Rating: 4.3/5

"The Family Experiment" is the latest offering from John Marrs to be set in the same fictional universe as "The One " and "The Marriage Act". However, I would make clear that although there are passing references to content from those books, you do not need to have read them prior to reading this one - nor will this novel disclose spoilers that would ruin your enjoyment of those earlier books either, if you were to read them out of sequence.

Set in the not too distant future (the current Prince of Wales is now King William), the UK is no longer quite as prosperous as it has been historically and the economic situation has made it very difficult for all but the wealthiest of people to comfortably raise a family. This has led to the advent of the concept of "virtual children" that can be raised in in a virtual reality world. Such has been the level of advancement in the field of artificial intelligence that the company behind the scheme is confident that the real life experience of raising a family can be replicated extremely closely. In order to launch the programme and promote its merits and potential to a wider public audience, the company is screening a reality tv programme featuring a selection of parents raising virtual children - with a huge prize at the end of the series for the winning parent(s).

As with his previous publications set in this same universe, "The Family Experiment" has a distinct feel of Juvenalian satire about it, in much the same way as the work of George Orwell. There are numerous aspects of modern society that the author takes aim at including (but not restricted to) reality television, the potentially adverse effects of the proliferation of "A.I." technology and social media. There are darkly humorous observations running throughout the narrative, but there are certain sections that go beyond this and are simply dark and disturbing. By way of contrast, there are also aspects which are, by turn, sweet, sadly poignant and moving.

There are a number of character perspectives employed in the course of the narrative, as well as the inclusion of other forms of media, so this may be a little disconcerting if you are not a fan of multiple viewpoints in your reading material. That said, the various points of view are handled skilfully by the author, They are well signposted and each of the protagonists has a clear and authentic voice, which means that the reader is soon able to recognise them and differentiate between them.

Often, the most effective and disturbing speculative fiction tends to be that which can be imagined as a potential reality without there being too much of a stretch involved in the process. That certainly applies here, as it does to the other novels in this universe created by John Marrs. The result is yet another gripping and thought-provoking read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

I think this might be my second or third read in the amazing John Marrs alternate universe, set in the near-future with some thought-provoking scenarios. "The Family Experiment" didn't disappoint and I'll be off to read "The Passengers" after this as it was pitched as a tv show at the end of this book. Just love the way that all the books are interlinked without the reliance of you having read all of them. Back to "The Family Experiment", it was so multi-layered. Each set of contestants had their story and their reasons for wanting to win and one by one secrets are revealed. There is a bigger overarching storyline of child trafficking and what happens to them. Stay with this book, right to the end. It is worth it.

Wow, wow & wow! I just want to know how you think of this???

A must-read. Loved the multiple POV & short chapters so as well as the plot, soooooo easy to read!

Confusing, over complicated, DNF’d which I never normally do but just couldn’t see it out any longer. Nothing about it is engaging, feel marketing it as a “thriller” does not suit this book

This was so super fun! Set in the same world as John Marrs's previous books The One, The Marriage Act and The Passengers, The Family Experiment asks, what does it mean to be a family? Could you love an AI baby like it was truly yours? Could you watch an AI child you have raised from infancy be disintegrated, if it afforded you enough money to conceive a biological child? What would you to do to beat out 5 other couples desperate for children of their own? And could you protect your family as all your darkest secrets are revealed to a livestreaming audience?

I never watch reality TV. I don't think I'm above it, I just generally think it's kind of boring. But I love a twisty thriller set in a reality TV show. And this is one of the the best that I've read. There was just enough mixed media elements to spice things up, but it never interfered with the narrative. Although there's a large cast of characters, I didn't have any trouble following who was who. A+ rollicking good time.

Another incredible story by John Marrs. I love how he is able to take real world, near future scenarios and create stories with them. Every story John Marrs tells I find myself sitting back and thinking 'wow, this could happen in a few years'.

