I love the storyline idea very much, but the implementation was not as outstanding as I thought. Don't get me wrong, I had my fun reading, but sometimes I wonder if you couldn't have gotten out of it anymore. I can't say what exactly I was missing.

I liked the concept of this book but I’m not sure it was executed well. I felt he flipped between characters too quickly, there was too many viewpoints which I think led to a lack of character development and left me not being able to connect with any of the characters. I pretty much disliked them all. I also felt like not much happened until nearer the end of the book. I like Marrs books but sadly not this one.

Holy smokes, this book is one hell of a ride and I absolutely loved it!! It was one of those books that you could devour in a day, but I read it on short chunks to savour it more.

I love all of John Marrs dystopian type books and have read each in order, seeing them build up as the books go on. This was just the most perfect next instalment in this genre and it hit the button on every level!

Whilst disturbing in some respects, it’s also absolutely fascinating and I would love to see what goes on in Marrs’ head as the ideas he has are so out there but completely believable!

A book I will most definitely be recommending to others - totally wow!!

John Marrs has done it again! The latest book set in the same universe as The One and a read that challenges the reader to consider technology’s impact on life.

We meet a number of contestants on a new reality TV show where they get to raise a virtual child (think a modern day Tamagotchi). What can go wrong…?

Definitely one to read if you love a book with multiple narrators and twists galore.

This plot of this book centres on a reality show titled, The Family Experiment, where 4 couples and a single dad compete to win the chance to start their own family. How they do this, is in a 'metaverse', they raise a meta child.....the winner can then choose to keep the meta child or use the prize money to start their own family with a biological child. Crazy right?? I mean that pretty much sums up John Marrs' books!

Each chapter alternates between the 5 families and I love how short and punchy they are. Most chapters ended in a bit of a cliff hanger...then you'd read another chapter narrated by a different protagonist....so I'd usually race through a chapter to get to the next one, because I needed answers.

I could not wrap my mind around how they flitted between metaverse and reality, but you know going into the book you'll have to suspend reality and let your brain run wild. I also feel there was some underlying message and comparison to our current world with this book, but I can't exactly tell you what it is a metaphor for, unless I am totally off base. lol.

Overall entertaining and thought provoking and sad.....

Absolutely brilliant! This book is packed full of drama, moral dilemmas, twists, turns and characters you’ll love and hate.

Set in the not too distant future a new technology is allowing people to subscribe to a Metachild….a virtual child who you can parent in the metaverse.

The storyline is gripping for so many reasons and the plot just gets more complex as it goes on. Layer upon layer of dilemmas, drama and betrayal are exposed.

I devoured this book, it was utterly brilliant. The one downside was the ending for Issy, which I felt was a bit of an odd choice, but otherwise I cannot fault this book.

John Marrs introduced me to the world of speculative fiction and his thrillers, written in the near future, are the best that I have read with The Family Experiment being the most exciting yet.

The Family Experiment tells the story of a reality show with a difference.

Childless couples (and a single parent) who maybe cannot afford to start a family, compete to bring up a child, in a virtual world (the Metaverse) using VR headsets to interact with their children in front of millions of viewers who judge their parenting skills and can “vote” for their favourite.

Chapters alternate between the competing parents and although John Marrs references his other speculative thrillers: The One, Passengers and The Marriage act, The Family Experiment is a stand alone, brilliant, work of fiction which once started, I couldn’t put down.
A definite Five Stars from me.

(I wrote this review a while ago but it seems to have disappeared)

**Rating: ★★★★★**

I always enjoy John Marrs' books, and *The Family Experiment* was predictably great! The concept is fascinating, though I'm not sure if I would be so keen to participate myself.

The story takes its time to introduce us to the families, but the progression is well worth it. Marrs masterfully reveals little tidbits of information throughout the book, keeping me hooked as each family's secrets slowly came to light. Discovering these hidden aspects was incredibly satisfying.

One of my favorite elements was the mixed media format, with advertisements and social media threads interspersed throughout the narrative. It added a unique and modern touch to the storytelling.

While I loved the book, I would have appreciated more information about the world they live in. Despite this, *The Family Experiment* is a captivating read that I highly recommend to fans of thought-provoking and well-crafted stories.

In the not so distant future tech and AI have taken over, cost of living is horrendous, the NHS barely exists (context indicates that it mainly only helps kids under a certain age), and having a child via IVF is prohibitively expensive. Enter the Metaverse and their groundbreaking new endeavour: a virtual child. Due to be rolled out nationally it opens with a televised competition where the public vote for the best family. The family that wins gets to either keep their virtual child or £250,000 to have a real child of their own.

This was a fascinating concept and while it took a while to get to know the families I loved the progression and how little tidbits of information were slowly revealed throughout the book. All the families had secrets and finding those out was so satisfying. I also really liked the mixed media format with advertisements and social media threads dotted through the book.

The only thing is I wish that the ending was a little more rounded out, it felt a little incomplete. I also would have liked more detail about the world they're living in. What year is it, what has changed, what caused these changes?

Another fab book from John marrs as part of his speculative thriller series.
Really loved how unique the storyline in this book is (as are most of his other books!)
I'd definitely recommend reading these in order though so there's no spoilers from previous books

An unusual storyline which, at first, seemed to me to be too far fetched ….. until it wasn’t. I really enjoyed the different characters and their back stories and had no idea where this was going.
A riveting read

wow, wow, wow!
I absolutely loved this! Full of twists and turns that will leave you shook and questioning your own morale's.
John Marrs is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors.

