John Marrs done it again. Another great book! I love how he has references to his other books in this series. And the ending, what a twist!

The story is told by each of the parents that were picked to compete to see who can care for their meta-baby the best. The prize is they get to keep their virtual child or finally have the chance of having their own real life baby. This scared me because I feel the world is really heading this way with virtual reality instead of doing things in the real world. I love that John Marrs writes his books with unique stories in mind. When reading his books, you’ll realize it’s like nothing you’ve read before. Highly recommend this one for sure.

This book was SO wild and unlike anything i have ever read before. Raising a child in an alternate reality and finding out so many new things about your partner. It started off so insane and ended just the same. Will be recommending every chance i get

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!
Wow! I am a mixed fan of John Marrs. So far I have LOVED his “speculative thrillers” and not so much for his “psychological thrillers”. This is definitely one of the speculative thrillers and I loved how it tied in several of the other storylines from his other books with these characters! While this storyline is not something that I can see happening anytime soon, and I would hope it never gets to this point in my lifetime, it does make you think. Very quick paced and a lot going on to keep your interest. I flew through this and loved it so much!

Hard for me to get into the AI and virtual child. But very interesting considering AI is so prominent in everyday lives now. Lots of intertwining stories and crazy twists and good story line.

Another dystopian masterpiece by Marrs. In the new reality show called “The Family Experiment” couples spend 9 months raising their virtual child who ages at an accelerated rate turning 18 at the end of the show. Through their VR headset they are able to care for their children and experience all the ups and downs of parenthood. What could possibly go wrong? Excellent fast paced thriller! One of Marr’s best books yet!

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC of John Marrs new book The Family Experiment, available for pre-order now. Release date July 9, 2024.

This book surpassed all my expectations. I’ve read The One and I was nervous that this was going to be a similar story but it definitely wasn’t. The author does mention the DNA Match from The One so it’s like this is a continuation of that timeline. With that being said, what an absolutely fascinating concept!! This book has so many layers and gives us a look at what the future of AI can potentially look like for us, as well as the challenges that it can bring financially due to AI taking over jobs. I am not a reality show person in my every day life but I thoroughly enjoyed reading about them. The way the author pulled everything together from beginning to end was seriously amazing. I cannot wait for this book to be available so everyone can read it!

If you are looking for a thought provoking, twisty read with tons of moments that make you literally gasp out loud, this is it. I’m not usually one to pick up a speculative thriller, but John Marrs just has a way of writing them that keeps me hooked all the way through. This was such an interesting premise. I also love how John Marrs sprinkles in characters and plot line connections from his other books; though, it isn’t necessary to have read them already to appreciate this one! It did make me want to go back and reread, though to remind myself of various things brought up in this one. The Family Experiment was an excellent read, an expertly told story, and I highly recommend! Thank you so much to John Marrs, NetGalley, and to Harlequin Trade Publishing for granting me this ARC of The Family Experiment. I am so grateful, and I loved every page!

This book is so realistic of what our future can hold. There's also so much going on you cannot come up with any sort of plot twist until pretty close to the end. This book is well written and keeps your attention from start to finish. Well done John!!

John Marrs makes the metaverse even scarier than it already was with match tests and self driving cars. Now it's AI babies.

@JohnMarrs is a genius. No better word to describe him. I’m so grateful to @netgalley for providing me an ARC of The Family Experiment, coming to the U.S. July 9th! Marrs writes two types of thrillers- psychological and speculative. This book is part of his Speculative Thrillers collection, and although it can be read as a standalone, I do recommend you reading The One and The Marriage Act prior to The Family Experiment.

Set in the same dystopian world created in the books mentioned above, this novel follows 10 couples on a reality show, unlike any you’ve seen before. On this show, 10 couples compete in raising an AI- virtual child. At the end of the 9 month experiment, couples can choose to keep their AI child, or pull the plug and take prize money in order to fund having their own, genetic baby.

The novel is so addictive because you get the perspective of each of the couples, with short chapters dedicated to each, and you’re always left on a cliff hanger. I spent my entire Saturday abandoning my family because I needed to know how it ended!

The Family Experiment is a new reality competition show that allows families to raise AI children in the Metaverse. The contestants are livestreamed as millions of viewers watch their every parenting decision. In the end there can be only one winner, who will then be faced with an agonizing decision...

John Marrs is the king of the futuristic dystopian thriller! His books are addictive and ask many moral and ethical questions, that while seemingly outrageous now, may be reality in the not too distant future. I also loved the references to his previous books as well, he's definitely a must-read author for me!

