I’ve just finished A Stranger in Her House by Marrs and it left me breathless. I was keen to read another title and The Family Experiment is so different but equally taut and compelling. This is an author with boundless talent as this story is set in the near future and yet it feels so plausible, He leads the reader along a path and suddenly things take a different turn. Absolutely superb plotting and pacing. I became immersed in the creepy future world, felt a little threatened at times and invested emotionally in a story that’s pretty near faultless. I can’t understand how most of this authors works have passed me by so I’m off to find more. He’s pure genius at creating make believe that draws the reader straight in and spits you out at the end. Simply brilliant.

The Family Experiment was such a unique book and I’ve never read anything like it before. The plot was so intriguing and I was interested to see where the author was going to take the book, it kept me hooked to the story. The characters were all so unique and I loved reading about each couple. They all had their own secrets which cannot be hidden from the virtual world.

Ten couples in this story enters a competition to raise a Virtual Child from birth to 18 years old over a nine month period. The prize is they get to keep their virtual family or risk it all for a chance to have a real baby. This world is set in a time where families are struggling to afford to start a family due to the worlds population becoming so high. The couples are all very unique and it was easy to become familiar to them.

The idea behind AI and really TV was terrifying during this book and it is scary to think of these progressions in real life. John Marrs made this book creepy with this thought and that kept the suspense high for me throughout this book. I loved the use of social media posts and forums in this book because it gave a good idea about what the viewers were thinking while watching this reality show.

I’ve never read any previous books from the universe before but I definitely want to go through them from the start and spot the Easter eggs. I would highly recommend this book to everyone who loves thrillers. I would say this is probably my first speculative fiction thriller and I absolutely loved every second of reading it!

A new reality TV show airs, which follows couples as they raise virtual children in the Metaverse. The prize being that they can keep their virtual child or risk it for the chance to have a baby in the real world. Who will be desperate enough to participate?

John Marrs is true to form with this speculative thriller, creating another clever, immersive story. The book is told in a number of different voices which creates gripping, individual stories. The author has proven how creative he is in creating such an engaging, terrifying and all too real future.

There are a lot of thought provoking moments which has you questioning the morals and dilemmas that the characters face. There are also moments of real emotion thrown in, as well as graphics and viewers comments, making this a well rounded, fascinating read. This book contains a lot of references to past books in his speculative thriller range, so it would be good to read those first, but can be read as a first read if you haven’t read the others yet. John Marrs is an author who I need to read everything he writes because he’s that good and I can safely say this is another brilliant, original book by this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

John Mars never disappoints- he is simply brilliant. I loved this story from start to finish- a great read that will have u hooked from start to finish

Firstly I want to say I have read most of John Marrs previous books and throughly enjoyed them. So when I saw this ARC it was a no brainer to request.

The Family Experiment is set in the same futuristic world as The Marriage Act (highly recommend reading if you haven't already).

AI, reality TV and twists that will leave your jaw on the floor

What a thought-provoking. read. This book mixed AI and dystopia, making me worry about what is next for our generation and beyond...

This novel follows the premise of The Family Experiment, whereby couples or single contestants take part in a reality TV show where they experience a snippet of parenthood. I really enjoyed getting to know the contestants, and the multiple POVs helped to make this feel real.
The deceit was NEXT LEVEL. I just did not know who to trust and that made me love this novel even more than I initially thought I would.

My favourite contestant was Hudson. I was saluting the single parenting approach (huge respect for single parents) and I thought to dedication to the genuine purpose of the experiment was admirable.

The plot twist at the end though. I did not expect that one coming.....

An ambitious speculative thriller that takes on a future where overcrowding and the cost of living crisis is robbing people of the chance to start a family. A new reality TV show "The Family Experiment" offers 11 desperate contestants the chance to compete and win a large sum of money for the chance to have a real life child. How? By raising a virtual child in the metaverse, in front of millions of viewers who will judge their parenting - yikes! Told from the point of view of each parent, you learn of their reasons for competing but not all is as it seems... Compelling, unsettling and full of deceit, The Family Experiment is full of twists that'll keep you on your toes and ends with a bit of a bang! I just wish I'd read the authors previous books for the full experience. 👨‍👩‍👦

Firstly, thank you to netgalley and Panmacmillan for approving me to read this book.

The family experiment is part of John Marrs speculative thriller series. The others in the series are The One, The marriage act, The minders and the passengers. You can read this as a stand alone book, but I certainly think it helps if you have at least read The One and The passengers.

