The Echo Wife

by Sarah Gailey, Xe Sands (Narrator)

12 hours

Sarah Gailey's The Echo Wife is a non-stop thrill ride of lies, betrayal, and identity, perfect for fans of Big Little Lies and Killing Eve.

Evelyn Caldwell's husband Nathan has been having an affair - with Evelyn Caldwell.

Or, to be exact, with Martine, a genetically cloned replica made from Evelyn's own award-winning research.

But that wasn't even the worst part.

When they said all happy families are alike, I don’t think this is what they meant....

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Thriller, Audiobook, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Adult

Audible Audio

First published February 16, 2021

Reviews

[Yun · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of The Echo Wife is insanely good. Evelyn Caldwell is a scientist at the forefront of cloning technology. Unfortunately, her husband Nathan doesn't love her anymore. Instead, he has transferred his affections to a clone of her named Martine. Evelyn is understandably upset about this. But when something happens to Nathan, Evelyn and Martine are forced to team up to fix the problem.

That sounds crazy, right? If you could resist such a premise, you're a much stronger person than I am, because I could not. That, plus the cover, and I immediately had to get my eager hands on it.

When a book has such an amazing premise, the question that always comes up is, did it deliver? And I'm torn here. On the one hand, the plot is brilliant and unique, and it unfolded with lots of surprises along the way. But there were a couple of things that really didn't work for me.

First, the science in here is pretty laughable. Now, I understand this is science fiction, and creative liberties are allowed. But the way science and cloning are explained makes me think the author threw a bunch of advanced biology words into a giant word salad, swirled them around, and just haphazardly grabbed words out to fill in the blank whenever a scientific phrase was needed. But those words mean something already, and they don't really make sense in the context they're dropped in.

Also, cloning is an existing technology in our real world today, one in which we've already had extensive discussions regarding its ethics. But this book throws all that out the window. Instead, it approaches it without even a basic understanding of the dilemma within. It's hard for me to reconcile how advanced the cloning technology is in the book with its less than rudimentary consideration of the associated ethics and morality issues.

Still, my biggest problem is with Evelyn's character. The story is told from her point of view, and it is overwrought with her emotions. She is constantly in a fit of rage. Things which set her off include (but are not limited to) an old couch, someone helping her unpack, coworkers not realizing that she's upset, but also coworkers realizing and asking if she's upset. Goodness gracious, you just can't win with her. Every time I had to read another passage on her self-righteous fury, I wanted to stab myself with something sharp. I wish all those excessive emotions were left out, as it took a lot away from the story.

In the end, if you're debating whether to give this book a try, I think my answer is still yes, simply because of the brilliant and unusual premise. It's a short read at only 250 pages, and it's interesting to see how the plot plays out. Just try to ignore all the science mumbo jumbo and overwritten feelings.

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[Cindy Pham · Rating 1 out of 5]

What was the point of this book. Why did none of the characters have motivations that made sense. Why did the main character flip flop so much. How could a book be so boring

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Westworld (more understandable version) meets Stepford Wives and Orphan Black kind of story is freshly baked from the oven. I see five sizzling, well-deserved, shiny stars dancing above my head! This is more entertaining, mind bending, grey cells frying, soul shaking, heart throbbing adventure than I expected.

This is absolutely, deliciously my kind of extremely crazy story: imagine your husband replace you with another version of you. What would you do? Scream, cry, call a contract killer, suffer from depression, commit to kill the other version of you or accept the defeat and work on cloned replicas of Tom Hardy at your lab (last option is the best choice but unfortunately the heroine of this book didn’t make wise choices like me!)

Okay, let me rephrase it: our brilliant scientist Evelyn’s husband Nathan is not happy that she is a workaholic, heartless, cutthroat bitch who prefers to live in her lab and work 24/7 for your scientific experiments. ( it’s true! I think JJ Abrams inspired by her when he named his production company “Bad Robot” because most of the parts: she acted like really mean robot, hardly process human feelings.) And of course she doesn’t want to have a baby. It’s unnecessary responsibility, right? She’s working way too much important things. She’s the brilliant Evelyn Caldwell, a rising star of scientific innovations with brightest future ahead of her.

But her dearest husband cheats on her with a woman looking exactly like her. Actually he’s dating with cloned replica of hers (Whattttt???) And now he wants to divorce! And this is not only mouth dropping part of her unbelievably unique story: the cloned replica is pregnant right now! (WTF! Did I read right? How could be scientifically possible? But Evelyn’s dear clone Martine is expecting. And she meets her with the shop to show her growing baby bump and Evelyn tells her the ugly truth about the reason she’s been created.

From now on, if the story is not crazy enough for you: Just wait for Martine’s urgent call on the phone. She panicked, barely breathing and she seems like losing it. As Evelyn goes to the house Martine shares with her ex-husband: she finds out, her ex lying on the floor in blood bath. Martine says: “it was self –defense” and Evelyn replies: “Let’s bury him!”

Still not crazy enough for you? Wait for it. Evelyn and Martine realize a search party can begin sooner they will be prime suspects of Nathan’s mysterious disappearance. Or at least Evelyn is gonna lose everything: her researches, reputation and freedom because nobody knows Evelyn is existence. She is illegal. So they decide to work on a new clone replica. They’ll recreate Nathan to solve the problem! Yesss, I know you’re hooked and I stop right now! I already gave so many juicy details. But I assure, the story’s conclusion is more twisty and shocking. Yes, there are more revelations and surprises to come.

Overall: It was one of the best, amazing, shocking, dazzling, phenomenal sci-fi reads of this year. I highly recommend it to genre lovers. I couldn’t put it down! It’s smart, its dark humor captivates you and you don’t want to let it go.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan/ Tor Books for sharing this remarkable ARC with me in exchange my honest review. I truly loved it so much.

[Lisa of Troy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who would you be?

Evelyn Caldwell is a brilliant scientist, a pioneer in cloning research. She has a secret though. Her husband is cheating on her. With Evelyn’s clone.

This story provided so much food for thought, and I loved noodling on the questions raised by this book. Who would you be if you were just a slightly different version of yourself? What ripples would that cause? For example, if you are a very assertive person, what would happen if you suddenly became a pushover? Would you still be the CEO or a business owner? Would you be a good book reviewer if you always gave out five stars because you just didn’t want to rock the boat? Should we be trying to shape our partners into something else? And if we would like the result? These were interesting questions to ponder.

