Some books only require you to take a look, and you instantly know that you will love it. Upon seeing “The Marriage Test” at a book exchange corner, I immediately pounced on it because I knew that the He Says, She Says approach would appeal to me and keep me riveted throughout the read.

True enough, I was engrossed in reading it. Before I got married, I remember people remarking to me that getting married requires unblemished enthusiastic naïveté (一股傻劲) and impulsivity (一股冲动). This conventional wisdom surely didn’t apply to Jill and Brook because they not only conceptualised 40 dates to iron out their kinks and sort out their red flags, but also spent the greater part of a year fulfilling those dates. Detailed at the back of the book, these forty dates cover a plethora of topics, ranging from ex-partners and in-laws to financial wellness and even the perfect date. I don’t think I would want to get married if my then-girlfriend wanted to put me through this grueling test. But that may serve as abundant inspiration for other couples who wanna look before they leap.

Some of the dates boggled my mind in terms of the colossal planning they would take. For instance, they got two mutual friends to role-play so that they could see how they were perceived from a detached standpoint. Wanting to fight better, they played back their argument to see where their emotions might have gotten a tad too heated. Not mentioning how they got handcuffed to each other for 24 hours. The sheer novelty and audacity of these dates sent me on a rollercoaster ride. At times, I was incredulous; other times, I devoured their insights hungrily; always, I was kept entertained. They really did the groundwork, so by the time Brook proposed to Jill, I felt glad that their diligence had reaped matrimonial dividends.

I also loved the way Brook weaved loggerhead turtles and ghost crabs to illustrate a life lesson. I hope to be similarly knowledgeable about animals one day so that I can fuse intriguing phenomena into my writing!