OK, John Mars author makes you think creepy vibes love his work. The experiment was gripping Paige. Turning kept me engaged as the story played out with the experiment and the process to the outcome with jaw-dropping moments with some twists just a really great trailer enjoyed it.

John Marrs did it again! This book was absolutely fantastic. This author is brilliant with his twist and turns and just when you think you’ve figured it out, you’re wrong. He has a gift! 5/5 stars!

The premise of this book initially intrigued me, a social experiment with the use of virtual reality to create a family and a reality show competitive. Unfortunately, the premise of the story was better than the actual story. We are introduced to 5 couples and 1 single dad contestant and their reasons for wanting to enter the competition. From there secrets unravel for each contestant making this a story within 5-6 storylines which to be honest confused me.

In my opinion none of the characters were very likable. The sub story lines in the book were very unbelievable, and I found this book hard to read. The author also waits until the end to introduce two characters which would have helped the storyline had they been introduced earlier.

This book was provided to me from NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my opinion.

John Marrs is one of my all time favourite thriller writers, specifically because of how original his writing style is. The black-mirror vibe that he brings to his work always has me intrigued and hooked.

This one was no different, and I had an amazing time reading it. At first the amount of different characters was a bit confusing, but the more I read the more I caught on and was able to connect certain characters with their back stories more easily. I also loved how the characters developed throughout the story and just got more and more sinister as time went on. The subtle disturbing details are what I love most about this author's work and this book delivered.

I do think the twist at the end just had so many layers that it lost a bit of it's shock factor for me personally, but none the less was super fun and I had a great time!

I'm blown away by what I just read. The Family Experiment will have a lasting impression on me.

Set in the same universe as The One, Passengers, Minders, and the Marriage Act this follows a reality tv show of different couples raising a child in an AI universe. Their lives when in the virtual reality is watched by millions of viewers. They can give black or red hearts at anytime voting on how that they think you are parenting. At the end, one couple or parent will when money or keep their AI child forever. All others will be erased forever.

John Marrs has done an amazing job creating stories that remind me so much of black mirror episodes. This futuristic almost horrific society. Questioning the ethics of ever changing technology. The horrors behind it.

Keep in mind that although these books are not true sequels they do spoil certain aspects of other books. These could be considered minor or major depending on each reader. If you are wanting to read those previous stories you may want to hold off on this one.

The last 25% of this book absolutely blew my mind. Just like most John Marr Books. He is not afraid to go there and there is one scene in this book that created such a claustrophobic fear in me. I will never forget this book because of it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hanover Square Press for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

I will tell you that Mr. Marrs can write. He is a really good storyteller. The way that he can weave a story that will have you hooked is great. That is what he did for me with this book. It was mainly the story as I must admit that I really did not care or ever became attached to any of the contestants.

It is not that farfetched to imagine that this story could become reality. With advances in AI, I could see the younger generation really embracing the concept of raising a family via a Metaverse.

As the story progressed, it took some twists. The biggest bombshell happened near the end of the story. Fans of Mr. Marrs will enjoy this book. New readers will also want to check out this book.

Another fantastic speculative fiction book by John Marrs. I’m really loving this novel set in the same universe as The One and The Marriage Act, and Passengers as well. Marrs has such a talent for storytelling, his books are incredibly engaging, creative and I always find myself wanting to read it nonstop until I finish it.

The Family Experiment is no exception to this. Contestants are raising an AI generated baby in the Metaverse and competing to win money or to keep the AI baby when the contest ends. What follows is a book filled with great character development, twists and turns, betrayals, intrigue, murder, you name it! Marrs is so good at world building, and the continuation of using the same universe for his different speculative thrillers just enhances the world building.

Overall, another great book. Thoroughly entertaining and fun to read!

