You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
THE ECHO WIFE gripped me from the first line, using calm and precise language to build a horrific tale of abuse and death. Every revelation drops like a stone into water, raising the level by inches until it feels like it can hold no more.
This is a well-paced thriller which doles out disturbing news just often enough to be unsettling. Evelyn's descriptions consistently bury the lede, pondering first the reactions and consequences to some very important piece of information before finally circling back to say what caused the fuss in the first place. It reshapes the weight of these moments to emphasize how dealing with each horrible (and sometimes not so horrible) event affects those who remain. It's disassociation in book form, as if Evelyn isn't ready to look at what's going on and must approach everything at an angle in order to have any chance of reaching it at all. I especially love the complex discussions about the ethics of cloning, the difference between what Nathan did and what Evelyn does, if there is one.
It's about healing, clawing back by inches what was taken and filling in new things where the old bits are lost forever. Figuring out what bits of Evelyn and Martine belong to themselves, leaving space for them to want different things even though they started out as the same person. It's shaped by the absence of an abuser, the gap left behind by someone who demanded that every thought fit his needs.
This is a well-paced thriller which doles out disturbing news just often enough to be unsettling. Evelyn's descriptions consistently bury the lede, pondering first the reactions and consequences to some very important piece of information before finally circling back to say what caused the fuss in the first place. It reshapes the weight of these moments to emphasize how dealing with each horrible (and sometimes not so horrible) event affects those who remain. It's disassociation in book form, as if Evelyn isn't ready to look at what's going on and must approach everything at an angle in order to have any chance of reaching it at all. I especially love the complex discussions about the ethics of cloning, the difference between what Nathan did and what Evelyn does, if there is one.
It's about healing, clawing back by inches what was taken and filling in new things where the old bits are lost forever. Figuring out what bits of Evelyn and Martine belong to themselves, leaving space for them to want different things even though they started out as the same person. It's shaped by the absence of an abuser, the gap left behind by someone who demanded that every thought fit his needs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicide, Abortion, and Death of parent
Contains a staged suicide.jujubeees's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicide and Abortion
stevie's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Pregnancy
samusc's review
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is unlike any other I've read.
The science fiction and horror elements were incredibly well executed. Every detail mattered.
Having dealt with domestic abuse, the situations outlined here were intense and authentic.
Sarah Gaileys' acknowledgement at the end confirmed what I feared, but I'm thankful that their work has hopefully helped them, and I know helped me.
Full review to come.
The science fiction and horror elements were incredibly well executed. Every detail mattered.
Having dealt with domestic abuse, the situations outlined here were intense and authentic.
Sarah Gaileys' acknowledgement at the end confirmed what I feared, but I'm thankful that their work has hopefully helped them, and I know helped me.
Full review to come.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
ronan_lesh's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse and Misogyny
iviarelle's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
5.0
I might compare this to other media, as is so common, as "Wilder Girls meets Westworld", with a heavy hand on the "mind the content warnings". As a survivor of parental abuse, not entirely unlike Evelyn's either, I... almost feel like I shouldn't enjoy this as much as I do? As someone whose worst fear is becoming like my father, there's a strange catharsis in this story and its ending. That is VERY much YMMV and it will NOT resonate that way for all survivors, and don't feel obligated to keep going if it gets to be too much for you as an individual... but gosh. I really, really liked this one. I like that everything that should be portrayed as horrific, is. Everyone who is terrible, is shown in gory detail to be so. There's nothing sympathetic about anyone in this story... and yet, there is so much care at the same time.
I dunno. I don't think I've read a story by Sarah Gailey that didn't fuck with me for a few days afterward, but I also love what they put into their work, the themes they explore, and more importantly perhaps, the way they explore them.
I dunno. I don't think I've read a story by Sarah Gailey that didn't fuck with me for a few days afterward, but I also love what they put into their work, the themes they explore, and more importantly perhaps, the way they explore them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Car accident and Abortion
shaney_swift's review
dark
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
ehmannky's review
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
This book was stellar. The writing is superb, the plot and pacing is amazing, and the story is so good. It's a rough story, using science fiction to explore grooming and abuse and exploring what are the ways that the toxic people in our lives "program" us and how we replicate those patterns with other people. It's gonna sit with me for a long time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Vomit
marrowe's review
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder
enemies-to-friends, found family, orphan blackgirlonbooks's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
đđđđ(four stars as rated in wedding rings worn until death do us part, do us part, do us part, do us partâŚ)
Evelyn Caldwellâs human cloning technology changed the world for everyone, herself included. When Evelynâs catches her husband having an affair with a clone of her Evelyn is forced to keep it quiet or risk ruining everything sheâs worked for. Now her ex is dead â murdered in self defense by his ânew wifeâ â and the women must work together to cover it up or lose the things that matter most to both of them.
âWhy would you ever cut the blooms off the rosebush?â
It was one of the only truly useful things she ever taught me: Stress stimulates growth. Sometimes, in order to make something develop in the right direction, you have to hurt it.
You know that feeling when youâre reading a book and you think, âoh this is going to get made into a movie without question.â I felt that so many times while reading The Echo Wife that I may just go ahead and start my own studio and make the thing myself! Itâs just such a gloriously original thriller that the idea of it not getting optioned feels a bit preposterous. I, for one, totally devoured this book and now consider myself an official member of the âSarah Gailey is brilliantly talented in all waysâ club. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dark themes, LOTS of internal reflection on the part of the protagonist and morally ambiguous characters. To me, though, none of that felt tiring to get through, which is actually rather shocking considering that this book is far more character based than it is plot based. Especially for a thriller. From a literary standpoint, The Echo Wife is edited just beautifully and the flow of the thing itself is outstanding.
The best part of science fiction (imo) is being asked to suspend your disbelief in order to entertain a false reality. It turns out, though, that there are a lot of people who donât actually like that. Which is wild to me since, that is literally the POINT behind the genre? The Echo Wife asks a lot of disbelief suspension on the part of the reader. So, if youâre not ready to do that then this book will not hit the mark for you. On that note, if you canât get on board with fake science then you probably should mosey on out of the sci-fi genre and stay out of it forever. đ
⨠Rep in this book: NB author
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent