John Marrs did it again! I am so excited to this release! What a gripping story! I read it in one sitting!

In the UK where for many having a child is an impossible dream, an alternative is possible. A virtual child can be created for you to enjoy via the metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this subscription service a reality TV show has been launched by the company behind the development. Ten couples are followed from the birth of their virtual child to the age of 18 - the prize to keep their virtual child or win the right to try for their own child. Each couple has their secrets and each their own reasons for entering the competition.

One participant - Hudson - a single parent has a past which gives him added incentive to take part.

The plot becomes darker as the secrets emerge and relationships begin to fracture. There are shocking surprises and an outcome I did not foresee.

One to be recommended.

John Marrs, what is there left to say (head gets even bigger). I have searched for words to describe this book but I admit defeat. I really, really wanted to hate this book but I ended up absolutely hooked until the very end. Absolutely unbelievable plot but equally so very plausible. Thank you for a roller coaster ride. Thanks go to the author, Netgalley and Pan MacMillan for giving me the opportunity to read this stunning and memorable book.

I will just say this first, I have a new favourite author, and John Marrs is his name, usually in thrillers I get a bit lost because everything happen fast and I got lost in the action, but in here, the action is just right, with just enough of character grow. We don’t get to know much of the virtual children, but to tell the truth, the story here belongs to the parents, and that was what made things interesting, were does love for a child starts?, where does it end? What is enough in a relationship? I really enjoyed this book, it was so easy in the eyes that it seemed much shorter than it was, but at the same time all the lose ends were wrapped in a very satisfactory manner.

My favourite character was Gabriel, I hope he will find happiness in his unknown future, and the ones I hated the most were Izzy and Cadman and both for very different reasons… Cadman was Gabriel husband, and he could sell his own mother for profit, Izzy, well lets just say… even children are capable of terrible things… I really enjoyed the between parts where fans of the show could send posts with hashtags about the last chapter of the family experiment it was interactively fun.

I wont spoil the story, and I highly recommend that you grab a copy of the book and start reading for yourself, I know that I will be actively searching the other books from John Marrs because I really want to read more from this author.

Thank you Netgalley and Pan Macmillan, Macmillan, for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

I loved The Family Experiment by John Marrs. The idea of the story is amazing and how it analyses the lives of AI children and the ethical and morality behind having AI children. As with other books by John Marrs every character is flawed in a way or another and it was really interesting to have it all revealed in the end. It is a fast-paced book because you just cannot leave the book until the end. This is the type of book that says just one more chapter.

Wow! I WISH I had a pound for every time I found myself saying “oh flipping heck John” after a nerve racking twisty end of chapter that I did NOT see coming pops up! Fair to say, I am a huge John Marrs fan and if you love gripping, dark and twisty novels then you’ll love this one too!
Just as good as all his other books (there are a few throwbacks to previous stories but this is still great if this is your first John Marrs book). This time we are in the future where for a monthly subscription you can create a virtual child, and to launch it all there’s a reality show with parents competing whilst raising a child in the metaverse! Sounds plausible too doesn’t it? Oh flipping heck John! Thank you for another awesome book!

Thank you Pan Macmillian, Netgalley and John Marrs for the eArc of The Family Experiment.

This is my first book by John Marrs that I have read, after reading lots of positive reviews regarding his books. This book has a great premise and one that you could possibly see in the future. Which, I find a little scary to be honest! The narrative as a whole is brilliant. The Family Experiment gives us contestants that have a Metachild in the Metaverse, Their development is speeded up but would go through the normal development changes from birth to 18 yrs old. The contestants are well fleshed out, with bits of their past history and how they came to enter the contest revealing themselves throughout the book. There are some dark secrets floating about and, like us all, we like to keep them under wraps!

I managed to bond with all the characters, for various different reasons, even the ones I didn't like very much at all and I must admit, the opening chapters certainly made me sit up and engage and kept me engaged through the whole book. I also really liked the interactive chat sequences, where the public who were watching have their say on how things are going.

