Review: The Marriage Act

The Marriage Act by John Marrs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Marriage Act is the second book in the Dark Futures series by John Marrs.  You can read it as a standalone although it does reference other books in the series.  It may have a few spoilers for the Passengers if you want to read that first.  I haven't read them in order and have not had any issues following the story.

In this future, the UK government passes an act that gives big benefits to couple who are willing to sign up for a "smart marriage" that allows them to be randomly monitored for signs of marital discord.  Depending on how bad it gets, they may even be forced to get divorced whether they want to or not.  Marriage becomes so important that to be anything other than smart married is treated like a contagious disease.  Not everyone is on board and Freedom For All is born to oppose the act.  Things get pretty dark.  

The story is told from various perspectives.  There are mysteries and social commentary.  This future is not that far removed from our current world.  In fact, there are aspects currently being suggested by certain US government officials.  It was hard for me to put this down because I really wanted to know how it ended.  So good!  Read it!

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Review: Beguiled

Beguiled by Darynda Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Beguiled is the third book in the Betwixt & Between series by Darynda Jones.  I recommend reading the books in order to really appreciate the story.  They build on each other.  They are pretty fast reads, so it isn't asking much to just read them all.  

Beguiled is spicy romantasy.  That's not my usual thing, but I love the humor and the characters are always fun.  There is also a coffee dependency that I can relate with hard.  It doesn't hurt that the main character is close to me in age and gives me hope that I can find a hot Scot living in my basement.  I haven't found him yet, but he must be down there somewhere!  I just need to move a few more boxes.  If you like stories of the paranormal, witches and warlocks, and things that go bump in the night, check this out.  Have a fan ready because you will need it!

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Review: The Woman in Suite 11

The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Woman in Suite 11 is the second book in the Lo Blacklock series by Ruth Ware.  If you haven't read or seen The Woman in Cabin 10, I would recommend that first.  You can read this as a standalone, but that really sets the stage for why things go the way they do in this.  Plus, it would kind of spoil things if you read this first.  I haven't seen the film yet, but I highly recommend reading The Woman in Cabin 10.

Ruth Ware hasn't done sequels before so The Woman in Suite 11 is a special treat. I appreciate that Ware was willing to go back here because it was something her readers really wanted. It was interesting to enter this world again.  I don't want to say too much and spoil either book.  I felt tense from the very start.  Luxury travel journalism turns out to be more stressful than you would think.  I still wouldn't mind having a visit to a swanky hotel and resort comped though.  Hold the murder.

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Review: One Aladdin Two Lamps

One Aladdin Two Lamps by Jeanette Winterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Full Disclosure: I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of One Aladdin Two Lamps by Jeanette Winterson from Grove Press via NetGalley.  This book is set to be published in January 2026.

One Aladdin Two Lamps by Jeanette Winterson is an exploration of life through the art and power of storytelling.  Winterson guides us through One Thousand and One Nights and how it can teach us about ourselves and help us find hope when things are bleak.  Great timing!  It has been a very long time since I read those stories.  It was interesting to revisit them as an adult.  Like most "fairytales," they aren't really for children.  I certainly didn't learn the same things from them as a kid that I took away during this revisit.  

If you are already a fan of Jeanette Winterson, this is also part memoir.  She learned to recognize that she could change her own story.  For me, that was the most valuable lesson of this book.  I am the story.  

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Review: The Passengers

The Passengers by John Marrs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Passengers is part of the Dark Future series by John Marrs.  You can read this book alone without any issues.  It does reference The One and has some mild spoilers for that.  If that bothers you, I would read The One first.  

Combine self-driving cars and the worst of social media and reality television and you get The Passengers.  We already have the ingredients for this recipe. I am not even against self-driving cars because I can see the benefits in certain scenarios to having them.  I do agree that the big issues comes when we let AI make all the decisions.  Because it isn't really making objective decisions, it relies on information it is given and potential bias in programming.  The whole time I was reading this I was thinking of that poor library cat that was killed by a self-driving car.  Yes, I am the crazy person that brakes for all animals even if it means I might get myself killed.  Don't bother to come at me.  You won't change my mind.  

There were a few characters in this that felt over-the-top unlikeable.  Then I realized, there are real people today that are over-the-top unlikeable so I can't fault John Marrs for writing realism.  I did love the way he encapsulated how quick social media is to judge people on a line drawing of their character and showed how that can really be misleading.  As always, I love how he incorporates new articles, interviews, and other epistolary forms of writing to tell the story.  It is one of my favorite things about his books.  

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Review: With a Vengeance

With a Vengeance by Riley Sager
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

With a Vengeance by Riley Sager gives noir and Agatha Christie vibes.  You know from the start that the people on the train all have secrets and probably are not good people.  Some are worse than others.  What could go wrong??? There are less elaborate ways to get revenge but renting an express train to jail is pretty original.  The book goes by about as fast as the train.  If you enjoy a locked room mystery, try this out.

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Review: Interstellar MegaChef

Interstellar MegaChef by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interstellar MegaChef is the first book in the Flavour Hacker series by Lavanya Lakshminarayan.  The second book isn't out yet, so you would have to start here.  That would be my recommendation anyway, since this book is the world-building.  It is self-contained so you don't need to read the second book if you aren't ready for a series right now.  

I love a reality cooking competition, so the title of this book really drew me in.  I also love donuts and was very disappointed that I didn't see any in here.  I did however get very hungry while reading and want to eat lots of snacks.  I really enjoyed the diversity of characters and food in this book.  I did not enjoy that some main characters are really unlikeable and what felt unnecessarily mean.  Then again, that may just be a reflection of the world we live in today.  People are unnecessarily mean, especially to people who don't look like them.  I most identified with the Wanderers so that probably didn't help how I felt about Serenity Ko and the potential future of tech.  More space donuts, please!

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