4.5 stars
This story is set in the UK, in the future. Overpopulation and a struggling economy has made it so that many, if not most people cannot afford to start or raise a family. To combat this issue, many companies are utilizing AI to experiment with virtual children to fill the desire of lonely families that cannot afford real children. The first virtual children are launched as part of a new experimental reality show called The Family Experiment. 5 couples, and one single, will have the chance to raise a virtual child from newborn to 18 in the Metaverse (all in a 9 month period), and have their parenting judged by viewers, who will ultimately decide who wins at the end. Winners will get to keep their virtual child… or trade it in for enough money to start a real family. All losing contestants will have their virtual child simply cease to exist. AI experiments, desperate contestants, obsessive viewers, high stakes… what could go wrong?
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This was so well done! John Marrs has created such a crazy, imaginative world powered by high tech and AI that is just so frightening. This book really plays on the fear of AI that many of us have - not only the AI itself, but what its capabilities will do to humans - and make humans do to each other. This book was full of complex characters and twists - many that I did not see coming. My only complaint is that the last 50 pages or so felt slow and could’ve wrapped up a bit quicker. Overall, a very fun, twisted read that will have me thinking (and worrying) about the future.
If you enjoyed The One, The Marriage Act, and The Passengers, it’s time to dive back into that world - and enjoy!

Continuing in the vein of John Marrs previous books, the families in this book turn to raising virtual children as the cost of living and overcrowding complicate normal family dynamics. A quick, compulsive read that was hard to put down.

I just finished, and I have goosebumps. I always love John Marrs, and this one sucked me in so fast. I've been gasping and relaying what is happening to my husband scene by scene and he's into it too. What a crazy book!

3.5 stars. I really love this universe and love reading more books that are set here. For the large majority of the book I really enjoyed it and felt it was a solid 4 stars. I felt like each family's stories continued to remain interesting and you wanted to know more. I felt like the "twist" was fairly predictable if you paid attention, but I didn't find that to take away from the story. However, after the finale of the show and the twist - the remaining chapters felt long, drawn out, and unnecessary. Sure we wanted some follow up, but at that point I didn't care much for the focus (won't say more to avoid spoilers). Overall, I'd say I really liked the book until the end which is why I gave it a technical 3.5 stars rounded up to a 4 star GR rating. I love John Marrs and will definitely keep reading.

Ⓑⓞⓞⓚ Ⓡⓔⓥⓘⓔⓦ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔽𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕪 𝔼𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥
𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘀
Science Fiction
384 pages

Sʜᴏᴿᴛ Sʏɴᴏᴘsɪs
Several couples/individuals are chosen to be part of a reality show. Each receives a baby in the Metaverse. They interact and care for that child as it grows, skipping years to get the child to adulthood quickly.

The winning couple/person can keep their Metaverse child or give him/her up for the money to have a biological child.

Mʸ Tᴴᴼᵁᴳᴴᵀs
This is quite the reality show. Each of the couples are hiding something, but don’t worry, it will all come out by the end.

On top of that, there are other things going on behind the scenes. The ending brings it all together.

The technology of the Metaverse is alarming, yet intriguing. People become parents using a special second skin that gives them the realistic feel of an actual child: the heartbeat, the warmth of their skin, etc.

The story kept me engaged, especially as I got closer to the end. Mixing tech with emotions creates quite the story.

💕Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing this ebook for me to read and review.

This book is not only entertaining, but also very thought provoking. It seems far-fetched, but then at the same time not really. I mean, real estate can already be purchased in a virtual land, so what comes next? This also highlights the potential dangers and ethical concerns over the use of AI. It's very intriguing and a well done story full of surprises and twists. I enjoyed how the author put a generated AI photo of himself at the end to drive the theme home. If you are at all into sci-fi or AI you should definitely not miss this one!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Hanover Square Press for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Yasssss!! Futuristic novel and an AI theme. In this family experiment, we follow a reality show where families compete for the chance to win money that ultimately can give them what they long for. There are a lot of POV.

The Family Experiment takes place in a near future where AI and virtual reality is much more advanced and all the cars drive themselves. It is speculative and dystopian fiction at its best that takes place in an economically struggling society.

The Family Experiment is the name of a reality show where contestants are given the opportunity to become parents to a MetaChild and £250,000 for expenses. The MetaChildren are created using datasets to match unique specifications to each contestant couple so that they closely resemble what would be their real world child if they had one. Using special haptic suits during all their interactions, the MetaChild looks, sounds, feels just like a real child. In the span of 9 months, these children go from newborn to 18 years old, jumping a few years at specified intervals. The world is watching this reality show and reacting in real time by sending red hearts to things they like and black hearts to things they disapprove of. At the end of 9 months, viewers get to choose a winner. The winner can either keep their MetaChild and any leftover money or they can eliminate the MetaChild and collect 250,000 to start a real world family.
This story was fantastic. I have not read John Marrs before but have heard enough about his other books to know that at least a couple of them exist in this same world. Parts of this book blew my mind. The things that people are capable of never cease to amaze me. Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this advanced copy.

The Family Experiment is a dystopian thriller set in a near future when a growing number of people are financially unable to start their own families. A reality show allows contestants to compete raising virtual children, complete with challenges voted on by their audience.

