Reviews with content warning for Car accident - The Echo Wife

In 'The Echo Wife,' Sarah Gailey explores abusive relationships, the pressures put on women by society, and female friendship in a science fiction tinged thriller.
The story follows Evelyn Caldwell a revered scientist who has invented a process to clone humans. Despite her acclaimed career, Evelyn's personal life is far from golden. Her husband left her for a clone of herself that he created, minus all of the traits he considers flaws. But when Martine, Evelyn's clone, calls Evelyn to tell her that her ex-husband is dead, Evelyn's life begins to unravel in ways she never expected.
Sarah Gailey is one of my favorite authors for their ability to create deep, nuanced novels that are near impossible to put down and 'The Echo Wife' is another demonstration of their skill. On the surface, this novel sounds like a domestic thriller with a near future edge, which it is. But this book is also so much more than that. It is a nuanced exploration of familial trauma, emotional abuse, personhood, and gender roles. The relationship between Evelyn and Martine allows Evelyn to explore parts of her past that she has never chosen to address while also creating dialogue about what makes a person. Each character is flawed and not necessarily lovable, but this makes them deeply human in a way that is sometimes painful to read. Gailey also adds in a good helping of twists and turns that pull the story along to a conclusion I found incredibly satisfying. This is a hard book but worth every page. Gailey is already an auto-buy author for me and 'The Echo Wife' cemented why I think everyone needs to be reading their work.

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iviarelle's review against another edition

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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.

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reading_bug's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

5.0

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nxclx's review

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dark mysterious 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

4.0

This was such an interesting read, and while not the "nonstop thrill" that the synopsis said that it would be, I found it captivating and thought provoking. Personally, I think it reads more as a novella, with limited characters and a somewhat vague and limited setting. Kind of a mix of This is How You Lose the Time War mixed with the gore of Wilder Girls or The Grace Year. It didn't keep me on the edge of my seat, but rather had me calmly bracing for what was to come next, as if I was in the narrators shoes. It worked really well for me and I'll definitely be checking out the authors other works.

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jourdanicus's review

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dark slow-paced

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

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shelfmadewoman's review

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adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

You won’t find me reading a lot of domestic thrillers... but you can certainly find me picking up a domestic thriller by Sarah Gailey that are about... well... what this is about. I suggest not looking at the summary before reading if you can bear it. As with most thrillers, its best to go in with a blank slate!

Without getting into any specifics, I can tell you that Gailey goes beyond the surface ideas of the story and explores ethics and consent in a new way.

I liked it a lot! It was twisty as heck! I would do it again!

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