This book also heavily covers the issue of cloning/genetics which are fascinating topics. When Melville, my first cat, was sick, I strongly considered cloning him. I wondered what his clone would be like. Would he sit on my lap for just a few minutes and then move close to me but not touching? Would I still be his favorite? Would he wait by the door and meow when I arrived home? In addition to cloning, there are instances of genetic counseling, how to successfully have children who won’t inherit a genetic illness. But where is that line? Should people be picking boy/girl/blue eyes/green eyes/tall/short/kind? And who should be making those decisions (parents/lawmakers/scientists)? Also, can we avoid adopting traits from our parents? Do you remember vowing never to say the same things as your parents? Yet, twenty years later, you find yourself saying things like, “Are we air conditioning the Great Outdoors?” and “Who left these lights on?”

Now, there were two things that I disliked about The Echo Wife. One: The Echo Wife seemed to be slow paced. Not much happened over a large portion of pages. There was too much inner monologue. Two: About 80% into the book, there was a character who did something that was totally out of character.

Overall, a great book for anyone who has experienced another person trying to change you into someone that you are not.

2024 Reading Schedule
Jan Middlemarch
Feb The Grapes of Wrath
Mar Oliver Twist
Apr Madame Bovary
May A Clockwork Orange
Jun Possession
Jul The Folk of the Faraway Tree Collection
Aug Crime and Punishment
Sep Heart of Darkness
Oct Moby-Dick
Nov Far From the Madding Crowd
Dec A Tale of Two Cities

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[megs_bookrack · Rating 5 out of 5]

**4.5-stars rounded up**

You really brought this full circle, didn't you, Sarah Gailey?! You clever, clever human, you.



I read the majority of The Echo Wife in one sitting. There are many great themes explored within this story. I couldn't put it down!

This is the first novel I have read by Sarah Gailey, but will not be my last. I have already added three of their earlier books to my TBR.



This novel follows Evelyn Caldwell, an award-winning research scientist in the field of genetics; more specifically, her work deals with cloning.

We hear this entire story through Evelyn's perspective, which personally, I found refreshing. It seems like most novels I have read recently, follow multiple perspectives, so it was nice to just sit with one narrator the whole way through.



Evelyn's husband, Nathan, has betrayed her with another woman. A woman who just so happens to be her clone. Yes, her literal genetic clone.

Essentially, he has replaced her with a version that will be more compliant with his wants and needs. More docile in their relationship, something Evelyn never was.



When Nathan ends up dead, Evelyn's clone, Martine, suddenly becomes a very real problem for her. One that could end her career as she knows it.

Evelyn needs to get control of the situation, and Martine, before everything she has worked for is taken from her.



As Evelyn and Martine begin to work together, Evelyn is shocked to have actual feelings for the clone; like she would for a real person.

This novel explores some fascinating, and frankly, frightening topics. Set in the not too distant future, it examines the ethical issues that arise with cloning and cloning research.

What makes something human? What are the parameters that should be followed in this type of research? What if something goes wrong, or a clone goes rouge? Who has the authority to decide the clone's fate?



In addition to the fabulous scientific elements, I really enjoyed getting to know Evelyn Caldwell. I felt she was such a well-developed character.

We learn how Evelyn's parent's relationship shaped the woman she became. Her parents had quite a contentious relationship and Evelyn was the silent observer to it all.



Her Father was brilliant, he taught Evelyn so much and set her on the career path she ends up on, but he also was a raging tyrant.

Her Mother taught her another set of skills entirely. While she viewed her Mother as mild and cowardly, her experiences with Nathan and Martine caused her to re-evaluate those beliefs.



While this is just a subplot to the greater story, it contributed quite a bit to my enjoyment. I felt it added a lot of depth to Evelyn's character and allowed me to better understand her choices and motivations.

I really connected with Evelyn. I'm sure many will find her cold, but I think she is more determined and driven than uncaring. Choices she made, if made by a man, would probably be viewed differently by a lot of people.



Overall, this is an extremely intelligent and well-constructed story. My one very small negative, was that I was pitched Thriller and was expecting that. To me, this really isn't much of a Thriller even though it is quite compelling.

I do highly recommend this. I think it would make an incredible Book Club selection, or Buddy Read, as there are a ton of deep issues to discuss.



Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I cannot wait to pick up more titles from this author!

[MarilynW · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey 

Evelyn is a brilliant award winning scientist and researcher. She's also a cold hearted, unethical, immoral witch who I feel would have been comfortable working side by side performing deadly experiments with the Nazi death camp doctor, Josef Mengele. She can justify anything she does and squelch any tinge of conscience, her work is everything and collateral damage is nothing to her. She is so involved in herself and her work that she doesn't even notice that her husband has been cheating on her, in a very unique way, for a very long time. 

Now her husband, Nathan, is dead, killed by Martine, a clone of Evelyn, made by her cheating, lying, husband. This is a mess that Evelyn has to clean up because what Nathan accomplished was with information stolen from Evelyn. Finally, Evelyn acknowledges to herself just how bad she will look if Nathan's body is found and her clone is exposed to the world. Evelyn has no intention of stopping her beloved work but she also has no intention of having what she really does in the lab laid bare to the sensibilities of people who would put compassion before science. 

So Evelyn has to work with Martine and it's through knowing Martine that Evelyn begins to see things through the eyes of others. Not that she wants to stop doing what she is doing. Where the story hit me the most is the description of how unwanted clones are disposed of...how they might fight back when they realize what is happening. How the clones need to mirror the human they are supposed to be so they are maimed and broken appear the real thing. How clones are experimented on, broken, vivisected, discarded as if they are nothing. There is a very real horror story under the wrappings of the dilemma of a scientist and her clone having to cover up what they did and what they are. 

This is a very interesting story although there seems to be a lot that might not hold up under closer inspection. Things happen and things get done way too easily but maybe a lot of it is just glossing over the details. Still, I have a feeling that the way the book ends can't be the way it really will end. I think the future is going to be one big train wreck for Evelyn, at some point, even if we aren't there to see it. 

Thank you to my Secret Santa(s) for this book. Published February 16th 2021 by Tor Books.

[Chelsea Humphrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know that February 2021 is lightyears away, but please do yourself a favor and add this thrilling read to your TBR now. A little bit of The Wife Between Us, a little bit Blake Crouch, and add in a dash of Big Little Lies and Killing Eve, and you'll become acquainted with The Echo Wife! If the science fiction aspect makes you wary, please know that this facet isn't intense, as this still reads as a very mainstream thriller. I can't wait to see the cover that is chosen and to find out what other readers think of this one!

*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.

[jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

this story wasnt what i thought it would be, but i still very much enjoyed it.

i think because i went into this expecting a mystery/thriller (especially because the synopsis heavily implies a murder), i kept trying to look for things that werent there, i kept hoping for twists that never came, i kept trying to figure out who the bad guy is when there is no bad guy at all. there is no mystery. everything you need to know is in the synopsis. and this isnt a thriller as the tone is not suspenseful.

what this story is about is how evelyn and her clone handle the death of their husband. i would very much label this ‘domestic sci-fi.’ it discusses the topics of cloning, their rights (if any), their purpose, and how they fit into every day family living. i do like the bond evelyn establishes with martine. its very unconventional, but relatable. almost sister-like. i also like the quick pacing, easy-to-devour writing, and unique concept.

due to the short length and accessible content, i think this would be a good first book for readers who are looking to branch out into the sci-fi genre.

↠ 4 stars

[Kim ~ It’s All About the Thrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

You are happily married...until you aren't...isn't that the way it always goes? Your husband thinks you are "almost" perfect, but there is just something missing...so he decides to take care of that...by cloning you.. Yes you heard me correctly....

So of course when the cheater ends up dead.. yep dead.. well Evelyn and her clone need to fix this mess he got them all in...and that is when the cray begins.. Oh you thought the cray already happened? No you just wait...more to come..

Wow! This was one wild ride and I loved it. This book was so unique, so intriguing that I found myself thinking about it all the time. At work, in the car, while making dinner...hell I think I dreamed about it. Anyways, you get the point. I couldn't wait to pick this book back up.

I highly suggest going into this as blind as you can. I guess technically this is classified as sci-fi but I really think everyone will enjoy it. It somehow doesn't seem as "out there" as it sounds. Highly entertaining and very clever. This was my first book by this author and I loved her writing style!

Huge shoutout to Tor for my gorgeous gifted copy! Loved it!!!

[Lala BooksandLala · Rating 5 out of 5]

vlog (reading authors for the 3rd time) https://youtu.be/f0aIVy9JRuk

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

oooh, goodreads choice awards finalist for best science fiction 2021! WHAT WILL HAPPEN LET’S FIND OUT!

The floor was well polished.
Dragging him across it wasn't hard at all.

this is a deliciously entertaining bit of domestic suspense with a SF cherry on top.

evelyn caldwell is a brilliant scientist whose award-winning advances in cloning technology have won her great renown—she has risen to the very top of a male-dominated field, and the method she developed to program personality traits into clones bears her name. however, her professional success has been at the expense of her personal life; she has chosen the demands of her career and her research over motherhood and doting-wifehood; frequently standoffish and impatient with her husband nathan's intellectual shortcomings and emotional requirements.

when he leaves her for another woman, she learns she has unwittingly created a monster of her former spouse, who has stolen her research and has himself secretly created—not a monster, but a clone of her, with all of her undesirably prickly personality traits spliced out, resulting in a demure and accommodating replacement he has named martine and now plans to wed.

this is, to put it mildly, not a good thing for evelyn, personally or professionally. the caldwell method was not meant to be used to improve one’s spouse, nor were her clones supposed to engage with the world beyond her lab; they were intended for organ donation, genetic and medical research, or for short-term use as body doubles. martine’s very existence has already destroyed evelyn’s marriage, and now threatens her professional standing and her funding, especially since martine is now pregnant, which shouldn’t be possible.

when nathan dies, suspiciously and messily, evelyn is forced into an uneasy alliance with martine; keeping her—and nathan’s death—a secret in order to protect her reputation. what follows is a briskly-paced tale of ethics and morals and self-preservation, with a bit of frankenstein’s responsibility-for-one’s-creation, unintentional or not, thrown in.

it’s a wholly original variation on a number of familiar storylines: a love triangle where the other woman is, fundamentally, the same woman; a partners-in-crime buddy tale complicated by the disorientating experience of a character befriending a slightly-tweaked version of themselves; and a twist on the mother-daughter dynamic as a woman tries to understand this ‘new’ being who shares her genes; watching her develop, learning what her implanted social cues signify—the experience of new motherhood reinterpreted as a science experiment.

the relationship that blossoms between evelyn and martine is darkly delightful and a real win for the sisterhood. refreshingly, evelyn sees martine as more of an intellectual curiosity than a rival—there’s no homewrecker shade thrown; she knows the blame falls squarely on nathan, and she even feels a little sorry for martine, programmed as she was to love nathan, with no agency of her own or ability to make her own choices. because a clone is not a person, right? riiiiiight?

yeah, that’s another wrinkle in this l’il shar-pei puppy of a story.



how they managed to cram so much into a 250-page book is remarkable. read this book, and then you can remark upon it, too!

a million thanks to jordan/tor for sending this my way. i gave the box's second "influencer" copy to MY echo wife erica (or am i the echo wife?) no matter, i know she will love it, too.

*********************************

there are so many treasures in this box, i feel downright courted!




come to my blog!

[Riley · Rating 2 out of 5]

im very torn on this book. the concept was super interesting.
what if you find out your husband is cheating on you?
what if the woman he is cheating with is an exact replica of you that he made to be the "perfect wife"?
what if your clone calls you in the middle of the night because she killed him and needs help burying the body???????

however despite this wild plot, it was kinda boring. there were parts that were very intriguing and the discussions on what make you human and if clones should have rights were really interesting but for a 250 page book it really dragged

[Jayme C (Brunetteslikebookstoo) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martine is a genetically cloned replica of Evelyn Caldwell, made from her own award winning research.

But, Evelyn did not clone herself.

Her husband Nathan made Martine, to replace Evelyn with a more patient, loving version of his wife...a version without a temperament that can sting like a hornet!

And, then he promptly moved in with her.

So, how did the “cheating bastard” end up dead in his “more compliant” wife’s kitchen? And, why is Martine calling Evelyn for help?

This is an “intelligent” thriller based in the not too distant future, with just a few aspects of cloning to understand before the “fiction” kicks in!

It then becomes an original, engaging story which I thought could go in one of THREE different explosive directions...but, I was mistaken..

It went in a FOURTH direction that I had not even considered! 😱

Though not how I pictured it ending, I do think the conclusion “fit” the narrative , even if it WASN’T as exciting as the endings I had envisioned!

Thanks to Michael David, who paid this forward to me, after receiving a Physical copy of this ARC, from our friend, Denise! I will be doing the same!

AVAILABLE today from Tor Books!

[Dorie - Cats&Books :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say that this wasn’t what I was expecting according to the blurb for the book which compares it to “Big Little Lies”, it is absolutely nothing like that book.

This book has a dystopian feel and is purely science fiction, at least at this time!!!

