4.17k reviews for:

The Echo Wife

Sarah Gailey

3.72 AVERAGE


So many times I gasped and went "oh my GOD!!!" at this book. Through meandering internal thought prose, Gailey mimics the ways emotions run through your (or my?) head, then comes to terrible realizations. In the face of abuse, what do women do to protect each other? What do we do to protect ourselves, even when its harming ourselves and others? And what if that woman -- yourself -- was actually a clone and you were forced to truly face yourself?

It took a little steam for me in the first few chapters but then I kept chugging along then flew through this. Everything after the first couple chapters had me in awe, all the way until the *acknowledgements*. Gailey captures raw feelings so, so well.
challenging dark medium-paced

Finished it, and whew, it was terrifying.
This was Orphan Black, but from the perspective of the clone-maker scientist.
I tore through this because I wanted to know what would happen, but I didn't really like the characters. I don't think they were meant to be liked.
dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
dark mysterious slow-paced

Not for me
mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was a character-driven sci fi that focuses on Evelyn, an award winning scientist, and Martine, the clone her husband creates to replace her. Yep— he tries to replace his own wife. Evelyn isn’t perfect by any means— she’s so complex and messed up / morally grey, which is what really drew me in. She is constantly at war with herself and the writing of her inner thoughts and feelings was so well done. This isn’t an action filled story but I felt it didn’t need to be - there were plot twists and a lot of inner turmoil. So many different facets to this story such as childhood trauma and abuse, the forced identity onto women as wives and mothers, the question of what makes us human, ethics in science and cloning, and the many ways people can imprint on us and change how we view and approach the world. I loved this book because it addressed so many universal truths in a unique way. Also, it was really cool to read about the cloning and see how the thought process changes throughout everything.
dark mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No