Where do I start.

This is a real page turner, leaving you gasping in shock from one chapter to the next.

A brilliant story by an author at the top of his game.

One I just could not put down.

Satirical rather than suspenseful, this dystopian novel poses terrifying questions about fertility, artificial intelligence, reality TV popularity contests and social media.
Several people participate in TV show to raise virtual reality children. The winners, chosen by viewers, get to keep their VR child or undergo fertility treatment to have a real baby. One contestant, Hudson, had a, page-turning backstory, and I liked the twist.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

Population growth can't be sustained, towns and cities are at breaking point and people can't afford to live let alone feed and clothe children. Artificial Intelligence has the answer - just a small monthly subscription fee can get you your very own metachild. Why leave it to chance or genetics when you can design and have the perfect baby you’ve always dreamed of? One that can live in the metaverse and be switched off when you get bored with it.

I love John Marrs novels, just a step away from reality they're a scary look at what without restriction on AI development the future could look like,

Jumping straight on the bandwagon of this latest AI development comes reality TV with 'A Family Experiment', a prime time reality contest that follows 11 people, 5 couples and 1 single male raising their very own virtual child over an 9 month accelerated growth period. Throw in a live feed, a few challenges decided by the viewer vote, a chance for audience participation and in this crazy world you've got yourself a hit TV show.

This wasn't the easiest novel to get into, with many characters and a storyline that jumped between past and present I found myself re-reading the initial chapters more than once but it was so worth the effort - a rewarding and thought provoking read.

This one spooked me reading this! It felt like a Black Mirror episode and with AI being so advanced now it wouldn't shock me if AI to create new avatars for people, and then to make it a reality show - everyone would've seen it coming!

I loved reading this though as it made me feel like I was one of the viewers watching parents look after their AI babies and rooting for those I liked hoping they don't mess up. It was such an enjoyable read with twists and turns and the idea in general was chilling but incredibly gripping

John Marrs has done it again. I would love to have an insight on how his brain works because, WOW. His near future thrillers are scarily realistic and are the real horror. Well done Mr. Marrs, you never miss!

The cliffhangers in this book were so so amazing!! John Marrs never disappoints with his books and I imagine this one will be extremely popular this year. I felt so shocked during the plot twists and did not see them coming!

I am the BIGGEST John Marrs fan so I knew I was going to love this as soon as it was announced.

His dystopian thrillers are SO clever and well written. The plot had me hooked from the absolute get go. The characters were all incredible, the experiment was absolutely insane but in a way that was also terrifying because how NOT completely far fetched it was.

The twists and reveals had me shocked and open mouthed for a good while!

The only thing that I struggled with it keeping up with who is who! It’s the same for all his dystopian thrillers so part of me thinks you are MEANT to start off confused and I actually don’t mind it because I know the pay off will be great - and it was 😂

When I tell you John Mars has snuck up on me; damn! I’ve always enjoyed his writing, but recently his talent for crafting the most twisted versions of reality is honestly concerning and I can’t get enough of it.

The Family Experiment is a warped portrait that captures the zeitgeist of todays world; the frustrations, the impossibility of affording a happy life, the crushing depression and the subtle but powerful grabs for control and power from oppressors - it’s like looking through a broken mirror out to the world in a way that’s frighteningly possible, building on the broken Britain created in “The Marriage Act.” Mars crafts the setting to feel so familiar to truth so everything just feels that much more uncomfortable, complete with adverts and media from this odd version of the world showing a technologically advanced society full of possibility but moving further from humanity; slowly shifting from a sense of mundanity into something suspicious and suffocating where every part of your life is controlled and up for sale.

We follow five couples, and single dad Hudson on their own individual journeys, jumping between their stories with quick chapters - but each perspective was so distinct that it was so easy to follow and get attached to every single one of them after we figure out who is who. As the competition progresses, each little chapter offers slices of life that felt almost like scrolling through reels or TikTok of our favourite reality TV show, short form snippets, little moments of daily life to see before moving on.

