Book Review - The Marriage Act by John Marrs

Title: The Marriage Act
Series: -
Author: John Marrs
 
Description: Britain. The near-future. A right-wing government believes it has the answer to society’s ills — the Sanctity of Marriage Act, which actively encourages marriage as the norm, punishing those who choose to remain single.
But four couples are about to discover just how impossible relationships can be when the government is monitoring every aspect of our personal lives — monitoring every word, every minor disagreement — and will use every tool in its arsenal to ensure everyone will love, honor and obey.
 
Review: “The Marriage Act” is set in Great Britain, in a near future, in the same ‘universe’ as “The One” which came out in 2016 and I read last year. “The One” is about how you can be matched to your soulmate due to DNA. In “The Marriage Act” couples take the next step: marriage. The right-wing government encourages people to get married, making it the norm, punishing those who choose to remain single. The couples who choose ‘Smart Marriage’ are being monitored and every single disagreement or struggle will be heard. This way they believe that everyone will love, honor and obey.
 
In this world, we follow five couples, each dealing with the ‘Smart Marriage’ in a different way. An ambitious vlogger who wants to use ‘Smart Marriage’ as her way to earn more followers, an elderly couple dealing with an illness, a gay couple who gets the help from a relationship responder (working for ‘Smart Marriage’), a couple who is about to divorce and a couple where one is working for ‘Smart Marriage’ and is starting to feel guilty.
 
This whole concept is actually frighteningly plausible and it does not take much imagination to see a world of surveillance and intrusion. This marriage act has taken control of every aspect of citizen’s lives. If you enter into a ‘Smart Marriage’, you get better living communities, priority in health care, all kinds of financial incentives and tax breaks, and more legal rights. But if you choose to remain single, or live together unmarried, you will be treated as second-class citizens. By upgrading, you agree to have the so-called Audite registration boxes installed in your home, and if AI determines that your marriage needs attention, different levels of support will be given. One is a relationship responder who can move in with you for a while, assessing your marriage. It’s an intrusive process that can ultimately decide whether you can stay married or not. There is one storyline, that focuses on this element of the ‘Smart Marriage’.
 
Without giving away major plot points, “The Marriage Act” is compelling, shocking and engaging to read. I simply couldn’t put it down. It follows a similar set-up as “The One”, following multiple POV’s, which I always love in books. We get to meet different people, all on a certain side of this marriage act, dealing with ‘Smart Marriage’ in their own way. Some vouching for it, others going against it, some still in doubt. You read about some really unsympathetic people, but there are a few really good people in it as well.
 
The whole scenario is absolutely horrifying, but it does who show dangerous it can be to let AI define people’s lives. You see what this marriage act does to people. “The Marriage Act” has some good social commentary. And each storyline is interesting to read about, for its own reason. There are many twists throughout the entire book and some were really shocking. Just the prologue alone, it sets the tone for the book and makes you want to never put it down.
 
If you also loved “The One”,  you will most definitely enjoy “The Marriage Act”. I did, even a little bit more. Certainly will recommend it to people.
 
Rating: 5/ 5