This is an excellent read which really makes the reader think about their values and what a dystopian world could, realistically, be like. It’s a gripping story with an excellent twist.

What a wild ride!!!

The Family Experiment had me rushing through the pages at breakneck speed. The more I learned about the 'experiment' and the contestants taking part, the further my jaw fell open. In today's age it's already crazy to see what people will when do it comes to reality television. This is just a glimpse into what it might look like in the future. Hold on to your headsets, ladies and gentlemen. It's about to get intense!!

While it fell just short of a perfect score, this book truly wowed me. Initially, I struggled with the pacing and complexity of the first half.
It was dense, with numerous characters and a flurry of unsettling events, making it a struggle to keep track.
However, perseverance paid off.

Pushing through led to an utterly mind-blowing experience.
The twists were brilliantly executed and upon reflection, their plausibility in our potential future only added to their impact.
Every character arc was satisfyingly resolved, underscoring the richness of the narrative.

I'm grateful I didn't give up prematurely; otherwise, I would have missed out on a truly exceptional read.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for the digital ARC!

I enjoyed this one. An interesting idea with characters that kept me guessing how it would end. I liked the way that Marrs incorporated his other dystopian novels into the story too.

Wow oh wow, John Marrs makes stuff definitely did not disappoint with this latest book! I was gripped from the off, having read some of John’s other books like the one this made reading this so much more enjoyable as you already have a great understanding of the world he has created. I throughly enjoyed the characters and the developments. I enjoyed each twist and turn, I hated finishing each chapter even though the short chapters are forever a winner, I was desperate to finish.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read this.

Set at the same time as his other books. The One, Passengers and The Marriage act. We Have The family experiment. A Virtual reality tv show where ten couples over a nine-month period looks after a virtual child. Members of the public can view what’s going on because the show is live and vote for their favourite couples and vote to do challenges and the couples that win get money or products in the real world as the winner of the competition gets money given too them for IVF etc to help the conceive a real child. But it is not easier said then down when people are watching and commenting on you 24/7. Anything can happen.
Wow what can I say it is a John Marrs book. I didn’t even bother to read the synopsis. I just had to read it. This is another fantastic piece of Speculative fiction regarding the ten couples in the competition. Each of the couple backgrounds and what leads them to this point and what kind of parenting skills they all have. Under scrutiny of the people watching. I was so immersed in the story that I couldn’t stop reading. I love this author because he always thinks outside the box and his stories always have double the meaning. I am always wondering where he gets his ideas from because they are so different to anything else that I have read. This is another 5 star hit for me.

A true page-turner thriller set in a near future dystopian (kind of) world.
I read this in two days thanks to its fast pace, interesting premise and clever twists. It's subject of virtually raising a child, which grows up in an AI helped enviroment took me a while to feel plausible but Marrs does a great job of describing each person's motives and so making it all more believable.
This isn't perfect of course. Some of the actions of the protagonists are sometimes a bit far-fetched and the grand finale wasn't as surprising as I guess was intended. My main complaint though is that the information about the state of the world isn't expanded. We get some info thrown in that paints a general picture, but I would have liked more, so I could understand how we got there and what exactly is going on in the present.
For what it tries to offer though this was a hit for me. A thrilling story that flies by (in fact it would benefit if it was a bit longer and expanded on the parents-children relationships) and touches on many interesting themes. Also it has to be mentioned that parents especially will find it easier to connect with the characters.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Publishers for providing me with an arc.

Brilliant , gripping storyline . Book of the year so far for me I could not put it down , plausible storyline with realistic characters . Not to be missed !

John Marrs' "The Family Experiment" was my first foray into his writing, and I devoured it. As someone involved in safeguarding and child protection, I was immediately drawn to the theme, which reflects our discussions about a potentially unsettling future. The book's setting in a near-future world where 'Wearables' blur the lines between virtual and real, including virtual parenting, gripped my attention from start to finish.

Marrs' storytelling is riveting, with short, punchy chapters that kept me eagerly flipping pages. As a parent myself, I deeply connected with the characters' yearning to cherish fleeting moments with their children, especially as the virtual offspring accelerated through growth stages, echoing the rapid pace of real-life parenting.

Without a doubt, I'll be recommending this book to all, and I'm excited to explore more of Marrs' works. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this read in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this!! I was so excited when I got the approval as I love a John Marrs thriller. Although it’s not my favourite of his, it’s up there. It did take a while to get used to the chapters with multiple character changes but the whole concept is amazing and so well done. I will be recommending this to everyone! Thankyou so much for the ARC!

This book is wild. And slightly terrifying. Set in the not-too-distant future, it is twisty and immersive and genuinely makes you think - it seems far-fetched at first but then starts to actually feel plausible. There are a lot of characters to get to grips with, so it took me a bit of time to find my feet with the novel. I really liked Hudson, though didn't find myself warming to the other characters. This is a standalone novel, though there are several nods to Marrs' previous books.

Absolutely devoured this book. As someone who is somewhat nervous about the sudden rise of AI - this book at times sent literal shudders down my spine. The prospect of virtual children in a virtual MetaVerse along felt entirely plausible, if not somewhat mind-blowing, and John even weaved in other natural technological changes to the text to really help set the scene.

With families competing to win the televised Family Experiment, we get to know a variety of complex characters, each with their own reasons for wanting to win - and not always good ones.

There are various twists and shocks in the book and I never knew what was coming next.