I didn’t feel the fast pace of a thriller. It was character driven and we are being told the story by Evelyn, a supposedly brilliant scientist who is, at the beginning of the book, being given an award for her research into cloning humans.

She is a hard edged woman full of anger, regrets and betrayal by her husband. Nate had left her for another woman. Nate and Evelyn had grown apart because Evelyn chose to spend the major part of her time in the lab instead of spending time with Nathan. He also wanted a family and she did not! She knows who the woman is that he left her for, it is a replica of herself, with softer feelings and a caring personality. Her name is Martine and she is the other protagonist in this novel. She is Nate’s creation whom he promptly moved in with!!

There were some glimpses of Evelyn’s life growing up and you are able to see some of the reasons why Evelyn is such an unlikable, very driven person.

There are several OMG moments in this novel but it wasn’t enough to make up for uneven writing, dragging commentary and huge plot holes. There are some sections where Evelyn is describing the scientific method of creating clones which was a bore to read..

Here is an example: “Nathan had somehow found a way to circumvent the sterility that was built into the entire framework of duplicative cloning. It was one of the things that made my work legal and ethical: each duplicative clone was an island incapable of reproduction, isolated and, ultimately disposable. It was bedrock”. Oh how she loved to talk about her feelings and her accomplishments!!

Since this book was somewhat unpredictable I was hoping for a mind bending ending, but it didn’t come. The ending was almost “mundane”.

I am giving it 3 stars for an original premise and my lingering thoughts about Martine and what would happen to her in the future. It also made me think about how far humans will go with their scientific discoveries in the future.

If you enjoy dystopian and sci fi and are willing to suspend belief, you may love this book. My favorite character was Martine who was certainly a better version of Evelyn!

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evelyn Caldwell is at the top of her profession. She is an award-winning scientist/researcher who is at the top of her game. Unfortunately, her husband has left her --- for her. WHAT!?! Yes, he has used her award-winning research and created the perfect woman in Evelyn's image. A new and improved version of Evelyn if you will.... or at least a better version for him. He wants a Stepford wife whose sole purpose is to please him, to give him what he wants, one who will not burn the eggs, be smarter than him, or have her own opinions....and yet....

Martine is Evelyn's clone. Made without Evelyn's knowledge or consent. Imagine your find out that your spouse is having an affair with...You....well not you...but a cloned version of you. Talk about a slap in the face! Plus, he wants a woman who looks exactly like you, has your mannerisms, etc. CREEPY. Imagine that the clone, Maritime, wants to meet you, have a little chat... How would you feel about that???

Now, Nathan, the cheating husband is dead.... what are the two Mrs. Caldwell's going to do?

Oh, how deliciously fun! This book is set in the near future where clones are being produced in labs. What is ethical and what is not? How far will science go? Dolly the sheep, Martine is not. I loved that this book touches lightly on Science and did not leave me feeling left in the dark with too much science jargon.

I had my ideas about how I thought this would go, I was off base, but nevertheless, this was a hoot and proved to be an extremely fast read. This is a nice blend of science fiction and domestic drama. The Echo Wife is original and intelligent. It became a page tuner that I did not want to put down.

Well written, thought provoking and entertaining. I can't wait to see what Sarah Gailey writes next!

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

See more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com

[Emily (Books with Emily Fox on Youtube) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a ton of potential but it never reaches it...

Second book I've read by the author and it's the second time I feel like this.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

On sale this week! 4+ stars, maybe even 4.5. Final review, first posted on FantasyLiterature.com (along with my co-reviewers' Jana and Kelly's additional reviews, which are well worth reading!):

Dr. Evelyn Caldwell is a geneticist specializing in cloning, at the pinnacle of her career: The Echo Wife begins with a banquet at which she is given a prestigious award. At the same time, Evelyn is at a low point in her personal life. She’s a prickly loner and a workaholic, and her husband Nathan has recently left her for another woman. What makes matters far worse is that Nathan, a far less brilliant scientist than Evelyn, has stolen Evelyn’s research to clone Evelyn herself to grow himself a new wife, Martine, using programming methods to make Martine a softer, more submissive version of Evelyn. Nathan even finds a way around the sterility built into the foundation of the cloning process. Martine is pregnant, while Evelyn had adamantly refused to have a child in the earlier days of her marriage to Nathan.

So Evelyn lashes out at Martine, using her cruelest words, and it raises enough questions in Martine’s mind that later that evening she asks Nathan whether he cares what she wants for herself. In the resulting violent fight between Nathan and Martine, Nathan ends up dead. Martine has no one to turn to but Evelyn, and Evelyn reluctantly helps because her entire career could be torpedoed if the truth about Martine comes out. So between them they clean up the mess and bury Nathan’s body, but now there’s a new problem: how are they going to explain Nathan’s disappearance? Well, Evelyn is the world’s foremost expert in cloning …

On one level, Sarah Gailey’s The Echo Wife is a science fiction thriller, a compelling read that kept me glued to my chair until far into the night. There are some shocking but logical plot twists, and unnerving disclosures about all of the main characters. Flashbacks to Evelyn’s childhood, especially her interactions with her intellectually gifted but abusive father, help to show why she’s developed into a cold, career-obsessed person with a venomous tongue. It also becomes apparent to Evelyn that, though she was fully aware of Nathan’s tendency to cut corners, she never really knew who he was. Meanwhile, Martine is struggling with many of the limitations that Nathan has programmed into her, and Evelyn isn’t sure whether to be pleased or alarmed when Martine is able to bypass her conditioning.

The soft science fictional aspects of The Echo Wife are the weakest part of the plot. Conveniently, Evelyn’s cloning technology allows her to create a fully adult clone in a hundred days, one that is physically indistinguishable from the person who was cloned … at least, after some physical “conditioning” is done on the clone’s body to give it the scars, broken bones, etc. to match the original person. (Evelyn takes an unholy amount of pleasure in conditioning the Nathan clone’s body and having Martine participate in that process.)

Previous recordings taken of the original person’s brain — again, it’s suspiciously opportune that Evelyn has an older recording of Nathan’s brain — are sufficient to implant a full set of memories into the clone’s brain, including physical abilities that one might think would take a clone much longer to master, but somehow at the same time the scientist is able to modify those recordings to emphasize certain personality traits and memories and remove others. Gailey tosses around a few scientific phrases like “telomere financing” and “cognitive mapping,” but still, there’s an awful lot of handwaving surrounding the science and methodologies of cloning.

