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A review by cupidities
The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
*review copy provided by Netgalley, but all opinions are mine
The Echo Wife is delightfully creepy and sinister. Evelyn's husband, Nathan, left her for Martine, a clone he created using her genetic material--and the techniques and technology that Evelyn pioneered in her award-winning research on cloning. Nathan made Martine to be everything that Evelyn has worked to purge from herself: Martine is obedient where Evelyn is almost cruelly independent, patient where Evelyn is always ready to attack and hurt the people she knows best. When Martine manages to go against her programming and conditioning to kill Nathan, however, Evelyn steps in, working with Martine to cover it up--and, in the process, uncovering other unexpected betrayals.
Evelyn is brutal and cold, calculating and self-serving. She is detached and amoral, so wrapped up in her desire for a research legacy that she cannot even fathom that her research may be repugnant or wrong to the people around her. I loved reading from her perspective, even as she made me feel sick--and that, I think, is the craft of this novel. It is dark and gritty and sinister and cruel, and it is absolutely engrossing.
The Echo Wife is delightfully creepy and sinister. Evelyn's husband, Nathan, left her for Martine, a clone he created using her genetic material--and the techniques and technology that Evelyn pioneered in her award-winning research on cloning. Nathan made Martine to be everything that Evelyn has worked to purge from herself: Martine is obedient where Evelyn is almost cruelly independent, patient where Evelyn is always ready to attack and hurt the people she knows best. When Martine manages to go against her programming and conditioning to kill Nathan, however, Evelyn steps in, working with Martine to cover it up--and, in the process, uncovering other unexpected betrayals.
Evelyn is brutal and cold, calculating and self-serving. She is detached and amoral, so wrapped up in her desire for a research legacy that she cannot even fathom that her research may be repugnant or wrong to the people around her. I loved reading from her perspective, even as she made me feel sick--and that, I think, is the craft of this novel. It is dark and gritty and sinister and cruel, and it is absolutely engrossing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child abuse and Pregnancy