"Why leave it to chance or genetics when you can have the perfect baby you've always dreamed of?"

The Family Experiment follows the story of eleven contestants who compete to raise fully interactive children in the Metaverse. With advanced virtual reality headsets and bodysuits, a Metaverse child simulates the experience of real world parenting, though this comes at a price as only the winners of the competition are able to keep their child or leave with the cash prize of £250,000 to start a real world family of their own.

John Marrs has done it again! The Family Experiment is the book to watch out for this year. It has everything; from a rich, diverse wealth of complex characters to page turning cliffhangers, this book is one I highly recommend for fans of eerily dystopian, suspenseful novels. One thing I always enjoy about Marrs' writing is how he delves into the difficult questions and scenarios that the advancement of technology brings. For example, how these fictional companies prey on those who can't conceive or afford IVF; "We have everything we want in our lives except the money to start a family. We'll do anything to be parents."

I especially enjoyed the inclusion of social media posts throughout the novel, which I usually dislike, but in this case it adds to the reading experience and feels very realistic and fitting. Sometimes I get put off by books that follow so many different perspectives however Marrs' writing style is so easy to follow I quickly became familiar with each character and I found Hudson, Gabriel, and Zoe to be the most interesting characters out of the book. I also enjoyed the nods to previous books by Marrs.

Thought provoking in nature, The Family Experiment will leave you questioning the world you see around you.

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Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A massive John Marrs fan and devour all of his books! 2 this month….. This one was a bit slow to start, took a while for me to distinguish between the characters, once I got my head around that, I was fully submerged, It was fast paced with no clear chapters but kept my interest throughout! Unexpected plot twists and characters disappearing! No spoilers!

Well done John another epic book

Amazing! John is brilliant at stories and slipping in twists here and there. A definite must read!

The family experiment is a show where contestants are selected to look after a virtual child as their own. Whoever wins gets to keep the money and start their own family. But families have secrets and who wins?

A few years back I read The One by John Marrs and absolutely adored it, its by far one of the best thrillers I have ever read. Why it has taken me this long to read another book by him I do not know but here we are with another 5 star.

Its set in the same world as The One and follows contestants raising children in the metaverse on a reality show which fast becomes the nations obsession.

All of the parents have really compelling stories and with the short chapters which usually end on something shocking it's easy to fly through this book. The format is fantastic with social media posts, adverts and news headlines weaved in which is really fun.

Now I really do need to delve into John Marrs other work.

Read over 2 days……AMAZING
The world's population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. And in the UK, breaking point has arrived. A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families let alone raise them.
But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative. For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind Virtual Children has created a reality tv show. It will follow ten couples as they raise a Virtual Child from birth to the age of eighteen but in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child or risk it all for the chance of a real baby . Great author and fantastic storyteller!

A story following on from previous books set in the future including The One and The Marriage Act. A chilling look at AI children raised in a Virtual World.
The Family Experiment is a competition with the public voting on contestants who enter the experiment in the hope of winning enough money to raise and support a real baby.
I didn’t enjoy this book as much as this author’s previous books because I found most of the characters unlikeable but it did give me a glimpse into a possible scenario of the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a seriously scary book one of which I’d hate for it to be true! A unique and complex story which had you hanging by a thread. Was a real page turner and I devoured it all in one go!!

I have enjoyed all the books I have read by John Marrs and I was blown away by this one. The idea of this experiment is scary in a way that it could almost be real with the increase in AI which for me makes it more scary as this distant reality could happen soon enough,

This book produces an exciting and scary concept of having a child who isn't quite real. Set in the same universe as The One and The Marriage Act, this book, like the others, makes you wonder what the future could bring... Full of shocks and twists, this was a brilliant read.

My Review:
Based in the same universe as Marrs’ other speculative thrillers this was a really interesting take on what reality shows could become and the moral dilemmas of AI and how they are viewed and treated. As always, Marrs does a fantastic job of telling each character’s story in detail while building tension. Told in multiple POVs (third person) it was at first a little tricky to keep track of each couple and the progression of their stories, but I soon got into the swing of things!