The UK is in economical crisis, cost of living is soaring and most people can no longer afford to start families. This story follows a group of contestants who have entered a reality TV show to raise a meta child in the metaverse. The show is 9 months and each month their meta child grows, eventually being 18 years old by the end of the experiment. The winners of the show get to either keep their meta child, or they can delete them and are given a cash prize which will be enough to have their own biological child.

The story is told from the multiple POV’s of the contestants on the show. You get a real insight into why they entered the experiment but also secrets they are all hiding. The chapters are also broken up with snippets from online forums and social media of people discussing the show. There are also news articles as well. I loved this aspect and having the mixed media made it more interesting and it felt very realistic reading the public’s views.

What I love about the speculative thrillers is that they are not so far into the future that they feel unrealistic. The very fact they feel not too far off our own future makes them all the more creepy.

There are a lot of twists and turns in this, it’s fast paced, has short chapters and leaves you thinking.

This book is released 9th May 2024 and is available to pre-order now

Incredible! One of the best, most unique books I’ve read so far this year. It’s about a social experiment/reality TV competition that pairs parents with AI-generated babies and tasks them with bringing them up. The winner of the competition either gets money or gets to keep their child. The losers’ children are automatically ‘deleted’.

I was hooked from the first couple of pages. It’s a confronting book in that the scenario doesn’t seem all that implausible, especially considering the lengths that reality TV goes to nowadays. Read this book - you won’t regret it!

Another fantastic, thought-provoking offering by John Marrs. I thought the bulk of characters and their complexities was very clever. The shocking fact is this could be a reality in the not-so-distant future. As always, the twists and turns were shocking and I found myself unable to trust anyone.

5/5 stars!

Wow this one really has you thinking and sits in your mind for a while afterwards!

I have read a few John Marrs books now with differing ratings. I wasn't super keep on The Marriage Act, as Im not a fan of dystopian, futuristic themes, so I wasnt sure how I would feel about this one as it was set in a similar futuristic world.

Well my worries were soon abated. I loved this one! At first I thought how on earth could anyone have true feelings for a baby that only exists in a irtual world but as you become more engrossed in the story, you really start to see how some of these people really do love their "children". There are so many side stories with each of the participants in the show that this book really does move along at super speed and I just devoured it!

So well thought out and so many brilliant stories all wound into one - a perfect 5 star from me!

The Family Experiment is set in the same futuristic universe as John Marrs' other speculative fiction- The One, The Passengers and The Marriage Act and it was completely mind-blowing. When I was reading the book about Meta children and virtual families I could envision the probability of the events in the book actually happening in the future. And that is SCARY.

The Family Experiment is a social experiment conducted as an online reality program, streamed live 24/7, about families raising virtual children in the metaverse. Yes, you read it right. Over a condensed period of nine months, ten couples participating in this experiment will be given the responsibility of bringing up a new born child till the age of 18, when the show will conclude and one of the couple will be declared as the winner. They'll feel the pain, joy, heartbreak, the mind-crushing anxiety and the sheer happiness that is parenthood. The winning couple along with the grand prize money, also decides to choose if their meta child will live or be deleted(I cannot get myself to say killed 😅). Its a bizarre concept but when you think of the exponentially increasing cost of living, the bursting-to-seams world population, I can understand why the idea of a virtual child looks to be a more feasible option than a real world child.

But as all John Marrs thrillers, there are complications through out the contest and the contestants have their own secrets to hide. The book is an absolute edge of the seat thriller in all sense and the pace doesn't slow down till the end. Marrs has neatly tied all the loose ends towards the climax of the book(maybe a tad too perfectly but I didn't mind it). Now I need to finish all the books in his speculative fictional universe before he releases his next one.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy of the book.

Just imagine - with access to the Metaverse, anybody can be a parent. A new initiative has launched, allowing people to have AI children, painstakingly designed to act, learn and grow like the real thing. The Family Experiment is a reality show following several new parents experiencing this for themselves under the scrutiny of millions of viewers.