What does strike me as brilliant, however, are the psychological aspects of The Echo Wife. The main characters, as mentioned above, are all deeply flawed, but their shortcomings as well as their positive personality traits make them fascinating and multilayered personalities. There are also larger themes and issues woven into the story. The humanity and human rights of clones are one key element: Clones are viewed by Evelyn and the world generally as mere “specimens,” disposable for any or no reason (and in fact they are almost always disposed of after a few months), despite the fact that they are living, intelligent beings. But the more Evelyn gets to know Martine, the less she is able to rationalize this worldview … and yet so much of her career depends on it.

Another message, perhaps more subtle, concerns patriarchy and its evils, displayed by both Nathan, who blithely disposes of women who don’t meet his needs, and by Evelyn’s father, who physically abuses females who don’t obey him ... and even, in the end, by Evelyn herself. "I am not a monster" she insists ... but, isn't she, at least a little? As one of my co-reviewers on FanLit so astutely pointed out: "The way [Evelyn] fought so hard against becoming her browbeaten mother, only to find herself exhibiting characteristics of her abusive father instead, was believable and chilling. So, too, was the ease with which she slipped into taking Martine’s programmed domestic tendencies for granted, because, of course, life is so much easier when you have someone taking care of the home for you." Brilliant insight - and of course that calls back to the book's title, and also explains why the ending is disturbing.

When I first read The Echo Wife, I was caught up in the suspense aspect of the novel and the twists of the plot. On my second read, I found it equally gripping, but for completely different reasons, more connected to the themes and the internal struggles and psyches of Evelyn and Martine. It’s an unusual, thoughtful and unsettling thriller, well worth the read.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the free review copy!

Update #1: Rereading because I should’ve written my review back when I first read this about six months ago, and I didn’t... it’s more twisty than I remembered, and the characters are really interesting!

Initial post: Wow, that was a crazy ride!

[TarHeelReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy pub week!

5 stars!

I see it has a cover now! Love it!

The Echo Wife reminds me of why I read in times like this. First of all, let me mention, this may be the earliest I have ever read a book. It's so early, the cover has not been released yet, and the synopsis is brief. I cannot wait to see the cover!

The Echo Wife will be published on February 16, 2021, and mark your calendars. I promise you won’t want to miss it. It’s the most unique domestic suspense story I think I’ve ever read. It takes place in the future, and there’s cloning involved.

In short, I absolutely loved everything about this book. Even with the futuristic angle, it felt entirely realistic and transportive. My head spun with the twists. It’s a creepy, smart, emotive, exciting page-turner, and yeah, I loved it.

I am certain we’ll be hearing about The Echo Wife!

I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader

[jenny✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2–3 stars; I wanted to like this one more than I actually did.

I don’t think this is a bad book. In fact, it has many rave reviews that I can appreciate, and I picture this being well-liked folks who enjoying meandering in the headspaces of tortured protagonists. It also carries several interesting themes for readers to unpack, not the least of which include questions of programming versus free will, and women’s autonomy—of mind and body, what we say and what we do, how we carry ourselves, the ways in which we resist and transgress.

I just wish I’d had different expectations going in, because what I was anticipating—and very excited for—was not what this book delivered.

✔️ EXPECTATION: Action-packed plot that is as gripping as the storylines of Westworld, with protagonists as entertaining as those in Killing Eve.

❌ REALITY: None of the above.

I’ll be honest: what really intrigued me about The Echo Wife was its name-dropping of Westworld and Killing Eve.

For me, Westworld was defined by its sublime landscape, the exquisite world-building around android sentience, and its enigmatic—and morally grey—sense that all is not what it seems. Meanwhile, Killing Eve ensnared me through the flammable chemistry between its two female leads, the alchemy of Eve’s tenaciousness paired with Villanelle’s eccentric, sarcastic brand of evil.

This book is marketed toward enthusiasts of Westworld and Killing Eve, and so I was expecting both these things: the expansive world-building of Westworld, and/or the snarky violence (and taut sapphic tension) of Killing Eve.

The Echo Wife… was none of those things.

I wanted more of an action-packed storyline—or more action, period. Instead, it takes seven chapters before the book finally stops acting like the husband’s cheating and death were mini plot twists, when they’re literally mentioned in the synopsis! The book started off WAY too coy.

It’s also very introspective and literary, more character study than fast-paced thriller. We spend the majority of the book in Evelyn’s head, as she comes to terms with her divorce from the ex-husband who cheated with her clone. She also recounts memories of her authoritative father and overly docile mother. She shares her frustrations about being a woman in academia (which I appreciated and found very relatable).

Yet I found her narration to be so damn repetitive. Martine would do/say something (or not do/say something) and Evelyn’d be swamped with [irritation, fury, frustration], and then she’d proceed to say something alone the lines of “I’m mad but I get that Nathan programmed her this way.” Rinse and repeat.

Again, none of these things were bad. I just felt disappointed that the plot was not as thrilling as I’d anticipated, and that Evelyn and Martine were not anywhere near as compelling as I’d hoped they’d be.

✔️ EXPECTATION: Lush, vivid, expansive world building (à la Westworld!!!!!!).

❌ REALITY: Worldbuilding is practically nonexistent.

As Jessica Woodbury puts it in this review: “This is a book where you have to Just Accept the Science. And this would be easier if our protagonist was not a scientist.”

I really wish I hadn’t gone into this expecting more in terms of explanation of the human cloning process. (Like: what is hormonal conditioning? It’s absolutely central to Evelyn’s research and her passions but we know zilch about it.)

There were many moments where things were just so convenient as to become contrived. And I regret not realizing earlier that I should’ve just been content with accepting this world, Evelyn’s world, a world in which we can clone humans, without questioning the mechanics of it or wondering how we got to this reality.

✔️ EXPECTATION: Husband would be tangential to the story.

❌ REALITY: Husband cropped up on just about every page.

This one kind of baffled me, especially since Nathan isn’t even a physical character in the story (his entire characterization is presented through Evelyn’s interiority and her thoughts about him). I’m not complaining that he didn’t get more physical airtime—good riddance!—but I am lamenting that he was so central to the story. The overall vibe was that the story, and Evelyn herself, had to be defined relative to this utterly insipid man.


BOTTOM LINE: I wish I’d gone in anticipating a slower, more introspective story. For the most part, this is a major case of “It’s me, not you”—or, more accurately, “It was my darned expectations, not you”!




Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.


◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️

06/27/2020:
BIG LITTLE LIES and WESTWORLD and KILLING EVE

AKA A WHOLLY UNEXPECTED MASHUP OF ALL OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS

[Alexis Hall]

*Warning, we get super spoilery in the comments, so please venture there at your peril*

Source of book: Bought by me
Relevant disclaimers: I contributed to the author’s newsletter once and we had some email exchanges related to that
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.

