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morag's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book is a bit of an acquired taste, and I'm not sure that I acquired it by the end. If you love reading books with horrible main characters you are meant to hate, you'll love this. If not, this is going to be upsetting from start to finish.
I do think this book is relatively successful at what it sets out to do. It explores cycles of abuse, misogyny (both external and internal), and, obviously, the ethics of cloning. Martine's storyline really pulled me in, and every revelation about what her life was like got me more and more invested. The place she ended up in by the end still sticks with me. I wanted to pry the book open, pull her out of it, and weld the door shut after her. That speaks volumes for the effectiveness of Gailey's writing.
That being said, the main character, Evelyn, is written as a cold, uncaring asshole, and that is done so effectively that it makes the novel hard to read. If you need your main characters to be even remotely likable or empathetic, you will not like this one. I do understand that Evelyn is intended to be this way, but on a personal level, it was just too much. I couldn't stomach a second read of this.
Overall, this is a brutal examination of misogyny, abuse, and personhood. It won't be for everyone, but if you're ready for a tough read, it'll deliver.
I do think this book is relatively successful at what it sets out to do. It explores cycles of abuse, misogyny (both external and internal), and, obviously, the ethics of cloning. Martine's storyline really pulled me in, and every revelation about what her life was like got me more and more invested. The place she ended up in by the end still sticks with me. I wanted to pry the book open, pull her out of it, and weld the door shut after her. That speaks volumes for the effectiveness of Gailey's writing.
That being said, the main character, Evelyn, is written as a cold, uncaring asshole, and that is done so effectively that it makes the novel hard to read. If you need your main characters to be even remotely likable or empathetic, you will not like this one. I do understand that Evelyn is intended to be this way, but on a personal level, it was just too much. I couldn't stomach a second read of this.
Overall, this is a brutal examination of misogyny, abuse, and personhood. It won't be for everyone, but if you're ready for a tough read, it'll deliver.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Suicide, and Child abuse
Moderate: Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, and Medical trauma
socialpsysteph's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Sarah Gailey has become an insta-buy author for me. I love her writing style and find her stories intriguing with the perfect touch of weirdness. When I saw this sitting on the shelf at The Book Rack, I knew I had to get it; A scientist who perfects cloning technology only to have her husband have an affair with a more obedient clone of herself? Yes, please! Basically, every character was disliked but it didn't matter, it was like a trainwreck that I couldn't look away from. There were some deeper themes here around domestic violence, abuse, and grooming, so be aware of that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Murder
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Pregnancy
c100's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Pregnancy and Blood
arkwen452's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The Echo Wife is a science fiction twist on a marital affair between a bio scientist, her husband and her science experiment project. I think what readers will mainly get from this book is the fact that Evelyn is a very deeply flawed character, but she is very driven focused, and, strong willed. And ironically, these are the characteristics that her husband, Nathan does not seem to appreciate or like about her. I find that the book is so heavily focused on Evelyn's narrative and her recalling things from her past between her parents and how their personalities influenced her.
I find her obsession or , hyper fixation on her research and her work throughout the years and how she compare that to her Ex-husband's inability to understand her and appreciate how focus in determined she was really takes away from the thriller or suspense aspect of the book. I found the narrative to be mostly predictable, and very slow paced. And the most I got from this book was a fact that Evelyn was struggling to find the emotional connection with it within herself Based on her upbringing, but overall the strongest theme in this book had to do with misogyny and her, realizing how dark and conniving her ex-husband Nathan was.
At first, I thought this was in untrustworthy first person recall of Nathan's character, but as a book progresses readers will find that Evelyn's commentary on him and her stories, and her overall interpretations of who he was is actually not that far off. I will say that I appreciate Evelyn getting to know her emotions better through Martine was a nice touch.
I find her obsession or , hyper fixation on her research and her work throughout the years and how she compare that to her Ex-husband's inability to understand her and appreciate how focus in determined she was really takes away from the thriller or suspense aspect of the book. I found the narrative to be mostly predictable, and very slow paced. And the most I got from this book was a fact that Evelyn was struggling to find the emotional connection with it within herself Based on her upbringing, but overall the strongest theme in this book had to do with misogyny and her, realizing how dark and conniving her ex-husband Nathan was.
At first, I thought this was in untrustworthy first person recall of Nathan's character, but as a book progresses readers will find that Evelyn's commentary on him and her stories, and her overall interpretations of who he was is actually not that far off. I will say that I appreciate Evelyn getting to know her emotions better through Martine was a nice touch.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Misogyny
Moderate: Pregnancy
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Infidelity, Blood, Medical content, Domestic abuse, and Gore
Moderate: Sexism, Pregnancy, Violence, Misogyny, and Child abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Infertility, Abortion, Vomit, and Car accident
sn03's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting and Pregnancy
Moderate: Grief, Suicide, Murder, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abortion
rockyc5's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Other than that I thought I had better ideas of what to do to solve the problems the characters faced than what they came up with, THIS BOOK IS AWESOME. I think it's fair to say it's totally unique even as books about clones multiply.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
Moderate: Pregnancy, Death, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity
Minor: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Suicide
pandact's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-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
4.25
Nature vs. Nurture by Chase Petra is a cool song that hits the same beats about children, parents, and ethics!
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week podcast turned out to be the perfect place to recommend this book, for so many reasons. The best way I can describe this story is: parts of Frankenstein and Stepford Wives reanimated with modern concerns.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Murder, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Dementia, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Body horror, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence
emilyverceles's review against another edition
Predictable - Good concept, executed poorly.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Murder
bilnkycake's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Pregnancy and Child abuse