Yasssss!! Futuristic novel and an AI theme. In this family experiment, we follow a reality show where families compete for the chance to win money that ultimately can give them what they long for. There are a lot of POV.

The Family Experiment takes place in a near future where AI and virtual reality is much more advanced and all the cars drive themselves. It is speculative and dystopian fiction at its best that takes place in an economically struggling society.

The Family Experiment is the name of a reality show where contestants are given the opportunity to become parents to a MetaChild and £250,000 for expenses. The MetaChildren are created using datasets to match unique specifications to each contestant couple so that they closely resemble what would be their real world child if they had one. Using special haptic suits during all their interactions, the MetaChild looks, sounds, feels just like a real child. In the span of 9 months, these children go from newborn to 18 years old, jumping a few years at specified intervals. The world is watching this reality show and reacting in real time by sending red hearts to things they like and black hearts to things they disapprove of. At the end of 9 months, viewers get to choose a winner. The winner can either keep their MetaChild and any leftover money or they can eliminate the MetaChild and collect 250,000 to start a real world family.
This story was fantastic. I have not read John Marrs before but have heard enough about his other books to know that at least a couple of them exist in this same world. Parts of this book blew my mind. The things that people are capable of never cease to amaze me. Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this advanced copy.

The Family Experiment is a dystopian thriller set in a near future when a growing number of people are financially unable to start their own families. A reality show allows contestants to compete raising virtual children, complete with challenges voted on by their audience.

I found myself literally gasping out loud at some of the shocking passages in this, and the crazy unexpected twists in the story. The whole storyline was extra unsettling because I could absolutely imagine some of these scenarios happening. This is so well-written; it's utterly action-packed and captivating with short chapters that I just flew through.

I hadn't read any of John Marrs before; I'll definitely be putting him on my auto-read author list and going through his earlier works.

Thank you so much to Harlequin/Hanover Square Press and Netgalley for this ARC!

This dystopian fiction follows multiple families during a metaverse experiment reality competition show to raise AI children.

It was definitely an interesting concept and poses a lot of real world ideas and questions that may arise as AI advances over the coming years. Thought provoking for sure.

Since there were so many characters, it was definitely difficult to follow at times, especially in the beginning. But it kept me engaged wanting to keep reading.

It can be read as a stand alone however, there was previous books that tie into this one to explain some of the other concepts mentioned In this book. Overall, I give it a 3.5/5. I think the overload of characters is what held me back a little because I think each story could have been dove into deeper but wasn't just because there was so many.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, John Marrs, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Umm wasn’t really my cup tea. I liked a couple of John Marrs books but this wasn’t as good. I did like how it discussed the issues with AI and the sci fi aspect.

This book just wasn't for me. I enjoyed the dystopia sci-fi focus. I loved the dive into the dangers of ai. I struggled to track the multiple povs and such.

In typical John Marrs fashion, he delivers another chilling AI/technological thriller. This book can be read as a standalone, but I don’t think readers will enjoy it as much or be as fully-immersed as possible. When raising child becomes too expensive , the family experiment enters with an AI child. The most terrifying part of this book is that I could see this becoming a reality one day. This book would make for an excellent book club discussion. Thanks so much for the opportunity to read!

What the heck did I just read?!?
I'm still sitting here processing. A sorry set in the future that you know could be real at some point. And, how far it can go with AI development. But wow, all the characters, all the twists and turns, and definitely things you don't see coming!! This was a page turner that I could not put down.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harlequin Trads Publishing for giving me the opportunity of this ARC in return for my honest review.

John Marrrs writes the most imaginative stories that almost seem too real. Speculative fiction at its finest! This author is quickly becoming an auto-buy for me! I loved this one. The only draw back for me was the multiple POV- until about 30% in I found it very hard to keep up with who was who.

First comes the DNA test to find your soul mate then comes an AI baby!
This one was wild, dark, gripping, and such a page turner! This was my second book from John Marrs and there was a lot happening in the best way possible!

In The Family Experiment we follow a reality show where families compete for the chance to win the right to keep their virtual child, or risk it all for the chance of a real baby.

This one had a few too many multiple POVs for me but with cliff hanger chapters that had me absolutely flying through this one!

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing, Netgalley and author John Marrs for providing me an advance readers copy in exchange for my honest review.
Release date: July 9th

What makes this authors books sooooooo good, is that they could very well become a reality. It’s that closeness that makes them a chilling good read! When story blends into reality, this is where this author excels! Could not put down this futuristic thriller. A reality show in which you raise a meta child, to either win money or to be able to keep the AI child! Creepy! Every contestant had their own agenda and I loved diving into the rabbit hole of this book! Love how his newer books are connected.

Can’t thank NetGalley, harlequin trade publishing, and the author for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book releases July 9/24, will be adding a physical copy to my shelves 100%

What an intriguing and engaging book! So many twists and turns, never knew what was coming. I like how the chapters were short and each chapter ended on a cliffhanger. The concept of an AI baby is so interesting. I really had no idea to expect. I will say, it took me a while to get to know the characters because there were just so many. But, the book did keep me on the edge of my seat wanting to find out more. Great book!

In the future, economic crises has led to some families unable to afford to have children. Enter the Family Experiment, a reality game show in which people compete to "raise" their own AI child in the Metaverse. The show lasts 9 months over which the child's age will be advanced from birth to 18 years old. At the end, the winner can choose to keep their AI child or claim a jackpot that they can use to raise a human child. As the ten couples compete, we learn about some of their dark pasts and the horrifying truth to how the AI children were created.

