3 STARS

Martine is a genetically cloned replica made from Evelyn Caldwell’s award-winning research. She’s patient and gentle and obedient. She’s everything Evelyn swore she’d never be.

And she’s having an affair with Evelyn’s husband.

Now, the cheating bastard is dead, and both Caldwell wives have a mess to clean up. Good thing Evelyn Caldwell is used to getting her hands dirty.

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THE ECHO WIFE is a story right out of Black Mirror. The kind of story that leaves you feeling unsettled and with more questions than answers...

As an avid fan of science fiction and juicy thrillers, the plot of THE ECHO WIFE sounded exactly like my cup of tea. Unfortunately it left me feeling a bit underwhelmed and I kept on waiting for a big reveal (which never really came to fruition.)

All in all, ECHO WIFE is a stark reminder that "just because we can, doesn't mean we should." Yes, there were definitely some nail biting parts - and some really great twists - but it felt more like an exploration of the human condition..and the moral dilemma of modern technology.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for my ARC!

Ouch. This one hurted.
Sarah Gailey never fails to look inside my soul and see the broken, jaggedy edges of my hurt and then reach inside and drag it out. I love it.

The Echo Wife is a look at the ethics and complications of cloning, layered with the cycle of abuse and with some good old-fashioned complex human relationships thrown in for good measure. The characters are people you WANT to root for, but they are just so messy that it's hard to want them to win some times (which is honestly just the greatest reading experience in my opinion). This would be a fantastic book club book because there are so many angles to come at the story and so many layers to discuss and I can see it being very divisive. Months later, I'm still thinking about this one. Sarah Gailey is still my favorite and I am eagerly anticipating anything that comes next from them!

The Echo Wife lives up to its eerie premise and is able to interrogate deep issues of identity, marriage and parenthood as a result.

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me with a free copy of Sarah Gailey’s novel, The Echo Wife, in exchange for an honest review.

Evelyn, a scientist who is a pioneer in the field of cloning, is married to her job. Her dedication and singular focus is so fierce, that she is blindsided when her husband, Nathan, asks for a divorce. Soon after they begin to live separate lives, Evelyn discovers that Nathan, a fellow, albeit somewhat lazy scientist, has been stealing Evelyn’s work for very personal reasons. Nathan has created, Martine, a clone of Evelyn.

Even more shocking, Martine is pregnant, giving Nathan the one thing that Evelyn denied him; a baby. Theoretically, Martine’s pregnancy should be impossible and morally, it is dubious, as Nathan programed Martine to both be compliant and to have strong desires for a baby. Should a clone have the same rights as humans, and if so, does this pregnancy violate Martine’s rights?

The existence of Martine threatens to damage Evelyn’s credibility and research funding. The threat level is dramatically increased when Martine calls Evelyn in desperation, asking for help that only Evelyn can provide. When Evelyn and Martine connect, they begin to unravel the depth of Nathan’s deceit and Evelyn begins to question what it means to be human.

I throughly enjoyed The Echo Wife. Admittedly, early on, I thought, “Oh, I know where this story is going,” but I couldn't have been more wrong. It’s surprising and fresh. Set in the near future, the plot has shades of West World, Black Mirror, The Stepford Wives, Frankenstein, and Ex Machina.

The story is sharp and fast-paced like a thriller, yet it is dotted with questions that make you consider what it means to be human or what is the morality of creating a life? Is a clone life the same as human life and do clones have agency? Should they have agency? When Evelyn is confronted with interacting with a clone in a real world setting, she has difficulty in seeing her life’s work as just science experiments. She is surprised by how Martine interacts with the world, sometimes against her programing.

Gailey’s characters are engaging, especially Evelyn, as The Echo Wife is told from her first-person perspective. Gailey does an excellent job at scene setting, in particular the laboratory scenes where she is describing the process of creating a clone. Several scenes in The Echo Wife are quite graphic and hard to stomach, but they are not gratuitous. They serve to build the greater story and play into the theme of humanity.

