v_nerdbooks's Reviews (3.19k)

This is what i would call a popcorn thriller, it has all of the necessary things to keep you reading, check trigger warnings for DV

It was a "it's not you it's me" kind of book for me, it started great, and narrated by Andi Arndt, so i knew that i was going to enjoy myself, but things just fell a little flat for me, the twists were not as twisty as i thought they could have been, and then a random paranormal episode pops up, which would usually be fine, but it just didn't help in this case and it made the story fall flat for me.

But hey, there are ,many high ratings for the book, so it may have just being me having an off day.

 I was so looking forward to reading this one, this is such a fun series, in fact my son bought this on release week and read it before i did LOL, he finished it on out flight to America, but I wanted to listen to the audiobook as the narration is always so much fun!

Also the trailer for the movie was released yesterday and ooohhh it's gonna be FUN!

Remember the old teenage slasher films that were huge in the 90's, Think "I Know What You Did Last Summer" mixed with a bit of SCREAM, seasoned with a little dash of CARRIE, and topped off with a BIG portion of Pennywise the clown, that is what you're getting folks, if you don't like clowns, then you shouldn't be reading this series, I mean the title should have given it away anyway, but if that passed you by and you've picked it up thinking "hmmmm" I'd step away.

A good end to a super fun series, this one was not what I thought we were going to get, and even with it being a YA series, a couple of bits in this book made me grimace!

The villains were great villains, the twists were fun, all in all I had a great time reading this. 

 If you are part of a cult, wear a little red hat, and worship an orange maniac, you will *HATE* this book.
However, it will also show you what people actually think about you, soooo maybe give it a go 🤷

I personally loved it, it is a bit of fun, but granted in these times, especially in the centre of it all, American folks may want to wait a while as it is a little close to home at the moment 😬

Let's just say that people get sucked into right-wing propaganda by watching "Facts News" (insert zombie voice saying Juuuussttt the Faaaaccccttsssss" here 😳)

If you think it sounds familiar, it is, there is a hidden person called E who's anonymous, and gets into people's heads.

If you have friends/family that have fallen down the Fox News rabbit hole, this may be a little too much for you 😬 

Another solid read by John Marrs!

In this book we are still in the same timeline/world as his previous stories, but we are now following the idea of AI children.

With people being no longer able to afford children (money/over population etc), they can now pay a monthly fee, and create their own Virtual child, a Meta kid, that they can nurture and watch grow up, all while wearing a gaming headset in the comfort of their living room.

The company trying to push this into mainstream is hoping that a cool new gameshow will push people into buying their own.

And so "The Family Experiment" is born, millions of people will watch 10 young, childless couples raise a virtual baby up to the age of 18 (sped up into a 9mth series) the audience watching will have a chance to judge all of your parenting skills, and vote for their favourites. 

The prize for the winner? Well, you get to keep your meta child of course........or you can just hand it all back and get money to try and have the chance to make a "real" baby.......

I hate that John's books always make me think "omg this could actually happen" because there is always something hiding in the shadows that throw a spanner in the works, and this book is no exception! Secrets, Lies and lots of characters, who seemingly have nothing in common.....until they do.

A fab read, and I would definitely recommend the audiobook to be able to hear all of the different adverts in between the chapters, you are after all, part of the experiment!!!