Thank you to the publisher, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and NetGalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first John Marrs good and to say shocked I am shocked it took me so long to read a book by him. this book was so so so good the characters all are to life as I was reading I felt as though I was there. The concept of this book is so crazy so unique and it was so good unlike anything I have ever read before! I loved the short characters, the fast face and sci-fi elements. only think I did not enjoy was there was SO many characters

I think this is one of those books that I knew I was going to like going in because the premise was just so cool. But after reading it, I’m just sitting here with a lot of thoughts and I know I want this to be at least 3.5 out five stars, but then I’m like is it a four star I don’t know what it is, but it gripped me from the beginning to the end.

This book talks a lot about AI and the conflict that we can have with AI how it will overturn our lives and what people will make from that. It was interesting to know that all had their own kind of like or governing documents that people had to follow. But of course, the biggest highlight was the actual reality show.

The fact that this reality show went on 24 hours like every single day and people were getting so fixated on it that they didn’t want to do anything else except wash these peoples lives was absolutely nuts. It felt so dystopian, so black mirror and I was kind of terrified that this would be the future that we would go to. No fiction can be outlandish, and it could also be unrealistic, but I feel as though the way that we amplify social media the way that we amplify celebrities, it can show that we will get here one day.

I will say that all the characters were unlikable except Gabriel, Hudson and Tina. But I think, even the unlikable characters had reasons why they were the way they were, and they propelled us to love the other characters which I thought was done really really well. I like that we were looking from a Birds Eye POV. Like we were watching the reality TV show unfold and their real lives implode. It was perfect because we were far separated from connecting with them as they were their own separate realities, but also had stake in the outcomes of their lives.

Highly recommend.

Title- The Family Experiment
Rating- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My first book I read by John Marrs was The One and that’s when I officially became a John Marrs fan. This book the family experiment gives black mirror vibes if you’re a huge fan of that show. As always John Marrs delivers with his short chapters and of course his very well written plot twist.

Synopsis-
Some families are virtually perfect…

The world's population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. And in the UK, the breaking point has arrived. A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families, let alone raise them.

But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative. For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind Virtual Children has created a reality TV show called The Substitute. It will follow ten couples as they raise a Virtual Child from birth to the age of eighteen but in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child, or risk it all for the chance of a real baby…

Set in the same universe as John Marrs's bestselling novel The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and twisted thriller about the ultimate Tamagotchi—a virtual baby.

This is the first book I've read from this author. I'm a big science fiction fan, and the premise of AI children is both interesting and scarily realistic. Overall, I found the pace to be quite slow. And, I did not connect to the characters as much as I would have liked because there were so many of them. The last ten percent of the book was amped up, but at that point I was a bit tired of spending time in this universe. There were a ton of great ideas sprinkled throughout, but they were buried in too much story.

I love John Marrs!! Technology these days is so advanced and Marrs is great at writing that speculative fiction that makes you feel like it’s half real and half fever dream!

This is my first book by John Marrs, and I see what all the hype is about! The Family Experiment is set in a futuristic MetaWorld. Couples and one single dad compete in a reality show to see who's the better parent. Of course there are hiccups along the way, and I figured out very quickly who the culprit was, but not the plot twist. WHAT A PLOT TWIST IT WAS!! Then when you think that's all, there's ANOTHER plot twist! Great work Mr. Marrs I cannot wait to read more of your work.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC of the book!

I always appreciate John Marrs’ view of our near future, his stories are carefully crafted to be as familiar as they are alarming. This story, told through multiple POVs, shared the experience of 11 childless contestants in a metaverse reality show in which they participate in a peculiar parenting experiment. As they work through a myriad of emotions, struggles, and truths for public scrutiny in hopes of winning and getting the chance to parent in the real world, each parent finds their most raw truths exposed for the world to see. Occasionally, I was confused about which couple I was reading about, but the advertisements, news updates, and viewer comments made the pace easier to read. Although it ended wrapped up with a bow which I felt was unnecessary, this was a fun, curious read that would be great for Book Club discussion.

ADDICTIVE, MIND-BENDING, BRILLIANT...I went into this book blindly and I was speechless. John Marrs wrote a creative and mind-bending story that kept you immersed in the DRAMA that occurred at every turn. Every time you thought you knew what was going on, Marrs would come with twists and turns that went the complete opposite way. I can say this is one of my favorite John Marrs books so far...such a clever and compelling story.

