Join a book club that is reading The Family Experiment: A dark and twisted thriller about virtual parenthood from the acclaimed author of The One and The Marriage Act!
The Family Experiment: A dark and twisted thriller about virtual parenthood from the acclaimed author of The One and The Marriage Act
From the acclaimed author of The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and brilliant speculative thriller about families: real and virtual. Some families are virtually perfect... The world's population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. And in the UK, the 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 called The Substitute. 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.
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*The Family Experiment* by John Marrs was an okay read overall, but it didn’t fully live up to my expectations. The premise was interesting, and the story had potential, but I felt like it didn’t deliver the intensity or surprises I was hoping for. While the plot kept me engaged throughout, the ending fell flat—it could have used a bigger twist to really make an impact. Instead, it felt like a soft conclusion that didn’t match the tension built earlier in the story. It's a decent read, but I wanted more from the ending to really elevate the experience.
Honestly, I don’t think reality type books are for me. This was intriguing but it wasn’t at the same time. There was ALOT going on at all times. I think the author executed the characters and the plots effortlessly but it was just ALOT going on literally the entire book. So many smaller stories that somehow fit into the bigger plot. Also blank parts in the book that didn’t need to be added or needed to be explained in more depth. Some twists in the end. The whole AI aspect of it was also really strange. I don’t know if I particularly enjoyed reading this book but glad I did so I can discuss with others. Just a very strange odd book lol
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