This is my first book my John Marrs and I think I might have benefited from having read some of his previous works. I liked the story but I never felt any connection to or sympathy for any of the character. With ten couples competing, lots of characters are thrown into the story all at once and I found it a bit confusing. Most chapters switched between characters but a few times chat logs of the viewers and news blogs were used to tell the story. I really didn't think these formats added to the story. The book did raise many thought provoking and ethical questions in regards to the use of AI. Overall I enjoyed the book. The world and plot is very creative and there are some great twists.

Thanks NetGalley for the copy of this book.

Overall, this book was fine. Although it can definitely be read as a stand alone, I do think it would have read better had I read the other two books set within this AI/Metaverse world Marrs has created.

The premise of this book is SO freaking cool and interesting, and I was beyond excited to read it! I think the problem I had wasn’t with the story, but was with the style. I find it difficult to become invested in a story when the chapters are so short, and jump from one POV to the next with every following chapter.

I was definitely invested in the characters and plot, however. I thought the story itself was definitely worth the read! Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC!

John Marrs has done it again.

Set in a speculative future dystopia, there is a reality show where families compete to be voted #1 raising a child in the "MetaVerse". Their AI child is remarkably human, and you follow each family's journey through the show.

But wait, it couldn't be John Marrs if it was that wholesome. What is each family hiding and what dark secrets are even the producers themselves a part of?

As a fan of John's speculative thrillers, I found this to be top-tier.. Written from multiple perspectives, each chapter ends on a cliffhanger that will have you dying to read more.

I will be telling everyone I know about this book. It's not even great just because I'm biased, it's just actually an incredibly unique story that is written incredibly well.

Cheers to John Marrs.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of The Family Experiment. Fans of John Marrs will love this book! We are taken back to the futuristic UK with ethical dilemmas and questions of right & wrong. A reality show set in the metaverse with parenting of AI children makes you again question both the merits and pitfalls of technology. Marrs makes connections to his previous books, which as a fan of his work, I loved. This book makes you think about the definition of family and how far people will go to keep their secrets safe.

I have no clue how John Marrs continues to build off of the world he created with The One and just kill it every single time. BUT HE DOES!! This one is probably the best one yet! This had short chapters, crazy characters, Multiple POV, fast and twisty turns, dark secrets and gave me an absolute fear of AI. I loved it so much and couldn’t put it down!

This is my third John Marrs book and while I enjoyed it, it was not my favorite of his. I read The Vacation and The One, which were both very different from one another. The Family Experiment was more like The One, which I preferred, only taken further in concept. Marrs writes suspense and with some recent novels, has ventured into science fiction plus suspense. I would also classify them (along with The Marriage Act which I haven't yet read) as dystopian. In this world, Earth with a dystopian twist, there is overpopulation and having a child has become prohibitively expensive (never mind that our birth rates are going down and I am waiting for him to write a book about the repercussions of that). The idea for virtual children is born: a company provides metachildren for those who are desperate to experience parenthood and not only that, they have a reality television show for its contestants to vie against one another to keep their metachild. The children belonging to the losers...
This is good a good dystopian concept and I was hooked; I had to see who got to keep their child. The book followed different parents (single or couple) alternately through the book, similar to The One.
I felt like it was a little more confusing to follow than The One. I also felt like there were little subplots; various things would happen that would either eliminate the families or make the reader think that it was going to eliminate the family. I also thought Marrs was trying to wrap things up too neatly at the end and create a message or theme that was a touch too heavy. However, this is just my opinion as readers seem to think differently from me. This is not to say that there were not aspects of the novel I enjoyed and I am curious to read his other similar and future science fiction/thriller/dystopian novels because I love the concepts.

If you love John Marrs' speculative fiction world of The One, don't hesitate to jump into his next novel, The Family Experiment, set in that same near future. We meet a group of people on a reality TV show who have been gifted with virtual babies to raise (while on live 24 hr streaming) as they compete to win the grand prize of money or the virtual child. As always, Marrs explores all the sides of human nature and weaves a fascinating tale while doing so.

If you deal with infertility or have lost a child, you might have a hard time reading this book. I was surprised to find a woman with my exact struggle, which isn’t that common, so I had a hard time with that, just a little.

However, I believe that this portrays the desperation couples feel when they face infertility or the loss of a child well. The grief you feel makes you willing to do almost anything. It’s a unique kind of grief, infertility and child loss…and it makes you willing to do almost anything to fill that hole. Including entering a completely virtual world to have your own child. I can see why someone would want to do this just to fill that void.

That being said, it was a good story. I am a sucker for stories with reality tv plots, so I thought I’d enjoy this one. It has a lot of people to keep up with. As the story goes, a few of the characters leave the competition, so it makes it slightly easier to keep up with them. It’s a little hard to believe, but at the same time….nit that hard. If that makes sense? It’s very black mirror. Where you’re thinking to yourself, this is so far-fetched….bit is it really? Considering the AI and deep fakes we see currently, there’s honestly not telling what AI is capable of that we don’t know yet.

I have read a few of John Marrs books and have enjoyed the ones I have read. This one is a stand-alone, but I think if you have read his past books, specifically The Passengers, the One and the marriage act some things will make a bit more sense, however, I don’t think it’s necessary. I think it’s cool that he carries things over from the same universe to different books.

I actually figured out the biggest twist very early on in the book. I don’t know why it seemed extremely obvious to me, maybe it was obvious…but it was a good story nevertheless.

Out of the Marrs books I’ve read, this is maybe my least favorite, but if you enjoy his writing, I think that you will still like it. Especially if you’re also a fan of Black Mirror.