"The Echo Wife" by Sarah Gailey

 

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. ~taken from Goodreads

I'm not sure what exactly I expected going into this. I saw reviews describing it as Westworld meets Stepford Wives meets Big Little Lies. I would say all those comparisons are correct. Author Sarah Gailey did a wonderful job combining sci-fi with suspense. It was a book I truly enjoyed reading from start to finish. 

This book is one crazy plot and I love it! Award winning scientist, Evelyn, has been replaced. Her husband has stolen her research and cloned her, ultimately leaving her for Martine, a woman who looks exactly like her and who possesses all the qualities and characteristics her now ex-husband wishes she had. 

Evelyn, the main character, is a motivated and brilliant scientist. A workaholic who put her lab and experiments above all else. Many times she left her husband to sit at home alone while she perfected her cloning techniques. The story starts out with her winning a prestigious award for her discovery. 

But her personal life has crumbled. Her husband has replaced her. Martine, Evelyn's clone, is the classic housewife- loving, caring, and obedient. She is everything Evelyn can never be. 

Now her ex-husband is dead at the hands of her clone. A clone no one can ever know exists. Evelyn must help come up with a plan to cover up this disastrous situation. She is the only one who can solve this problem, it is all up to her.

The author does a phenomenal job explaining the technology and medical terms needed to understand how clones came to be. I will admit it was hard in my mind to wrap my head around the difference between a clone and an android. This was also a struggle for the main character, and I love how Evelyn was constantly struggling with the difference throughout the story.

Every once in while the reader gets a flashback chapter of Evelyn's life as a child, which helps explain why she is the seemingly cold-hearted, no-nonsense person she is now. These flashbacks were very helpful to try an understand Evelyn's way of thinking and decisions she makes. 

Overall I highly enjoyed this novel. It was suspenseful, engaging, surprising and somehow heartwarming all in one. A 4 star read for me! 

"The Echo Wife" is set to be released here in the U.S. on February 16, 2021 so preorder now! I feel like this is such a genre bending story that even if sci-fi isn't "your thing" you might highly enjoy this! 

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor Forge for allowing me an e-galley to read and give my honest review. 

Happy Reading!