The book was kept exciting with multiple different characters and storylines that all interconnect. I also liked how previous books were used and now it's starting to feel like a new world has been built. I'm excited to know what comes next in this new world.

John Marrs became one of my instant buy authors a while ago and this book just concreted that even more for me.

4.5/5

Thank you so much Pan MacMillan and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This is a near future dystopian thriller set in the same world and The One. I absolutely loved it. Such an interesting premise.

I have only read The One of his near dystopian thrillers. There were references to his other books such as The Passengers and The Marriage Act and I wish I had read them first. This absolutely can be read as a stand alone but it would have been better having the prior knowledge of these books purely so I could appreciate the easter eggs a little more.

Raising children in a virtual experiment and John Marrs?

I was in.

This is such a twisty read. I couldn’t believe one twist and then another hit me in the face.

For fans of John Marrs or anyone that wants to read something truly different.

I have read 'The One', and 'The Passengers' so John Marrs' near future dystopian society is a place I've been before. I've learned how his mind works; how he takes today's real world and stretches it to the point where we can't help but simultaneously think "No way!" and "Yep, I can see how that could happen".

Characters from the previous books, and characters 'matched' by technology from 'The One' are incorporated into a tale of the ultimate reality TV - or should that be unreality TV? Couples are tasked with bringing up an AI child, watched around the clock by the public who judge their every move. The couple who makes it to the end and wins the public vote will get enough money to pay for their own real world baby via IVF, surrogacy or whatever.

Lying beneath this plot is a story of children sold by or stolen from their parents who can't afford to keep them.

It's clever.
If you've read 'The Passengers', you'll be used to the way John Marrs plays with the readers' emotions and tricks us into thinking the way his fictional public think. It's highly manipulative and very clever.

At the end of a John Marrs dystopian novel you will probably feel a bit drained, shocked at what happened, relieved that it's over, and - quite possibly - pretty darned scared at how easily social media in the hands of clever people can be used for good or evil.

This is my favourite speculative thriller by John Marrs so far. The first one I've rated 5 stars. It was unputdownable! Not only was the concept strange and addictive, but the characters themselves were all horrid people with sordid pasts, each one hiding something sinister, which developed over the course of the book, culminating in an explosive final that had me gripped to the page with my mouth open.

And just when I thought the last twist was over, another popped up. Clever. Addictive. And completely believable too. I can't say enough good tings about John's writing. It's easy to read, yet detailed and full of emotion and depth. I would highly suggest reading a few of his other speculative thrillers before reading this, as this book does refer back to some of the events in them, but doesn't provide any spoilers. It will just provide you with a bit more background information about the fictional world.

Wow what a book..
11 contestants raise virtual children, for 9 months. By the end of the 9 months, the children will then be adults , and the winners will either be given a prize fund to use in the real world, or able to keep their virtual child ‘alive’,.
I honestly couldn’t put this book down, so much happened with each of the contestants, and some shocking twists along the way.. Even when the contest had ended , all the questions I had , all got answered ..

Thankyou #NetgGalley for the opportunity to read this book ..

Marrs' best speculative thriller yet!

I could not put this book down, and I was addicted to finding out what was going to happen next.

It's terrifying how easily this could become our reality.

I absolutely loved the inclusion of Cadman - a previous character from The Passengers. The throwbacks to the previous books just made me smile every time. I absolutely loved the social media post chapters. It would be really fun if some of those websites were real - I checked, they dont exist 😆

The twists were everywhere, and I didn't see any of them coming. And the ending was just perfectly perfect.

I will be getting me a physical copy of this as soon as it's available. Read this. You won't regret it 😌

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 ok stars.

John Marrs is one of my favourite authors and I have never given one his books less that four stars, so I am very reluctantly giving this one three.

I’m trying to work out what it was that didn’t work for me with this one. It did take me a while to get into the book, getting all the characters straight in my head as there were a lot of characters to remember. Because there were so many, you never really got to know enough about them to really be invested in whether they won or not.