But then secrets, lies and plots start to move to the surface and the stories begin to crash together in an explosive way; suspicion being thrown everywhere with the players lives falling apart seemingly at random and the mysterious producers still being just a figment in the computer, watching with us as the threads of these stories weave together until the true motives are revealed and I can tell you I WAS SCREAMING.

Get ready to meet the most disturbing Tamagotchi in existence, and play The Family Experiment.

The Family Experiment is a new reality TV show where over 9 months, eleven contestants, 5 couples and a single man, compete to raise the world’s first fully interactive children in the Metaverse. They are given £250,000 each to raise the children and if they win, they get to keep whatever is left of this and their MetaChild or ‘pull the plug’ on their child and take a quarter of a million!

This book pulls you in from the very beginning. I read it in about seven hours, as literally couldn’t put it down.

It is set in the same near future world as his other Speculative Thrillers and there is so much going on. Each chapter follows different contestants and wow, the amount of cliff hangers that leave you desperate to get to the next instalment of their story!

John Marrs speculative thrillers usually weave their way into my brain, but they don’t usually emotionally affect me this much. I cried for the trafficked children, for the metababies, for the characters who lost so much, so many emotions, so many thought provoking scenarios. It was scary, shocking, challenging, but above all - AMAZING!

The only problem is, I don’t know how he can top this one 🤯

Thank you to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan and @johnmarrs.author for this eARC

Pub Date: 9 May 2024

Another stunning book from one of my favourite authors, John Marrs.
I was really grateful to be approved for this book as I've been reading Marrs' books for years now.
Unsurprisingly, this book was brilliant.
The way Marrs weaves original stories through different perspectives always creates a page turning read.
The concept to this story is fascinating, thought provoking and heart breaking all at the same Time.
Each chapter is told from a rotating set of characters and ends on a cliffhanger, making me desperate to find out more and unsure of who's story I'm most invested in.
If you haven't read anything by John Marrs, go do so.

Why leave it to chance or genetics when you can have the perfect baby you've always dreamed of?
Re:Born allows customers to create MetaBabies - children that exist entirely in the Metaverse.
A reality TV show called The Family Experiment documents nine months where eleven carefully selected childless British contestants competes to raise the world's first fully interactive children in the Metaverse.

Marrs really is a genius at making you think. At first, it’s laughable at how he imagines this technology-infused future. But then you think about it, and you realise we are already on our way there.
This asks what we consider a soul. What we would do if AI’s start developing self-awareness and an emotional intelligence that rivals humans. How our technology use is turning into an addiction.
Most importantly, he consistently demonstrates how our world is being dominated by capitalism.

“I kept animals on a Facebook farm when I was a kid, but the novelty soon wore off and they starved to death.”

Is this yet another way technology is creeping into our lives to destroy the fabric of society?

There is shout-outs and references to Marr’s previous work which expands on the ethical debates and the fallouts from each one. This high-tech future with all these new laws doesn’t seem so strange right now.

Like his other books, this engages with many different formats, keeping it fresh and very meta.
What always brings down my enjoyment in Marr’s books is the amount of characters that feel stuffed in. It’s hard to create a collection and distinguish between such a large vast with extremely short and perspective-changing chapters.

Thank you to MacMillan for providing an arc in exchange for a review.

John Marrs has done it again! This is a rollercoaster ride of a thriller that has a strong grip on the reader from start to finish. Getting to know each of the contestants in the eponymous programme was done in a measured, clever way, leaving questions in the reader's mind about every character. As with Marrs' other speculative fiction, it raises questions about where technology is taking us and what that might look like in a few years. Equal parts compelling and concerning, this is one you're not going to want to miss.

I recieved a copy of this book from netgalley for an honest review.
This book was amazing. So well written and I think I went through every emotion reading it.
The book starts with a competition through a reality TV show, where couples are given the opportunity to raise an AI child, they have £250,000 to use to raise that child, they can choose a prize of keeping the child a d any remaining funds from the initial money or deleting the child and keeping the full £250,000 to gave the opportunity to have a real world child. The couples all seem to have a secret, some are not very serious, but some are very serious. I had a few oooh that's interesting to some very WTF moments reading this one. Every time you think the roller coaster ride is finished we go for another turn.
Will definitely be recommending this one, absolutely loved it

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

John Marrs has done it again. I really don't know where he gets the ideas and inspiration for his books. Another unique narrative with nods to previous books that fit perfectly.

