The Family Experiment – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Family Experiment

Author:- John Marrs

Date published:- will be published on 9th May 2024

Publisher:- Pan Macmillan

No. of pages:- 400 pages

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

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 . . .

Set in the same universe as John Marrs’s bestselling novel The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and twisted thriller about the ultimate ‘tamagotchi’ – a virtual baby.

John Marrs is literally has become of my favorite thriller authors and I am so excited when I got a chance to review one of his latest novels, The Family Experiment.

If you have read John Marrs’s bestselling book The One which was also adapted into Netflix series, then I would have to say, the Family Experiment has the same background and concept as The One. In this book, there are 11 contestants who are desperate to have a child and each of these contestants are allowed to create a virtual child through metaverse and VR set. To launch this, the company then creates a reality TV show where there are 11 contestants and all contestants are given a virtual child to look after from the ages of infant to eighteen years in a span of nine months. Which of these couples would win the contest? And these contestants would do anything to win the competition as it involves money.

I have to say John Marrs has really a unique plot ideas and this book is no exception. If you have read The One, then you would know what I am actually saying. I enjoyed The One so much that I couldn’t put the book down. The Family Experiment is also a book where you wouldn’t be able to put the book down. There are couples–Gabriel and Cadman, single father Hudson, Zoe and Dimitri, Woody and Tina…who are all contestants. I like the chat room scenes where people will discuss about each of the contestants and their babies. The book was quiet unputdownable and engaging as well. I couldn’t wait for the ending, wondering what the ending was going to be like as the ending was quiet unpredictable (a thing I like in the thriller books) Along with the competition, there is also another backstory behind the competition about trafficking of young children where parents who are in debts and unable to pay sell their children and give them a drug to make the children forget about the parents. Already, I felt like I was watching a movie while reading this book. There is also a massive cliffhanger in each of the chapters and the chapters are told in each couple’s POV.

I highly recommend the folks to read The One if you haven’t read it as this book is set in the similar universe as the One. Overall, this is an unputdownable and page turning thriller that will keep you up all night–worth 4.5 stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion.