Title: The Echo Wife

Author: Sarah Gailey

Publisher: Tor 2021

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 256

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

I’m embarrassed, still, by how long it took me to notice. Everything was right there in the open, right there in front of me, but it still took me so long to see the person I had married.
It took me so long to hate him.
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.

I was completely blown away by the premise of this novel. I went into it with very little knowledge (just that it was about clones) and that was definitely the way to go. We immediately meet Martine and start to unravel what happened in the past. From there, we start to understand what is going to happen in the future. And things become very complicated. While the plot was fast moving, I kept coming back to the characters and our understanding of what makes someone human. I found the comparison between Evelyn and Martine to be fascinating. I loved following along as they each wrestled with a lot of self-reflection. I’ve read a few reviews that were not happy about the long scientific passages. I found myself skimming those passages but understanding that the focus on the scientific procedures was how Evelyn dealt with the many revelations and and new situations. I’m still thinking about all the implications of this novel. Another win for Sarah Gailey! I have to put their other books onto my short TBR.

Next up on the TBR pile: