Dr. Evelyn Caldwell discovered the special hormonal methods of neurophysiological conditioning that improved the ability to clone a human being. She enjoyed discussing all of her laboratory issues and struggles with her husband, Nathan, and just knew he'd also celebrate her success. Actually, he was so amazed at everything that Evelyn accomplished that he took what he had learned from her AND MADE HIS OWN CLONE -- a replica of Evelyn but much nicer. And named her Martine. Then something happens with Martine that should not be possible and Nathan ends up dead. How do these two very different women who look alike find a solution? NO SPOILERS.

This was definitely a fun read that made me consider all the possibilities of what it would be like if you met your own clone, interacted with your clone, formed a relationship with your clone. Not that the world needs another copy of me (HA), but my imagination enjoyed thinking about it. This sci-fi novel is full of issues ripe for discussion of the ethics and morals of creating a clone and then living with it. What makes a clone more than a lab specimen and is there any way it could be fully human after programming? Very interesting story that wasn't science heavy but more focused on characters and the topic of humanity. I enjoyed it.

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for this e-book ARC to read and review.

EVERY RELATIONSHIP IN THIS BOOK WAS A HOT MESS. Two women have there lives straight up ruined by Nathan, who gets an award for being my least favourite male character in a book. WHAT AN AWFUL MAN. But there messes make for great reading! It was super interesting reading about Evelyn's cloning process, and the science wasn't too complicated which I appreciated. It's a wild idea to come face to face with another version of you. Could you be friends with yourself??

BOOK REVIEW: THE ECHO WIFE by Sarah Gailey
Pub Date: February 16, 2021

The Echo Wife is a domestic suspense novel with a unique twist reminiscent of Ray Bradbury’s styling of science fiction making the novel consumable for readers across genres. This is propulsive story centered around intriguing relational dynamics of a marriage interrupted and the hazards of science unchecked. The Echo Wife will sweep you up in a myriad of “what-if’s” of runaway science and tech and the implications that we may one day face.

The Echo Wife is a smartly crafted thriller infused with sci-fi elements where protagonist Evelyn learns her husband Nathan has strayed from the marriage to another women, Martine – only she is not just a woman, she is Evelyn’s clone. With plot development as exacting as science yet as engaging as the best of psychological thrillers, Gailey does a great job of creating an almost plausible scenario come to life which is truly horrifying when you think that “one day” might not be so far away. The ending is left open which keeps readers thinking about the implications of cloning designer human species and the many ethical quandaries to be considered. I devoured this novel in a day! Fans of The Wife Upstairs, Black Mirror and Bradbury will likely find this mix completely unputdownable.

My thanks to thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan/ Tor Books for sharing this exciting ARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

Wow — this book was such a thrill ride from start to finish. It’s a trippy, twisty set up for what becomes a creative, dark, yet delightful marriage between domestic thriller and classic science fiction. I’ve never read anything quite like it, so I was absolutely hooked from page one and finished this story in just a couple of sittings.

Evelyn and Martine, the main characters, are not always likable, but I found them to be highly relatable as they navigate the struggles of womanhood in its many forms: as a wife, ex, friend, and, in their unique case, a clone. This story forced me to think about the morality behind this science and what constitutes personhood. And like any good sci-fi, I found it both marvelously fictional yet also realistic enough it gave me chills thinking about this scenario happening in a near or not-so-near future.

I think one thing that really set this book apart from others like it is that it read like a regular, non-sci-fi domestic thriller in many ways. While I am partial to the sci-fi genre, I do think this book would make an awesome introduction to those unfamiliar or new to the genre or for those who may pick up thrillers/domestic thrillers regularly and want to read something with a fresh twist.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts, and happy pub day!

This was a fast-paced, compelling story with enough scientific speculation (what if an adult-clone could be created and imprinted with the memories and personality of the original - would it be a real person? Would it have the right to autonomy? Could those clones replace us? Can we be sure WE are not clones?) to make it serious sci-fi, and enough murder and morally ambiguous character development to make it a thriller. It was a fun read.

This book was everything I was hoping for and more! I have loves every single one of Sarah Gailey's books and this one is no exception! It was phenomenal as a thriller, as a sci-fi, just as a novel! I was blown away!
This book has a sort of West World vibe which is an automatic win for me and then it also has hints of Orphan Black and The Last Wife but its also its own unique story. Its the type of thriller that everyone is going to be talking about within 24 hours of the release because no one will be able to put it down once they get their hands on it!
I can not wait to see where this book goes. It is going to be huge! I can not wait to make all of my friends read this and hear their theories as they read! Honestly this is going to be making my top 10 of 2021 its its only February!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the early review copy.