I was also surprised to discover that The Echo Wife is a kick-ass feminist story. Evelyn and Martine are strong women. Martine was created to be a sweet, “Stepford Wife” for Nathan, but that is certainly not where she views her destiny. Evelyn, as strong as she is in many ways, also admits a prior weakness for Nathan and a jealousy towards Martine. The arc of the story sees her handling these emotions and learning what it means to be both a better scientist and a better person.

I can’t praise The Echo Wife enough. Gailey is a “new to me” author and I look forward to reading her other books!

A tense, cerebral blend of sci-fi, thriller, and domestic fiction. I think this is my favorite book by Sarah Gailey so far, and I’ve read and enjoyed many of their works! I was fascinated by the intertwining lives of Evelyn, Martine, Nathan, and Seyed. This is a book that really delves into the ways that we love, respect, change, use, and abuse the partners in our lives, both romantic and platonic. So good!!! And that ending!! Ugh, highly recommend. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for advance access to this title!

This is a captivating sci-fi thriller that brings up a number of topics for discussion, ranging from the idea of clones to the system of patriarchy that influences much of the storyline. As a quick read, I would recommend this to domestic thriller fans that want something a little different.

I effing LOVED this. It’s weird and funny and a little scary and made me think; exactly what I expect from Sarah Gailey. Well done!

Once again Sarah Gailey does not fail to amaze me. While this one felt like it lulled you into an expectation and an understanding, it totally blew me away with what it actually did. There's also something beautiful about storytelling that comes around like this--full circle.

The Echo Wife is delightfully creepy and sinister. Evelyn's husband, Nathan, left her for Martine, a clone he created using her genetic material--and the techniques and technology that Evelyn pioneered in her award-winning research on cloning. Nathan made Martine to be everything that Evelyn has worked to purge from herself: Martine is obedient where Evelyn is almost cruelly independent, patient where Evelyn is always ready to attack and hurt the people she knows best. When Martine manages to go against her programming and conditioning to kill Nathan, however, Evelyn steps in, working with Martine to cover it up--and, in the process, uncovering other unexpected betrayals.

Evelyn is brutal and cold, calculating and self-serving. She is detached and amoral, so wrapped up in her desire for a research legacy that she cannot even fathom that her research may be repugnant or wrong to the people around her. I loved reading from her perspective, even as she made me feel sick--and that, I think, is the craft of this novel. It is dark and gritty and sinister and cruel, and it is absolutely engrossing.

Another solid title from Sarah Gailey. The Echo Wife is a taut volume that is well-paced, quickly bringing the reader up-to-speed to a world where cloning for certain purposes has become not only viable, but legal. The way in which scientific matters are explained by Gailey makes them sound plausible, inviting the reader to entertain how the events in the story could very well become a reality. A quick yet satisfying sci-fi thriller for those looking more for the latter than the former.

Everything Sarah Gailey does is perfection. In this title, Gailey weaves an intricate story of genetic scientist Evelyn Caldwell, discoverer of the award-winning Caldwell method of cloning. Her husband decides to steal her research and make a clone of his own, Martine, a clone of Evelyn that is gentler, subservient, everything Evelyn has trained herself not to be. He leaves Evelyn for Martine but while living his little fantasy life, he winds up dead. Evelyn and Martine have to work together to keep their secrets, but end up discovering more than they bargained for in the process.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC. This review, however, is based on the published. audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this title before its publication date.

This is an interesting sci-fi book set in the contemporary world where human cloning is possible thanks to scientist Evelyn Caldwell. I enjoyed the complicated dynamic between Evelyn and clone Martine and how they became reluctant partners in crime and eventually possibly friends. I do think that this book lacked a lot of emotion as we are only getting Evelyn's perspective and she is a very cold, emotionless character. I would have preferred maybe getting a little bit more backstory of Evelyn's childhood but I did love the ending and how everything came full circle

This deals with themes of autonomy, motherhood, scientific ethics, and abuse.

