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clairebau's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I think this may be the perfect book. Just the right amount of speculative/sci-fi stuff for me to go absolutely feral over it, incredibly written characters, emotional plot points. Also, everything in this book just... made sense. Character motivations were logical and well-rounded. Both Evelyn's exposition and the book's symbolism were perfectly, gorgeously done. The twists and reveals were picture-perfect. I love this book. I love Evelyn and Martine. I love to hate Nathan. God, I loved this book.
Jurassic Park with humans, pretty much.
Jurassic Park with humans, pretty much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
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.
(Cross-posted on Goodreads)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Suicide
Moderate: Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder
giasbookhaven'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: Death, Misogyny, and Murder
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: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Pregnancy
Minor: Infertility, Vomit, Car accident, Abortion, and Alcohol
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: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, and Medical trauma
elya_moss93's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Abortion, and Death of parent
Minor: Emotional abuse and Misogyny
eggface's review
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-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
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Misogyny
Moderate: Gore, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Physical abuse
looseleafellie's review
dark
fast-paced
5.0
This blend of science fiction and domestic thriller follows brilliant scientist Evelyn Caldwell, whose husband used her groundbreaking cloning research to make a more obedient version of her and left her for her clone. But now her husband is dead, and Evelyn and her clone must clean up the mess …
This was a quick and thought-provoking read! I love main characters who are kind of nasty people, and Evelyn is no exception. Really, there are no good people in this book, but I loved the exploration of how people’s bad behaviors can stem from the way people have treated them.
This is, on the surface, a story about misogyny. The way Evelyn’s husband creates a partner to his own specifications mirrors the way that misogyny is often rooted in the desire to make women conform to the standards men and society have set for them.
However, the ethical issues explored in the story go deeper than that. The main plot of Evelyn trying to work with her clone to cover up her husband’s death is interspersed with flashbacks to Evelyn’s own childhood. The parallels between the way people treat Evelyn’s clone and the way Evelyn’s father treated her mother raise some interesting questions about not just misogyny, but about nature vs nurture, how people can change depending on the amount of agency they’re afforded, and what counts as the “real” version of someone.
The ending of the book doesn’t fully tie up many of the moral questions inherent in the story, but that leaves the reader open to fill in some of the blanks themselves. Overall, if you’re in the mood for something dark, speculative, cerebral, and quietly thriller-like, you might want to check this out!
CWs: Murder, blood, misogyny, loss of bodily autonomy, domestic abuse recounted, cheating, vomit.
Spice level: None.
This was a quick and thought-provoking read! I love main characters who are kind of nasty people, and Evelyn is no exception. Really, there are no good people in this book, but I loved the exploration of how people’s bad behaviors can stem from the way people have treated them.
This is, on the surface, a story about misogyny. The way Evelyn’s husband creates a partner to his own specifications mirrors the way that misogyny is often rooted in the desire to make women conform to the standards men and society have set for them.
However, the ethical issues explored in the story go deeper than that. The main plot of Evelyn trying to work with her clone to cover up her husband’s death is interspersed with flashbacks to Evelyn’s own childhood. The parallels between the way people treat Evelyn’s clone and the way Evelyn’s father treated her mother raise some interesting questions about not just misogyny, but about nature vs nurture, how people can change depending on the amount of agency they’re afforded, and what counts as the “real” version of someone.
The ending of the book doesn’t fully tie up many of the moral questions inherent in the story, but that leaves the reader open to fill in some of the blanks themselves. Overall, if you’re in the mood for something dark, speculative, cerebral, and quietly thriller-like, you might want to check this out!
CWs: Murder, blood, misogyny, loss of bodily autonomy, domestic abuse recounted, cheating, vomit.
Spice level: None.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Blood, and Vomit
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Murder
lilybear3's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I listened to the audiobook version read by Xe Sands. I didn't mind her as a narrator, but I had to listen to this book at 1.25x speed because it felt slow and the breaks were quite long. The premise of this book is really cool and I think executed quite well. We learn a lot about Evelyn and what in her past has made her the way she is. I was personally annoyed by her every now and then but I understand the circumstances. Each time I thought, "where is this story going? there's a decent amount of time left." I was hit with another issue they have to overcome. It was slow for me a few times but it definitely was interesting. The ending was alright, but I'm not sure how to make it better. This isn't something I would've picked up on my own but a co-worker suggested it and I'm glad I gave it a shot. I could see this becoming a movie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Rape
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Take cloning, moral amboguity, replacements, women in science, and a mysogenistic ex, mix them together with murder and a cover-up and out comes this book. It won't be for everyone, but I rather enjoyed this dark story. Every twist was intriguing and added to the experience nicely. I also really liked how Evelyn is written. She's an interesting character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Demanding a woman get pregnant, sexism in science