God help me, this was horrifying. Like, brilliantly horrifying. I read it in a single sitting and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. It’s so extraordinarily good that I’ve been, err, essentially hand selling it to anybody who has spoken to me recently. Including the nurse who gave me my COVID booster and made the mistake of saying “I see you’ve brought your Kindle with you” as a polite attempt to distract me from the, y’know, the ginormous needle plunging into my arm.

Anyway, for all I try to maintain a robust attitude to spoilers (there are many reasons to consume a piece of art beyond the mere mechanics of what happens next), this is a book where I genuinely feel giving too much away would negatively impact your reading experience. So my comments are going to come in essentially three parts, in order to least-to-most spoiler.

Part 1
If you have not read The Echo Wife, and you like my taste in general, OH MY FUCKING GOD READ THIS RIGHT NOW. Literally stop whatever you are doing, get this book, put in face. Talk to me about it after. Seriously, talk to me about it after. I need to talk about this thing.

Part 2
If you have not read The Echo Wife and need a bit more than me yelling about it, here’s the cliff notes. The Echo Wife is a domestic thriller with lowkey SFnal elements. Two great tastes that, in Gailey’s hands, go incredibly well together. Although for people who are slightly apprehensive of too much science fiction stuff, let me clarify: its presence is always used in service to the themes of the book and developing our understanding of the protagonists. For those who enjoy Gailey for their intricate world-building and are therefore slightly apprehensive of the science fiction stuff being lightly sketched, let me clarify: there is still a shit tonne of world-building in this book, it’s just it’s EMOTIONAL world-building.

The book opens with its protagonist, an ambitious, borderline obsessive, research scientist, winning an extremely prestigious award for her breakthroughs in the development of cloning. Unfortunately, this moment is triumph is rather marred for her, by the fact her husband has recently left her…

… for a clone of herself he has stolen her own technology to create.

And that’s all you’re getting. But that’s JUST the first three chapters, and the book only gets stranger and darker from there.

So, uh, go read it, yeah?

Part 3
(This will contain spoilers. I’ll try, however, not to ruin the whole book)

Honestly, I think The Echo Wife might be one of the most well-constructed thrillers I’ve ever read. Moving fluidly between the present and the past (Evelyn’s situation now and the abusive childhood that helped shaped her into who she is), it never lets up and never stops surprising you—and what’s extra remarkable is those surprises never feel forced. Ironically enough, the very nature of thrillers—to shock—can sometimes damage their capacity to shock: here the various twists and escalations retain their integrity because they also feel kind of inevitable, arising naturally from character and circumstances the text has already established.

Even Evelyn’s unreliability functions in intriguing ways. Her first act in the book is putting on a dress to serve as armour as she goes to receive her award and face down her colleagues about her marriage falling apart. And yet here’s the thing, she never takes that armour off, even for a moment, even for the reader, even, perhaps, for herself? All of which makes her just about the worst possible person to tell this story. But she’s what we’ve got. And what’s especially weird about the narrative power she exerts is that, while she never outright lies, she has a way of … not just withholding, but occluding elements of her world, her work, her family, she either she doesn’t want to see or she doesn’t want us to see.

Take the cloning, for example. Her technique allows clones to be created with fully intact memories of the subject: they are then conditioned to match them physically and emotionally, and can be used as temporary substitutes (i.e. as a body double for a president) before they are disposed are. We learn this early on. If you stop and think for a moment, it’s fucking horrific. Soylent green is people. No, seriously, though. Those are PEOPLE. Those are undeniably people: yes they are created in a lab (but then so are many of us) and specifically programmed and conditioned to fulfil certain roles (but isn’t that what childhood is, anyway?) but if you create someone with memories and a sense of self … that’s a fucking person. That’s not biowaste. Again, we learn this very, very early in the story. It shouldn’t be a shock when the book asks us, time and time and time again in different ways, to face the reality of what is happening here: but such is Evelyn’s aggressive control of the narrative that it’s … um. Incredibly easy to ignore? To accept her language of specimens and biowaste, and not allow yourself to see beyond it.

And yet seeing beyond Evelyn is a vital part of reading The Echo Wife. She tells us early on that she had no idea her marriage in trouble, although she does reflect on all the evidence she should have picked on: receipts, her husband’s long absences etc. Except the more you hear about the marriage (and, please, I am very much NOT on her husband’s side here, I am really not) the more it becomes more obvious than obvious that the marriage was in severe emotional crisis long before Nathan started leaving receipts on the bedside table. Because, the truth is, it’s not just that Evelyn doesn’t see the people she’s creating in her lab, she doesn’t see ANY people: she doesn’t fully recognise the reality of anyone around her. She is not to be trusted.

Except, you know, I didn’t want to be that male reader judging this fictional woman scientist harshly. Because, whatever else her flaws as a person and a narrator, and she has many of both, her observations about the place of women in science and academia are a hundred percent correct. It’s also clear that she’s a victim of abuse, both from her father, and in her marriage—although she never quite fully addresses either (her father is threatens her with physical violence at least once, but the time he actually does inflict it on her, she cuts it almost entirely from the text, there’s just a broken wrist with no acknowledged source). So I gave her the benefit of the doubt over and over and over again. Believed her, when I shouldn’t have been reading critically. And, by the end, was left with the slight sick realisation that Evelyn, as a narrator, had essentially bullied, manipulated and controlled me in precisely the same way she does everyone else in the text.

The Echo Wife is a domestic thriller, yes, with SFnal elements. It is also an exploration of the philosophy of identity. Of the roles we occupy, professionally and socially and personally, and the ways those roles are shaped by gender, by experience, by abuse. The way it possible to be both a survivor and perpetrator of abuse. It questions what qualities are inherent to us, and what are merely programmed, and whether the difference means anything at all. And lays bare the complexities of *seeing*, both who we are and who other people are: the idea that, deep down, we may all be capable of reducing whoever we need to not care about right now to specimens and biowaste.

I’m just dizzy with admiration for this book and shaken to the core. Seriously, will you just read it already?

[Michael David (on hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!

Evelyn Caldwell is a brilliant scientist who has just received a prestigious award for The Caldwell Method. She should be on cloud 9, but her husband recently left her for Martine.

What’s worse is that Martine is a genetically cloned replica of Evelyn that her husband secretly created, based on Evelyn’s research.

Even worse than that, she receives a frantic call from Martine one day that has her rushing to the home of her soon to be ex-husband, only to find him dead...and blood all over the floor.