The full review will be published on my personal blog:

In this mind-bending science fiction thriller, scientist Evelyn Calwell discovers that her husband Nathan is cheating on her. And not just with any woman, but with Martine, a woman who looks remarkably like her. When Evelyn discovers that Martine is her genetically cloned replica, made possible by her own research, she is even more horrified to find that Martine is pregnant, and Nathan wants a divorce. But cold, workaholic Evelyn is even more shocked when sweet Martine calls her in a panic: Nathan is dead. The two women decide to cover up his death, and the consequences that follow are a twisting ride of tense revelations and dark humor.

This was an interesting book for me, and I’ll admit it wasn’t quite what I was expecting coming from Magic for Liars. Gailey writes a really good, complex, “unlikeable” female protagonist. And that’s where it gets complicated for me, because a lot of the tension for me was nullified by the fact that I didn’t really care what happened to Evelyn. For the most part, it is hard to even care about Martine because we’re only given Martine through Evelyn’s gaze.

Evelyn and Martine present this really interesting dichotomy. Perhaps I’m trying to see connections where there are none, but the book as a whole feels like it might be a low key commentary (and criticism) of white feminism. Evelyn, in the beginning, only advocates for Martine because Evelyn wants to protect her own research and career. And even as her relationship with Martine develops, she still never sees any other clone as a real person with humanity and agency.

I can’t help but think of trans-exclusionary feminism when I think of Evelyn. Her unwillingness to see clones (or, perhaps, trans people) as real human beings felt like a direct correlation. Which is a really interesting way to go about exploring that idea, if that is what the author was trying to communicate.

To think about this further, the ending explores the idea of traditional gender roles and turns them on their head. Martine is created to be a submissive wife and mother figure to be opposite Nathan. In the end, Evelyn has effectively taken over Nathan’s role in Martine’s life. I’m not sure I even have the knowledge to fully unpack every nuanced aspect of this novel, because there is a lot to explore!

With that all said, the twist was unexpected and really amazing. It’s not the type of novel that delivers a ton of hard hitting suspense with twists within twists, but I didn’t see it coming even with the hint that is Martine’s name. There’s so much to unpack with Evelyn, but most other characters end up being less well defined. We are probably supposed to feel for Martine the most, but we kind of get the least emotion from her out of anyone in the book.

Would I call this a thriller? I’m not so sure about that. I first saw this compared to Gone Girl, and in a sense the protagonists do share many similar qualities, but I don’t think The Echo Wife has achieved quite that level of suspense. It is, however, very effective as science fiction as social commentary.

An edited and spoiler free version (see below) will be posted on Goodreads and Instagram:

In this mind-bending science fiction thriller, scientist Evelyn Calwell discovers that her husband Nathan is cheating on her. And not just with any woman, but with Martine, a woman who looks remarkably like her. When Evelyn discovers that Martine is her genetically cloned replica, made possible by her own research, she is even more horrified to find that Martine is pregnant, and Nathan wants a divorce. But cold, workaholic Evelyn is even more shocked when sweet Martine calls her in a panic: Nathan is dead. The two women decide to cover up his death, and the consequences that follow are a twisting ride of tense revelations and dark humor.

This is not quite the thriller I expected it to be, but it is a solid science fiction novel. The amount of social commentary expertly woven into the narrative would take me days to unpack. Evelyn is a complex, unlikable protagonist that will make you question what is right and what is wrong. This novel offers more reflection than suspense, although there are plenty of tense moments. Evelyn is a really interesting character, and I’m a firm believer that we aren’t supposed to like her. It’s a fast paced read that most fans of science fiction will enjoy, and the book presents a lot of ideas about human agency that would make for great discussions in a book club.

It’s a solid 3 out 5 stars for me.

In a world full of trendy domestic thrillers about what goes on behind closed doors, I was intrigued by the sci-fi slant of this book. But, while the premise caught my attention, something failed to “click” with me.

On the plus side, Gailey weaves a satisfyingly haunting tone throughout the novel.

My real “ah-ha” moment came after I finished the novel and read the author’s note. It was here that the pieces of Gailey’s message came into focus. With this disclosure, I had a new appreciation for the message Gailey was conveying and suddenly everything “clicked”.

