Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Marriage Act

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Marriage Act by John Marrs

33 reviews

nerdyprettythings's review against another edition

dark tense

3.5

Set in the future of the world from The One (which I really loved!), this one was a little bit of a miss for me. I still really enjoyed some of the thriller aspects, but this one is much more BLEAK y’all! I feel like The One was already pretty heavy in parts, but ultimately hopeful. There are very few characters to root for here, and at the center of the story is a cartoonish government conspiracy with one shadowy main figure. I just don’t think the world was as thought through, or maybe it reflects like tech-fear headlines that are outdated now.
Also, it’s a super conservative future world where staying married is cynically the goal because it’s best for the economy - but then people say things like “body shaming is a thought crime.” So whose totalitarian future are we in? These sort of random “oh that’s illegal now” felt anachronistic.
Definitely check the TWs on this one, basically all the bad stuff happens and a lot of things are described graphically

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naereads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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boop123's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

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emarrbee's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-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

4.75

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paguroidea's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition

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reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

John Marrs is the trailblazer of modern-day British dystopias. Each concept is so distinctive and yet well within the realms of possibility. I could genuinely see this taking place in fifty years time. I really appreciated the references to British politics, "historical" events and public figures throughout. I also enjoyed the cross referencing of other works. If you've yet to read The Passengers or The One, there may be very minor spoilers for you but I don't think you need to read them first in order to read this book.

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scenic92's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.5

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itsme_lori's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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elysareadsitall's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

5.0

John Marrs is one of my favorite authors, and I'm absolutely thrilled to have read another book set in the universe of "The Passengers" and "The One." "The Marriage Act" once again explores the dangers of too much government oversight and technological advances being used to control citizens. In this book, Smart Marriages featuring AI control whether or not couples stay married, and couples in these marriages are given significant financial and social benefits.

The book is built with short chapters from several perspectives, and each ends on a delicious cliffhanger that drives the reader through the book. I love this format, and Marrs does it incredibly well. I laughed, cried, cheered, and gasped while reading this novel. It is creepy at times and heartbreaking at others but not devoid of hope. It's speculative thriller done right.

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stacey_reads_books's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I quite enjoyed this book. It was that kind of satirical, dystopian fiction where it's not too much of a push to imagine that this could happen in the not too distant future of society. It held my interest and there were a few twists that I didn't see coming but I did have difficulty connecting with some of the characters, at times they felt a bit 2D. Possibly that is because there were many different characters and the book rotates between the POV of a few of them.

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