I found myself literally gasping out loud at some of the shocking passages in this, and the crazy unexpected twists in the story. The whole storyline was extra unsettling because I could absolutely imagine some of these scenarios happening. This is so well-written; it's utterly action-packed and captivating with short chapters that I just flew through.

I hadn't read any of John Marrs before; I'll definitely be putting him on my auto-read author list and going through his earlier works.

Thank you so much to Harlequin/Hanover Square Press and Netgalley for this ARC!

This dystopian fiction follows multiple families during a metaverse experiment reality competition show to raise AI children.

It was definitely an interesting concept and poses a lot of real world ideas and questions that may arise as AI advances over the coming years. Thought provoking for sure.

Since there were so many characters, it was definitely difficult to follow at times, especially in the beginning. But it kept me engaged wanting to keep reading.

It can be read as a stand alone however, there was previous books that tie into this one to explain some of the other concepts mentioned In this book. Overall, I give it a 3.5/5. I think the overload of characters is what held me back a little because I think each story could have been dove into deeper but wasn't just because there was so many.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, John Marrs, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Umm wasn’t really my cup tea. I liked a couple of John Marrs books but this wasn’t as good. I did like how it discussed the issues with AI and the sci fi aspect.

This book just wasn't for me. I enjoyed the dystopia sci-fi focus. I loved the dive into the dangers of ai. I struggled to track the multiple povs and such.

In typical John Marrs fashion, he delivers another chilling AI/technological thriller. This book can be read as a standalone, but I don’t think readers will enjoy it as much or be as fully-immersed as possible. When raising child becomes too expensive , the family experiment enters with an AI child. The most terrifying part of this book is that I could see this becoming a reality one day. This book would make for an excellent book club discussion. Thanks so much for the opportunity to read!

What the heck did I just read?!?
I'm still sitting here processing. A sorry set in the future that you know could be real at some point. And, how far it can go with AI development. But wow, all the characters, all the twists and turns, and definitely things you don't see coming!! This was a page turner that I could not put down.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harlequin Trads Publishing for giving me the opportunity of this ARC in return for my honest review.

John Marrrs writes the most imaginative stories that almost seem too real. Speculative fiction at its finest! This author is quickly becoming an auto-buy for me! I loved this one. The only draw back for me was the multiple POV- until about 30% in I found it very hard to keep up with who was who.

First comes the DNA test to find your soul mate then comes an AI baby!
This one was wild, dark, gripping, and such a page turner! This was my second book from John Marrs and there was a lot happening in the best way possible!

In The Family Experiment we follow a reality show where families compete for the chance to win the right to keep their virtual child, or risk it all for the chance of a real baby.

This one had a few too many multiple POVs for me but with cliff hanger chapters that had me absolutely flying through this one!

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing, Netgalley and author John Marrs for providing me an advance readers copy in exchange for my honest review.
Release date: July 9th

What makes this authors books sooooooo good, is that they could very well become a reality. It’s that closeness that makes them a chilling good read! When story blends into reality, this is where this author excels! Could not put down this futuristic thriller. A reality show in which you raise a meta child, to either win money or to be able to keep the AI child! Creepy! Every contestant had their own agenda and I loved diving into the rabbit hole of this book! Love how his newer books are connected.

Can’t thank NetGalley, harlequin trade publishing, and the author for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book releases July 9/24, will be adding a physical copy to my shelves 100%

What an intriguing and engaging book! So many twists and turns, never knew what was coming. I like how the chapters were short and each chapter ended on a cliffhanger. The concept of an AI baby is so interesting. I really had no idea to expect. I will say, it took me a while to get to know the characters because there were just so many. But, the book did keep me on the edge of my seat wanting to find out more. Great book!

In the future, economic crises has led to some families unable to afford to have children. Enter the Family Experiment, a reality game show in which people compete to "raise" their own AI child in the Metaverse. The show lasts 9 months over which the child's age will be advanced from birth to 18 years old. At the end, the winner can choose to keep their AI child or claim a jackpot that they can use to raise a human child. As the ten couples compete, we learn about some of their dark pasts and the horrifying truth to how the AI children were created.

This is my first book my John Marrs and I think I might have benefited from having read some of his previous works. I liked the story but I never felt any connection to or sympathy for any of the character. With ten couples competing, lots of characters are thrown into the story all at once and I found it a bit confusing. Most chapters switched between characters but a few times chat logs of the viewers and news blogs were used to tell the story. I really didn't think these formats added to the story. The book did raise many thought provoking and ethical questions in regards to the use of AI. Overall I enjoyed the book. The world and plot is very creative and there are some great twists.

Thanks NetGalley for the copy of this book.

Overall, this book was fine. Although it can definitely be read as a stand alone, I do think it would have read better had I read the other two books set within this AI/Metaverse world Marrs has created.

The premise of this book is SO freaking cool and interesting, and I was beyond excited to read it! I think the problem I had wasn’t with the story, but was with the style. I find it difficult to become invested in a story when the chapters are so short, and jump from one POV to the next with every following chapter.

I was definitely invested in the characters and plot, however. I thought the story itself was definitely worth the read! Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC!