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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
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
This will make an amazing movie. The book, however, left me wanting here and there. An interesting read overall and one that leaves you thinking about what makes you... you.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder
I definitely was expecting more of a murder mystery, which it was, I just found the focus was more on the clone aspect than the murder plot. Decent twists, a couple I didn’t see coming and an interesting ending. The actual “science” behind the cloning seems a bit thrown together and incomplete. I liked the murder mystery aspect to it but overall, I struggled to stay engaged with this book and often didn’t want to pick it up. I felt like we were coming back to the same topics over and over again; Evelyn being mad about something but then the opposite would happen and she’s still mad about it. Honestly, I found her rather exhausting. I completely understand the constant back and forth and ethical dilemma that she must have felt, but those ideals were nothing unexpected or unique.
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As I read the first half of this book I took some notes that I thought would go into the review. By the end, I had almost forgotten about those points because it now felt like the book was "about" something else entirely. That in itself is fascinating to me: it was a perfectly good, engaging book through either perspective, but they have very different takeaways.
It was described as a "domestic thriller;" I might call it an inside-out murder mystery, as far as what the plot is doing. We know who got killed, and when, how, who did it, and even why! What we learn over the course of the book, as our characters deal with the aftermath, is how it got to this point.
But if you're stuck on how the cloning science works, or who's to blame in Nathan and Evelyn's marriage - you're missing the real point of this book.
This is also a brutal dissection of the psychology of an abuser.
And a critique - in negative space - of what it takes to escape the cycle of abuse.
Spoilers for the whole book below.
As the book went on, I found myself saying more and more often "... so Evelyn's a terrible person, right?" Not for neglecting her marriage - that was clearly a mutual effort and pretty mundane human self-centeredness. But for her unquestioning acceptance (pioneering!) of the "ethics" of creating sentient clones who are not considered people. When she calls Martine an ethical nightmare early on, it's because Martine is more obviously a person - because Evelyn would have trouble convincing other people that she's "just a tool".
The ethical "questions" that Martine's existence raises aren't really questions - a decent person can see the answer quite clearly, as long as they aren't invested in maintaining the status quo. Evelyn is *very* invested in maintaining the current view of clones as not-people, and we the readers get all our information filtered through her perspective. This meant that for me, at least, it took me awhile to catch on to what is in hindsight EXTREMELY OBVIOUS: Evelyn (and anyone else in her research field) routinely creates, tortures, grooms to compliance, and kills - people.
But because they aren't people to her, they don't really register to us. At least, that's how it went for me - I'm not proud of how long it took me to feel horrified by Evelyn, rather than just a little put off.
Evelyn's journey to almost seeing Martine as a person while they are forced to work together, and then back out again once she's in an unthreatened position of power, is what gripped me for the latter half of the book and what made the ending so dark. Evelyn desperately wanted to never become her mother, and she succeeded in that; she was not so on guard against becoming her father.
Gailey performs the fantastic feat of making an abuser so sympathetic that you might not notice that's what she is, without glorifying her. Reading Evelyn's perspective, as the book progressed I just felt a slowly growing squeamishness and sense of dawning horror. Where at first I found myself making excuses ("They can't really be people, right? Martine must have been made very differently") eventually I realized that there was no explanation or information coming that would make this okay - she just decided to not let clones be people. It's the fantasy of abusers everywhere, right? Keep them small, quiet, obedient; only the "right" thoughts.
If it seems like I'm coming down hard on Evelyn (what about her dad? what about Nathan, and sexism in academia?) it's because I don't think she really tried to be better than her father. She climbed to a position of safety, of power, and pulled the ladder up after herself. Sure, given what we learn of her background Evelyn would have had an uphill battle to create healthy relationships in her life - but she sure as fuck didn't have to make a career out of creating people she can control!
There a lot more that could be said about this book, but here's what I'm going to close with:
I do not believe it was inevitable for Evelyn to turn out this way; to echo another Gailey book I read recently - she had a choice. She made choices. And one of those choices was to deny other people theirs.
It was described as a "domestic thriller;" I might call it an inside-out murder mystery, as far as what the plot is doing. We know who got killed, and when, how, who did it, and even why! What we learn over the course of the book, as our characters deal with the aftermath, is how it got to this point.
But if you're stuck on how the cloning science works, or who's to blame in Nathan and Evelyn's marriage - you're missing the real point of this book.
This is also a brutal dissection of the psychology of an abuser.
And a critique - in negative space - of what it takes to escape the cycle of abuse.
Spoilers for the whole book below.
Spoiler
As the book went on, I found myself saying more and more often "... so Evelyn's a terrible person, right?" Not for neglecting her marriage - that was clearly a mutual effort and pretty mundane human self-centeredness. But for her unquestioning acceptance (pioneering!) of the "ethics" of creating sentient clones who are not considered people. When she calls Martine an ethical nightmare early on, it's because Martine is more obviously a person - because Evelyn would have trouble convincing other people that she's "just a tool".
The ethical "questions" that Martine's existence raises aren't really questions - a decent person can see the answer quite clearly, as long as they aren't invested in maintaining the status quo. Evelyn is *very* invested in maintaining the current view of clones as not-people, and we the readers get all our information filtered through her perspective. This meant that for me, at least, it took me awhile to catch on to what is in hindsight EXTREMELY OBVIOUS: Evelyn (and anyone else in her research field) routinely creates, tortures, grooms to compliance, and kills - people.
But because they aren't people to her, they don't really register to us. At least, that's how it went for me - I'm not proud of how long it took me to feel horrified by Evelyn, rather than just a little put off.
Evelyn's journey to almost seeing Martine as a person while they are forced to work together, and then back out again once she's in an unthreatened position of power, is what gripped me for the latter half of the book and what made the ending so dark. Evelyn desperately wanted to never become her mother, and she succeeded in that; she was not so on guard against becoming her father.
Gailey performs the fantastic feat of making an abuser so sympathetic that you might not notice that's what she is, without glorifying her. Reading Evelyn's perspective, as the book progressed I just felt a slowly growing squeamishness and sense of dawning horror. Where at first I found myself making excuses ("They can't really be people, right? Martine must have been made very differently") eventually I realized that there was no explanation or information coming that would make this okay - she just decided to not let clones be people. It's the fantasy of abusers everywhere, right? Keep them small, quiet, obedient; only the "right" thoughts.
If it seems like I'm coming down hard on Evelyn (what about her dad? what about Nathan, and sexism in academia?) it's because I don't think she really tried to be better than her father. She climbed to a position of safety, of power, and pulled the ladder up after herself. Sure, given what we learn of her background Evelyn would have had an uphill battle to create healthy relationships in her life - but she sure as fuck didn't have to make a career out of creating people she can control!
There a lot more that could be said about this book, but here's what I'm going to close with:
I do not believe it was inevitable for Evelyn to turn out this way; to echo another Gailey book I read recently - she had a choice. She made choices. And one of those choices was to deny other people theirs.