Reviews - The Family Experiment

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2.92k reviews for:

The Family Experiment

John Marrs

4.08 AVERAGE

bevingann's review against another edition

3.75

mysterious tense medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

chimneysafire's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

ashleytreads's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

“The grass wasn’t greener on the other side… It was greener on the hills and lush vineyards that surrounded him every single day…”

I absolutely loved this book, omg.

Synopsis: Metaverse family. Can’t have kids? Don’t have the family you want? Join the metaverse, have a baby, watch it grow, live the family life you’ve always wanted within the confines of VR.

Review: I overall really enjoy John Marrs novels. I have always felt like his dystopian novels were a little long & this one was perfect. It was an 11 hour audio book and was easy to BLOW through. Full speed ahead, no brakes.

This concept is a dark one. AI is dangerous and sucking people in for families that they can’t have in real life seems like an easy way to get people into a video game who can never get out. Homelessness due to an inability to work due to a video game addiction (& the issue of the video game addiction itself) are two things that spring to my mind when I think about living in a VR world. I know it’s all created to help people cope and live the life they want, but I’m not here for it. Overall, I think it’s more harmful than good.

Read this if you enjoy:
🏃‍♀️ Fast-paced thrillers
😱 Shocking scenes
🕵️‍♂️ Mysteries you don’t even know exist until they’re unraveled
😳 Complex characters with developed back stories

Audiobook length: 11 hours
Narrator: Full Cast (like 9 narrators)

I also was provided the digital ARC of this one - I definitely read along as I listened as fast as I could. Thank you to NetGalley, John Marrs, & Hanover Square Press!

novelnotions's review against another edition

5.0

Set in the same university of The One and The Marriage Act, the UK is now facing the challenge of it being too expensive to start and raise a family. So technology comes to the rescue in the form of Virtual Children. To promote this new product, the company behind this initiative creates a reality show where ten families will compete to raise a child over 9-months as it ages from birth to 18 in that time frame. The family who wins will choose their prize: to keep their virtual child or will money to fund the chance to have a child in the real-world.

The audiobook was so enjoyable to listen to and I highly recommend that as the medium! With different voice actors for the different families mixed in with news stories and online commentaries I was riveted from the start!! John Marrs - please keep expanding this universe!!