to gain followers, and others. I appreciate when dystopian stories have that kind of coverage and have different people at various levels with their own agendas.
I don't know if I can say much about this without spoiling the plot but I enjoyed the ride and the conclusion was quite satisfying.
Graphic: Suicide
taleofabibliophile's review against another edition
2.75
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Gore, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infertility, Self harm, and Fire/Fire injury
ricardo_reads's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
The main thing that this book suffers from is that the author keeps using shock value as a way to (try) keep the reader engaged but when genuine twists happen, they fall flat because the they are used to the “twists” at that point. Also, NONE of the characters actually feel like people, I did not care what happened to them and where they were at the end of the story. One final thing, the plot twist concerning Jem Jones? Absolutely insane. And not in the good way.
However, I will say ONE positive thing about this book. The premise of being forced to marry is a smart idea, I just wished it was better written.
Moderate: Sexual content and Murder
Minor: Suicide
mollywoods18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Murder
colechapp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Suicide and Violence
Minor: Rape
risaleel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism
shedasortareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide