Wow, I loved this book. This book took me back to what I loved about The One, the first speculative thriller I read by @JohnMarrs followed by the equally thrilling The Passengers. The One is one of my all time favourite books, from the characters to the intriguing plot lines and chapters that kept you wanting more. My daughter, who doesn't usually go for any type of thriller books borrowed The One off me and ended up staying up late to finish it because she also found it hard to put down. The Family Experiment brings all that once again in a great story about an AI family competition to win the chance of keeping your AI child or money to pay towards starting your own real life family. Each contestant have their own secrets and lies to protect which start to unravel throughout the book with their own twists and turns. To anyone who is eagerly anticipating this book you really won't be disappointed and if your a fan of The One you are going to really enjoy this. I won't give anything away about the stories and take anyone's enjoyment away from reading it for the first time. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to have had an early read of this book. Thank you @netgalley @JohnMarrs and @ panmacmillan
I will now be giving The One a reread this year. This has made me want to read it again.

What has John Marrs written here now this time? Another chilling dystopian tale. Set in the universe of The Marriage Act, just turning up the volume a bit more here.
This is not a nightmare dressed up as a daydream. This is a nightmare packed into a piñata of a hornets’ nest and all the hell breaks loose while everyone pretends it’s all fine and dandy, yeah, those aren’t mad hornets, if we pretend hard enough those will turn into candies. (ok, a disclaimer, there are no actual hornets in the book, this is my own comparison, hyperbole, and exaggeration)
Squid Game meets The Marriage Act meets The Hunger Games meets the brainless consumers of the internet, an AI-zombified nation of future generations, desensitized of the fact that out there are other humans, not just AI-metaverse.

As I was reading it, I jotted down some notes. This was a BIG read. Although I don’t think I have seen an accurate page count anywhere (amazon lies and says there are 288 pages lol, NO), I guess that there are 400+ pages. There aren’t too many notes though. But the ones I have, here they are:
I’m at 10%. An extra layer of sheer madness: everyone has a secret agenda. Everyone is hiding something. Everyone is pretending. Everyone is not who they want to be seen as. And that toxic influencer culture, eww.
I’m at 13%. It’s grownups playing Tamagotchi for real-life rewards and pretending they don’t know the Tamagotchi isn’t for real. The better you pretend, the greater your chances of winning.
I’m at 20%. How will the speculation of the future look like in 10 years? Sci-fi doesn’t always age well. Then again, dystopian books do age well. Who knows.
I’m at 24%. Every character in this book is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I’m at 58%. AND WHAT I WROTE HERE TURNS OUT TO BE THE BIG PLOT TWIST. Or one of them. There’s more than one.
I’m at 73%. Serious Hunger Games vibes.
I’m at 88%. John gives us a future we never asked for.

I’m wondering if I am making myself clear here on how much I loved this book. Absolutely enjoyed it.
There are two things I’d like to point out, two things I enjoyed Extra, Extra and with a layer of salad dressing. One, I love how John Marrs never adds a layer of his own opinion about things. Whatever he writes, it’s from a neutral perspective. I have come to realize that not many authors can do it and being able to do it is such a golden skill. A rare one.
Two, the country-specific jokes, references that might make you snort if you are at least somewhat semi-up-to-date with all things British, like, the crowning of a certain new king.

The book’s pub date is set to… sometime this summer. That feels like forever away. The pub date actually is a mystery of sorts now also, just like the actual page count of the book. Some places online say its May, some ay it’s June. Either way, when it’s summer, the book will be here. One more reason to look forward to the summer, right?

I absolutely loved this so much that I read the whole book in one day … Gripping , exciting, full of suspense… lots of twists and turns along the way… The best book I have read in a long, long time . Loved it!

OMG! What a book this is. The whole concept is brilliant. Im quite a slow reader in comparison to some but this book I could not put down. I took my kindle everywhere in the hope I could sneak another chapter in - and thats when you know you've got a good book!

The story is about AI babies in essence and about the families that are taking part in a social experiment on bringing these babies up to age 18. At first I was a little confused about who was who as all 5 or 6 families are introduced in as many chapters but then all of a sudden it clicks who is who and makes sense.

John Marrs you amazing man! Ive loved everything about this book and now I need a sequel! Get buying it people because its a cracker!

Thank you to Netgalley for an unbiased review for an early copy of the book.

I just reviewed The Family Experiment by John Marrs. #TheFamilyExperiment #NetGalley

“The Family Experiment” is a reality TV Show following 11 contestants as they raise a virtual child to the age of 18 in a condensed 9 month time period. The most successful couple get to choose whether to keep their virtual child, or take a cash sum to help with starting a real life family.

This book felt like I was reading an episode of Black Mirror. It was easy to follow despite being told from multiple points of view and there is the addition of some social media posts/conversations which I LOVED.

It’s pretty fast paced and hard to put down once you get into it. There are a LOT of unexpected twists (which I suppose I actually should expect from John!!)

This was the first of the authors speculative fiction that I have read, however I’ll be checking out the others now rather than sticking with the psychological thrillers!

Absolutely loved this book, will be recommending to everyone.

I loved The One by this author so I was eager to discover his new work and was not disappointed. It's a dystopian thriller as I love them. From the start, John Marrs draws us into the plot of The Family Experiment by slowly revealing secret after secret. We quickly get caught up in the game, trying to predict the winner. And if I thought I saw a plot twist coming, John Marrs knew how to surprise me. Alongside its addictive reading, it is a book that denounces and manages to place itself well in the context of the rise of artificial intelligence.

John Marrs is always on my automatic TBR list and I was really excited when I saw he had a new speculative thriller out.
I was not disappointed with the twists and turns of The Family Experiment and I always find myself asking ‘what would I do?’ at various points during the storyline. Couples are tested to breaking point in the ultimate gameshow- but are the prizes worth the strain it will put on their lives?

I really enjoyed this storyline. The fact it could easily happen these days, made it just a bit frightening. With developments in AI, who knows what will be possible. At the start, I did find it a bit confusing as there are quite a lot of characters to follow. Eventually though, I managed to keep track of who was who. If you like books with a futuristic theme, then you will love this one. I hope this gets made into a TV series.

John Marrs has such a gift for taking the bleakest view of humanity and making it hugely entertaining and terrifying! In 'The Family Experiment' we are in the familiar dystopian world of 'The One' and 'The Marriage Act' where AI is running the show, and humans are struggling to keep up.

In a world where its ruinously expensive to have a child, even if biologically you are able, six households have been selected to have a meta-child. Every aspect of their parenting journey is going to be live streamed and judged by millions of viewers, in a competition to find the ultimate winner.

The meta-children start off as babies, but grow up much more quickly, so over a period of nine months they will reach adulthood. The real-life parents join their child in a meta-verse, wearing a haptic suit so that the parent can feel the baby as if it was real. The choices that the contestants make are unlimited, but they have to decide what is best for their 'child' whilst also weighing up how any decision will be judged by the viewing public.

If you've read John Marrs before, you'll know that not all of the contestants will make it, and some of them have some truly brutal scenes which left me reeling. It is bleak, it is unforgettable, it is unmistakeably John Marrs.

Yet another fantastic book by John Marrs! The storyline had me gripped from the very beginning and what a fantastic twist at the end!
Highly recommend!

Wow, what a book! This is scary near-future thriller by John Marrs had me absolutely enthralled. Having loved The One, I was so ready for this one! I have to say, this prolific author just keeps getting better!!!

As a big fan of John Marrs I couldn’t wait to get my mitts on ‘The Family Experiment’ - it certainly didn’t disappoint. The plot revolves around a reality tv programme where 5 couples and a single dad are given the opportunity to raise a virtual child in the metaverse. The prize is £250,000. The catch? Their virtual child is destroyed. One by one the contestants fall by the wayside (some in rather spectacular fashion) until only 2 are left. There are also some tie ins to The One and The Marriage Act - a great touch.
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this excellent book - I loved it.

Wow! Thoroughly enjoyed this, kept me interested right to the end, makes you think about the future and what could happen, some sad bits, loved hudsons character and was routing for him throughout. Will definitely be looking for more by this author
Thanks

Thanks to Netgalley and Publisher for the e-arc.

Written in the same universe as The One and The Marriage Act, which were dark and twisted, one would expect this to be similar, but it fell short. I wasn't particularly invested in all of the family bonding scenes (there were sooo many). Each parent had their own, making the book repetitive. I was only interested in Selene and Hudson, of course.

Hudson's past was what kept me reading. His revelation was sad. I hope this never happens to anyone, especially children. I was glad he and others took their revenge and got their closure.

I have read all of this author’s books and this one was shocking, thought provoking and downright frightening but I loved it. With all the books in this series the subject causés conflict in the perceived future and what might indeed be attainable in the future with AI.
This would be a great book for discussion in a book club. Will wholeheartedly recommend

A terrifyingly, brilliant read!

