The Family Experiment takes place in the same world as The One, and The Marriage Act, but it is not necessary to read the first two novels in order to enjoy this one. There were some references to Match DNA from The One, but in my opinion it's not enough to affect a reader's understanding of the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Family Experiment, but if I'm being honest it's not my favorite out of the three novels set in this "world." The storytelling follows Marrs's typical style of multiple point of views, I believe we get at least five or six POVs from couples/families in The Family Experiment, with a few others thrown in that I won't elaborate on to avoid spoiling anything.

The premise of The Family Experiment is that several couples, and one single dad, are competing in a reality show by taking care of virtual (AI) children. Whichever contestants are still standing or are the favorite at the end will then be rewarded with the option to keep their virtual child, or terminate the virtual child and instead receive money to help them start a real world family. BUT if you are a fan of Marrs then you will know by now that everyone is always hiding something!

I really enjoyed the underlying storyline that was at work here more than the couples competing on the show, and it was fun to see it all unravel at the end!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

It’s written in crack format like the rest of his books. If you like John Marrs youll like this, if you haven’t read John Marrs though they are all stand alone reads I recommend going to read The One first

I enjoyed this One but found it very formulaic to his other novels. It did make me think about ai and its implications more than I have before

The Family Experiment is the fourth John Marrs book I’ve read, and his third speculative thriller I’ve read, and I remain impressed by him!

The plot was incredibly creepy and chilling because with the state of technology currently, with AI, deepfakes, etc., this reality he’s written doesn’t seem too far fetched.
There were quite a few characters to keep track of, in true John Marrs fashion, but they were mostly coupled up so weren’t too hard to keep track of. Each character has their own troubles and secrets that added to the already complicated storyline which was a whole new level of thrilling since nobody is who they seem to be. The end of each chapter left me needing to read on to learn what was happening.
I enjoyed how everything linked together at the end and was explained, everyone’s shocking truths came out and surprised me one final time.
I also really love how this world is all connected and you get Easter eggs from past books.

I’m becoming a huge fan of John Marrs, and especially his speculative thrillers. I’m really excited to see where he’ll take this crazy, futuristic world next.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and the author for this ARC.
Publication date 7/9/24

Another winner from John Marrs! Such a creative and thoughtful look at a potential future that’s not too much of a stretch. My main gripe are that there are so many different characters that it was tough to follow and also made me slow to get invested in the story. I was constantly thinking “which one is this again?”. Otherwise, this was just realistic enough to be chilling and brought up some great ethical questions. I highly recommend… especially if you’re already a Marrs fan.

John Marrs does it again with his speculative fiction! A.I. Children! I literally couldn’t put this book down! I have been an admirer of John Marrs for quite some time, but this is my first book of his set in this world of The One, The Marriage Act, and The Passengers, so I cannot say if you have to necessarily read them in order. All I know now is that I cannot get my hands on his back list fast enough!

The Family Experiment in a live-streamed reality show where several families who can’t afford to start their own families, have the opportunity to raise an A.I. child from birth to 18years over a 1 year period. At the end of this period they get to choose to either keep the AI child or take the money they win and start an actual family in the world and terminate the AI child.


Wow this book was full of surprises and twist and turns throughout nearly every chapter!! While every family playing has secrets to hide, I literally inhaled the pages until I was done!

If you love speculative fiction or the ethics of AI, this book is definitely for you!!

Thank you Net Galley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Hanover Square Press for the opportunity to read this novel early for an honest review! You have made me a John Marrs fan for life!

5-Stars! 👏🏼

John Marrs proves once again he's the master of speculative fiction. In The Family Experiment he takes us into a world adjacent to ours, where AI plays a much bigger role. Perhaps we should be heeding the warning. People are chosen to have an AI generated child in the metaverse as part of a 24/7 reality show. The winner will get a sum of money and can choose to keep their 'child' or delete it forever.