Evelyn is a brilliant researcher in cloning, and we find out immediately that not only has she won an award for her groundbreaking work, but her husband Nathan and she are getting divorced.
She’s got a detached quality even while she’s keenly analytical and fiercely intelligent. She does not suffer fools, or weakness in anyone. She’s also got blind spots in her that allow a number of actions to occur to her and around her, all of which shock her to her core, and that threaten her research and reputation, both more dear to her than anything or anyone.
Evelyn is filled with fury, but at the same time she’s cold and quiet, and only gets quieter the more angry she becomes.
Then, Evelyn’s clone, Martine, enters her life. Nathan created Martine to be a kinder, gentler, meeker version of Evelyn, who would want everything Evelyn either derides or has no interest in: a warm, welcoming, love-filled home with children.
Sarah Gailey had me reading as fast as I could, as Evelyn’s, Nathan’s and Martine’s lives all collided explosively. Martine’s presence causes Evelyn to interrogate her feelings about Nathan, her work, herself, and her childhood, where the patterns of her behaviour were set by an abusive father.
Many secrets come to light over the course of the book, often ugly, and also reiterate to Evelyn the myriad ways in which Nathan, and her predominantly male colleagues and peers, treat a brilliant woman, diminishing her abilities and strengths at every turn as the only way to make themselves feel better about themselves.
It’s also impossible while reading this book not to think of other stories of clones; for example, Philip K. Dick’s replicants, Duncan Jones’ Sam Bell, and the Clone Club of Sarah Manning and her fantastic sestras. Here, Evelyn must contend with Martine and Martine’s flawed programming, as well as what this means to Evelyn’s research, and to her conception of clones in general. I thought Gailey posed some difficult and valuable questions about designed beings and their uses over the course of this book..
I like this author’s work a lot, and all their works have a core of anger, expressed in some stories more loudly than others, and are also filled with unlikeable people doing unlikeable and even cruel things. And these stories are terrific, keeping me reading late into a night because, unlikeable or not, this author’s work is so compelling. As this book is.

This science fiction novel to me has a Blade Runner vibe to it with respect to the ethical dilemmas the main character faces and a general dark moodiness. I liked it, but left wanting more, particularly about how the clones were used in society in general and how they were treated by other people. It could be the author chose intentionally to keep the story limited to Evelyn and Martine, giving it a more tense and claustrophobic.

I am a library paraprofessional and received an advance reader copy from NetGalley.

I read The Echo Wife in January, but have no doubt by the end of the year it will still be in my top 5 titles of the year. Absolutely phenomenal, what CAN'T Gailey write? They nail elements of genre fiction that leave you satisfied, and deftly reinvent elements that have grown tired. The creeping, ambiguous, full-circle ending makes you want to flip back to the beginning and read it all again to pick up clues you dropped along the way. I'll be recommending this for years to come.

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey is an absolutely fantastic story, a what-if between the Twilight Zone and the Stepford Wives.

Dr. Evelyn Caldwell created the Caldwell Method for cloning, a way to inject memories and personality into the clones her lab creates. But then the person she trusted most uses her own methods against her, and now Evelyn has to save her own clone if she wants to save herself.

Full of science fiction concepts and an in-depth look at the human condition, The Echo Wife was brilliant writing and will make readers think. Evelyn at the start was like many of us - proud of her work and feeling betrayed over what her ex-husband did to her. But then everything changes. And Evelyn changes. How is a scientist supposed to respond when her clones start feeling more than they should, start deviating from their programming when they shouldn't be able to? What is a cloning scientist to do when her clones act more and more human everyday? And how does a scientist go against her moral fiber and keep her greatest creation a secret?

The Echo Wife asks all these questions and more as the person who specializes in cloning becomes a study in the human condition. I devoured The Echo Wife and recommend it to both fans of science fiction and regular fiction.

A huge thanks to Tor Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read The Echo Wife in advance of its release date.

The premise of this book is interesting and I really enjoyed the writing and the plot, I just had a lot of trouble engaging with the main POV character. Her justifications for disposing of her test subjects as if she weren't growing people were difficult to deal with, and she definitely is not a perfectly honorable heroine.. While I didn't necessarily like her callousness, I was able to get behind her need (selfish though it was) to take care of Martine. It wasn't a light read, by any stretch of the imagination, but the science was explained in such a way that a layperson could understand it completely, especially one who'd been paying attention to cloning science in the last few years. It was definitely a different take on the ex-and-current-wife-kill-husband trope. Overall, I enjoyed the novel and it gave me a lot of food for thought.

