I received this book from NetGalley free of charge in exchange for my honest review of the book.

Alice and Jake are newlyweds. A guest at their wedding invited them to join a "club" to help strengthen their marriage and interact with like minded couples. It sounds wonderful.. or is it? There are rules to this club and if you break them, the penalty can be severe.

I enjoyed this book and it kept me interested the entire time, as it only took me 3 days to read a 400+ page book. I felt invested in the characters and what happened to them. I liked that the author kept me guessing on what was really going on and how there were a couple of threads in the story that played into it. I certainly didn't see the twist near the end.

This book takes you on a fast moving suspenseful l ride. I was hooked from the first paragraph. I liked Alice and Jake and wanted them to triumph. It is not hard to image the marriage pact existing, and how a little power can corrupt. I like having the story told from Jake’s point of view.

Alice a successful lawyer and Jake a successful psychologist get an unexpected gift for their wedding. This gift sets into motion a marriage pact. Once they sign it they are bound to its laws. As they begin to unravel the secrets of this society it takes you on this psychological ride. A twisted membership they they cannot escape.

Absolutely loved this story! I was compelled to keep reading, especially with the short chapters. The main characters were well developed, and because there were a limited number of them, I didn't have to flip back to previous chapters to reacquaint myself with them. I could not have predicted the end, which turned out to be quite satisfying. My only "con" was the little bit of violence, about 3/4 of the way through the book. I would have preferred that to have been softened a little. Otherwise, The Marriage Pact was probably the best book I've read this year!

This was a remarkable book. There were so many things I did not like about it, especially in the beginning, and yet I could not put it down.
I initially didnt think the words really flowed into the story. It seemed choppy or something, Told from the point of view of Jake, husband of Alice, it was hard for me to follow where he was going with his tale. But somewhere along the line I got hooked, the author's writing faded into the background and I almost felt I could close my eyes and hear Jake telling the story.
I never felt I understood Alice, and maybe we are not meant to. As a recovering attorney I had one of those "huh?" moments when we learn that Alice has transformed herself from a rocker chick in a band to a workaholic intellectual property lawyer in a large firm with high net worth clients. It was evident Jake was truly in love with her, I just never really understood why. And I really had trouble buying that she would buy into the requirements of the group they joined, especially when subjected to parts of it. But once you are enmeshed in this story, the parts that are a little outside the box don't seem so, and I guarantee you will be unable to quit until you find out how these people resolve the mess they get themselves into. This was a truly good story, refreshingly original.

Richmond has an intense grasp on the struggles of new marriage - and a frighteningly realistic vision of how a cult permeates its members. Alice's compliance with the Pact's rules and discipline were almost unbelievable at some points, and then Richmond gave me a reason to believe her behavior was perfectly justifiable based on her goal of cementing their marriage together. I really felt her struggle with being a good wife and a mindless minion. I believe the ground rules of the Marriage Pact, while sounding antiquated, are in fact some of the cornerstones of a strong relationship. And yet...the cult-like mentality was well developed. The punishments meted out were creative and disturbing, and Richmond's painting of the facility makes the reader feel like they're inside it with the guests. I found the entire book an unusual twist on the relationship topic, and look forward to reading more!

While an interesting idea, I found the male point of view not as compelling as one would expect giving their background and profession. There seemed to be an inconsistency between his mental conversations with himself, his 'success' in his profession and his gullibility and lack of self-confidence. Similarly some of the other characters seemed insufficiently consistent with their back story. There were other scenes and elements that were well portrayed.

I was pretty riveted throughout - and I'm not usually a big fan of suspense novels. I liked the paychology tie-in, and the character who was part musician/part lawyer (you don't see that too often!) I thought this was a well-crafted treatment of the early months of marriage, from a sort of internal perspective. I had two minor quibbles - one regarding the reach of the organization and the number of people who must be involved to provide the level of surveillance and, er, re-education, if you will, that was portrayed here. The other was with the flexibility and understanding of the couples' co-workers and clients. But it was not bothersome enough to really distract from the story. And the ending was perfect. So that helped, too. I will definitely be recommending this one a lot.

This book certainly will not be everyone's cup of tea. But for me, it was a great read. Very fast paced. Very dense story. Would make for an excellent movie.

Seems like some people have quibbles with the characters. Indeed, they were not always likeable. In particular, the husband and wife both had moments in the story where they showed self-centered moronic behavior and a surprising lack of good judgement and/or empathy. But those qualities also made for a great story. You will find yourself having a lot of "what would I do in this situation?" moments while reading this book. Whose to say you or I would not be similarly moronic?

Drawbacks: if you've read the Stephen King story, "Quitters Inc," you know what you're getting into here--which was kind of a buzz kill when reading this book (to be fair though, this book takes things WAY further than King's). Also, this is yet another book where a therapist invites a client into his home like that's no big deal (that is very much not an acceptable practice.) So that kind of bothered me. Lastly, when reading this book, it helps if you don't think too much about logistics (So many missed days of work and personal drama and Jake's co-workers--all trained mental health care providers--just say, "That's cool. hope you come back soon? Hard to buy that.) However these are little issues.

Overall, an exciting find.

Sorry, these are not my favorite types of stories. I like to relax and read, not read about people's stupidity. Or how they get themselves into the mess they create. Sorry. Not for me.

carolintallahassee

I could not get into this novel. It moved very slowly and, truthfully, I lost interest long before I finished a quarter of it. I also could not connect with any of the characters. Thanks to Net Galley and Bantam for an ARC for an honest review. Sorry it could not have been more positive.