As usual, John Marrs has written a brilliantly clever and chilling not-quite-dystopia, exploring our future in a way that is scarily close to what we seem to be heading for. I love this Universe of books, and each one is even more disturbing and thought provoking than the last. This is a book not to be missed!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Wowwww an absolutely out of this world read !!
So the superb John Marrs has done it again with a wonderful thought provoking read that kept me totally absorbed throughout and hell yes what an ending.
I actually didn’t know much about what this book was about when i requested it only that it was set in the same universe as The One, The Marriage Act and The Passenger’s (I loved all those) but just seeing the book was written by John Marrs was enough….I had no doubts it was going to be good but oh my it was so much better than good and well I’m at a loss to know just how on earth did he think this story out it was just so damn clever and with one hell of a twist and more.
When I reluctantly finished the book I just sat and thought about what I had read and all the what if’s and it’s quite scary and very topical and it really is a read that makes you think. Stunning writing, fantastic story line and excellent characters….well Mr Marrs you have done it again another 5 star read and long may you continue to write please, I loved the book many, many thanks.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really like reading books by this author so I was excited to start reading this one.

Set in the future after previous books The Passengers and The Marriage Act, this story is set via reality tv where nine couples raise a virtual child from birth to eighteen in nine months. If they win they can keep their virtual child or have enough money to have a baby in the real world.

Starting off well, I was enjoying the story and I liked the way we had different types of reports throughout the book. However, I soon found the couples to be unlikeable and honestly, I didn’t care what happened to any of them. I found myself skim reading the last 10% of the book to finish.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I've been living under a rock. How have I not read a John Marrs book before this?!?!? This was incredible and had me hooked from the get go. Can't wait for the release date for more people to read so I can talk to someone about this!!! Absolutely loved the concept of this book, the different characters and their back stories, and how everything linked together at the end 👀 I'm actually really sad I finished this book so soon because it was phenomenal.

✍️ adding John Marrs to fave authors list

I love John Marrs' books particularly his futuristic thrillers and this was another great one.

The cost of living and having children has increased so much that people can no longer afford to raise a family. The alternative is to have an AI child in the Metaverse via a VR headset. A reality TV selects ten couples to launch this new initiative. They have to bring up a child in a condensed period of 9 months where their child will age from a newborn to eighteen. The winning couple will be able to keep their AI child or receive 250,000 to start their own family.

With the developments in AI this seems frighteningly possible. It would make a great book club choice as there is so much to discuss. Can AI people have feelings and emotions? Could a 'virtual child' really replace having a 'biological child'?
I loved the different characters in the story and their varying backgrounds/life experiences. There were some great twists and some shocking parts too. I could definitely see why this was being compared to Black Mirror and could see it making another great series, just like 'One'
If you enjoy speculative fiction with dystopian vibes I would definitely recommend this book.

I was totally hooked by the idea behind this book - a soaring population is creating overcrowded cities and a cost of living crisis. As a result, many families can’t afford to have children. One company has come up with an alternative - create a virtual child in the metaverse and access them in the virtual world, using a VR headset and specially adapted suit. All for a monthly subscription fee! And to launch this new product, a 9-month reality TV show where 5 couples raise a metachild - the winning pair will either get the right to keep their virtual child at the end or a cash prize that they can spend trying for a real baby.

This is a really immersive piece of speculative fiction, with the book raising some fascinating questions about the virtual world, use of AI and life in the metaverse, many of which I think we’ll have to tackle reasonably soon (Should we hold people to account for their actions in the metaverse in the same way we do the real world? Should a virtual person have any rights? Can you commit a crime in the metaverse?). The story itself is told from the perspective of the various competing couples which adds a great dimension too.

I think what was slightly lacking, which is why it gets 4 stars from me, was I wanted a bit more character development - we got to see the different perspectives the couples, but I’d like to have understood more about their history, to get a fuller understanding of their motivations, aims, desires etc. Because we didn’t have that depth, I found some of the actions of the various characters a bit far-fetched. That being said, overall I really enjoyed this novel.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This book, like all John Marrs other speculative fiction, cuts straight to the chase with his brilliant observations and satire. His observations on humans, and particularly governments are second to none. This book is set in the same universe as The One, and The Passengers so if you’ve read these you will be familiar with some of the events and setting, if you’re new to this Universe these books can easily be read as a stand alone. Really enjoyable and recommended read.

*Wow!* I’ve been living under a rock because this is my first John Marrs book and what an introduction to his speculative fiction catalogue! Everything about this (incredibly plausible) novel works - the depth of character development and wider context for the world The Family Experiment takes place in (which will be known to readers of Marrs’ previous books) makes for a riveting read and leaves you with so many ethical take away questions at the end of the book.

This one is going to feature very high in my list of favourite books this year and I can’t wait to go back into the Metaverse!