John Marrs is the king of futuristic novels, how he comes up with these ideas I don't know! I am obsessed with his work and can't wait for more!
I recommend John Marrs to EVERYONE!

The UK is at breaking point thanks to a soaring population, overcrowded cities, and economic crisis. Many people can’t afford to live, let alone start a family and raise them. But there is a new way to raise a family for those who long to do so: meta children. For a monthly subscription, clients can create a virtual child from scratch, accessing them through a VR headset. To launch their new initiative, the company behind the Virtual Children has created a reality TV show following ten couples as they raise their Virtual Child from birth to eighteen, which will be condensed into a nine-month period. The winners will then pick their prize: keep their Virtual Child or try for a real baby.

Dark, menacing, unsettling and twisty, The Family Experiment is the latest gripping thriller from John Marrs. Set in the same universe as his previous books The One and The Marriage Act, this is a masterclass in speculative fiction. Expertly written, skillfully plotted and cleverly constructed, he combines heart-pounding tension with complex family relationships and moral and social issues facing us today. What makes the things that Mr. Marrs writes about in his speculative thrillers so compelling, is how deeply uncomfortable and terrifyingly plausible they are. With how far technology has come and the soaring cost of living, I can imagine a world where ‘tamagotchi children’ exist as an alternative to flesh and blood. Personally, I find it all deeply unnerving and only like the idea as a way to get an idea of what parenthood is like, not as a substitute for living children.

A bingeable thriller filled with twist after twist, The Family Experiment keeps you guessing until the very last page. Complex, clever, surprising and unnerving, this is a must-read for any thriller lover.

John Marrs' writing has a way of just grabbing me from the offset and never letting me go and in his newest novel, it has happened once again. Brilliant!

Rating: 4.5

The Family Experiment has so many things going for it:
- Short chapters
- Trippy plot
- Mixed media
- Fast-paced
- Immersive audiobook

The chapters are delightfully short. The plot is wild, fast-paced and supported by a mixed media format (which I always enjoy). The audiobook is so immersive, with music so that the ads (such as webuyanyavatar.com 😂) sound like real ads and the messages have a sound similar to the WhatsApp message sound. This book is like The Hunger Games but for people wanting to start a family. This is my first John Marrs book and it was a wild ride.

the family experiment is a sci-fi thriller that i could not pit down! john marrs manages to immediately capture your attention with the idea of meta-children. this idea sounds wild but is so well thought out! there came a point when i sometimes forgot that the children were not real, just like their parents. marrs also added great plottwists i did not see coming and the way it ended was nothing i ever expected!! this is the first book by john marrs i‘ve read but it definitely won’t be my last!

Argh!! it was so good to be back in John Marrs' nightmarish alternative telaitt. Set in the same world as the One and the Marriage Act, this latest installment looks at the possibility of a cyber child
Absolutely terrifying in its plausibility. I could t put it down!

When you read the synopsis of the book out loud your first thoughts are maybe hmmm not for me. I don’t do sci-fi, sounds a bit far fetched. Well if anyone can pull off a story that 10-20 years ago you never thought could possibly happen and make the reader feel like this is tomorrow’s world then John Marrs can.
The story follows several couples all hoping to win the family experiment. But of course with all reality TV shows each couple has a back story and how is this story going to affect their chances of winning the family experiment. You can’t help but love and then in turn hate almost every single one of them. But also you fall in love with these AI children. Such a very clever book, written in such a way I would honestly believe the author has time traveled to the future to write it. Loved it

In the fairly near future, the cost of having and raising children has risen to such exorbitant levels that having a family has become an unattainable dream for many couples. That is until a groundbreaking new reality show offers contestants the chance to raise a child to adulthood - in the metaverse. Each child will experience an accelerated childhood, undergoing a development leap of months or years every month, until they turn eighteen after nine months. The winning couple - as voted for by a viewing public who can follow the families 24/7 - must then choose to keep their virtual child, or delete them for a chance to have a real baby.

I've previously enjoyed The One and Passengers by John Marrs, and The Family Experiment takes place in the same universe. There are multiple call-backs to his earlier works, but I wouldn't say that it's essential to have read any of them in order to enjoy this title. Like Black Mirror in book form, Marrs' novels take place in a speculative, dystopian near future which take elements of our current society, such as online dating and electric cars, and follows them to a frightening conclusion. The Family Experiment is a timely look at the inexorable march of Artificial Intelligence, and the possibilities and perils of the expansion of the metaverse - as well as an examinationof how we consume reality televisionand celebrity culture. As compelling as it is chilling, the book takes current problems such as limited NHS funding for IVF, the cost of living crisis and the soaring cost of childcare and posits what could happen if we continue along this trajectory. It is also a knowing commentary on the mining of human art in order to develop AI - how far might developers be willing to go in order make AI behave authentically - and what might be the human cost?

Interspersed with content such as extracts from the rules of the show, news reports and online chats, the book mirrors the structure of the show, divided into the nine months of the virtual children's lives. The story unfolds at pace, switching between the different couples (and one single man) and their experiences. In the show, the couples have been selected to represent a varied cross section of the population, and this is effective in differentiating them from each other in the book (though I did keep getting two couples confused to begin with). Each couple has a secret and some omniscient presence seems to know what they are and be willing to use them against the couples, though we have to wait till the big finale to see how it all shakes out. The short chapters, constant twists and reveals mean the book flies by, and I loved feeling constantly wrong-footed. All in all, another highly entertaining, thought-provoking offering from John Marrs, which is sure to delight existing fans and capture some new ones too.

Thanks you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.