Ill definitely be picking up more of John Marr's books in the future !

Another great read from Mr M .I would love to know where he gets his ideas from ,what a twisted strange mind he has ,thank goodness for the rest of us. ! I like these books, they keep you thinking and speculating and they are totally unique ..

Wow... i really loved this book by John Marrs. Its scary in fact at how real this could be. Ive no clue where he gets bus ideas from i need to know!
Cant say too much without giving anything away but its so excruciating waiting for each couples next "chapter ", hes a master with that one liner at the end of chapters. The link in with his other books The One, marriage pact etc is sooo clever!

A John Marrs book always grips you from the first page. ‘The One’ is my favourite of his books and I love that this was set in the same universe and had a unique story line. Very interesting book!

This was a really interesting book that really thought provoking around the vast abilities of AI/machine learning and also, the ethics and moral questions around it.

It was a great concept for a book that I feel built really well on the themes of The One and I liked that they were mildly interconnected.

I love the intertwined John Marrs Dystopian books - set in the same world as The Marriage Act, The One and The Passengers, this book focuses on a reality show where the contestants raise children in the metaverse - which apparently isn’t that far off in real life!

All sorts of moral and ethical questions arise and Of COURSE there’s a thriller aspect because this is John Marrs.

Like the other books in this ‘universe’ I found it thought-provoking, entertaining and I really enjoyed it. The ending took a little longer to wrap up than I thought necessary, but reading more of this is not really a hardship. Great stuff. Thank you to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for my review copy.

This was one of the most interesting books I've read in a long time! The story is based around the metaverse and a reality TV show named 'The family experiment'. People are selected to take part in the 'game' to become virtual parents to a meta-child. Their parenting and journey in raising their meta child is broadcast via live stream for the world to see. Viewers can interact with the game, expressing their lile/dislike in the way in which the child is being brought up. Each couple, and one single parent is introduced to us in early chapters, each introduction has small hints that some of these couple may not be all that they seem. As the story progresses, the competitors become more determined to win the gameshow, there are multiple shocks and twists which keep you gripped and invested in the characters.
My only criticism is I absolutely loved the first 85% of the book. The final 15% I found more difficult to read, I understand the importance of this section as it answers a lot of the 'whys' but I felt the pace massively slowed down for me towards the end.
Overall this was an excellent read and I anticipate it will be hugely popular when released in May.
Many thanks to Newgalley for the opportunity to read and review!
4.5 stars (rounded to 5)

Once more John has delivered a book that grips you and doesn't let you put it down. I thoroughly enjoy this genre and the fact each book (although standalone) is in the same universe, it makes an even more compelling read. The pace and twists keep you reading and the basis of the story is both futuristic and just round the corner. More of these please, they are excellent.

I love how every time I read a John Marrs book I am absolutely blown away by the writing, plot and setting. Having recently read ‘The Stranger in your House’ I am amazed how the same writer has so many different ideas.
The Family Experiment is set in a future where a competition for people to raise a child in the Metaverse is a controversial concept. Five couples and one single dad are raising a child over a period of nine months in order to win the right to keep the avatar child or delete them and receive £250k to raise a real child in the real world. The characters are so different to each other and obviously are not without their own troubles, anguish and problems in their own relationships.
I love how John Marrs refers to his previous books (without you actually having to read them, even though I have) - talking about the DNA match programme and the driverless cars. One of the characters (Cadman) was actually in The Passengers.
Absolutely brilliant read and 5⭐️ from me.

John Marrs has done it again. The Family Experiment is a page turner that kept me entertained (and frightened of what the future may hold!) from start to finish. I raced through it and when I had to put it down, because life interrupted, I couldn't wait to return to the families in the story and how it was all going to unfold. Just brilliant.