John Mars can do no wrong when it comes to speculative thrillers. And this book is another fine example of his unique approach and skills.

Formed upon a conceptual article that John read in a newspaper. This book, and the article explores how our future would look if we decided to use AI to build our futures, and our families within the Metaverse.

Now John, being the brilliant writer that he is, doesn’t just take this concept, and then write a scary, crime fiction novel based entirely around that linear thought. He fully explores the pros, the cons, the morality, the legalities, the possible outcomes both for the families and the conflict that it creates between the Metaverse and the real world. He takes an idea and he explodes it to its fullest. He deconstruct it and shows our reality and who we are as human beings at our most worst because ultimately that is what we do we take a good idea and we break it. This book is so in tune with humanity, it is horrifying to read, and yet so compulsive and brutally honest in its similarities to how it could potentially play out in reality.

Politics, legalities, and moralities aside this book is one twisty read! It has so many knots in it, and so many threads that you won’t fully understand the scope of the world and the concept that John has built until you’re almost at the very end and by that point, that’s when you really need to pay attention, because everything that you’ve learnt everything that you’ve built your own series and formed your own opinion on… will then be further decimated and picked apart for you to really understand what you’ve chosen in your world is ‘right’ to you.

This book in its world, and its meta verse is linked to his previous novels ‘The One, ‘The Marriage Act’, and ‘The Passengers’ that said it’s not linked in the sense that you must read those to be able to understand this it’s more that by having read those you understand what the people in this world in this reality have been through already and witnessed and faced in terms of challenges to be able to then get this point in their present-future.

Absolutely brilliant, loved every single page of it! If you haven’t read John Mars before be prepared to be mentally scarred and yet utterly amazed… and if you have then this is one definitely to add to your Amazon wish list.

Thanks to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

A fantastic yet extremely scary novel that shows how easily the future could become our reality. Always enjoy the way John weaves enough of everyday life into his novels to make this future believable

Thank you to Netgalley, John Marrs the author and the publisher for the advance copy to read and review. .

I was extremely excited to be approved for this having read some of Marrs work before. This book was nothing like I was expecting andsci-fi is certainly not my favourite genre.

However, that was so brilliantly written and easy to follow that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also think it's extremely impressive when an author can cross genres and still be so successful at them. It shows true talent, so hats off!

The whole concept of raising AI children in the metaverse was such a unique premise and delivered in such an intricate manner that made it easy to understand and played out beautifully.

I really enjoyed the variety of styles of story telling via the couples POVs, the newspaper articles and the social media messaging. It made for a truly immersive experience. .

The book also raises a lot of ethical questions surrounding AI and choices that can be made. Should the avatars have rights? Do they have souls?

As a parent it really had me questionning how I would feel having my every day interactions as a mother viewed and judged by the general public. Social media and reality TV seems to allow people to be extremely harsh hidden behind the confines of their keyboards.

I also really appreciate that there was light shone on the fact that so many children are trafficked. Often things like this are hidden away from public knowledge so to have an awareness of it in this book and central to the story made it more believable. I hope it leads on to people researching this outside of the book too.

If you're looking for something extremely well written, with a different style of plot and immersive story give this a try.

I was lucky enough to be given an ARC copy of John Marrs book - The Family Experiment. Available to purchase May 9th 2024.

This book has a huge amount of nods back to previous speculative thrillers making the book hugely immersive and an horrendous look to the future or (preferably) an alternate universe.

Imagine the worst reality tv show, mixed together with futuristic tech, and covered with layers of deception and lies, thats The Family Experiment.

I read the first part of this book, expecting it to be a "what if" look at the future, the book I finished was so much more.

Mr Marrs always manages to make you question your own boundaries with his speculaitve thrillers, what would I do? How would I feel? This book pushes the boundaries of your boundaries, the tech, premise and "morals" of this story will sit with you for a long time. It is uncomfortable at times, making you consider how you feel or could potentially feel about AI and its soul and the cost of creating the perfect "AI being"

An absolute roller coaster of a book, with allegiances switching chapter by chapter, Murders, lies and twists and turns a-plenty, get ready to have your virtual world rocked once again

Brilliant!!
Set in the same world as The One and Passengers; The Family Experiment is a scary glance into a possible future for us all!
Wouldn't say I'm a sci-fi kinda gal, and talk of Meta and AI is usually something I wouldn't even consider reading, but I actually really enjoyed this. Looking forward to hopefully reading some more of this series in the future.