I really need to buy more Adam Mitzner books. This was a unique style of writing, in that there were a LOT of characters and the narrators changed quite a bit without warning. The characters were flawed and the plot was ever twisting. The Perfect Marriage has similar qualities as the other Mitzner books I've read. The pacing starts slow and picks up speed. The characters are mostly unlikeable with the exception of Owen, but I also found myself empathizing with certain characters in certain situations. The characters are complex and largely imperfect, but I would have liked more development. There were not physical descriptions for all of them, and these would have helped me to envision them more clearly. I know the author practices law and that's something I appreciate in his writing- he knows his stuff.

Thank you to NetGalley, Adam Mitzner and Thomas & Mercer for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This novel wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it was no less enjoyable because of it. This one is much more of a slow burn, but so interesting trying to figure out which of these ridiculously spoiled rich people committed the crime. There is a lot of background before a crime is even committed and I found myself enjoying that quite a bit since it's unusual for a novel like this one. I also liked learning about their lives and seeing how screwed up people can get. Definitely an interesting read.

50 pages in and decided it’s not for me. A number of sexist and misogynistic lines made me go, “nah, not going to continue with this nonsense”.

DNF

Overall, I enjoyed the latest book by Adam Mitzner. I find his books to be quick reads and while I liked this one, I found the last 25% and the ending of the book fell a liitle flat....a bit ho-hum for me. I'd figured out "whodunnit" when DNA was mentioned. I agree with some of the other reviews about the paragraph changes being very abrupt (one minute talking about Jessica, and the next sentence talking about Owen, etc). I'm going to chalk that up to being an advanced digital copy and hope the breaks are more pronounced in the print book. It was hard to make such hard changes from one character to the next, Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Author Adam Mitzner has written another good, twisty mystery with a heavy reliance on legal strategy. THE PERFECT MARRIAGE is the set-up for a cast of characters related to the marriage, who exhibit their happy, sad, envious, and angry feelings towards the couple. For this particular couple, their peripheral relationships are all heavily basted in emotional turmoil. The tale is a good one and the pages fly by as clues are dropped and evidence digested. This is a fast but exciting book. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

DNF at approximately 23%

I was confused by all the characters, who why, the introductions all at once. I tired more than once to get into it but I failed. It was messy.

The Perfect Marriage is the first book I have read from this author. It was a bit confusing and slow at the beginning. However, it picked up the pace and became quite enjoyable.

The main characters Jessica and James are celebrating their one year anniversary. But things turn dark soon and that brings suspicions, revenge and murder.

Would be interested in reading more from this author.

Thanks NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Adam Mitzner for an ARC to review.
I loved the writing style though the characters were a bit confusing at first till I managed to identify who is who and their relations. The story rhythm was excellent and I was invested, honestly I loved it till the end. I felt like that's wasn't the satisfying ending after all the prior building up.
I would love to read more for the author.

DNF at 25%. Writing style is not for me. Found it very info-dumpy. Like, there would be a scene and I'd try to actually follow the scene and then there would be two random paragraphs of building character background, but in a way that didn't fit.

Loved this book so much! Kind of predictable but still a great read. A parents love is unparalleled.

Is there such a thing as a perfect marriage? It’s often said that you never know until you’re in it. The world of Adam Mizner’s new book Explores the world of New York City’s happy couple James and Jessica. At a party celebrating their one year anniversary, things quickly devolve into chaos, descending to reveal lies, deceit, and danger that leads to one crazy ending.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

James and Jessica seem to have a great life as they celebrate their first wedding anniversary with a big party. But, it turns out there is a lot of backstory to their relationship and things aren't as perfect as they appear.

I have read a couple of other books from this author and I think I liked them better than this one. This wasn't bad and I definitely was turning the pages but more because I didn't know where the book was going than because I was so enthralled with where it was going. There is a lot of stage setting and the actual mystery doesn't come up until maybe 45%. There are a handful of people who could be guilty and really it could have been any of them but they each for eliminated and by the time we found out who did it, it was sort of anticlimactic. I just didn't find the ending to be wildly interesting. After listing all of these negatives, it wasn't a bad book at all, I think I just had really high expectations after reading The Best Friend last year, which I really enjoyed. I will read more from this author.

Nothing born of sin ever ends well.

If I have an Adam Mitzner book on my kindle, I will be quick to read it. Always a compelling read with interesting characters that drive the plot. This one asks the question what if you find your soul mate after your married. The emotional train wreck it leaves can be deadly ...literally.

James and Jessica Sommers left such a train wreck. They celebrate their one year anniversary with promise. Who shows up but James ex deranged angry bitter wife. She lets out the expletives'. Jessica's ex-husband is there to show support not for the happy couple but for their 16 year old son Owen.

When an art deal goes deadly wrong and accusations fly, the attention goes to the ex's. No one is cooperating with the police. It becomes where does the evidence lead. I enjoy this narration as it is engaging with the plot and the characters. There is a surprise twist at the end. It is meant with dilemma. We do live with our choices and the question is how do we survive.

A special thank you to Thomas Mercer and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

The novel opens with James and Jessica Sommers smugly celebrating their first wedding anniversary – and then it’s downhill all the way. So much so that I conceded defeat at 20% as nothing and no one in this dreadful book engaged me one bit. It has nothing to recommend it. It’s banal, bland, trite, jam-packed with clichés, with shallow characterisation, embarrassingly artificial dialogue and a predictable plot. Pointless.

I’m an avid fan of the author, but this book fell short compared to his previous work. Too many characters and they’re all thrown at you at once. The plot was well conceived, and the reader was kept guessing.

This book was amazing! Just when you think you have the plot figured out, something new happens and you have no idea what’s to come. First time reading this author and won’t be my last. I couldn’t put this book down!

DNF @ 25%.

I do not like the writing style here at all. In the first chapter you're introduced to so many characters without any rhyme or reason. I was reading along about James and Jessica and then the next paragraph we're in Owens head and I'm like who is Owen. Then a couple more paragraphs later and it's Reed talking. Who is Reed? Then it's Haley? Then it's Wayne? etc. etc. It continues like this. I wish there had been chapter breaks distinguishing whose perspective your hearing from rather than jumbling them all up together on the same page. What a confusing and annoying way to write a story.

The real killer here though is the dialogue. Just terrible. Hayley (the ex-wife) and Reed (the business partner) were laughable characters that kept making me cringe every time they spoke.

This one definitely wasn't for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my copy.

I enjoyed this book - though not as much as previous books by Mitzner. The suspense was doled out gradually building up to several unexpected events. I didn't much care for any of the characters and some events seemed superfluous to the story. The courtroom scenes were among the most interesting of the book.

I found the ending to be more sad than satisfying.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.0

Thank to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this book.
4 Stars!! Was hard to put down.
I really enjoyed this book.
I liked how the stories were told from each character's point of view.
I really got into the story and it was kind of a “page turner”. Without giving anything away I was left cold by the ending.
Highly recommended for readers who want to be kept guessing to end.

I‘m not so sure how I feel about this book. The were a ton of characters which made the story hard to follow and they were all unlikeable and rather flat. The culprit was easy to guess and the death itself was ordinary. However the writing was good, but the narrative could have been more exciting.

Thank you NetGalley / Thomas & Mercer for providing me with this arc in exchange for a honest review.