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!

This was just as hard it put down as other John Marrs books I have read like The One and Passengers. The first real shocking moment was around the 30% mark. I loved the look at AI and potential future ramifications and the idea of spending so much time living in a virtual world. I have it four stars because it wasn’t quite as exciting as the others I have read and the exposition was a little tedious with all the reveals of what happened to the characters plus explaining all the backstories and motivations. I wish some of that had maybe been dispersed earlier.

John Marrs is an excellent storyteller especially in the realms of speculative fiction and this title is no different from his previous, The One. I knew from the beginning this was going to be both an intriguing and relevant read, especially concerning our modern times with technological advancements in the areas of A.I., V.R., and the likes. This was an amazing and provocative read that digs at the core ethics of human intervention regarding meta-children and the disconnect with reality through the overreliance on and excessive use of V.R. I couldn't be more giddy about the premise!

There are 6 contestants competing on a reality show, each are given a meta-child to rear from infancy through its teenage years roughly within a year's time span. The program is made for people who could not afford to start traditional families and is only achieved through the use of VR sets solely. The world of VR is vastly imaginative and mind-bending; the scenes are visually rich. It was one of my favorite parts to read in The Family Experiment but with any grand invention, there is a certain price to be paid. The doom and gloom in this one was strangely cathartic.

There is a lot of secrets and drama to unpack and each chapter ends on a cliffhanger which happens to be my least favorite technique to extend suspense. The story in all its ugly glory is solid and sadly devastating in spite of the satisfying closing scenes. It is a deep dive into a dystopian future that may not be so far-fetch. This is why I enjoy reading from this author and will continue to do so!


Thank you HTP and The Hive for my advance copy of this book via NetGalley.

You know I love me some John Marrs, and boy is he back with another mind-blowing novel that’s sure to keep you on the edge of your seat! If you’ve loved his previous works you’re in for a real treat. His latest book takes us into a futuristic world where the concept of parenthood has taken a wild, virtual turn.

Imagine this: the UK is bursting at the seams with people, making it hard for many to start families. Enter Metababies, a company offering a unique solution. They’ve created a reality TV show, "The Family Experiment," hosted by the fabulous Autumn Taylor. Eleven childless couples are given the chance to raise AI-programmed virtual kids in the Metaverse over nine crazy months. These virtual children grow up at warp speed, going from newborns to 18-year-olds in just nine months. Parents interact with them through VR headsets and haptic suits, experiencing all the highs and lows of parenting. But here’s the twist - the audience gets to vote! Good parenting gets rewarded with red hearts, while slip-ups earn black hearts. The grand prize? The option to keep their virtual kid or win enough cash to start a family in real life.

Marrs makes it all feel so real and not too far-fetched. Each couple has their own backstory and quirks, making you cheer for some and cringe at others. The drama is intense, and there are moments that will literally make your jaw drop. Marrs is a master at building tension and throwing in twists that you’ll never see coming.

The story is packed with fun elements like online chats, gossip columns, and social media polls that make the whole experience feel interactive. And let’s not forget the hilarious and sharp social commentary sprinkled throughout. It’s a thrilling ride that also gets you thinking about the future of technology and family.

This book is a must-read!!! It’s a fun, fast-paced thriller that’s impossible to put down. I highly recommend this one.

Great read. At first, I found the amount of characters to be overwhelming. The book is very slow and not exactly a page turner. I wasn’t sucked in wanting to read more, but I was wanting to continue to see what happened. Interesting concept for sure, but wish it wasn’t so slow.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and John Marrs for the copy of The Family Experiment.

Wow! John Marrs has yet to disappoint me. This book was so engaging and while I hate that each chapter ends as a cliffhanger, I love it because I NEED to keep reading because I need to know how the story ends. Definitely recommend!!

I loved the different viewpoints in this read. The short chapters made it easy to read. Also the different viewpoints made the book so great. The book also had many twists and turns.

The Family Experiment by John Marrs

This is an adult sci-fi thriller novel, with multiple character POVs.

In this, we are following a cast of characters as they embark on a journey of reality TV in which they will be raising a virtual child over a 9 month period. During this 9 month period, the virtual child will age at an accelerated rate and everything will be televised.

The Pros
- short chapters
- Lots of mention to Marrs other books that take place in this same world
- Kept me engaged the whole time

The cons
- I didn’t really understand the characters motivations a lot of the time.
- Found myself not caring about the characters or rooting for any of them

Overall:
I think this is worth the read if you have read other books by this author that take place in the same world as they interconnect and it is very interesting. Another solid thriller by this author.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing me this arc!