Again, in true Marrs fashion these multiple story lines have a way of all coming together at the end in a very satisfying way. I wouldn’t say the twist was an OMG moment and the pace was on the slower side of things. But I was fully captivated by the storyline and invested in finding out the fate of each character. The news articles, online chats and adverts dotted throughout the story was a nice touch that added extra depth to what was unfolding.

Overview:
In a world where babies/children can be created in the Metaverse, a new reality TV show is being aired for the first time. Couples each have a Metaverse child they are to look after for 9 months, competing against each other to be the public’s favourite. The winners get to keep their child, the losers have their child deleted.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

John Marrs never fails to disappoint with his speculative thrillers. Set in a believable future, Awakening Entertainment’s interactive show, “The Family Experiment”, is the first of its kind, drawing in millions of viewers from all over the world.

“Over the next nine months, eleven carefully selected childless British contestants will compete to raise the world’s first fully interactive children in the Metaverse… What they experience and how they develop will depend on the nurturing they receive from each parent.”
The winners can either keep their virtual child, or take £250000, to start a real world family of their own.

We follow the contestants and the troubles they face raising their “children” to 18. From a variety of backgrounds, the contestants are a fun and diverse mix of well developed characters, each with an interesting story of their own. I particularly liked Hudson, both as a person and a dad.

Thought provoking and chilling in places, this was an unputdownable page turner for me.

Although not required, I’d advise reading Marr’s speculative thrillers in order as there are many references to plots in previous books, particularly The Marriage Act, that would make reading this book a little easier.

Marrs continues to be an author I will pick up, and know I’ll enjoy, without even reading the blurb.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for my advanced copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this in exchange for my honest opinion.

What can I say? Just when I thought Mr Marrs couldn’t top the last novel, here comes another one!

6 ‘contestants’ take part in a unique experiment, to raise a virtual AI child in the metaverse. But all of them have some skeletons in their closets…

The tension builds and culminates in an explosive endings with a few twists and turns!

Another brilliant book from John Marrs, can’t wait for the next!

Wow! What a story! I love these type of stories, set in a near future that could potentially be real. It focuses on a TV show that allows contestants to become parents to a Metachild, who is an AI version that they can bring up. This is streamed 24 hours a day as a reality show, allowing the public to judge who are the best parents to win either to keep the Metachild or money to finance having a real child. John Marrs does a really good job of making you feel involved in what is happening throughout; the characters are well-thought out, interesting, and all different from one another, and although there are quite a few characters in this story, it is not difficult to follow. Each chapter follows different contestants in the reality show and this works well, enabling you to be to know them more and more throughout the story. I also especially loved all the snippets of information on The Family Experiment, including news and chat features. Initially, I felt that having an AI child would be a good way for expectant parents to learn how things may be with a real baby and practice some aspects of parenting, but the more you read of this story, the more horrific it becomes and many ethical and moral issues are brought to the surface, which makes you think again. Overall, a great read, that I couldn’t put down!
Thank you you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the ARC for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Four stars for John Marrs' darkest speculative fiction to date. In the family experiment, the price of getting pregnant and raising your child is so exorbitant that most people simply cannot afford it. Never fear though, because you can apply for The Family Experiment - the latest reality TV show, where you can compete with other couples to raise a virtual child in the MetaVerse. The nation will be watching and if you win, you can either keep your virtual child or have them deleted and win the money to have a real child.

What could go wrong? Come on, this is a novel from John Marrs, so buckle up your seatbelt and prepare for the stomach dropping ride through the murky and terrifying world of The Family Experiment. As in all Marrs' speculative fiction, it's terrifying how plausible the future setting is.
I think what's most clever about John Marrs' writing is just how much his books get under your skin. I don't think I have ever despised a character more than I did reading this book and whilst I was raging, it's due to the writing talent, that I cared enough for that response to be evoked. Emotions aside, it's also a book that will make you think. Whilst I was reading the book, after every interaction with my kids, I found myself wondering if my vision would have been clouded with red or black hearts had I been in the experiment and what impact that would have had.

