literaryland_livin 's review for:

The Family Experiment by John Marrs

4.5

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As world population numbers continue to grow along with expenses ever increasing,families simply cannot function as they once had. Despite these obstacles some families still have the desire to experience parenthood and now have a new alternative to the once conventional route. A monthly subscription where they have access to a virtual child. With the new invention soon launching the innovative tech company decides to host a reality show. Viewers will watch couples compete and raise their virtual child for nine months, as the child ages from infancy to the age of 18 over the condensed period. Viewers will then vote for the winner. With the prizes being a chance to keep their virtual baby or a chance to risk it all for the prize money and the possibility of having a real baby. 

Reading this book was a mindbending and thought-provoking experience that I will not soon forget. Told thur an array of mixed media with multiple POVs, chats, news articles, and even snippets for the reality show itself The Family Experiment explores the ideas of how deep and far technology has seeped into our daily lives and the impacts that it can have. I have to say considering the age we are in with AI’s prevalence and the consistently increasing cost-of-living this book painted a haunting prediction of what our very future could hold. Throughout this fast pace tense read I found myself unable to put it down. With each new page we are given a multitude of viewpoints, perspectives, and diverse characters. Typically I’m not a fan of too many “main” characters to keep track of however this book changed that! I found myself thoroughly enjoying keeping notes on each of the couples. Honestly it enhanced the read. Giving it a more immersive experience, almost as if I was an actual viewer of this wild reality show. The twists and turns in this were almost as frequent as the amount of times I kept going back-and-forth with which couple I wanted to root for. Simply put this book was a wild and unique  thriller that had me engaged the entire time I was reading. This book most definitely will stick with me for a very long time. If you are a fan of dark twisty thrillers with multiple POV’s that will keep you at the edge of your seat then you have got to pick up this book!