This was really nothing like I had expected. At the very start, I thought I had quite a firm grasp on things, but this is definitely one of those novels where literally nothing is what you expect. Even the perspectives shift wildly, moving between the second person while following Abbie and a plural first person (???) when diving into Abbie’s history with her husband. This definitely lends some additional intrigue to the narrative, and by the end I felt that this decision had paid off for Delaney.

While there isn’t much else to say about the plot itself -- it’s interesting, it’s timely, and it makes you want to keep reading -- there was an additional aspect to the novel that I found interesting. Abbie and her husband have a son named Danny, who was diagnosed with childhood disintegrative disorder. While I know next-to-nothing about this, the book explains it as late-onset autism. The disclaimer here is that I am allistic and have been unable to locate any ownvoices posts by autistic reviewers -- so please link me any you have written or seen and I’ll add them here.

At first, I was really taken aback by the portrayal: there was a lot of the stereotypical “my son has been taken from me” wailing, and talk of “curing” him. Without giving anything away, I’ll just say that this perspective changed greatly over the course of the novel and seemed positive by the end -- although it’s not up to me to give the final comment on rep that doesn’t apply to me. I mention this for two reasons: first, this could obviously be triggering to some people. And second, if you’re considering putting down the book due to its characters’ problematic stances, they do change.

Overall this was a decent read and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for an interesting, creative thriller.

Going in, I definitely expected to like this book, but I did not expect to love it quite as much as I did. I got so wrapped up in the story that I flew through it in two sittings. Unfortunately, given the genre of the book, a spoiler-free review is going to be a challenge. In fact, there is a twist that happens in the first few pages of the novel that completely shocked me and took the story in a delightfully unexpected direction. Now, this twist and not knowing it was coming made this book so exciting that I absolutely do not want to say what it is—going into it blind was fantastic. All this being said, I will try to tell you about this novel as best as I can.

In this story, we follow our main character, Abbie, as she is recovering from an accident that has caused a great loss of memory. As she gathers and puts together the pieces of the life she forgot and the time she has missed, she finds that nothing is as it seems—her past is a blur and her future may not be under her control.

From page one, I was absolutely hooked. This is a unique and fast-paced story with plenty of twists and turns that you will not see coming. The original synopsis I read was actually a lot vaguer than the finalized one, but either way, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting in to. This had everything I love about psychological thriller novels and more—a twist that made my nerdy little heart sing even louder. And more…nerd-ily.

This is not only a gripping and twisty psychological thriller, but it also deals with several thought-provoking and timely topics. It is very informative, particularly on the topic of parenting a child with autism, which Delaney is writing on from personal experience. I have a very basic knowledge of autism and absolutely no knowledge about what the parent of an autistic child goes through and I learned a great deal through this story. It truly opened my eyes to what incredibly strong and beautiful human beings these children and parents are. I loved the depth that these topics added to the novel as a whole.

The characters are fantastically well-crafted and multi-dimensional. Our main character is very easy to connect with and I enjoyed following her. Many characters are quite ambiguous and leave you questioning their true intentions. I feel that Delaney does a wonderful job of bringing them to life and weaving their roles seamlessly into the main plotline.

Interestingly, this novel is written mostly in the second-person perspective. I have never read a story told in this way and, though I was a bit wary at first, I ended up getting into the style pretty easily. And the reasoning behind using this perspective is yet another mystery you will have to solve by picking up this book.

There were portions toward the middle of the novel—slight lulls between moments of action or shocking revelations—that at first I felt slowed things down. And while, admittedly, there were a few things I felt could have been skipped over, these slower moments actually added depth to one of the main themes in the novel. These sections allow the reader to connect further with the protagonist, putting them in her shoes as she attempts to put the pieces of her life back together. These seemingly mundane tasks she goes about that are described in great detail highlight what her life has become—slowly placing one foot in front of the other, occupying her time by focusing on each individual moment, however small.

The only minor issue I had with the plot was with a portion of the ending. It is a very surprising and intense conclusion, and for the most part, I felt things were resolved well. It is not a perfect, happy ending—which I enjoy a lot—and I was still left feeling very satisfied. There is one moment in the final pages that seemed a bit rushed and unplanned though. It is actually a positive note and one that I am quite happy about, but the logistics of it were confusing. It felt like it was squeezed in simply to resolve a plotline without much exposition to help the reader understand how and why it happened. However, the overall ending was great and I will say that this moment has definitely given me even more to think over after finishing the book.