This was an absolute compulsive page turner. What a fresh story with complex characters. Really well written.

The Marriage Pact
Michelle Redmond
Available: July 25. 2017
Thank you to NetGalley.com for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I can easily see this being turned into a Lifetime movie (since they no longer have Movie of the Week on Network TV) with some graceful editing. It would be a great movie because of the twists and turns and a dramatic (yet predictable) ending. As a book, it was a decent read but I never connected with Jake as a loving husband – he seemed as having a need to possess Alice.
What I loved: The concept of The Pact is brilliant - monthly gifts, spousal appreciation, focusing on your relationship and I think that a lot of marriages would flourish and grow from these types of Pact requirements. A lot of times we take our spouses for granted and are constantly worrying about “me, me, me” that being required to take a step back and get away from the everyday would be a blessing (of course there is that whole financial issue of the trips, the gifts, the being sent to Fernley) but that’s why The Pact is for the wealthy.
What I didn’t love: Let’s debate what’s worse – Jake’s desire to own his wife or the lack of drawn out suspense with The Pact. Jake and Alice seemed doomed from the get go – there never seems to be the blissful honeymoon period of when they are enthralled with The Pact outside of the first day which leads to a very predictable ending.
What I learned: I best be answering the phone when the hubs calls.
Overall Grade: B-

www.FluffSmutandMurder.com

A clearly disturbing story, that really leads one on a goose chase.

The marriage pact is a group this newly married couple join, thinking it is all in fun. what it turns out to be is a nightmare. lots of things that do not make sense since this cult/clique create rules as they see fit and don't feel that the story clears up much at the end. lots of loose ends which makes me feel like this storyline needs lots of tweaking. I just felt like the storyline was weakened since this clique unrealistically had access everywhere to monitor the couples' behavior and even people in high places were known by this clique. Calling everyone "friend" when they were not "friends" - think it really tried to be like a sci fi robot storyline where evertyine complies and does not question the program.

The storyline is high paced but when the finale is revealed what a letdown, was expecting the couple to decide a different path but the ending felt too simplistic.

I was provided with an e-ARC by the publisher, Random House Publishing-Ballantine, via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you.

This is the third novel by Michelle Richmond that I have enjoyed. She is a talented author who knows how to grab your attention at the start and keeps you interested. This novel is no different although it did slow down just past the middle but was still engaging enough before picking up again.

I thought the premise was original with The Pact being a secretive organization whose goal is to protect the institution of marriage by supporting the couple. The protagonist couple is Alice (an attorney and former rock band singer) and Jake (a licensed counselor for married couples and also for troubled teens). They are invited to join The Pact as a wedding gift and they accept not realizing how heavy the consequences are if they do not explicitly obey the rules. I found it hard to believe how naive they were regarding getting involved considering how well-educated they were They showed little judgment or maturity throughout the novel.

This is a psychological thriller with twists and turns that is mostly fast-paced and has an interesting ending.

The premise of the book may seem a bit far-fetched, and at points it was a bit crazy, but I thought it was interesting and, for the most part, it kept my attention. I liked the contrast between the Pact and that of the main character being a therapist who also worked with couples. I've often thought that with the divorce rate in our society being what it is, that many people go into marriage without a lot of resources or tools that could make them successful. Even being fictional, this book gave some food for thought.

I found the premise of this book incredibly interesting, but the delivery fell short for me. The characters are hard to connect with, and the story drags in some areas and then is incredibly rushed in others. I alternated between skimming to try to get through slow sections and then feeling like I blinked only to discover that a big reveal or significant plot shift had happened almost without my notice. It feels a bit over-narrated. The protagonist goes through mundane details of what he's doing, but there's no real feeling in it and you still can't relate to him on an emotional level. While some of the story elements felt hard to believe, I think I could have still gone along with them and enjoyed the book if the characters were more relatable.

Newlyweds Alice and Jake are given the wedding gift of an invitation to join The Pact. The Pact is a group of like-minded couples who want one main thing - to make marriage work. The rules of The Pact are contained in The Manual, and each couple must read, understand, and basically memorize its contents. This seems a bit strange, but some of the rules don't seem so terrible - always answer the phone when your spouse calls, surprise your spouse with a gift, mandatory getaways - until more and more details of The Pact's inner workings emerge. Alice and Jake start to realize The Pact isn't quite what it seems after being subjected to some of the required "punishments" because they didn't play by rules. What can they do? No one EVER leaves The Pact....

The plot and the story had me in the beginning. I couldn't put it down as I wanted to find out what The Pact was all about and the consequences for not following the rules. I found it a bit slow in spots and some of it seemed a bit of a stretch. Three stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided me with free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow!! What a book. Days later and I am still talking about this book. What would you do to make sure you have a good marriage that lasts? This book is a physiological thriller but maybe not in the normal sense. I found the idea of the Marriage Pact to be quite interesting and some of the things that you have to do from the manual I think everyone couple should adopt in real life. I couldn't put this book down because I wanted to know more about the Marriage Pact. I enjoyed this book a lot.

Honestly, I was a bit lost in my read I just don't understand some bits. I kept on turning back to look what I've might missed and unfortunately, my brain can't register it. Sorry, this book wasn't for me.