Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

105 reviews

puffinthedog's review

dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

Speaking as someone who is still unlearning the things I was taught throughout childhood and multiple abusive relationships- The Echo Wife was a heartbreaking novel of how childhood abuse and interpersonal violence strip people of their will and leaves them unsure who is making the choices for them, even in their own heads. If you don’t have a history of psychological abuse, perhaps it can be read as a book questioning the ethics of cloning, and with that framework I can’t tell you how good a story this is if that’s what you’re looking for. I have no idea how plausible the science is that backs the plot. But as someone who identified with Martine this story made me see things in myself that I knew were there and made me look directly at them in broad daylight in a way that, maybe for the first time, allowed me to really feel sad for myself and angry at my own Nathans (and Evelyns). 

I don’t know if this book is a masterpiece in general or just a masterpiece for me, in this moment I’m in. I’m too deep in my own experience that resonates too loudly for me to comment on writing or storyline. I think both of those things were enjoyable and interesting, but the overall experience of this book is the emotion and the characters. I can see this falling flat for someone who just wants a fun sci-fi romp and not a look at how parenting, society, and intimate partner violence shapes people and makes us question how much free will we have and if it’s possible to break the programming in a world that wants us pleasant, submissive, and unquestioning. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, Slavery, Infidelity, and Violence

Minor: Abortion and Suicide

callosaurus's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child abuse, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

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

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

amcleod's review

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

ashtheaudiomancer's review

4.0

This has been on my list for ages. I generally like Sarah Gailey, and while I still think "Just Like Home" is their best work, this was definitely an enjoyable, challenging one. What do you do if your no-good husband cheats on you with a clone OF you? Neat twist on a classic thriller trope.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Body horror, and Child abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy and Gaslighting

dejaghoul's review

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Sucked me in from the very first pages and did not let go. A story deeply about abuse but which rarely shows the abuse, about the ways women twist themselves to fit into and evade what patriarchal systems demand of them, about tending to the hurt child inside of you, about personhood and the lack thereof. It was not what I expected but better than what I hoped, and I am now on a mission to make as many people read it as possible so we can discuss and cry about trauma. Thank you to the bookstore employee who recommended it to me because I never would have found it otherwise and am so much the better for it!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

ambientcrows's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Murder

hgoodenn's review

2.0

Deeply unpleasant to read

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Body horror