Wow. This story. It was so unexpected in all the best ways and had me completely enthralled. I never wanted it to end and it totally kicked off a mystery/thriller reading binge for me. This was one of those books that had me making both facial and audible reactions while sitting in a room by myself. I also may or may not have talked to myself for half an hour or more trying to sort out all of my thoughts after finishing it. I have been wanting to read J.P. Delaney’s novels for a while now and this was a wonderful start. I very highly recommend giving this novel a try.

Abbie doesn't remember her life, so as she begins to look into what looks like her perfect life with the perfect husband it all seems like a series of lies.

So I really liked The Girl Before, I didn't know what to make of Believe Me, and The Perfect Wife had tons of promise but ultimately fell flat for me. The whole Silicon Valley culture was a great backdrop, from techno-geeks to artists and the intersection thereof. He covers human vs machine intelligence, sexism in the workplace (#metoo level stuff here), art vs science, what defines the human soul (is it empathy?)... All great stuff. One of the best parts was the inclusion of Abbie and Tim's autistic son Danny, who was clearly written with great knowledge of and care about autistic children. The comparison drawn between Danny, "normal" people, and artificial intelligence was probably the greatest strength of the book.

The narration was also really cool. It alternated between third person and second person chapters, both seemingly omniscient. It actually was an effective method, as the second person narrator took on the task of discussing what it was like for people in the robotics office when Abbie, the artist, first came to their company. The third person narrator took on the task of telling current events as they unfolded and Abbie figured out what had happened to her. And in the final chapter, the reason for the dual narrators, though they were already effective, becomes clear in a major twist that is doubly enjoyable for both plotting and explanation of the literary choice. Pretty neat. And when I say plot twists, this was the mother of all plot twists. Shocking, clever, amazing. Seriously, I can't even.

But. But but but. I know it is suspense and it is supposed to be plot driven, but I am so tired of hating characters or being confronted with stupid flat characters. If I had to hear one more time how sexy Abbie was or be faced with what an asshole Tim was, I was going to chuck the book across the room. Not to mention the slutty nanny. Or the humdrum robotics folks. Because of the characterization, a book that should have been a page-turner felt more like a repetitive crappy romance, hitting you over the head with the same information repeatedly. And that really ruined what could have been a phenomenal book.

Still, people who aren't so picky about characters will love this one. It has so much going for it. I wish it could have reached its full potential. Maybe a movie version.... That would rock.

This blew me away. What a topic!

I thought this would be the usual domestic thriller - no complaints here! Instead, I dove into what I realized was a sci-fi, domestic thriller. I don't normally like sci-fi, unless it's a fluffy vampire book, but I loved this book!

An Elon Musk-type created an Artificial Intelligence ("AI") replica of his dead wife, Abbie. He codes her to have the ability to have Abbie's memories, feelings, and instincts, but what is his real goal? Does he want the companionship he so sorely misses? Is he simply creating a shopbot to market to big box stores? A caretaker for their autistic son? "The perfect wife?" Something else?

I really tore through this book, eager and desperate to find out what happens(ed).

I love the sociological and consumerism themes of this book. Sure, we could create robots to dive the oceans and clean up plastic, but why not create a sexbot instead and make millions? Who would want an empathetic robot to take care of elderly patients when we could instead have a flattering shopbot help us pick out dresses and shoes?

I love how Tim is described by his employees. The verbal thrashing scenes are perfectly laid out, very relatable to someone like me who's worked for narcissistic rich people more times than I care to remember.

I liked how the chapters are numbered. Present Abbie versus past Abbie: dueling chapters. It didn't confuse me that the numbers were out of sequence depending on which Abbie was narrated; I really enjoyed the change-up.

It's so cool to learn and remember along with AI Abbie. "THUNK", there's a new memory! I loved it, and I was able to picture it perfectly. This book would make a great movie.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher and the author for this advanced copy.

******** possible spoiler below*********
There's one overarching theme in this book that really, truly hit my emotional sweet spot: an innocent third party can be the catalyst for an abuse victim to finally make a change. You'll take abuse for years and years, but once an innocent is involved, you realize you can't martyr yourself anymore.

First line: You’re having that dream again, the one where you and Tim are in Jaipur for Diwali.

Summary: When Abbie wakes up in a hospital bed she has no memory of how she got there. There is a man who tells her she is his wife and that something terrible happened to her five years before. And through his determination and technological advancements he was able to bring her back. She is the prototype for a new technology called CoBots.
As Abbie acclimates to her new life she starts to wonder what happen to the real Abbie. Using Abbie’s memories, old text messages and the built in intuition she follows the clues to find out how and why Abbie disappeared.

