I'm thinking this may be another 'Gone Girl''. Really enjoyed the book!

This was a really interesting book. I definitely didn't expect the ending. It kept me really interested throughout and I didn't want to put it down.

Interspersed with marriage and counseling factoids, this is an interesting and twisting story of forced dedication to marriage and it's effects on the psychology of companionship. The plot is sinister throughout and doesn't disappoint with its secret society styling and unforeseeable consequences. Who would think having a happy marriage could be so dangerous? A page-turner with twists and turns that keep you wanting more.

This is a very intense novel about a newly married couple that gets invited to join a sort of marriage club called The Pact. The couple, Jake and Alice, thinks the premise and mission of the club is sound: to provide ways for a couple to enhance and built a marriage and be in community with like-minded others. The catch is the adherence and the consequences of the lack there of. The scary thing about the novel is not so much the telling consequences but the strange feeling that something like The Pact could be a reality somewhere.

I thought the synopsis was very intriguing and the first 100 or so pages were to be truthful. But at some point the characters become stupid. I fell out of love with this book as fast as I fell in love with it at the beginning.

I could nitpick a few things about this book but that's not really my style. What you should know is that despite the things that bothered me and the suspension of belief they required, I was glued to this and stayed up to finish it.

Honest review in exchange for an ARC from Netgalley.

This is the kind of book that you think about long after you've finished it. I kept rolling over the pact in my mind to decide what parts of the pact were good and what was too far. The line is not always clear.

Suspenseful, well written. Could not put it down. Will recommend to friends. Can see a movie in its future!

This book was so much more than what I was thinking it would be. Jake and Alice are two newlyweds who are invited to join a group of married couples committed to keeping their marriages intact no matter what. What starts out as a great idea turns into a very creepy, cultish group that they can't escape. It was a book I couldn't put down as it is fast paced and you are always wondering what other horrors lay ahead. But where it went a little astray was the far fetched-ness that the plot went into. It's just got too brutal and out there to be a full five star book. Great plot and it will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat, but it is very wild!

This book is a must read if you like thriller books. I still can't get Jake and Alice out of my mind after finishing this book. Yes FRIEND, this is how the group calls each other. A high society cult with no way out for these characters. Highly recommend it.

Seems like a good premise but quickly becomes tedious & unbelievable. Will not be purchasing this title.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

What a great book!! I literally couldn't put this book down once I'd started it. Although some parts may have seem a little far-fetched, I came to the conclusion that such a thing as "The Pact" and all it encompasses could actually exist in 2017, with all it's positives and negatives. I know everyone might not agree, but what a concept. Many of the positive ideas in The Pact would help any marriage. I wonder whether my husband and I would have signed "The Pact" at the beginning of our marriage, not really understanding what we were getting into.

The Marriage Pact is about Jake and Alice, a newly married couple who receive "The Pact" as a wedding present, complete with a book of rules and regulations. He's a therapist, she's a lawyer and it all sounds great in the beginning - give each gifts, make sure to take trips together, always answer the phone when your spouse calls. Then there are the sections on misbehavior and punishment, which sound a little ambiguous but turn out to be a lot less vague and more black and white than they could ever have imagined.

The characters were fascinating. I watched the changes that Jake and Alice went through, always seemingly committed to one another and their marriage, with real interest. I was very satisfied with the ending, although I would have been fine if it had ended with the other choice (you have to read the book!).

The characters who made up the other members of The Pact were so interesting, and I think Michelle Richmond did a great job introducing them and telling their stories. She also drew me in with the plot, which moved quickly and left me gasping in places, especially at the end.

I highly recommend this book, and I think it will be a summer hit! It would make great television!

I was disappointed by this book! I was intrigued by the description. However, once starting it, the book seemed to drag on. There would be moments where it was building up to what you would expect to be a huge breakthrough in the story and it ended up being somewhat anticlimactic. After finishing the book, I had a lot of unanswered questions. There were several situations in the book then were never fully explained or resolved. I also had trouble connecting with any of the characters and I wasn't fond of any of them. Overall, the book wasn't the worst I have read. Maybe my expectations were just a little too high.