I really couldn’t get into the idea of wanting/loving/becoming emotionally attached to an AI baby/child.

The concept behind Ararat didn’t flow with the rest of the book and made the story feel a bit disjointed.

It did end well but was a bit of a slog to get there.

I think if I could live in any author's mind, it would be John Mares. The Passenger, The One, The Marriage Act and now The Family Experiment. How I would love to know how he can come up with such brilliant, twisted storylines and bring them to life.

I just don’t think there’s a better speculative thriller writer out there. This is the easiest five stars of 2024 so far - absolutely loved it, was completely compelled and couldn’t stop reading it.

I just love what Marrs has created in this dystopian near future world - I find it equal parts genius and terrifying! This concept was no exception. I absolutely loved the concept of the reality show and the diversity of the characters and their circumstances. I thought this was such a clever use of AI in a storyline and it was certainly thought provoking.

The whole storyline was a wild ride and I was living for it - I couldn’t help but binge the entire lot and whilst I managed to unpick a few pieces of the puzzle there was still plenty that left me open mouthed. An absolute must read.

Gulped this down in just under two days. Every time I finished a chapter, I needed to immediately start the next one! Addictive book!

Wow!!!!!! This was amazing. I read this in a day and I am not a fast reader, I just could not put this down!

This is a futuristic thriller where people take part in an online programme called "The Family Experiment."Where couples are given an avatar child to take care of for 9 months & the public can vote and interact with the end goal being one winning couple.

This was so twisty and fast paced. Each chapter leaves you needing to read more and the plot twists had my mind in a spin.

My first John Maars book and I'm kicking myself I haven't read more of his books, but I certainly will be now!! This is one of the easiest 5 stars I have gave to a thriller by a mile.

Absolutely brilliantly bonkers all wrapped up in a great thriller, loved every page, love his books don't think I've read a bad one yet

Woah! That was a ride I wasn’t expecting! John Marrs does it again even in a totally different world / universe! He wrote in such a cleverly mapped out way having me gasping at the many different twists and turns this read took me on.
Totally different to anything I have read before and John Marrs can do no wrong!
Well done John, take a bow!

Alright, let's dive into "The Family Experiment" by the mastermind John Marrs! Now, I'm a huge fan of Marrs—I've devoured all his books, and this one ranks right up there with my favourites.

What I love about Marrs's writing is that he takes you on these wild rides into the future, where things are both eerily familiar and completely mind-boggling. "The Family Experiment" is no exception. It's like Marrs's signature style dialed up to eleven. This book sounds very much like "The One" – where Marrs's imagination runs wild, yet everything seems so plausible.

Picture this: The world's in chaos, with overcrowded cities and economic turmoil making it impossible for many to even think about having kids. But fear not, because there's a solution: Virtual Children. Yep, you heard that right. For a monthly fee, you can create your very own virtual child and raise them in the metaverse using VR.

Now, throw in a reality TV show where couples compete to raise their virtual offspring, and you've got the recipe for one heck of a story. The stakes are high, with the chance to win a real baby on the line.

Marrs's writing is as sharp as ever, pulling you into this dystopian world and making you question everything you thought you knew about parenthood. It's dark, it's twisted, and it's utterly gripping.

But what really sets this book apart for me is how Marrs seamlessly weaves references to his other works into the story. If you've read "The One" and "The Marriage Act," "The Passengers", you'll feel right at home. But even if you haven't, don't worry—Marrs explains everything so you're never left in the dark.

One thing I absolutely adore about "The Family Experiment" is Marrs's ability to make these futuristic scenarios feel so plausible. You find yourself nodding along, thinking, "Yeah, that could totally happen someday."

So, if you're like me and you love a good thriller that's equal parts thought-provoking and heart-pounding, do yourself a favour and pick up "The Family Experiment." Marrs knocks it out of the park once again, and trust me, you won't be able to put it down.