My Thoughts: This was a lot of fun. It was modern day science fiction thriller. At the beginning there is a separate narrative by an unknown character who gives us a look into the past and the real Abbie. I was constantly trying to figure out who it was and I never would have guessed. I like the idea of being able to “bring back” someone who has died but it is also a little sad. I know that there is one person I would love to “see” again but this may make it harder too.

So many different scenarios were flying through my head while trying to figure out the ending. There were lots of twists and turns which make it a great psychological thriller.

I really loved Danny. He is Abbie and Tim’s son who is autistic. He communicates using Thomas the Train references.

FYI: Check out Delaney’s other books Believe Me and The Girl Before.

The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney is a fantastic read. What started off as a thriller, quickly turned in to so much more. Abby, a mother, surfer and artist wakes up one day dazed and confused. She has no idea who she is or where she is. Her husband gently informs her of an accident that happened many years ago. Before I go any further, The Perfect Wife is the kind of book to read without knowing too much going in to it. I was pleasantly greeted with surprises, twists and sharp turns along the way. Without divulging too much information, I will say that this book is filled to the brim with mystery surrounding Abby and her Tech savvy husband. Delaney's story is so intriguing that you will be hooked from page one. It is the perfect blend of domestic noir with a splash of sci-fi and the unconditional love of a mother. I had an extremely difficult time putting this fast paced novel down. I highly recommend this read. It is crazy different and crazy good!

Abbie Scott awakens to discover that, through the wonders of science, she has been saved to return to her life with her husband Tim, a tech entrepreneur, and Danny their autistic son. Her memory has lapses and gradually Abbie begins to wonder whether her previous life had been as perfect as Tim says. I don’t want to give away too much about this book, but I was very pleasantly surprised that, instead of the plain old psychological suspense of the author’s previous books, this one has an element of science fiction that made it very appealing to me. Abbie faces both ethical and practical dilemmas for herself. The author also deals at length with the difficult educational options for an autistic child. The author has an autistic son, so he is speaking from experience here. Abbie’s issues, on the other hand, are straight from really prime speculative fiction. This is definitely my favorite of the three books that I have read by this author.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Rounded down to 2.5 stars

I originally DNFd this one at the 56% point but ended up finishing it because it was a group read. Delaney has been one of my most anticipated authors for the past couple of years, with Believe Me being one of my favorite books from last summer. The Perfect Wife however disappointed me even though Delaney had an intriguing premise. The character development was pretty dull and boring in my opinion, and characterization is what I most look for when reading a novel. Also, the switching back and forth from second to third person was a huge turn-off. It was frustrating to me as a reader. The only bright spot in the book was Danny, and I loved how Delaney wrote his character.

Unfortunately, I wish I had just not finished this one but I hate to DNF books. Still, I will read anything Delaney writes and look forward to his next book.

Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine for an ARC copy. All opinions are my own.

At first I wasn't so sure about this novel. I did not know the premise when I began reading, and I thought, a robot wife? Really? But it didn't take long to pull me in. It was very well put together and did not seem like a story about a robot at all, and eventually one starts to forget that she is a robot. This story definitely blurs lines between what is real and what is not, what is acceptable and unacceptable, and really makes you think about how you might feel.

I really enjoyed this one! The sci-fi elements were very interesting and unexpected. I also read Believe Me by JP Delaney and loved it. Maybe I should check out his first book.

The Perfect Wife by J P Delaney is a psychological suspense novel that will reel in readers from the start. When Abbie awakens in the hospital, she is told that she was involved in a serious auto accident and with medical technology has been brought back from a five-year coma. Her husband, who is a techie in Silicon Valley, explains their marriage, but Abbie isn’t sure things are being presented correctly. Everything she is told is meant to build memories that she doesn’t remember. Actually, this novel has a dystopian feel, and brings to mind the 1972 Ira Levin novel, The Stepford Wives.

Delaney, British author of several bestselling psychological novels, is a great storyteller, and draws audiences in with unique scenarios. Is it possible for someone to use technology to create a person with memories and history? That is the question readers will ask throughout the novel. The characters are well-developed, the book is organized, and the writing is easy-to-follow. The fact that this is fiction makes it possible for the author to introduce several ideas that would be unbelievable in a factual setting, but while reading, they seem viable. Readers will be on the edges of their seats throughout the novel. There are plenty of surprising ups and downs, and readers won’t have any idea what is really happening until the dénouement.

For readers who enjoy psychological thrillers, J P Delaney is an author to watch. There isn’t a lot of violence, language, or sexual connotation, but there is plenty of suspense, which builds constantly and doesn’t stop to the end.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

My very first JP Delaney book! And I really enjoyed it! Part #BehindClosedDoors, part #ExMachina, I was impressed with Delaney's refreshing take on several tried and true genre tropes, including unreliable narrators (the robot wife is missing key memories!) and alternating points of view (who exactly is telling this story?). There were enough twists and turns to keep me reading until the last page, and while the book felt a little long and the ending a little rushed, overall this is for sure one of the better mystery/suspense books I've read this year (also! make sure you stick around through the acknowledgements...). Thanks to my friends and #partners at @randomhouse for the gifted copy of this one. it's available now!

This is a fast paced thriller where the main character, Abbie, is an AI replica of a tech owner’s wife. The original Abbie went missing after a surfing accident and her husband was so devastated at the loss of her that he used his company and their background of building robots to create the first AI person. This book is told in two different perspectives. The first one being the robot Abbie and the second being an employee of her husband Tim’s tech company. I loved the way the two perspectives shaped the story and worked so well together. I found myself really looking forward to what was going to happen next on both sides of the story.

I read this book so quickly because the suspense stayed pretty consistent throughout the entire read. There are a lot of twist and turns during the story and most of them worked really well. A couple of them felt out of place but overall this is another fantastic thriller from J.P. Delaney. Also, for all the people who are like me and thought that this is a far fetched sci fi thriller, Delaney lets us know that this technology is currently being developed and talked about. So if we think about it, this has the potential of being labelled as a domestic thriller.

If you are a fan of Delaney’s previous books than I definitely think you would like this one as well. I think his books are consistently good and I will forever read anything he writes. If you are in the mood for a fast paced thriller that will constantly keep you on your toes I highly recommend this on to you.

The Perfect Wife is not a modern retelling of Stepford Wives! This wife has feelings! It is crazy scary how this story could be happening in some laboratory. Hopefully humans are still governed by morals and principles but I am not holding my breath. All of these characters were extremely well developed, even the robots. I loved learning more about autism through Danny. I was worried the technical jargon would lose me but it never was overwhelming. Definitely a great storyline that will be creeping me out for years.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

this was definitely an unique and creative storyline. a mix of sci-fi, thriller and more. they touched down on AI and autisum as well in a character. this sbook was the perfect mix of everything i like. i'll be reading more by this author.

I have read two of the author’s previous books. One I liked, one I did not. So I was not sure what to expect. I am glad to say that I liked this one. The AI concept brought up a lot of moral questions as well as being an interesting topic. Having an autistic character and exploring the different approaches was educational. In the meantime, a whole mystery is unfolding. A very engaging story.

The Perfect Wife by J.P. Delaney had a really unusual and interesting premise. In a day and age quite overrun with thrillers (I’m not complaining) it’s a challenge to come up with something new and unique, and Delaney did it here. It’s a sci-fi mixed with domestic thriller and it carries a heavy dose of creep factor. The scientific-tech aspects of it were quite fascinating and thought-provoking, if also definitively unnerving.

I will admit that I was somewhat confused at first, by the dual perspectives in the book. They are merely labeled numerically or by word-number which was rather confusing and didn’t help to identify whose actual perspective each chapter was from, though eventually I caught on. Perhaps that was the intended effect.

The plot, and its concepts, when you stop to ponder it, is disturbing and slightly horrifying, but also immensely intriguing. The whole idea of artificial intelligence embraces the notion of man playing god, while being a natural extension of the pursuit of what’s next in technology.

The ending was chilling, moving, and a stunner. I understand that some found it far-fetched, but really the whole story is meant to be slightly out there, as are all futuristic concepts, so to me, that’s what made it entertaining and a one-of-a-kind thriller.

This is a taut, dynamic, timely thriller that weaves together many current tropes and produces a uniquely disquieting tale. It’s difficult to put the book down as the reader is rapidly engulfed in layer after layer of seemingly well-known science fiction fears: human-like robots, memories that are alive enough to remake a human, a spouse who has recreated his wife in nonhuman form and a robot who thinks it is alive. The only weak spot in this addictive tale is the ending and honestly, it almost doesn’t matter. The ‘why’ of the whole story ultimately seems irrelevant because the romp of it all is fascinating and impossible to interrupt. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Wow! This was a real page turner. The story line was so extremely original and made you really think...”How long before this is possible “.

I really enjoyed the characters and the story. I didn’t even come close to guessing the ending. Well done! 3.5⭐️

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.