This seemed like something out of a Showtime conceptualization such as The Affair or maybe HBO since they’re doing the Big Little Lies series right now. Either way it’d make the perfect mini-series for a cable movie channel.

It’s a very intense and suspenseful story that can easily be read and finished within a day thanks to the fast pace and chapters that just seem to melt one into another. Each chapter will pull you into the next with no place where you feel safe putting it down. Richmond knows how to write dialogue, probably why I could see this being easily turned into a screenplay with few changes. Even though you’re reading it with your eyes her words flow so well you might as well have been listening to an audiobook; you can just hear the characters having these conversations in your head.

As far as the storyline goes I found it well-written, intriguing and an interesting take on relationships. I did find some of the subject matter and characterizations a little hard on the realism side because the main characters are supposed to be well-educated but somehow they fell into this odd Pact. Since the Pact seems to mirror Scientology in ways, something many others have picked up on, and we all know seemingly intelligent people who are involved in that it did help mend some of the confusion as to why smart people do dumb things.

Overall Richmond is an excellent and talented writer which shows through everything she does especially when she adds bits of pop culture to her books by name dropping bands and or songs and real places around the Bay area (I so want to go visit there now with this book in hand).

It’s one of those stories that draws you in and you want to keep reading if only to find out how this couple is going to fare through The Pact. Although some of the rules make sense, particularly if you’re newlyweds trying to avoid being part of the high American divorce rate, what will really make you curious is the cloud that hangs over their heads of what if you violate them???

The Marrage Pact was definitely a page turner,although the middle of the book was quite tedious and chilling,, I did want to see how it ended. I would read another book from this author.

Well-paced domestic thriller - fun for a book club discussion.

It was refreshing to read a psychological suspense novel presented (after the opening chapter) in chronological order from the single POV of a reliable narrator.

"The Marriage Pact" (see book description) actually reminded me a lot of "The Firm", but also has aspects of the Stanford prison experiment (which, after I had noted so, was mentioned in the book!) and "The Circle". I could see this book being adapted to film, as those stories were.

Deftly plotted and paced, it had me on pins and needles, providing a breather only when Jake Cassidy was counseling his patients or dispensing factoids on marriage — interludes that invite discussion as much as what you *think* you would do in his or Alice's circumstances.

A book club read, for sure — just have the hot chocolate handy, friend.

My supreme thanks to NetGalley, Bantam Books, and Michelle Richmond for the advanced reading copy.

Could not read, sis not care for the writing style.

I had trouble believing a lot of things in this book, and couldn't truly connect to the characters. It seemed like the story was kind of all over the place. It would get crazy intense and fail to find its way out. Not a fan, though I really wanted to be.

The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond is innovative, edgy, and compelling--impossible to put down. Throughout most of the book, I kept wanting to call up all of my closest book-reading friends, ask them to read it, and then meet for a long discussion. I thought it might be one of the most intriguing books I'll read all year. The author's style is truly fabulous and I will definitely read more of her work.

One expects a few spelling errors here and there, but unfortunately my ARC contained more than I think is acceptable. I hope these are cleaned up prior to publication, as it is a shame to be bothered by these distractions.
I also felt that the wonderful pace did not hold up after the first 2/3 of the novel and thought that it dragged a bit. All plot points in this middle piece are necessary, but I think the orchestration was a little slow (although the ending was wonderfully both inevitable and surprising). And lastly, despite the obviously well researched discussions about marriage counseling, the author made a fundamental error about the difference between psychology and psychiatry. Those familiar with the fields will find that disappointing.

Nonetheless, The Marriage Pact is sure to be one of those books that contains much for readers to ponder after finishing the last page. It is a great book for book clubs and I am sure it will get a lot of attention for the provocative nature of its content. I look forward to more books by Michelle Richmond and highly recommend her writing.