This book started with great promise. I really like the premise, but the execution didn’t hit the mark. Evelyn is a scientist who is researching and cloning humans. Her husband has stolen some of her research and is cloning his new perfect wife who will give him a baby. Everything was going smoothly until about halfway through the book. I felt like nothing happened. I found myself skimming pages and still knowing exactly what was going on. It was a bit repetitive and to be honest I felt bored.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for and advanced copy of this book for my unbiased review.

This was a really enjoyable read - one that raised questions and ideas that linger long after finishing it. I was captured by the idea of a husband cheating with the wife's clone, but what happened after the wife and the clone teamed up was even more interesting. I'll definitely be recommending this to customers at the bookstore where I work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Echo Wife follows Evelyn Caldwell, a brilliant scientist, who works in creating clones for temporary and functional purposes, i.e. body doubles, organ replacements, etc. Although she has recently reached amazing scientific breakthroughs, she finds it hard to celebrate after the other discovery that her once business partner and husband Nathan left her for another woman named Martine. The real kicker? Martine is a clone of Evelyn who Nathan made so he could marry a ‘better’ version of her.

This book is a wild ride that is full of an unnamable tension between all the main characters that left me always wondering whether they were about to make out or murder one another.

I am not usually a fan of science fiction, but I found myself so intrigued that I immediately wanted to continue to the next chapter. The plot didn’t go in any way how I expected, but I found the ending just as intriguing as the rest of the story.

I will certainly look to read more by Sarah Gailey!

I received an advanced copy of The Echo Wife from the publisher so that I could share my review with you!

Content Warning: The Echo Wife contains scenes of domestic abuse, child abuse, violence, and murder.

Evelyn Caldwell has dedicated her life to mastering the process of cloning human beings. She sees them as tools, as creations that are to be employed for the greater good and discarded after they have ceased to be useful. At least, she used to think that was the case. But, when she catches her husband cheating on her with a cloned version of herself, Evelyn’s world begins to shift in ways even she cannot predict. In an act of surprising violence, Evelyn’s husband is left dead, and the Caldwell wives are forced to figure out what to do with the wreckage.

You can get your copy of The Echo Wife on February 16th from Tor Books!

Sarah Gailey’s books are weird and unique in a way that perfectly resonates with me as a reader. No matter what they are writing about, be it clone affairs or wild-west dystopias, I will always be a die-hard Gailey fan! This book, though outside of my usual go-to genres, was somehow perfect for me. It was an incredibly compulsive read, and I found myself tearing through the book at a breakneck pace. I was in a bit of a reading slump before picking up the Echo Wife, but its blending of the science fiction and thriller genres helped me to break out! I was especially impressed by the way that Gailey explored the issues of clone-ethics through the lens of someone entrenched in the field.

My Recommendation-
If you love a good heart-pounding thriller, you need to pick up a copy of The Echo Wife! This book would be a great pick for people who enjoy intense and quick-paced stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. The Echo Wife is a science-fiction mystery. I don't think "thriller" is a fitting descriptor but that is not to say that it isn't a quick read. The main character, Evelyn is a scientist working in human cloning. She is a pioneer in her field and her life revolves around her work. She had a hard upbringing with distant parents who she no longer talks to and her marriage has failed as well. All she has left is her work. After receiving a huge award for her accomplishments, we find out that Evelyn's husband left her for another woman and that woman is Evelyn's clone.

I don't want to say much beyond that because it would give away some of the twists and turns of the story. I didn't read much about this book before reading it and I think that's for the best. I read this book in one sitting so I think it is a fast-paced read and it is relatively short. The story is written in first person which I didn't mind. Being in the mind of Evelyn was very interesting. You really got to see how much her childhood affected her and the choices she makes in adulthood. There is a main storyline going on but also a smaller mystery that I thought was interesting. While there is a plot, I would say this is more character-focused, because we really get to see all Evelyn goes through and the reasons behind the decisions she makes.