It’s at this point that I was hooked. This is a truly interesting and original story, and I’m happy to say the scientific elements weren’t too difficult to follow once I got into it. This is more of a suspenseful drama with sci-fi elements than a full-blown thriller...although it does have thriller elements, including two OMG moments.

The writing is superb, and I couldn’t help but root for both Evelyn and Martine during the whole fiasco. I’m not sure what I think about the ending. There’s nothing wrong with it, but I might’ve hoped for a bit more intensity.

All in all, a compelling and gripping read that should quench the thirst of lovers of many genres.

3.5 or 4 stars (I’ll have to think about this).

Thank you so much to my GR friend, Denise, who not only put this book on my radar...but also sent me the physical ARC. I will be paying it forward.

[Holly B · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 STARS

"We have a few hours," she said. "Good, okay, we have a few--you have to come, it's ----please, I can't tell you, I have to show you, you have to see."

Evelyn Caldwell is a scientist and her specialty is cloning. She works closely with her husband, Nathan.

Martine is Evelyn's clone. Martine is also Nathan's idea of a new and improved Evelyn and he is having an affair with her. Until he ends up dead.

I loved the premise of this one and the sci-fi feel with some creepy factors. Though it had suspenseful moments, all the "science jargon" had my head spinning a little and I found Evelyn to be insufferable.

A short book (under 300 pages) that was thought-provoking and entertaining. I do think it needed a bit more of the oomph factor!

Library loan 5/3/2021

[Kat (Books are Comfort Food) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind bending!

I seriously love this story. While it took a few chapters for me to calibrate with the book, one I was it became an incredible journey. This book really has it all: good, evil, suspense, stomach-summer salts, rage and quiet contemplation. It also has a sense of love that you don’t notice from the surface.

Evelyn and Nathan had been married a decade when Nathan threw in the towel. However, not one to let the grass grow, he created a new and improved Evelyn; a clone he has named Martine. Things worked until they didn’t; when Martine developed a sense of self. Here is where the ride launches from the safety of a platform and Into a thrilling, free-for-all.

I loved the characters enough to have feelings for them, although not necessarily good feelings.

— Nathan is a coward, a lazy ass, who wants to control everything to make himself happy and look like a successful man.

— Evelyn looks at things as winning or losing, controlling every facet of her life through very tragic conditioning at an early age.

— Martine, the clone, who wasn’t lovingly made, but masterminded into a cookie-cutter wife with docile thoughts.

Once I was launched into space, I couldn’t put the book down and just wanted to stay up All. Night. Long!

There were scary moments in this book, but also pieces of light that filtered through. There were moments I gave pause to how I was feeling about it all. Most of the time I rooted for Martine; an innocent, shrewd and confident woman.

We are all flawed and in our loneliest hours we all want to be understood. As the characters changed, so did I. I wanted to step inside the story and right wrongs and change things to an outcome I would love. Was I trying to play God too?

[Elle (ellexamines on TT & Substack) · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a piece of me now that no one would ever be able to reach.

A really interesting book about cloning, loneliness, what makes the self, and where programming ends and choices begin. And also, perhaps more notably, a book which uses all of these to talk about abuse and escape.

Evelyn Caldwell is a cold cloning geneticist used to working and getting what she wants. She gets what she wants, that is, until her husband clones his perfect version of her, Martine, ready to fulfill her every need. I should just say off the bat—this book is compulsively readable. Every moment was just so messed up that I could not look away. And I did not want to! I was having a grand old time in this fucked up little place. Sarah Gailey's writing is seemingly not for everyone, but she hits just right for me.

There are two clones and each clone must be defined both by their old selves’ actions, and the new. Martine is programmed to be different from Evelyn, so where is her growth closer to Evelyn agency, and where is her growth away agency? Where should a copy be punished for the acts of that which came before? Where does your selfhood begin if you live as a copy?

I think you could read parts of Martine’s arc somewhat as a political critique of choice feminism—feminism that tells women and afab people that choosing children, makeup, etc are nonpolitical choices. They may be choices, but they are never nonpolitical; at the same time, they may be political, but they’re still choices. Martine’s desires, even those programmed into her, are what she has; she wants a child, and whether programmed into her or not, that desire is part of her to her.

Quotes Sticking Out To Me:
➽I think we would have been dead either way. Even if we were still breathing, even if we were still aboveground, we would have been dead.
➽ That didn’t mean I was the same as Nathan has been. He’d created Martine to be this way; I was merely taking advantage of a thing that was already there. I didn’t forge the tool. I just wanted to use it effectively.
➽ He was never going to be good enough; the original Nathan was born to be a disappointment to me at every turn, all the way down to his marrow. I couldn’t extract that from him. Not without making him someone entirely new. Someone I could never have fallen in love with in the first place.
➽ Everything I felt toward Martine, I felt toward myself, too. Of course, then, I wanted to find some way to protect her. And of course I resented her for it.
➽I had wondered for so long why she stopped there, why she didn’t spread like a climbing vine, devouring the void he left behind. I spent my adolescence nurturing a quiet disdain for the way she failed to become a monster in his absence.

Sarah Gailey, you are beyond insane. Can we get drinks sometime?

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[Blaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The way I see it, you mostly stop loving a person the same way you stop respecting them. It can happen all at once if something enormous and terrible falls over the two of you. But for the most part, it happens in inches. In a thousand tiny moments of contempt that unravel the image you had of the person you thought you knew.

The Echo Wife wears the guise of a science fiction thriller. In some version of our world (the future, maybe? It’s unclear) human cloning is both possible and legal. Dr. Evelyn Caldwell is a pioneer in the process of grafting the original subject’s personality—modified as you desire!—onto an adult clone, which can be grown in 100 days. As the book opens, she’s going through a divorce because her ex-husband Nathan used her technique to make Martine, a clone of Evelyn that he deemed to be a more desirable version her—more malleable and subservient and, most of all, interested in starting a family.

But The Echo Wife is not really science fiction. It’s too disinterested in the world building, and the alleged science behind the cloning feels more like hand waving, a means to an end. And I’d argue that it’s not a thriller either. Things happen as the story moves along—the Goodreads description tells you what could have been the first twist, Nathan ending up dead. But the characters all make strange, if not indefensible, choices. And the story is somehow not suspenseful. I kept expecting big twists that never came, and the ones the did arrive usually did so in muted, understated ways.

Instead, The Echo Wife is a family drama. There are long descriptions of Evelyn’s youth, spent in fear of her brilliant but abusive father. Evelyn gives a lot of thought to the relationship between spouses, how people fall out of love and prefer some different version of their spouse that may or may not have ever even existed. Evelyn also questions the relationship between parents and their children and, in grappling with her indirect role in creating Martine, with the responsibility we owe to the unintended consequences of our choices.