Here’s a fresh new release for those who enjoy their domestic thrillers with a side of Sci-Fi: The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey. Evelyn’s husband is having an affair with ... wait for it ... her CLONE, created from Evelyn’s own award-winning research. I really appreciate Gailey's razor-sharp writing style, the way they've crafted an outlandish premise into an unsettlingly realistic read, and the deeper messages within this book about "abuse, grooming, and identity" (from the Acknowledgments). An excellent book to discuss, too!

This book was great in theory but really threw me for a loop. I loved the idea but the end felt so rushed or like it just didn't belong. Overall, it was a a 3.5 star read for me!

What begins as a novel that is purportedly about Evelyn, a woman being rewarded for developing revolutionary methods for cloning and the scientific and ethical questions that surround the possibility of this technology. However, The Echo Wife ends up being more about the role and position of women in society, the power structure that determines women's worth, and how women can respond to the imposition of expectations. Readers can appreciate both the sci-fi experience and also read the subtext of women's self-determination within the story of Evelyn and Martine. The novel also explores compares the DNA of our bodies to the DNA of our families. That is, we bear a physical similarity to our families, but we often also carry on the DNA of our family's traditions, behaviors, and expectations. We can rebel against these, but the familiarity of this DNA is sometimes difficult or impossible to escape. Readers should be challenged to consider the multiple meanings of the title, The Echo Wife, as it refers to more than merely a cloned person and has at least as much to do with Evelyn, the creator of that technology, especially given the background of her relationships with a person who has had such a substantial impact on her character. Sarah Gailey once again manages to drag the reader into the conflict, makes the reader care about the characters, and rewards them all with an ending that satisfies the many hopes and wishes that readers develop while following the lives of the characters they learn to care about the most.

This book is a Gothic, light sci-fi imagining of a domestic thriller and unlike anything I've ever read. I'm a huge fan of Sarah Gailey's writing, which is both descriptive and straightforward as well as emotive and twisty-turny. Seriously, I want to read everything they publish. Their breadth of genre is incredible - magic school meets hard boiled detective? Pulp Western novella populated with anti-fascist queer librarians? Magical girls who make mistakes with their magic and accidentally kill a boy on prom night? A blacklist I haven't dug into yet, but know will be just as wonderful?

This thin volume packs a punch. I have rarely grappled with questions of cloning and its possibilities, let alone what would happen if some awful partner decided to replace his brilliant wife with a clone and have an affair with her. What kind of amazing imagination comes up with the stuff, let alone executes the storytelling in a gripping, page-turning way?

This book deals with the ethics of cloning and the question, "What are we really here for?" But it is more convincingly a study of how the way we are raised affects who we become, so it visits the nature vs. nurture conflict in an entirely unique manner. It is an unputdownable book, with people (cloned or "natural") behaving badly and being placed in utterly impossible situations. The basic story is that genetic scientist Evelyn's husband, Nathan, clones her behind her back and creates Martine as a better (or more acceptable to him) version of Evelyn. Then all hell breaks loose.

Evelyn was raised in a family with a cold and distant scientist for an abusive father and a subservient and also distant mother. She learned only one way of dealing with the world, and that is to manipulate and control it. She chose Nathan as her husband in part because he was flawed and she could be in charge, and she followed in her father's footsteps when she chose her career as a research scientist in control of the life and death of her specimens -- clones.

As Evelyn deals with the fallout from Nathan's cloning, she confronts the same question that she asks Martine, "What are you made for?" In the end, both she and Martine answer that question in the only way they know how to. Their discussions are held in the midst of a fast-paced complicated plot, so while the reader may be drawn into their ruminations, there is no danger of becoming bored with the philosophical questions addressed.

There is a fair amount of scientific gobbledygook interspersed in the plot, so a suspension of disbelief is necessary in this mystery that can also be classified as speculative fiction. But it goes by quickly and doesn't get in the way of this very engaging thriller. The book was both thought-provoking and fun.

Every single word of this is like a scalpel wielded by an expert surgeon. It would take an entire book length of words to describe how it made me feel, so why not just read the book instead? (Or the audiobook, which is read MASTERFULLY by the amazing Xe Sands.) CW: child and spousal abuse