This was a very interesting read. As I was introduced to more characters, I really got a sense of the ideology of the group. It was crazy to think about the rules within the pact and just how far they would go to keep members in line. Great, easy read.

Well... I really wanted to like this book. The premise really hooked me and I definitely wanted to figure out what was going on throughout the book. It just felt really long and the pacing was off. There would be dozens of pages where NOTHING was happening and the main character was just info dumping that I did not enjoy. I just found it extremely hard to believe that these seemingly smart people would get into this without ever asking what it actually was. And that ending was a joke. Don't want to give anything away, but it felt extremely rushed and almost like a rushed/poorly planned ending because the author couldn't think of a better way for them to get out.

Nit picks:
-Main character explained that his wife was in a band and what the band was and why and how and when about 40 million times throughout the story. You only need to tell it once, the reader can remember that she was in a band.

-It was really hard to get to know the characters and because of that you never really care about them. You start in with them right during the wedding so you don't get much of who they were before the marriage. They never really talk, it's more of the main character giving you his thoughts all the time.

Overall, I would not recommend this book. I finished it only because I wanted to know the mystery.

**Received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for review**

Good book. Some fascinating concepts. Well written. Kept me reading and wanting to pick it up again.

This book had just enough bizarre, strange and creepy events to keep a reader hooked! I loved the fast pace and suspense. Kept me on the edge of my seat and racing to the end.

I loved the theme of marriage in this book. I liked the thriller aspect but also loved the softer aspects as well. I was hooked from the first page right up until the last (making me late for an appointment. Oops) . I especially was held tight be abuse the conclusion doesn't come until the very last pages. I was drawn in not knowing what decisions Alice and Jake were going to make in the final pages. This would make a great book club pick and wonderful discussion on marriage and what aspects of the Pact would enhance your own marriage. Overall, very well done!! This is going to make a great summer read!

The Marriage Pact starts out with Jake and Alice having gotten married. They receive a wedding gift that contains membership into The Pact and, even though both are highly educated, sign the contract without reading the membership book. What follows is a lesson in what The Pact deems to be the rules of marriage and the consequences of various infractions. Alice gets on their radar almost immediately, which was not hard to fathom. The Pact then takes her to task and she is meted out various punishments throughout the book.

Alice was a lawyer who was a workaholic and had no qualms about Jake taking care of the household duties. She was a slob plain and simple. I would have kicked her out or told her to hire a maid. Her behavior was adolescent at points and I found it hard to connect with her. She was a musician who then turned to becoming a lawyer after an epiphany when she turned 30. She had no thought as to her behaviors, just thought she could flit through life doing what she wanted when she wanted. It was hard to really get a good grasp on her deal.

Jake is a therapist who has teens as patients and then expands into marriage counseling. He was very introspective throughout this book. The book is told entirely from his POV and, while interesting, I found myself wondering about what Alice was thinking at points. Jake was easily manipulated at times. He would then think back and realize where he went wrong. I did give him credit for not just conforming to their rules without asking questions and making his opinions known. He does pay a high price for his "infractions". When he deems that things have gone way too far, he decides to go to the top and let his opinions be known. You will have to read the book to find out what transpires and how it ends.

The book was intriguing and definitely piqued my interest to see what was going to happen. The only problem I had with the book was there were too many times when random facts were dropped into the book that took away from my enjoyment of it. The author would drop all kinds of statistics into the book and it got tedious after a while. It was like getting a constant lecture at points about how trust and fidelity are important in a marriage and the author used various factoids or snippets to drive her point home. Overall a good read. I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

It was a fast read and kept me turning the pages. There were a few stretches as far as what a character would do, but all in all, I liked it!

Alice and Jake are newlyweds. Alice used to be a musician and is now a successful lawyer. Jake is a partner in a psychology practice. They come across as the perfect couple despite their different backgrounds. Just as they return from their honeymoon, the receive a call from one of Alice’s prominent clients about a unique wedding present; Membership to a mysterious and very exclusive group known only as The Pact. At the face value, it seems like an interesting concept. The members must follow certain rules that are meant to help keep the couples happy in their relationship. So, Alice and Jake decide to join the club. But soon they discover that following the rules may not be as easy as it seems and there are serious repercussions in case they fail to follow them.