We follow the families as they are faced with challenges of parenthood and pieces of their pasts that come back to haunt them. The book is propulsive and addictive. Highly recommend!

Engaging, timely, and entertaining. A recommended purchase for collections where grounded sci fi is popular.

Man, this book is nuts in the best way. AI terrifies me, and I feel like this book explored potential without sending me spiraling. The idea behind this book is that, through AI, people could start families in the Metaverse. It’s told through multiple perspectives that weave together. I also like the additional of news clippings and social media feeds to tell the story in “real-time.” It’s at times disturbing, but never so much as to want to turn away. Thank you to Marrs, NetGalley, and MacMillen for the ARC.

I am so happy to report that John’s Marrs’ newest installment of his speculative fiction world does NOT disappoint.

The setup: In the near future, would-be British parents join a reality show to raise virtual children for a chance at a cash prize. But everyone- including the corporation behind the virtual children- has secrets to keep.

This book is compulsively readable with short chapters and believable plot twists. Despite the long list of characters (9 parents, their kids, and plenty others), I had no trouble following along as the characters remind you who they are along the way. The Family Experiment feels a bit darker than the author’s other works, and trigger warnings abound- but manages to still read quickly and enjoyably.

5 ⭐️!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this novel; likely because it slightly terrified me due to its accurate depiction of how social media and technology has impacted our daily lives. People compete in a reality show, where they are given an AI child. There are different types of “couplings,” but each is viewed and judged live, while their secrets are also shared. The winner? Gets to decide to take the pot of money and sacrifice their child, or keep their AI child.
So many moral questions asked in this one. It really got me thinking and turning the pages!

This book is about the future of AI and some problems we may actually run into in the future. It was difficult for me to keep track of all of the different families included at first but as I kept reading, it became easier to decipher who was who.

The Family Experiment is exactly what I am looking for in a dystopian drama. This multiple perspective story centers on the contenstants in an AI-child reality TV show, and I was hanging on every single word.

Mind. Blowing. Set in the same near-future dystopian world as The One , The Passengers, and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment by John Marrs raises some fascinating and thought-provoking questions. The characters participate in a reality show competition on parenting AI generated children using avatars in the Metaverse. These people take their meta children very seriously. Evidently, they are very realistic and some of the characters consider them to be real people. This, of course, elicits heated debate on what constitutes a "person." For the sake of the competition, the meta children make rapid developmental leaps (they go from birth to age 18 in 9 months). I enjoyed how the ramifications of meta children are examined from many different angles (the Pope even issues an edict about them).

The slow drips of information tried my patience a bit, but in the end, it all came together, with the characters' backstories and the development of meta children (it probably won't surprise anyone that they weren't developed ethically).

I highly recommend this intriguing book to anyone who enjoys speculative or dystopian fiction. Perfect for fans of The Measure!

If John Marrs writes it, I’m going to read it! Of course I love his regular thrillers, but it’s these dark speculative fiction thrillers that I really can’t get enough of. The Family Experiment is in the same universe as The One, The Passengers, The Minders, and The Marriage Act. They aren’t a series exactly, so you can definitely read The Family Experiment as a stand-alone, but the world building across these books is outstanding, so I highly recommend reading them all to get the full effect. Individually and collectively, these books form a fascinating and frightening picture of a near-future dystopian world where technology reigns supreme.

Imagine the existence of virtual AI children in the Metaverse, and now imagine a reality tv show format that lets people in the Real World watch a handful of couples (and one single guy) do exactly that. At the end, one family will remain standing. As each contestant family gets eliminated from the competition, their virtual child “dies”, dissolving into pixels. Marrs takes the contemporary issue of AI and gives it a dark futuristic twist, giving us lucky readers a story is that is whip-smart, razor-sharp, and extremely clever. I was completely glued to this story that’s filled to the brim with questionable characters, complex moral dilemmas, crazy twists, and ethical situations I know I’ll be thinking about for a long time.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Hanover Square Press for providing me an advance copy of this book.