THE PLOT
In a world where the economy is in crisis, making it hard for families to afford children of their own, a reality tv show, The Family Experiment, has made an alternative solution possible. Over nine months we follow 11 contestants as they compete to raise Metababies in the Metaverse. Metababies are virtual children and you can pick and choose the sex of your child, how the child looks, their accent, their interests, and the speed of their growth. The tv show follows the contestants while pushing them to the limits and giving viewers the ability to watch livestream and vote on their favorites. The winner will face a tough decision to keep whats left of the $250,000 they were given to raise their MetaChild and keep their MetaChild, or pull the plug on their Metachild and get a quarter of a million pounds to start a family in the real world.

For each month the contestants are on the show they go through a different age point. We follow the contestants as they go through different parenting experiences. Viewers can even vote to give contestants "monthly challenges" to make the parents experiences harder, trying to push the conestants to their breaking points. Meanwhile, we also get to learn about the contestants life in the real world. John Marrs is a genius at speculative fiction and I promise this story is a WILD RIDE!!!

Thank you to Harlequin Publishing and John Marrs for granting me access to this e-arc on NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for a free copy of this book for an honest review.

This is hands down my favorite read by John Marrs in his dystopian world. I will never look at Meta the same way again.

A virutal tamagotchi children/family competition that went beyond my wildest imagination. Truly terrifying when you think about technology and where it could possibly lead in the future.

If you love psychological thrillers that feels like a black mirror fever dream this is something you don't want to miss.

With a growing global population and mounting economic crises, marriage and child rearing have drastically changed in John Marrs' speculative world of The Family Experiment, the same universe as his The One (which I had read) and The Marriage Act (which is on my TBR). With many unable to afford to raise their children, the UK is trying to stop the flood of children being sold to offshore facilities, and others who are desperate for children attempt to purchase them.

A less expensive option is to have a Virtual Child that exists in the metaverse. "For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind Virtual Children has created a reality tv show. It will follow ten couples as they raise a Virtual Child from birth to the age of eighteen but in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child or risk it all for the chance of a real baby . . ."

I really liked the premise of this novel and its set up. I just wish that every single contestant weren't so detestable. I still enjoyed the plot, even though the ending tied up with some major eye rolling. I enjoyed The One and will still read The Marriage Act. This was indeed engrossing, but something still felt like it was a Dollar Tree version of Blake Crouch. It was a solid "okay."

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy to review.

I thoroughly enjoyed John Marrs' The One and The Marriage Act, so when I saw he had a novel coming out set in the same universe, I jumped at the opportunity to read it! The Family Experiment did not disappoint.

Set in the future, times are tough and it's getting more and more difficult to start a family due to overpopulation and economic hardship. A company called Virtual Children creates a metaverse where individuals can create a virtual child and then raise them at an accelerated speed using their VR headset. Virtual Children hosts a reality show competition and the winner will have the chance to keep their virtual child, or gain prize money to have a real baby. Buckle up for a suspenseful and twisty ride!

This was a face paced page turner that I could not put down! The plot had me hooked right from the first page all the way until the final twist.

YEP! This was so good. I love John Marrs, I love the universe he has created. I had to sit on this one for a couple of days and it actually improved the star rating I was going to initially give (4 to 4.5). I just... wow! Love the chaos, the short chapters, the fucked up humans with fucked up moral dilemmas.
This one was especially interesting because it's set as a reality TV show. Couples (or a single parent) are raising an Al child in the Metaverse. Viewers have access to a 24-hour Metaverse feed of the contestants so they can vote on who they like the most. The winner will be awarded with a cash prize OR the option to keep their Metaverse child. If they take the cash prize, their Al child "dies" (deletes forever).. While this is happening, life in the Real World is still happening, too. I loved the intersection of these different lives with each POV. Read The One, and then the Marriage Act, and then this when it comes out July 9th in the US (already out in the UK!). They aren't a series but it's so much more delicious if you read them in the order they came out! Easter eggs galore!