The Echo Wife also addresses some deeper topics such as the concept that all women want children and what a woman's "place" actually is. I like how our main character was a strong, smart, and independent woman working in science. This story also touches a little on domestic abuse in relationships, the concepts of what makes us human and how easy it is to not really know someone. I thought overall it was a great story. If you are more of a plot-driven reader, you may not enjoy this as much. I enjoyed the character study of a woman who was very determined and career focused and also kind of a loner. I loved the sci-fi element of cloning and the science around that, even if I don't truly understand how it works. I'm rating this 3.75/5 but rounding up since it was a very quick and enjoyable read. Again, I don't think it was very thrilling and even calling it a mystery seems like a stretch, but I enjoyed it.

Dr. Evelyn Caldwell's life is in shambles after she discovers that her husband, Nathan, is having an affair -- with an idealized clone of her! After the divorce Evelyn is even more committed to her career and research but the other woman throws her plans into chaos when she kills Nathan. Now there's a body to dispose of, lies to craft, and a baby on the way - a baby whose existence should be scientifically impossible. As Evelyn plots a way to get out of this mess, even more secrets and problems emerge, leading her down a path she never meant to tread.

This book is very cerebral, with a heavy focus on science, specifically human cloning. Evelyn has perfected a method of programming clones to have the memories and personality of their donors, and she's also developed a way to condition the clones - essentially giving them injuries, scars, and conditions that match their donors. It's gruesome, morally questionable work and Evelyn has a history of running through assistants who can't cope. Evelyn does not have any issues with her work on the "specimens," as she refers to the clones, but her objectivity is challenged when she meets Martine, the clone of herself that was made by her husband. Docile, perfect, and obedient Martine embodies all of the traits that Evelyn has fought to smother. Reading about their strange relationship and the lengths Evelyn will go to to protect her career were the best parts of the book, along with the creeping horror and Nathan's later revealed secrets.

While I was interested in the story and finding out how Evelyn and Martine would get away with Nathan's murder, I didn't actually care for the characters. I found it difficult to believe that Evelyn ever loved anyone or anything other than her research and her professional standing. There were also major plot holes and I kept wondering if they would be addressed but they weren't. Overall, I think this is a deeply interesting character study with enough suspense and mystery to keep the story rolling along.

An argument of nature vs nurture, the life cycle of a marriage, medical ethics, and some other cool science-y stuff.

<p>I love science fiction, I love psychological/domestic thrillers, and I love Sarah Gailey's books. This book sounded like <i>exactly</i> the kind of thing I would enjoy, and sure enough, it delivered. I will say that the book is<strong> heavier on science, psychology, and ethics than the suspense/thriller aspect</strong>, so if you are coming into this book expecting an edge-of-your-seat thriller, you might be disappointed. But if you don't mind the slower pace of the story, I'm sure you will enjoy this book as much as I did!</p>
<p>The premise of this book sounds pretty strange. A man cheats on his wife with her clone, and not just any clone, a clone made with her stolen research! How awful must it be to find out that not only was your husband cheating, but also that he had stolen your life's work and developed his own "better" version of you? The books delves into these question quite a bit, but it also gives our protagonist plenty to do what with a murder cover-up and untangling exactly what Evelyn Caldwell's scheming husband was up to.</p>
<p>Evelyn Caldwell is an incredibly intelligent woman. <strong>Unlike most books where the smartest woman in the room is also a psychopath or a villain, this one makes Evelyn seem sympathetic while also letting her be messy and flawed.</strong> She's not a particularly <em>likeable</em> character, but I was still rooting for her throughout. Martine could have been a pretty one-dimensional character --she is a clone after all-- but she manages to hold her own as both a foil to Evelyn and as a complex character in her own right. </p>
<p>Again, this book is a <strong>fascinating character study</strong> masquerading as a sci-fi thriller, so as long as you know what you're in for, I highly recommend it.</p>

After finishing The Echo Wife I sat in front of my laptop trying to put my thoughts into words and admittedly it was difficult to do. This novel brings up many of the ethical questions and scenarios that have plagued scientists and philosophers for decades. What makes a human, human? Can a clone become a person? Is a clone a person? Evelyn Caldwell is an award winning scientist and researcher in the field of cloning. While she was immersed in specimens and research, her husband Nathan decided to steal her research and some DNA so he could create his own Stepford wife clone Martine. Soon Evelyn and Martine are forced together in an unlikely partnership where they need to protect themselves and confront the lies that brought them together. Both women are imprisoned, Evelyn by her past and Martine by her programming. As they spend more time together they are forced to reexamine everything they thought they knew. This would be a great book for fans of Orphan Black and Westworld.