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!

John Marrs has done it again.

Set in a speculative future dystopia, there is a reality show where families compete to be voted #1 raising a child in the "MetaVerse". Their AI child is remarkably human, and you follow each family's journey through the show.

But wait, it couldn't be John Marrs if it was that wholesome. What is each family hiding and what dark secrets are even the producers themselves a part of?

As a fan of John's speculative thrillers, I found this to be top-tier.. Written from multiple perspectives, each chapter ends on a cliffhanger that will have you dying to read more.

I will be telling everyone I know about this book. It's not even great just because I'm biased, it's just actually an incredibly unique story that is written incredibly well.

Cheers to John Marrs.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of The Family Experiment. Fans of John Marrs will love this book! We are taken back to the futuristic UK with ethical dilemmas and questions of right & wrong. A reality show set in the metaverse with parenting of AI children makes you again question both the merits and pitfalls of technology. Marrs makes connections to his previous books, which as a fan of his work, I loved. This book makes you think about the definition of family and how far people will go to keep their secrets safe.

I have no clue how John Marrs continues to build off of the world he created with The One and just kill it every single time. BUT HE DOES!! This one is probably the best one yet! This had short chapters, crazy characters, Multiple POV, fast and twisty turns, dark secrets and gave me an absolute fear of AI. I loved it so much and couldn’t put it down!

This is my third John Marrs book and while I enjoyed it, it was not my favorite of his. I read The Vacation and The One, which were both very different from one another. The Family Experiment was more like The One, which I preferred, only taken further in concept. Marrs writes suspense and with some recent novels, has ventured into science fiction plus suspense. I would also classify them (along with The Marriage Act which I haven't yet read) as dystopian. In this world, Earth with a dystopian twist, there is overpopulation and having a child has become prohibitively expensive (never mind that our birth rates are going down and I am waiting for him to write a book about the repercussions of that). The idea for virtual children is born: a company provides metachildren for those who are desperate to experience parenthood and not only that, they have a reality television show for its contestants to vie against one another to keep their metachild. The children belonging to the losers...
This is good a good dystopian concept and I was hooked; I had to see who got to keep their child. The book followed different parents (single or couple) alternately through the book, similar to The One.
I felt like it was a little more confusing to follow than The One. I also felt like there were little subplots; various things would happen that would either eliminate the families or make the reader think that it was going to eliminate the family. I also thought Marrs was trying to wrap things up too neatly at the end and create a message or theme that was a touch too heavy. However, this is just my opinion as readers seem to think differently from me. This is not to say that there were not aspects of the novel I enjoyed and I am curious to read his other similar and future science fiction/thriller/dystopian novels because I love the concepts.

If you love John Marrs' speculative fiction world of The One, don't hesitate to jump into his next novel, The Family Experiment, set in that same near future. We meet a group of people on a reality TV show who have been gifted with virtual babies to raise (while on live 24 hr streaming) as they compete to win the grand prize of money or the virtual child. As always, Marrs explores all the sides of human nature and weaves a fascinating tale while doing so.

If you deal with infertility or have lost a child, you might have a hard time reading this book. I was surprised to find a woman with my exact struggle, which isn’t that common, so I had a hard time with that, just a little.

However, I believe that this portrays the desperation couples feel when they face infertility or the loss of a child well. The grief you feel makes you willing to do almost anything. It’s a unique kind of grief, infertility and child loss…and it makes you willing to do almost anything to fill that hole. Including entering a completely virtual world to have your own child. I can see why someone would want to do this just to fill that void.

That being said, it was a good story. I am a sucker for stories with reality tv plots, so I thought I’d enjoy this one. It has a lot of people to keep up with. As the story goes, a few of the characters leave the competition, so it makes it slightly easier to keep up with them. It’s a little hard to believe, but at the same time….nit that hard. If that makes sense? It’s very black mirror. Where you’re thinking to yourself, this is so far-fetched….bit is it really? Considering the AI and deep fakes we see currently, there’s honestly not telling what AI is capable of that we don’t know yet.

I have read a few of John Marrs books and have enjoyed the ones I have read. This one is a stand-alone, but I think if you have read his past books, specifically The Passengers, the One and the marriage act some things will make a bit more sense, however, I don’t think it’s necessary. I think it’s cool that he carries things over from the same universe to different books.

I actually figured out the biggest twist very early on in the book. I don’t know why it seemed extremely obvious to me, maybe it was obvious…but it was a good story nevertheless.

Out of the Marrs books I’ve read, this is maybe my least favorite, but if you enjoy his writing, I think that you will still like it. Especially if you’re also a fan of Black Mirror.

I’m a huge speculative fiction fan and believe it or not, this is my first John Marrs book. I was excited to dig into this one as the description sounded intriguing.

In a future United Kingdom, an economic crisis looms and people can’t afford to have and raise children. So of course a corporation swoops in on this “opportunity” and naturally exploits it!

This novel follows several families who participate on a reality game show. Each family is given an AI virtual child to raise in the metaverse. The experience is complete with goggles, haptic suits and all that futuristic stuff that is supposed to make the metaverse seem real. Ages birth to 18 are condensed into 9 months as the public watches, votes and even participates in the direction of the show/contest. At the end, the winning family gets to make a choice: keep the AI child they have bonded with or take prize money to have a family and start a real family.

I will say that for about the first half of the book, it’s a bit difficult to keep the families straight. I read the e-book and I find it a tad hard to back up and re-look at things in that format. But, as the story unfolds, it does get easier. The families take on unique characteristics and they’re easier to track. There’s a single dad who wants to show that a one parent family can be successful,, a male gay couple where one partner is a quasi-celebrity influencer and a few straight couples, several of which have controversial pasts. This gives the watching public plenty to engage in and gossip about.

The hardships and baggage that these families have was interesting to read about, too. Marrs gives away little tidbits as the book progresses, which is a good tool to make you want to keep reading, if you ask me.

This was a fun, not super-heavy read. It does delve into some touch topics, but nothing is too spicy. This book should appeal to fans of sci-fi, speculative fiction and mystery-thrillers with a futuristic vibe. To me, the second half of the book was better than the first, and as mentioned above, a big reason for that was that the story settled in and the characters were easier to track.

Thank you to Netgalley, Hanover Square Press and John Marrs for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Wow, this book is incredibly intense! It had me completely engrossed, following the intertwined stories of five couples and one single person on a reality show raising a virtual child. Throughout the book, ethical dilemmas abound, keeping me on the edge of my seat with each unexpected turn. John Marrs, the author, skillfully crafts a thought-provoking world that feels eerily plausible.

The Family Experiment is a gripping story that will have you on the edge of your seat. As more characters are introduce you realize all of them have secrets they don't want getting out. It leaves you wanting more at every turn. With its clever take on our society today giving us a glimpse of what it could look like in the future, you question everything there is to know about AI.

Interesting idea with lots of twists and thrilling situations as virtual families are created in a world of over-population. Seems to me that you get all the same issues plus even more in this unique sci-fi tale.