This has to be my most favourite book of the year so far. Very unusual, futuristic, dark, Big Brother in a future world where the metaverse is common place. So much of this story rings true, it starts as a story of a game show where the winners take it all. The contestants all have back stories which make most of them quite unlikable, then it turns into a thriller, then it has a huge twist and you find out how all the contestants are linked. Incredible story telling with an element of how our lives might well be run if we aren’t careful!

Thank you to Netgalley the author and publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review

This book follows 5 couples and a single man bringing up AI children for a TV show called The Family Experiment. During the 9 months their child will grow from newborn to 18 years old and the public will choose a monthly challenge to each family. It seems each person has a secret, But to what lengths will they go to keep these secrets from the public eye?
WOW! Strap yourselves in for this futuristic ride because John Marrs has done it again! This book will have you guessing and wanting more from the first page to the last. I devoured this book in two sittings and absolutely loved every minute.Just when you think you have family you're rooting for there's a twist and it. An easy 5 stars!!

Thank you to Netgalley, Pan Macmillan and John Marrs for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

John Marrs is such an inventive writer. His novels set in the near future contain enough plausible detail and predictions to make them scarily realistic. Loved the tie ins with his previous novels - though it’s fine if you haven’t read them. Great read.

4 ⭐️

I absolutely loved the ending of this book!!

Thank you to Netgalley & Pan Macmillan for allowing me access to read a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I’m not a huge fan of all things technology so when I began to read about the metaverse etc I was thinking to myself, I’m not going to understand half of what’s going on in this book. Turns out I was wrong. The characters to begin with took some time to understand who was who and to remember what their backstories were but as I continued to read, the more I was enjoying it. It’s a scary world we live in today and John Marrs kind of hits the nail on the head of the things that are to come in the future with AI, VR headsets and haptic suits!
This book was written with great detail into the characters and their backgrounds which made for an ending to the book that I absolutely loved.

Thankyou to netgalley for allowing me to read this arc

WOW, not my usual genre or book type but it drew me in from the first page. I really enjoyed this story and it was completely different to anything I've read before

John Marrs has exceeded himself again! Brilliant read

The world's population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. And in the UK, 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

This is another great read by John Marrs. It’s inventive and original plus being easy to read. The book is well paced and with revelations revealed as the book progresses much more is discovered about the ‘parents’ of the virtual children.

I enjoyed this book. I’m not usually a sci-fi fan but anything by this author I am happy to read. He just has this way of conveying the future as totally believable and not too far out of reach of the present. The twists continue throughout the story and it has a terrific ending twist.

My thanks to #NetGalley and #PanMacmillan books for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Enter a competition where you interact with a VR baby that grows to a teenager in 9 months. Viewers can watch 24/7 and, at the end, vote on who should win the cash prize.

There are a lot of characters in the book and, initially, I had trouble keeping track of each character’s backstory. Lots of twists and turns and it all wove together at the end.

My first John Marrs book. I will look for some more.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

This could be an episode of black mirror!

I loved the concept, it reminded me of the TV Show “The Upload”, which I absolutely love.

There are so many characters to follow at first but they all have a unique touch to them that it was not hard to follow their POVs. One couple in particular was just meh, not very interesting and the story could’ve done without.

The twists were just ok, nothing mind-blowing.

This book could’ve been 10% shorter as it was really dragging towards the end.

All in all, it’s worth a read because the concept is fire :)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank-you to @netgalley and @panmacmillan for allowing me access to this review in exchange for an honest review!

I was so excited to read this book! I love John Marrs as an author and I could not wait to read this! And it did not disappoint! 😍 this book is set up as a TV documentary around being a parent in a Metaverse using AI. This was certainly a very bizarre read but this had me finishing chapters with so many gasps and the ending was a complete shock! 😳 this is an absolute must read! 😍

⭐ BOOK RELEASES 9TH MAY 2024 ⭐

I really like the ideas John Marrs creates and the notion that our future could look like this is scary! A great, gripping read

John Marrs is certainly a master at writing dystopian novels - I really enjoyed 'The One' so was excited to read this book. And it did not disappoint.

The premise is that AI has developed sufficiently that people can interact with avatars in the metaverse to the extent that an 'experiment' is set up with couples to have a child in the metaverse, watch it develop to adulthood over 9 months but they are watched by the audience, who will vote on what trials they should undergo and who should eventually be the winner of a prize - to keep their avatar or to take money to be able to afford IVF for their own child.

The book has a back story which becomes very significant as the tale develops. The result is a gripping read as you follow these couples and begin to understand what is motivating them.

Its cleverly written (a little reminiscent of Stephen King's work such as 'The Long Walk', which is a great compliment from me), with great characters and a twisty plot. I did feel towards the end the author almost didn't want to stop writing, so kept adding bits about the characters to ensure everyone's story was fully told, but other than that minor point I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoy John Marrs' books and this is no exception. The book is set in the not too distant future where AI is a very powerful addition to life and 11 people - 5 couples and 1 single male - are given the opportunity to bring up an AI child in an accelerated timeframe and the winner voted for by the public has the opportunity to be able to keep their child or leave with the prize of £250k to start their own family. As with all John's books the ride is never smooth and this book introduces us to all the characters and as time goes on we find out that their lives are never as straightforward as we are led to believe. I love the way this is written and the alternating chapters between characters, I did find it a little confusing to start with but once you slip into the world this inhabits it's very hard to put down and you are drawn to the cataclysmic conclusion! I would recommend this book and if you are a fan of John Marrs you won't need to read this review as you'll be too busy reading this book!

Wow, this was good addictive fiction. John Marrs dystopian fictions are just close enough to reality to be believable ant this makes them all the more terrifying. Each of the families have something to hide which made the story rich and the characters were written in such detail that they could have been real. I thought that it was too convenient that EVERY one had something to hide but realised why once the big reveal came. I especially liked the chapters after the end of the competition , no loose ends here, with a touch of hope at the end. Loved it.

John Marrs does it again! I really enjoyed this read, it’s not my normal genre but it was so well written and captivating. I love the futuristic style of John’s books and it’s terrifying that his concepts are based on things that could well happen in our near future. The characters were mainly all very unlikable but there was plot twist after plot twist. Would highly recommend!

Another very clever book from John Marrs which also includes nods to his previous dystopian novels. Initially I found the number of characters confusing but this soon resolved and I was engrossed in the developing story. The inclusion of the social media posts is an astute way of demonstrating the power of public perception and the whole premise is so close to real life that it never feels outlandish. The excellent ending is the icing on the cake! Brilliant!

Set in the same world as The One, The Passengers and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment packed a punch and I loved it! This dystopian story is an absolute must-read for fans of Black Mirror. Despite there being several characters throughout the story, each of them were well developed and all harboured their own secrets and motives for wanting to win the competition. With plenty of twists and surprises, this kept me guessing until the end - this was very easy to give a 5 star review to!

Thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The really was an experiment- with great shifts between voice and perspective. Thoroughly enjoyable novel, with a twist of modern media with dystopian ideas, that will leave you shocked, horrified and desperate to intervene. Original idea, well worth a read.

John Marrs - this was incredible !!

I love your more crime thrillers normally but was totally blown away by this I’m actually looking forward to the audio to see how it’s I bought to life - I’d give you 10 stars if I could 🫶🫶 as a man imagine if I could have had the opportunity to win a perfect baby …. Personally I love my kids imperfections BUT. Let’s face it for some this idea is exactly what they want …

Bravo x

4.25-4.5⭐️

Another speculative fiction book set in the same world as The One and The Marriage Act. Here parents who can not afford to have children are given the chance to enter a reality competition where they raise a virtual baby through to adulthood but in a condensed time frame. The winners can either keep the ‘meta child’ or have the money to have a real child.
There are 6 individual families, various ages, sexes and a single parent.

Each parental unit have their own problems and agendas which w🗡️are gradually revealed. All are desperate to win, as the others lose their meta child at the end of the competition.
We get short chapters from each of the family units, ending in mini cliff hangers before moving on to the next family giving it drama and pace.

I love this authors imagination, his speculative books are my favourite. There are plenty of twists and reveals. Overall I loved it. There were a couple of things that I don’t think were needed at the end, it dragged it out a bit for me.

I absolutely loved this - couldn’t put it down!

Although at the beginning there were a lot of characters and points of view, once I was able to separate them it was a lot easier to keep up.

Even though it’s a standalone, I do wish I’d read The Passengers, The One and The Marriage Act first as they were mentioned a couple of times throughout.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.