The book has a slow start in order able us to acclimatize ourselves to the various characters and the concept of the club. But once it settles in, the book maintains a steady pace and pages fly by. I was a bit disconcerted with the punishments for the infractions and must admit that they weren’t easy to read. Then there are the characters of Alice and Jake… I didn’t quite like Jake as one of the protagonist. If his insecurities were meant to help us like him, it did not work. And their personal relationship lacked proper chemistry that is expected from the lead couple. The other thing that bugged me is the fact that not all loops were tied up in the end. There were certain aspects of the club and its members that were not explained, like how did they know things that they clearly weren’t supposed to know.

The winner for the book is the narrative style adopted by the author. It is interesting and engaging. As a result, even with my misgivings with the book I ended up reading it really fast.

This book was okay. I skimmed a lot. I could not connect with the characters or really get into the plot.

OMG this book was a twisted tale of a married couple who kind of felt like they needed to spice up their lives together. So they join this pact thinking it will bring them together with other couples who can relate to what they are going through as a working couple looking to keep the romance kindled. And wow were they so far off the mark. This story was twisted, and took me to places I never saw coming but in a good way. Loved it.

Marriage is an institution ordained of God and is not to be entered into lightly or in jest and only after much consideration.
— Universal Life Church

We are gathered together here to unite this man and this woman in the bonds of matrimony.

Do you (Groom) take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto her for as long as you both shall live?
If so, answer "I Do."

Do you (Bride) take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto him for as long as you both shall live?
If so, answer "I Do."


Ahhh . . . The Sanctity of Marriage.


While reading the eerie description for Michelle Richmond's The Marriage Pact, I felt my sentiments heighten to a great level of excitement, as I immediately knew that the novel was to be one that I would find genuinely enjoyable—depending upon whether or not it lived up to its heart-pounding chronicle.

. . .It did not fail.

Set in San Francisco, the plot, narrated in the first person by its main protagonist, Jake Cassidy, orbits around both Jake and his wife Alice, newlyweds with what they perceive to be a wonderfully bright future ahead of them. That is until one of their wedding guests, a former Irish folk music star turned business man named Finnegan sends the blissful pair a wedding gift destined to change their lives. And man, did it ever. It was a small gift box etched with two simple words: The Pact.

Jake, a very empathetic therapist to both married couples in distress and troubled teens, and his new bride Alice, a former rock star turned attorney—who incidentally stands to gain a promotion for partnership at her law firm—initially overlook the "gift box," which delivered to them equipped with two very expensive ink pens, as simply another of their many wedding gifts. In fact, a few days would pass before the freshly-wed Mr. and Mrs. Jake Cassidy actually got a chance to go through the gift box's contents, laughing and making small light of it all. They call Finnegan to thank both him and his wife for the gift box marked "The Pact," to which Finnegan replies and provides Jake and Alice with a brief pitch as to what The Pact is. Jake and Alice—together far too naïve for their own good—both agree to a sit down with a representative from The Pact named Vivian, who pretty much sweet talks Jake and Alice with a rehearsed biography on a woman named Orla who founded The Pact, and runs it (from her sprawling estate in Ireland) based on the principals of encouraging strong, healthy, and long term marriages. Notwithstanding, The Pact even has its own "Manual" which includes sections of how each husband and wife member must conduct their everyday activities around the other, and the penalties they stand to face should any of them fail to do so. Terrifying penalties unknown to the newlyweds because they couldn't be bothered to read the fine print and every clause of the "Manual" at the time of Vivian's initiation. Asking only a question or two concerning one of the sections, both Jack and Alice decide to just go along and sign on the dotted lines.
It proved to be a joint decision that the gullible pair soon began to bitterly regret. For as they would eventually learn, NO ONE escapes The Pact.

. . .At least not alive.


From there on out, The Marriage Pact will make its reader feel as though he or she were shoved into the pit of an asylum with the extremely maniacal, and left there with absolutely no way out. It is an emotionally gut-wrenching roller coaster ride through the trenches of madness.


