Review: The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond

The Marriage Pact was a unique, disturbing, and interesting read. I won’t give a plot summary, as you can get the gist of it from the synopsis, but here were my three main thoughts about “The Pact”. They ran through my head a dozen or so times as I read all 101 chapters (432 pages).

a) Can you say creepy cult?!

b) Total Stepford Wives vibes

c) Good Lord let these people be free of this insanity

The consequences and punishments endured by members when they break one of The Pact rules seem so far out there, so over the top, yet you’re still left with this troubling feeling like, yes, this gives me the shivers because I feel like in a cult society this really could happen. It’s no longer so unbelievable, which is quite unnerving.

Overall, The Marriage Pact was an entertaining read. While slow in parts it still managed to keep my interest and I saw it through to the end. It’s a mysterious and thrilling suspense novel, one that I’m sure would translate well on to the silver screen.

-Colleen

Purchase Link

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Pact-Novel-Michelle-Richmond-ebook/dp/B01M4PWDWF/

Synopsis

Newlyweds Alice and Jake are a picture-perfect couple. Alice, once a singer in a well-known rock band, is now a successful lawyer. Jake is a partner in an up-and-coming psychology practice. Their life together holds endless possibilities. After receiving an enticing wedding gift from one of Alice’s prominent clients, they decide to join an exclusive and mysterious group known only as The Pact. The goal of The Pact seems simple: to keep marriages happy and intact, and most of its rules make sense: Always answer the phone when your spouse calls. Exchange thoughtful gifts monthly. Plan a trip together once per quarter. . . . Never mention The Pact to anyone. Alice and Jake are initially seduced by the glamorous parties, the sense of community, their widening social circle of like-minded couples--and then one of them breaks the rules. The young lovers are about to discover that for adherents to The Pact, membership, like marriage, is for life, and The Pact will go to any lengths to enforce that rule. For Jake and Alice, the marriage of their dreams is about to become their worst nightmare.