In this last theme, The Echo Wife reminded me a little bit of Frankenstein, though Evelyn takes far more responsibility for Martine than Victor ever does for his monster. But overall, the book I kept thinking about as I read this one was Never Let Me Go. Both are very well-written novels that are regarded as science fiction but really aren’t. They just use a science fiction idea as a stage for a lot of deep thoughts on the human condition. The Echo Wife is not a bad book, and it kept me reading, but in the end it left me wanting.

[Ceecee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a kind of Westworld scenario, with one big difference, I could understand the plot of this one! Although that’s not entirely true as some of the science explanations went over the top of my poor brain! Dr Evelyn Caldwell’s cheating ex husband Nathan creates a clone called Martine who looks exactly like Evelyn (yes indeed, psychoanalyse that one) except that Martine is a more pliant version. Or is she??? Only time will tell. That’s not at all messed up creating a clone of your wife is it? That’s just for starters, there’s a huge seven course menu to follow with lots of eye popping tasty surprises!

This book hooks you in right from the start because it’s so startling! It’s horribly fascinating as you watch the drama unfold, often with bated breath but even in my wildest dreams I couldn’t have envisaged where this would end up. It’s extremely dark, twisted and twisty and original. The characters are enthralling, they aren’t likeable especially as the book progresses and we get to see more facets to their personalities. They’re mostly cold, clinical with few moral boundaries which of course makes it compelling reading. The plot is clever as in part it’s a domestic suspense drama, partly futuristic and partly a thriller. It’s entertaining, crazy and shocking but also smart and darkly humorous. In places it blows you mind and makes you reflect on what the possibilities are in the future and it’s to be hoped that clones don’t turn out like Martine! My only negative thought is that in my opinion the book deserves a better ending as I feel it ends with a convenient whimper rather than a bang! However, there is much to reflect on with Evelyn - eeekkk!

Overall, a fast paced page turner that keeps your attention.

With thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the arc for an honest review.

[Marialyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

It amazes me and at times worries me the things that science has accomplished over the last few years. From the amazing discovery of DNA to the current science of gene editing, science has bounced ahead in so many ways. It often makes me wonder what will be next?

In this story we find that science is now able to produce a clone of people. I think a few years back this idea would have been preposterous, a thing of a science fiction book, a thing that could probably only happen in the distant future. However, in The Echo Wife, we find that this distant concept has become a reality that has dangerous repercussions for Evelyn Caldwell and her newly discovered clone Martine.

For Evelyn's husband has made an exact replica of Evelyn using her science as the very means of making this possible. He has programmed her to be docile, complacent, and a wonderful "wife" so willing to be exactly Evelyn wasn't.

Now, however, Martine is pregnant and who should turn up dead but Evelyn's husband. A partnership follows between the two women as they both scurry to find a way to make the death disappear.

Suffice to say, this leads the two into areas of deception and places to which neither one ever could have pictured themselves.

I found myself addicted to the story and wondering how long it might be before something like this might become reality. I recommend the book to those who like the concept of science and the inevitable consequences it may one day bring.

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now a Goodreads Choice finalist in Science Fiction!

What a weird and cool little book. From the mind of Sarah Gailey, author of the brilliant Magic for Liars, comes another stunningly original work where humanity and the fantastical overlap.

Evelyn Caldwell has achieved everything she set out to do in her life. She’s heading a lab, working on groundbreaking experiments, being recognized for her achievements in her field and was even able to find someone to live happily married with.....for a time. Her former husband, Nathan, has moved on. His new wife Martine is everything that Evelyn is not; she’s pliable and submissive. She wants all the same things as Nathan, including having a baby. But Nathan didn’t meet Martine—he made her. She’s a clone of Evelyn, taken from her own research, and tweaked to fit her ex’s specifications. And up until this point Evelyn has had no reason to get to know this copy of herself, until Martine calls her, frantic, asking for help.

This was a premise that has everything I’m looking for in a science-fiction thriller. Gailey masterfully blends typical human motivations like jealousy, revenge, longing and betrayal with an exciting scientific advancement that feels close enough to appreciate, but also just out of reach. There’s enough of a basis in reality where you don’t feel like you’re too far away from plausible. All of the characters have distinct personalities and feel like people you could (and maybe even do) know in real life, but with just a subtle sinister twist. So small that you don’t notice it fully until you’re already in deep.

In addition to the stellar characterizations, there’s a lot of reckoning with complex ethical questions around cloning and genetic engineering in humans. What makes a person a person? Is it wrong to manipulate biological and psychological factors in order to get a desired outcome? And based on some of those themes in the novel, it’s not hard to see how those questions extend outside of a clinical setting. In the author Acknowledgements, Gailey discloses pieces of her experience with abuse, and the reader is left to sift through the implications of what Nathan, and to an extent Evelyn, have done to Martine through that lens. It’s a deeply uncomfortable thing to sit with in the absolute best way.

I’m so glad my second Sarah Gailey book was such a success. The Echo Wife is easily one of the best things I’ve read so far this year! Looking forward to more from this author and *hopefully* some kind of adaptation down the road.


Thank you for buddy reading this with me, Madison! And also thanks to Jordy for sending me your extra copy!! 😊

**For more book talk & reviews, follow me on Instagram at @elle_mentbooks!

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I think I enjoyed this book more because I went into it knowing absolutely NOTHING. I read the premise months ago and added it to my TBR and I saw a lot of people posting about this book, so I listened to the audiobook without remembering what the premise actually was, and it was super interesting, I love reading about this concept. However, I do understand the criticism this book is getting because the story never really goes anywhere, and it's not much of a mystery/thriller, it's much more light sci-fi drama... but I still enjoyed most of it! It's a really short book so the audiobook flew by, I was able to listen to over half of it in one morning and it kept me intrigued the whole time. The second half of the book was just okay for me, but I still enjoyed my time reading/listening to this book and I just think the concept of it is really cool, very Blade Runner vibes.

[Katie Colson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am genuinely confused why this has such a low rating. What am I missing?
I ate it UP!

It's just enough sci-fi for me to believe what the character's saying without making me feel like an imbecile.

A common complaint seems to be the main characters and their motivations. I don't get that cause I adored them both and felt that their motivations were very well defined and fleshed out and completely understandable. Emotions are messy. People aren't going to react the way you think they should in the face of grief or shock or anger. I like that Gailey explored that and made her characters realistic in that way.

"There’s no winning. Either I’m a bitch who needs to control everything, or I’m an easy mark.”