There is an economic crisis in the UK and some people cannot afford to have children, let alone raise them. But for some desperate families, there is an alternative - for a monthly subscription fee, they can create a virtual child in the metaverse. To launch the new initiative, the founders begin a reality show, where couples will raise a child in 9 months. They will have an accelerated growth and the child will be 18 at the end of the 9 months. At the end, the winners can choose to keep the child, or risk it all for a chance to have a baby in the real world. 

This one was fascinating!! As most of the authors novels are. While you may think the synopsis has already given too much away, you would be wrong. There were still PLENTY of surprises and twists throughout and it wasn't really what I thought it would be at all. Another incredibly clever and absorbing novel and one I recommend. 
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for this gifted review copy.

I’m not going to lie, when I was approved for an ARC of this I was so excited, because John Marrs is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors to read and this book is adding fuel to that flame.

The Family Experiment is a sci-fi based in the not-too-distant future. It drops us into a world that’s in the midst of an economic crisis due to growing populations and overcrowding. To try and combat this, a company creates Virtual Children; an AI generated child in the metaverse where you can experience being a parent for a monthly subscription fee.

However to launch this, the company have brought together different couples for a reality show and will broadcast their highs and lows as parents to world…

The prize? To keep the Virtual Child, or to take the prize money to help try and create a real child of their own.

The way John Marrs writes is quite frankly chilling, he takes real problems of the world today and elevates them to a thousand, all whilst keeping it realistic so you’re sat there reading and thinking “wow this could totally happen to our world”

The POVs alternate between each couple, with short, choppy chapters than leave you on the edge of your seat at the end of each one so you can’t help but carry on reading. The conversations around AI technology and where it’s leading us and the frightening ways this is being achieved, twinned with the frantic lives of each of the couples we follow really raises the question of how far would we as a society go to get what we want, and begs the question of how strong truly are our parental instincts?

There are callbacks to his previous novels The One, The Marriage Act and The Passengers as these are all set in the same world, but what I love about what Marrs has done is that he’s explained these callbacks seamlessly for those who haven’t read the previous novels, but isn’t tedious to read for those who have. So you can definitely go into this book without having read any of his previous work (although I strongly recommend that you do)

If you fancy picking up a book that has you questioning our future entirely, then this is for you. If you were to look up “page turner” in the dictionary, John Marrs’ name would be listed. I stayed up until 4am reading this. I’m not sure how much more praise I can give except John Marrs you genius.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I loved this book! It had me gripped from the first page to the very last page and I still wanted more, even though there was full closure and all loose ends were nicely tied up, without being too unbelievable or obvious.

John Marrs really knows how to keep you transfixed. I couldn’t put this book down, nor did I want to.

This is set in the same world as ‘The One’ and his other ‘sci-fi’ books ‘The Passenger’s’ and ‘The Marriage Act’’, which are all referenced. I’m not usually into the genre but I am so glad I gave this one ago, so much so I will now have to read The Passenger’s and The Marriage Act.

This book follows 6 families as they take part in a reality TV show and have a metaverse ‘baby’. We follows their lives during a 9 month period where their baby grows from baby to 18years old - making age leaps at each month point.

There were a couple of great twists that I only saw half coming and had me gasping!

This is a must read for all fans of John Marrs and if you are yet to read any of his books, get this one on your tbr pile, you will not be disappointed.

I have read The One, but not The Passengers or The Marriage Act. Although all these books are a part of this world and are mentioned I did not feel I would have benefited from having read them before this one. They are all very much stand alone novels that just occur in the same future world.

Thank you to NetGalley, John Marrs and Pan MacMillan for this digital advanced copy in return for my honest review!

Wowowowow. I will ALWAYS read any book John Marrs puts out. I absolutely love the books set this universe.

This was fast paced, full of drama and absolutely incredible!
Each contestant had their own dramas and secrets. It did get a little confusing remembering who was who at the start but the more you read the clearer it gets.

It definitely gives some food for thought about “meta children” and had me questioning a lot.

I will always recommend John Marrs books!

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillian for this ARC