*Thank you to Netgalley, John Marrs, Hanover Square Press, and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.18.24- GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6497073571
4.18.24- IG Post/Story: https://www.instagram.com/the_books_we_love_/

I have so many words….. apart from saying “this is spectacular -go read it”, here’s some important takeaways

Read the book rather than the audiobook - only because there are chat rooms and articles and reading it is possibly easier to understand/enjoy

I haven’t had to stop reading so many times to catch my breathe since The Passengers - this was literally breathtaking! John Marrs brain is beyond - his research and imagination deserve to be applauded and praised

There’s 83 short chapters in this book and I’d say over 70% have twists and turns - breathtaking

This is easily a standalone but it’s also the 5th in the series - you do not need to read the previous books as there is very little overlap (like 2%) but I cannot encourage you enough to do so. Start with The One

Although the story uses a reality show setup, it doesn’t “feel” reality showy, so don’t let that put you off

However, it’s heavily based in the MetaVerse which is a computerized alternate reality - it’s not sci-fi or complicated, but rather a potential insight into the near future - gulp

This book is full of heart and twists and if John Marrs is reading this, I’d like to bring his attention to the hashtag #bringbackissy

Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for access to this eBook in exchange for my honest review

I love this author and the universe he has created in the not so distant future. I will say, I preferred The One, The Passengers and The Marriage Act to this new book. I found The Family Experiment to be a little more predictable, but there were some reveals I didn’t see coming. I would probably have liked this more if I wasn’t 38 weeks pregnant, as there was some difficult subject matter involving hurt or dead children.

5 ⭐️. John Marrs is the king of speculative fiction. I loved this book. It takes place in the same world as The One, The Marriage Act and Passengers but you don’t need to have read them all to read this one. I’ve read the One and that was helpful but I haven’t read the other two *yet* and I felt liked I got by just fine. Some spoilers for Passengers in this one but I think it will be fine. I love how John can take a book with SO many characters and make quick and easy digestible chapters where I don’t mix anyone up and I actually know what’s going on. I’ve read other authors attempt this and end up confusing the heck out of me. I am also not a huge sci-fi reader but this works for me since it is so close to reality, I can best relate it to a Black Mirror episode with great suspense, mystery and WTF moments.

I really love the world John has built in these books and it is scary how close we are getting to this reality. This book tackles how far corporations will go in the world of artificial intelligence. It follows a reality TV competition of several families who cannot have children on their own and gives them AI children in the Metaverse where millions of people can livestream them as parents over 9 months where their AI children will grow from babies to adults. The winner of this TV competition will be given the chance to keep their AI child or win money for a real child using IVF as the grand prize. This book has so many jaw dropping twists and turns and I loved how all the stories came together in the end. I can’t wait to catch up and read John’s other speculative fiction books in this world. If you’ve read his other books and enjoyed them, please pick this up, it is so great.

TW: There is a lot of death in this book, including many children.

Thank you to Netgalley, John Marrs and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book gave me Black mirror in the best way! It was my second John Marrs book and I loved every moment of it. The twists were twisting and the turns were turning. I need to go back and read the rest of the books in this universe immediately! I thoroughly enjoyed this reading experience.

4.5 stars
This story is set in the UK, in the future. Overpopulation and a struggling economy has made it so that many, if not most people cannot afford to start or raise a family. To combat this issue, many companies are utilizing AI to experiment with virtual children to fill the desire of lonely families that cannot afford real children. The first virtual children are launched as part of a new experimental reality show called The Family Experiment. 5 couples, and one single, will have the chance to raise a virtual child from newborn to 18 in the Metaverse (all in a 9 month period), and have their parenting judged by viewers, who will ultimately decide who wins at the end. Winners will get to keep their virtual child… or trade it in for enough money to start a real family. All losing contestants will have their virtual child simply cease to exist. AI experiments, desperate contestants, obsessive viewers, high stakes… what could go wrong?
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This was so well done! John Marrs has created such a crazy, imaginative world powered by high tech and AI that is just so frightening. This book really plays on the fear of AI that many of us have - not only the AI itself, but what its capabilities will do to humans - and make humans do to each other. This book was full of complex characters and twists - many that I did not see coming. My only complaint is that the last 50 pages or so felt slow and could’ve wrapped up a bit quicker. Overall, a very fun, twisted read that will have me thinking (and worrying) about the future.
If you enjoyed The One, The Marriage Act, and The Passengers, it’s time to dive back into that world - and enjoy!

Continuing in the vein of John Marrs previous books, the families in this book turn to raising virtual children as the cost of living and overcrowding complicate normal family dynamics. A quick, compulsive read that was hard to put down.

I just finished, and I have goosebumps. I always love John Marrs, and this one sucked me in so fast. I've been gasping and relaying what is happening to my husband scene by scene and he's into it too. What a crazy book!

3.5 stars. I really love this universe and love reading more books that are set here. For the large majority of the book I really enjoyed it and felt it was a solid 4 stars. I felt like each family's stories continued to remain interesting and you wanted to know more. I felt like the "twist" was fairly predictable if you paid attention, but I didn't find that to take away from the story. However, after the finale of the show and the twist - the remaining chapters felt long, drawn out, and unnecessary. Sure we wanted some follow up, but at that point I didn't care much for the focus (won't say more to avoid spoilers). Overall, I'd say I really liked the book until the end which is why I gave it a technical 3.5 stars rounded up to a 4 star GR rating. I love John Marrs and will definitely keep reading.