Member Reviews

If you have previously enjoyed Marrs’ novels and enjoy dystopian, virtual realities with lots of twists, I think you’ll like this. The One is still my favorite, but The Family Experiment is set in the same universe, which I think is so cool!

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The Family Experiment
by John Marrs
Pub Date: July 9, 2024
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

From the acclaimed author of The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and brilliant speculative thriller about families: real and virtual. This was the first Marrs book for me and I was excited to read it.
In The Family Experiment, the economy is in crisis, the world's population is soaring and for those couples who would like to start a family its virtually impossible! But fear not because there is an alternative! A reality tv show where you can create a virtual child from scratch and access via the metaverse and a VR headset has been created and we have 10 couples who are participating. They raise the metaverse child from birth to eighteen years in a 9-month period with a too good to be true prize for the winning couple

WHAT I LIKED
➽ Short chapters
➽ Evenly paced
➽ The plot was brilliant and felt almost too real!
➽ The characters and their backstories
➽ The Drama
➽ Every chapter ends on a cliffhanger
➽ The mixed media was brilliant
➽ Highly entertaining but thought provoking too
➽ The twist, turns and reveals

WHAT I DIDNT LIKE
➽ There is a LOT of characters!
➽ some minor plot holes

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I really enjoy Marrs' books--- I like this universe, but it is becoming a bit repetitive! I love the glimpses of the world building we get, and I can only hope we get more.

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This is the first book I've read by John Marrs, and it didn't disappoint. I'm excited to read more of his books.

The family experiment is set in the UK. It follows a new reality tv show where five couples and one single contestant will compete to raise their very own AI child they've created. The AI children go through stages birth-18 years in a 9 month period. The parents all have one thing in common, they don't have any children of their own. The winner of the tv show will get to choose to keep the money and use it to start their own family or keep their AI child. The public will get to watch them 24/7 and vote on their favorite.
The book has multiple POVs told by the parents. The characters were all interesting, and they all had things they didn't want the viewers to find out.

The book was so good. It got me thinking of AI, and the future . Will this be a thing since AIs kinda big right now. Oh, and it also gave me black mirror creepy vibez ! lol

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Fucking wild, and what an ending! I loved every second of this. Not as action packed as I’m used to but man was I hooked from the beginning. The entire concept is intriguing and really not that far fetched. Really makes you think.

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I don't generally read sci-fi but the outstanding reviews and unique story caught my eye and I was NOT disappointed. John Marrs wrote a page turner in this one and even with a large cast of characters, I found myself deeply involved in each storyline and struggling to put it down.

The "family experiment" is a reality game show in which couples compete in the Metaverse to raise an AI child at an accelerated rate as the world watches. One "lucky" couple will win the opportunity to either keep their child or a cash prize. Marrs uses this to explore so many ethical questions that aren't so far away from our own future and constructs a wonderfully twisty and surprising story along the way!

I will definitely be checking out more of John Marrs's books in the future and recommending this to others!

Thank you to Netgalley, John Marrs and Hanover Square Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

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"The Family Experiment" was quite a wild ride. Initially, I had a little trouble keeping up with the cast of characters in this novel about AI and its impact on future generations. Once I settled in, it was much easier to follow along (and a couple of characters were eliminated). The premise is a reality show where hopeful families can win money by raising an AI-generated avatar child from the age of birth to 18 years in a short 9-month period. As these families travel quickly through adolescence, the audience can give feedback, espressing their delight or displeasure with the way the children are being raised by awarding red hearts or black ones. At the end of the growing period, the winning family is chosen by the audience, who then must make a difficult choice to either keep their avatar child, or terminate him/her and use the money to begin IVF, etc. to create a human child. There are many twists and turns in this story, and it kept me on my toes. The premise is a little unnerving as well. AI is already infiltrating our everyday lives, so is it actually far-fetched to think one day we might have virtual children in the Metaverse? We could have the experience of having children, without all the responsibility. If you get tired of them, you can terminate. If they do something horribly wrong? Bye-bye baby. With his latest sci-fi novel, "The Family Experiment", Marrs delivers a thrilling story and an astute social commentary.

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This is the second book I've read by John Marrs, and I was uncertain about what to expect when I picked it up. However, I was hooked from the very beginning. The story felt like a plausible glimpse into the future of AI, exploring a world where wearing a VR headset and suit immerses you fully in the metaverse. I devoured this book in just a few days because I couldn't put it down. I was eager to learn more about each couple or individual on the reality show. Will they be able to parent their metaverse child? Who will win the grand prize? The intricate connections between the characters surprised me. I loved the back-and-forth narrative, delving into each character's past and seeing how it influenced their interactions with their meta child. This book is full of twists and turns, making it impossible to stop reading until the very end. I look forward to exploring more of John Marrs' work.

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I was SUPER excited to get my hands on this upcoming release! This was the first book I’ve read of The Universe novels and I was impressed! Very different from Marrs’ standalone thrillers but just as engaging and addictive. I really enjoyed the writing style of the different couples and the chapters of news articles and online chats. In true John Marrs fashion, there were some twisty moments that had my jaw on the floor. The last chapter was NOT what I expected at all and I loved every second of it! I look forward to reading the other books from The Universe.

Thank you to Netgalley, John Marrs and Hanover Square Press for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

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I just love John and the way he incorporated his other worldly sets into this. So fun. I loved this so much it’s wild how he does this

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Once again John Marrs does it again. Dark and twisty. This book will have you on the edge of your seat and leave you guessing (or questioning) until the very end.

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Although this book is out in the UK, I’m in the US so not available yet, however, I was so lucky and excited to receive my first ARC of John Marrs’.
Overall, I loved it, but it was a bit different than previous books I’ve read by the author.
As with typical John Marrs, there were lots of characters and in the beginning it was a bit of an effort to keep up. I probably would have bought this as an audiobook with so many characters, as that helps me to not get lost, but I kept at it and fell in love with the story.
The book was so well written, lots of character development, and no idea where the story was going for the first half of the book.
When the twist’s and reveals started happening, they never stopped until the end. I found this book a bit different from others of his in that I did not throw my kindle or cuss. There were a few tender moments, but just overall, a great book.
I do not want to give any spoilers away, but I will say that it was nice reading a John Marrs book where I felt happy at the end.

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This was equally parts sad thrilling and chilling! So beautifully written and well thought out! Thank you Harper Collins and Net Galley for the ARC! I’m obsessed with strange world John has created from the driverless cars to the smart marriages to this! This was brilliant and I want more of it!

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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