How to sum up The Family Experiment? It's creepy, chilling and thought provoking, but within the doom and gloom, there are hilarious adverts which serve as palate cleansers. I would definitely recommend it to fans of thrillers and speculative or dystopian fiction. I am on the edge of my seat to see what the author comes up with next!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Another absolute page turner from John Marrs, I read this is one day as I couldn’t put it down.

With nods to The One, The Marriage Act and also The Passengers but can be read as a stand-alone book.

I really enjoy the ethical aspects of this series - the “what ifs” especially with the advancements in AI.

Highly recommend!

I enjoy John Marrs’ thriller books, but ugh, his speculative fiction work is something else! ❤️

The Family Experiment, which comes out in May, follows a handful of families competing in a reality TV show to raise an AI child in the metaverse. The winner gets to either keep their meta child, or take the prize money to start IVF treatment with in the Real World. All other participants’ meta children, who they have spent 9 months raising and bonding with are to be deleted. Twisty, pacy, absorbing novel, just as I expected it would be.

#johnmarrs #johnmarrsauthor #bookreview #arc #netgalley #speculativefiction #fiction #bookstagram

Some of John Marrs' best books are clever thought experiments - science fiction-ish 'what-ifs' - and this book falls firmly into that category.

Here, a new reality show offers would-be parents a chance to look after their virtual child from birth in the metaverse, with the help of VR. To make the show work, the baby will grow at an accelerated rate, reaching 18 in nine months. At this point, viewers will choose a winner, who has the choice to keep their virtual child or get cold hard cash and fertility treatment instead. All other virtual children will be switched off forever.

So, of course, you do need to suspend belief if you want to get into the story. In the world as we know it, you've got to hope an ethics committee would stop this idea going anywhere at all. But The Family Experiment is set in the same universe as some other Marrs' books, where the government is already obsessed with the idea of perfect marriages and finding The One. And we know reality shows are exploitative - it isn't, in the end, that far-fetched at all.

At times I found the book hard-hitting at it delved into uncomfortable subjects. As someone who's struggled with infertility in my past, it was quite tough reading about people having virtual babies dangled in front of them and making attachments, only to have them snatched away. But that's sort of the point of any kind of science fiction - to ask 'what would humanity do if it were faced with X situation'.

Make no mistake, this isn't hard sci-fi. It's fun, sometimes trashy, often thought-provoking, and a quick and entertaining read. If you like 'what-if'-style thrillers, then this should be on your to-read list.

Wow! This book was something else. I had so much fun reading this story and gasping out loud! It started off a little slow but I know it was a build up to the story so I didn't mind. It took me some time to remember all the characters, but eventually you get the feel for each of them. This took me back to The One style story and I was thrilled! As the story progressed and delivered cliffhangers at the end of almost every chapter, it made me think as well. What would I do, how emotionally invested people get with AI and all the ethical issues raised. I am going to be thinking about it for a long time. This was a great read and highly recommend for anyone who enjoys dytopian, futuristic Sci fi and a great thriller!

Thank you NetGalley and to the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Okay, I know I love John Marrs books, his speculative thrillers are, to me, some of the best out there.
This book is set in the same world as The One and The Passengers, so I'd recommend you reading those first, although this doesn't contain many spoilers for them.
As with the other books, there are lots of characters. This works well, in that Marrs is able to provide a great cross section of our society, and the various array of people wanting to start a family.
The drama is non stop and I was hooked straight away and couldn't put it down.
I did feel the ending was pretty full on though, and I didn't follow all of it completely. There was a small plot hole that a fellow blogger spotted, too.
A really enjoyable read, and I can't wait for the next Marrs book!

An incredible and fascinating rollercoaster of a ride.

Set in the same world as The One, The Passengers, The Minders and The Marriage Act. The mesmerising storyline made me sob, gasp, and laugh out.

Its tense narrative is emotional and thrilling with thought provoking themes of loss, greed, the dangers of AI and our fascination with reality television. I would not be surprised if it goes straight to Netflix.

The characters left me spellbound as I followed their journeys and I loved every minute of my time spent with them. For me, it's his best yet and I can't wait to read more of his set in the same world. Such an easy five stars.