Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - The Echo Wife

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

theroastedbookery's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

So, let me begin by saying this is an incredible book. The structure of the story, the pacing, the incredibly intriguing characters...all of it was perfectly executed. Again, much like Aetherbound, the science fiction inherent to the story wasn't the focus of the story and its complexity didn't get in the way of the storytelling. It was simply a means to an end. The science in the story was a tool the author used to explore some incredibly heavy themes.

Speaking of themes...At the heart of this story, is our main character Dr. Evelyn Caldwell. I hesitate to call her "protagonist," but you'll have to RAFO to find out why. She is an incredibly successful scientist thriving in a world still dominated by misogynistic men. She grapples with the ideas of identity, personhood, gender conformity/non-conformity and personal agency throughout the novel. The questions of consciousness and nature/nurture, and how trauma informs our lives are central to the story. We're also forced to confront the questions around biases as it relates to scientific advancement. How much of what we take as the natural progression of scientific achievement is tainted by bias and what might the future look like if we confront that bias head on?

**At this point, I feel as though I should offer up a trigger warning. One of the themes with which the characters grapple is grooming. If grooming is something that engenders a negative response for you then please go into this story with your eyes wide open. In terms of the plot, the antagonist's (Evelyn's former husband, its not even close) achieves his primary goal through grooming. It doesn't go away and the repercussions of his actions are felt in every page of every chapter.**

Her training and habits as a scientist gives her an insight and perspective with which I identified. There were several times throughout the story where I paused and thought, "Well, I do that, too. Should I stop?" Her propensity for self-evaluation and asking herself hard questions is familiar though her refrain, "I'm not a monster," feels more like self-soothing as opposed to the truthful answer to one of those hard questions. Dr. Caldwell judges these things by matters of degrees, and it is deliciously difficult to tell where she might actually draw the line. It is also difficult to tell how her world would be effected if she came to the conclusion that she was, in fact, the monster.

She's seen how monsters are managed.

Grab your copy of The Echo Wife from The Roasted Bookery here or (because we're nearly sold out...again!) from our Bookshop site, here.

Content Warnings

dejaghoul's review

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

4.5

Sucked me in from the very first pages and did not let go. A story deeply about abuse but which rarely shows the abuse, about the ways women twist themselves to fit into and evade what patriarchal systems demand of them, about tending to the hurt child inside of you, about personhood and the lack thereof. It was not what I expected but better than what I hoped, and I am now on a mission to make as many people read it as possible so we can discuss and cry about trauma. Thank you to the bookstore employee who recommended it to me because I never would have found it otherwise and am so much the better for it!!

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infernalspectre's review

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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riereeds's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It was a good book but I wasn’t very invested. I found it easy to guess what would happen next. The concept as a whole is a good idea but it feels like there are short cuts to get to plot points.

Content Warnings

jojo_'s review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

taylor13's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.0

Content Warnings

blackcatkai's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-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

CW: murder, death, pregnancy, casual ableism, blood, death, science experiments, violence, infidelity, sexism/misogyny, child abuse, abortion mentioned, domestic violence mentioned (off-page), alcohol use, medical content

I would not categorise this one as a thriller, but probably more a contemporary scifi suspense novel. I think it'd be a good intro novel if you want to get into either scifi or thrillers/suspense while being more into the other genre. This was my first Gailey novel and I will DEFINITELY be reading more of their work in the future. I had a ton of fun with this one & flew threw it. It's on the shorter end, length-wise, but the pacing was well done & characters engaging. Evelyn is awful & I love her. Martine deserved better & I honestly wouldn't mind a short story taking place a bit in the future after this story ends just to see how everyone turns out.

A great way to ease into the spooky season!

Content Warnings