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 was a very well thought out novel. A young couple is invited into a secret society based around the sanctity of marriage. The idea of such a pact and the group to follow it is intriguing, yet becomes increasingly complex and invasive. The novel itself could have been cut down in length, but still overall held my attention.

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.

The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond is the epitome of the saying "If it seems to good to be true, it probably is".  Newlyweds Jake and Alice are just beginning their married lives together.  They've got it all going for them, good jobs, a nice house, and newlywedded bliss.  Neither of them pays much attention to the strange wedding gift they received from a client of Alice's law firm.  

When the present is explained to them following the wedding, the happy couple jump at the chance to be part of such an exclusive club.  They don't dwell too long on the strange sounding contract, or the fact that Vivian seems to be a bit pushy and not forthcoming with information.  Jake and Alice sign the papers and look forward to the lavish parties that have been promised.  Unfortunately for them, the details they skimmed over in their contracts are a lot more serious and sinister than they could ever imagine.  Little do they know that they've signed their lives away, in the truest sense of the word.

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.

The Marriage Pact, is a mystery that has implausible thrills. That sounds like backwards compliment, but what I mean is, I like when I’m asked to suspend my disbelief above and beyond the mystery, to agree to step into a world so unlike my own.

I liked exploring what marriage means and looks like in our modern age and how that could be the focus for a group of people with great access to everything the world has to offer.

I’m also a big of fan of the “Be afraid but I can’t tell you more” character.
Or rather, I have one of those “love to hate you” relationships with any character who drops little truth nuggets on a clueless character and then walks away/disappears before they can say too much. It makes me want to know more as much as the main character does.

This is a tense read, and there are enough curiosities to separate it from other domestic thrillers.
It will be a great summer read, when the days are longer.
Not that those who could be watching will bother to wait for darkness…

You know how some books overload you with so much secondary information that you immediately know they were written with the attempt at being the next - big - thing? You do? Great! Then you'll immediately know that this book is not for you. It is dull, has an awkward flow, and fails to really get into the meat of the story choosing instead to spend so much time on irrelevant nonsense that you are left trying to force yourself to continue. It has to get better right? I don't know. I didn't finish it. So I'm giving it one star just because I was so bored with it that I'm left slightly angry and wishing it was not a digital copy so I could have the satisfaction of ripping its pages out and flushing them down the toilet.

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

I'm giving this one five stars which is very rare for me. Thank you to the publisher as well as Netgalley for an ARC.

I tore through this book in less than 48 hours. It was so psychologically creepy, tense, and stressful for myself as a reader. It's impressive whenever a book has that much power over the person who is reading. There's never a huge traditional "twist" for the thriller genre but the ENTIRE book was a thrilling atmosphere and I found the premise to be unique in the thriller genre. There was also surprising nuggets of life and marriage wisdom that felt authentic and strengthened this book even further. 

The book is from the husband, Jake's perspective, which I was not expecting. It was first person POV which I love. I could see everything unfolding in my mind's eye as I read, and it would not surprise me if this was eventually made into a movie. In my head, it was very cinematic :) 

Also, selfishly, I loved that it was set in and around San Francisco. 

I think this book will be a big hit and I feel fortunate that I got to read it early!

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.

If you're trying to turn someone off marriage- give them this book. It makes the institution of marriage sound terrifying. The basic premise is that this cult-like social club called The Pact will come and fine, "reeducate", and even arrest you if you are not true to your marriage vows. How do they know? Oh, because they're watching of course. And listening. It's all rather creepy and over the top. Honestly, I'd rather get a divorce then have to suffer through this group's draconian punishments. And then of course after the punishment is complete, you are invited to attend this week's cocktail party. Yay!?