In an age of overcrowding, economic disasters, housing and social problems the nation are struggling to afford to have children. A new AI initiative will, for a monthly fee, let couples choose an AI version of the child they would love and raise it via a metaverse headset. In a world of reality TV and social media living the idea is put forward for carefully selected couples to be the first experiment for the new initiative. Live streamed 24/7 and audience participation as well as task nominating takes place. The baby will reach the age of 18 in just 9 months but who will be left in the process and get to keep their much loved child or give it up for the chance of a real one? And are all the participants who they seem?

Brilliant. Loved it. Every new John Marrs book is my favourite! Massive 5 stars.

A solid mystery thriller for sure. Written in classic John Marrs style, it did not disappoint.

What I love about his writing is he takes something that is so close to being a reality and turns it into a scary dystopian premonition of what could be.

This was a fast-paced read with interesting human dynamics and twists and turns.

The Family Experiment by John Marrs

Publication Day : 9th May 2024

10/10 ⭐️

Set in the John Marrs dystopian world of The One, The Passengers and The Marriage Act, 4 couples and singleton enter The Family Experiment. A televised virtual world competition to start their families, with the opportunity for winners to keep their digital child or cash prize to start their own Real World family they all have something to fight for, and something to hide.

John Marrs does it again with this newest additions to Marrs dystopian world. The feelings this book made me feel was…something else! Especially towards the end as secrets were unravelling and the terminations from the competition were being thrown around like confetti!

Switching chapters of each character/couple keeps you thrown in and wanting to know more and also get back to the cliffhanger you just left with everything all coming together in time. I love Marrs’ writing style, world building and accessible imagination! It feels new and fresh every time and I can’t wait for the next thing to come!

Thank you @johnmarrs.author and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this early!

If you haven’t already please go and follow John Marrs and see his post about his 2 worlds of books, I 100% recommend his books and especially his dystopian books, where it feels totally possible and not that far out of reach from our reality and what’s to come…

With the cost of having children rising, the idea of having children in the Metaverse is getting more and more popular, so what better way of getting the world involved is there, than creating a reality show where contestants compete against each other?
This was another mind bend of a book from author John Marrs, there is always just enough truth in these speculative fiction books to make things believable and my gosh this one had me invested.
So many twists and turns, moral dilemmas and talking points, would make this an excellent book club read, but also will leave you questioning everything.
Highly recommend this one.

The Family Experiment was the fourth John Marrs book I read, and so far the one that captured me most. I read this book in a little over a day, and I only put it down for any significant amount of time because what was going on in the book really got to me - due to no fault of John Marrs. The book itself is not upsetting, and any potentially upsetting happenings are written in a way that conveys what's going on without hammering the details in. The alternate reality this book takes place in works well, as a reader you understand the structure of the world and feel right at ease. As with every good John Marrs book, there is a twist or three. I thought for sure I'd figured it out - I was wrong. I'm glad I read this book and will recommend it.

You don’t need to have read any other book by John Marrs to absolute love this latest offering. However to achieve maximum smugness and to understand the throwback references to The One and The Passengers I would thoroughly recommend immersing yourself in the back catalogue before going for this beauty.
There is so much to ponder and in savour in this book; a reality show with people raising metababies, the cost of living crisis forcing parents to traffic their children to Europe, and the idea that those big tech companies may not be in it for the moral satisfaction.
Fabulous near future dystopian fiction.

The premise of this book really intrigued me and I'm happy to say it did not disappoint. The metaverse and AI is very relevant at the moment, and this concept of AI generated children is an interesting one that I felt JM dealt with very well. The revelations throughout kept me on my toes, overall a highly enjoyable read