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Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'
The Echo Wife: A dark, fast-paced unsettling domestic thriller by Sarah Gailey
180 reviews
kaynova's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
this book was a good time and i was just going along with the ride. i love how morally grey everyone is in the book and the narrator for the audiobook had the perfect voice for evelyn.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, and Infidelity
Moderate: Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse
gsch219's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Domestic abuse
courtsport's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Haunting, beautiful, entrancing
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Domestic abuse
looseleafellie's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
5.0
This blend of science fiction and domestic thriller follows brilliant scientist Evelyn Caldwell, whose husband used her groundbreaking cloning research to make a more obedient version of her and left her for her clone. But now her husband is dead, and Evelyn and her clone must clean up the mess …
This was a quick and thought-provoking read! I love main characters who are kind of nasty people, and Evelyn is no exception. Really, there are no good people in this book, but I loved the exploration of how people’s bad behaviors can stem from the way people have treated them.
This is, on the surface, a story about misogyny. The way Evelyn’s husband creates a partner to his own specifications mirrors the way that misogyny is often rooted in the desire to make women conform to the standards men and society have set for them.
However, the ethical issues explored in the story go deeper than that. The main plot of Evelyn trying to work with her clone to cover up her husband’s death is interspersed with flashbacks to Evelyn’s own childhood. The parallels between the way people treat Evelyn’s clone and the way Evelyn’s father treated her mother raise some interesting questions about not just misogyny, but about nature vs nurture, how people can change depending on the amount of agency they’re afforded, and what counts as the “real” version of someone.
The ending of the book doesn’t fully tie up many of the moral questions inherent in the story, but that leaves the reader open to fill in some of the blanks themselves. Overall, if you’re in the mood for something dark, speculative, cerebral, and quietly thriller-like, you might want to check this out!
CWs: Murder, blood, misogyny, loss of bodily autonomy, domestic abuse recounted, cheating, vomit.
Spice level: None.
This was a quick and thought-provoking read! I love main characters who are kind of nasty people, and Evelyn is no exception. Really, there are no good people in this book, but I loved the exploration of how people’s bad behaviors can stem from the way people have treated them.
This is, on the surface, a story about misogyny. The way Evelyn’s husband creates a partner to his own specifications mirrors the way that misogyny is often rooted in the desire to make women conform to the standards men and society have set for them.
However, the ethical issues explored in the story go deeper than that. The main plot of Evelyn trying to work with her clone to cover up her husband’s death is interspersed with flashbacks to Evelyn’s own childhood. The parallels between the way people treat Evelyn’s clone and the way Evelyn’s father treated her mother raise some interesting questions about not just misogyny, but about nature vs nurture, how people can change depending on the amount of agency they’re afforded, and what counts as the “real” version of someone.
The ending of the book doesn’t fully tie up many of the moral questions inherent in the story, but that leaves the reader open to fill in some of the blanks themselves. Overall, if you’re in the mood for something dark, speculative, cerebral, and quietly thriller-like, you might want to check this out!
CWs: Murder, blood, misogyny, loss of bodily autonomy, domestic abuse recounted, cheating, vomit.
Spice level: None.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Blood, and Vomit
Moderate: Murder, Infidelity, and Domestic abuse
jojo50's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Fantastic! Weird. Unexpected.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Suicide, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, and Infidelity
lilybear3's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I listened to the audiobook version read by Xe Sands. I didn't mind her as a narrator, but I had to listen to this book at 1.25x speed because it felt slow and the breaks were quite long. The premise of this book is really cool and I think executed quite well. We learn a lot about Evelyn and what in her past has made her the way she is. I was personally annoyed by her every now and then but I understand the circumstances. Each time I thought, "where is this story going? there's a decent amount of time left." I was hit with another issue they have to overcome. It was slow for me a few times but it definitely was interesting. The ending was alright, but I'm not sure how to make it better. This isn't something I would've picked up on my own but a co-worker suggested it and I'm glad I gave it a shot. I could see this becoming a movie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Murder, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Rape
bookrokosmos's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
sometimes it’s okay to read books for the vibe and not now what the fuck is going on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Body horror
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Emotional abuse
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Take cloning, moral amboguity, replacements, women in science, and a mysogenistic ex, mix them together with murder and a cover-up and out comes this book. It won't be for everyone, but I rather enjoyed this dark story. Every twist was intriguing and added to the experience nicely. I also really liked how Evelyn is written. She's an interesting character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Medical content
Demanding a woman get pregnant, sexism in scienceamcleod's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Echo Wife has been my favorite Sarah Gailey book so far, which is saying something. It was my favorite form of fiction, where the emotional arc is deeply entwined with the fantasy or sci Fi elements. It's a story about the ways that abuse both familial and romantic leave deep wounds on the victim that last for the rest of their lives. As with all of Sarah Gailey's books the mechanics of the story are immaculate and the portrait of the main character is painfully human. The past and present are woven together seamlessly with clear threads running between to flesh out a life and the plot is always satisfying and never predictable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Medical content, Gore, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Body horror, Death, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Domestic abuse
raekit's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Smart and dark.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, and Body horror