The Family Experiment by John Marrs, a decent read and I will recommend the book even though I don't think it was for me. Thank you for giving me a chance with this book and I do think others will enjoy it.

4.5 stars

THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD.

The Family Experiment is the hottest new reality show. Six couples were chosen to raise their very own Metachild in a virtual reality over the course of nine months. In those nine months, they will experience each milestone stage of life ranging from infancy to the teenage years. The couples are given access to VR headsets and suits to where they will be able to actually feel their child touching them. The winner of the show will have the choice of keeping their Metachild or receiving money to fund their pursuits to grow their family in the real world. But what happens when things go awry in a virtual reality?

John Marrs has a way of writing a book set in the not so distant future that is so intriguing yet so disturbing. This book is all about AI which is such a hot topic right now. Should there be punishment when an avatar is murdered? What happens when you neglect a child that's not real? Oh my gosh I'm going to be thinking of this book for a long time.

This is the fifth book I’ve read by this author…..and my favorite. Short chapters made keeping the multiple characters easy to remember. It is a very easy read and a book I would definitely recommend to friends and family. While I’m not familiar with AI in general, it was an interesting concept and the storylines drew me in.

Every time I read a book by a white man that I end up loving I scream “A WHITE MAN” like I’m Schmidt because let’s be honest, I’m never rooting for the white guy but dang it if John Marrs isn’t so talented.

Although he said this is a standalone, it really felt like the third book in a trilogy set in an alternate universe where scientists have figured out how to find your DNA match soulmate (The One) and then the government punishes people for staying single/unmarried (The Marriage Act) and now, in The Family Experiment, tech companies have found a way to make lifelike virtual babies for couples who can’t afford or can’t have children.

This book was such a wild ride. It was like a slinky being thrown down 20 flights of stairs with the amount of twists packed in. It felt like Big Brother and Upload had a baby with Ender’s Game.

The haptic suits absolutely felt ripped off from Upload. Other than that, this book was absolutely bonkers and if you like stories about morally grey people, this is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, John Marrs, and Harlequin Trade Piblishing for an arc of The Family Experiment, out July 9!

📝 Quick Summary: Times are hard and many families are struggling to afford, or have, a child. Well here’s an opportunity from Awakening Entertainment to care for an AI child through their MetaVerse. Here, the couples will raise a child from birth to 18 years of age, through the use of their avatar bodysuits. Five families applied and became contestants on The Family Experiment, in which they’ll raise a baby in the hopes of also winning the competition. Through this VR set and hazmat suit, they’ll experience the “near perfect baby.” They will face monthly challenges, be constantly in the public eye, but also be able to return to their real home in the Real World. Viewers get to chime in and watch this entire experiment unfold… and at the end, the families will have a huge decision to make; keep their metaverse baby, or take the prize money to try to have their own baby in the Real World.

💡 Thoughts and Feelings: The start of this book moved a little slow at first, but I think that was also because it took my brain some time to wrap my head around this idea. There are also a lot of characters and storylines to follow, so once you have that under your belt, the story really takes off. Once you get into each couples lives, and find out that, surprise!, none of them are perfect, that domino effect of bomb after bomb happens. The last 20% really had me on my toes and although I pray this idea never takes place, it was interesting to see this unfold. (The author’s note was also short and sweet, but worth the read.) Every couple had my sympathy at one point or another, but their metaverse kids… ugh. It makes you question a lot, that’s for sure!

👍🏻or👎🏻: 👍🏻 Oh yeah! I always promote Marrs’s novels, and this is no different. This was a similar take in the sense that JM takes a quite possibly (scary) futuristic idea, throws a thriller aspect to it, and makes you cling to your chair.

⭐️ Overall Rating: 4.5-5 🌟

This novel was provided by the publisher, via Net Galley, in exchange for my honest review.