I believe this is the first book I have read by John Mars but now seeking out the rest!

I loved this! John Marrs has such a talent for writing. This plot initially seemed out of this world but quickly felt scarily realistic.. a fantastic dark psychological thriller.

Ten couples get the chance to enter the Metaverse to raise a Virtual Child for a nine month period to experience life as parents. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child or risk it all for the chance of a real baby.

There were so many twists and turns throughout this plot. I absolutely loved that we jumped into each contestants perspective chapter to chapter. It made the book feel fast paced and leaves you constantly wanting more from each of them. The use of social media, news papers and advertisements through the story felt even more engaging.

I felt an absolute rollercoaster of emotions throughout this plot. This is my second John Marrs book and I will definitely be picking up another! 4 stars ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! Set in the dystopian future he has written about in several of his other books like The Marriage Act and The One this book focuses on a reality show where contestants raise a virtual reality/AI child. I love the way he adds in forum chats, new paper articles etc it really immerses you into his world.

As you can imagine the contestants have secrets they don't want aired in public, and the pressure is too much for some of them. Lots of great twists and turns. I couldn't wait to see where it ended. I hope he writes more books set in the same universe.

This book was brilliant from the start, I can honestly say I am not a SI-FI or futuristic fan, but I saw all the good reviews, and thought.. here goes and I was not disappointed. The thing about the book is its the sort of thing you could see happening, drone dropping parcels made me smile. Anyway mustn't spoil it too much, be prepared for a page turning, brilliant, gripping story enjoy!

I absolutely loved this! The dystopia story, the characters, the multiple povs and all of their dark secrets and the constant undercurrent of suspense and intrigue. I found the pacing a bit slow at times and the ending was a bit mish mashed together but so close to a 5 star read for me and I will definitely be trying his other "Black Mirror"esque stories.

As an ardent follower (and reluctant admirer) of AI, I always love reading books written by John Marrs. And once again, this novel has cemented his place as the dystopian AI writer of the year! Just reading the introduction, I knew I was in for another unforgettable immersion into the worlds that Mr. Marrs creates.

There is an eclectic cast of characters, each with their own backstory, adding to the intrigue. Mr. Marrs weaves their stories together like a tapestry, culminating in a very satisfying ending. I enjoy how the chapters are short, yet intense. It keeps the narrative flowing and the tension high and makes you want to stay up all night to finish it. Never has the adage, Just One More Chapter, been truer than when reading this book!

I also loved the way he used social media posts to lighten the mood. He’s used this technique before, and, in his books, it just works! Underneath the speculative nature of the topics in this novel runs an emotional thread of distress, shock and horror at what could quite possibly be our future – and the light banter of these posts helps us to chuckle (albeit nervously), just a little bit.

If John Marrs wrote it, I read it. You should to!

#netgalley #johnmarrs #thefamilyexperiment

The Family Experiment - John Marrs ⭐️⭐️

Imagine a world where you could have an AI child, where you use a VR headset and suit to enter a separate universe to spend time with that child. If you’ve had enough you could just take off your headset and carry on with your real world life, weird right?

This was the premise of John Marrs new book, The Family Experiment. His books are always futuristic and dystopian, so the overall theme didn’t take me by surprise, but I really hope that with the development of AI that creating AI children never becomes a reality, it’s a freaky concept.

I’ve got to admit I didn’t love this book. I found the mix of characters confusing, it took me till about 50% through to actually have a grasp of who everyone was! Alongside that, I didn’t like any of the characters, which doesn’t often happen but it makes it a lot harder to enjoy a book if you’re not attached or rooting for anyone.

Normally the last 100 pages of a book flies by and I savour it, as I don’t want it to end, but the last 100 pages of this book dragged!! I was glad to hear what happened to the other contestants and all stories were neatly tied up, but it went on a bit long for my liking!

Overall it was an interesting concept and very in line with John Marrs other books like The Passengers and The Marriage Act, but just not for me this time.

Good fun. A riot from beginning to end!
I was looking forward to reading this as the game show premise sounded good, with a slight dystopian edge - I also thought it would be an easy read. I did romp through it, but it was much more complex than I anticipated - in a good way.
There weren’t many characters by the end that you would have warm fuzzy feeling about!

I am so extremely blessed to have received this as an ARC from netgalley. I absolutely love John marrs. His books are always so twisty and gripping. This one was no different.

Set in the the hear future, the UK is in economic crisis. Couples are unable to afford to start a family. For a monthly fee you can design your own metaverse child. That you access via VR. The company that designed the virtual children have created a reality TV show where multiple  couples and a single man create their virtual child.ren. They then get to raise these children on the reality TV show. They raise them from birth to 18 years with in a condensed 9 month period. Whichever couple wins can either keep the virtual child or the money, worth up to £250,000.

I was gripped from the very start. I read this within a day because I just couldn't put it down. I absolutely love the near future story's that John marrs writes. When you read the premise of the book you think thats a bit far fetched. However, you then start reading it and realise this could actually become our reality in a few years. It was  really thought provoking at times. I loved the mixed media, the social media conversations from the viewers, the advertisements and news reports, this definitely added to the reading experience.


I loved the way the previous near future books, the passenger and the marriage act were mentioned throughout this book.

It was such a gripping, fast paced, twisty page tuner and I highly recommend. My most favourite book my John Marrs so far.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the e copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review.