Everything that you've ever heard about the deranged and demonic beliefs and practices of cults and sects can be summed up in this frightening page-turner. The chapters are short, straight to the point; and the premise, transfixing. Within The Pact, all of its members "lovingly" refer one to another as simply, "Friend," yet their evil and menacing actions expose them as anything but.


Michelle Richmond's The Marriage Pact is an arousing read that will indeed keep its readers up late—entangled in its lunacy.


Expect your emotions to run wild with this dreadful tale: Frustration, anger, fear, paranoia, anxiety, worry, doubt, and every other reaction in between.
I didn't know where it would end, but in due time, it did. And on a note that will leave the reader both in tears and speechless.
Most deserving of five stars, The Marriage Pact is a skillfully-written work of excruciating suspense!

Do I, as a reviewer, acknowledge Michelle Richmond's latest prose narrative as one of the most illustrative and petrifying accounts detailing the blind falsities of cultism to ever be published to date?

I Do.



• It is my kindly pleasure to thank both Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Bantam, as well as NetGalley, for the advanced copy of "The Marriage Pact," in exchange for my honest review.

Analysis of "The Marriage Pact" by Michelle Richmond is courtesy of Reviews by Cat Ellington: https://catellingtonblog.wordpress.com

Date of Review: Tuesday, April 18, 2017

In “The Marriage Pact”, by Michelle Richmond, we meet Alice and Jake. They are newlyweds and one of their wedding gifts was a locked box, from a client of Alice’s, Finnegan – all to be revealed after their honeymoon.

What is finally revealed is both intriguing and terrifying. They have been invited to join The Pact. "The Pact is a group of like-minded individuals’ intent on achieving a similar goal" – is what they are told. But as Alice and Jake begin their life together, commitment, jealously and insecurity all come to the surface and are all in direct conflict of The Pacts beliefs.

But as the Pact totally controls every aspect of their lives – can they find a way out or will The Pact even let them. …

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and this is my honest review.

I really enjoyed this thriller - although I thought I knew what was going to happen, I was surprised and excited to see where this book led. The NYC descriptions rang true and the characters were well developed. My Library will purchase multiple copies.

Who doesn't want to make sure that they want their marriage to be successful? And how supportive would it be to belong to a group of other couples with the same commitment to having a strong marriage? Just how far would you go to keep your vows? And just how far will others go to make sure you stay committed? Sometimes the line between a support group and a cult can get blurred by good intentions.

This book will keep you intrigued from the very beginning. Personally, I think the sheer pressure of trying to do everything right would be enough to break any marriage. On the surface, the requirements seem reasonable - monthly gifts, quarterly getaways, always answer the phone when your spouse calls. But what happens when something goes wrong? Even a "minor infraction"?

This book will definitely have you re-evaluate your own marriage, and to be more cautious of your "friends".

The Marriage Pact is one of those books where an otherwise intelligent couple make a stupid decision and live to regret it. Part of the lure in this decision is having a celebrity deliver the hook. what could go wrong, they think. And we wouldn't want to insult this illustrious person offering us this gift, they add.

But like many things in life it's not a gift. It's an irrevocable contract. And they come to regret it many times over. The Marriage Pact covers what happens when the survival of that contract supercedes all, even your life.

The Marriage Pact is one to look out for. With standout writing, I'd be shocked if this isn't one of the top novels of 2017. It has plenty of twists and a completely intriguing plot. You receive a wedding gift that is essentially an invitation to join a Pact meant to keep marriages happy. There are basic rules to follow that make sense in a marriage, so why not? Would you join? This novel goes places I never expected and I loved every single second of it. Filled with suspense and excellent characters, I remained on the edge of my seat the entire time. If you enjoyed Big Little Lies, this is one you will want to get your hands on asap.

"The Marriage Pact" is about young couple. It's a psychological thriller that is entertaining to read and makes you reflect to your own life and issues.

This was a really interesting summer read. I'll be buying a copy for my mom ASAP.

This was an excellent read that kept me on tenterhooks. Quite a few unexpected twists.