On the Horizon – the echo wife (Sarah Gailey)

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this sci-fi eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

Title: the echo wife

Author: Sarah Gailey

Publisher: Macmillian/Tor-Forge

Publication Date: NEXT TUESDAY!! (hardback/e-book)

ISBN: 978-1250174666

Source: NetGalley

I always find this author’s work to be interesting and thought-provoking even if I haven’t loved all of their stuff.  This was a book full of fun concepts that I enjoyed though it did have some problems.

Evelyn is a bit of a selfish jerk but who doesn’t feel bad for her when she finds out about her husband’s double life with the clone he made of her.  Talk about messy.  She hates the clone her husband made with her research and without her knowledge.  But when the clone calls needing her help, Evelyn has to agree or everything she worked for will be destroyed.

This book is both a character study and a question about the larger consequences of cloning.  I found Evelyn’s backstory to be fascinating.  She is morally ambiguous, driven, intelligent, and compelling.  I keep shifting between rooting for her and kinda hating her.  Martine, the clone, has been designed to be perfect replacement for Evelyn.  She is patient, quiet, docile, and wants the child that Evelyn does not.  However she is hidden and not even considered a person.  She is a specimen.  And illegal.

It was fascinating, if somewhat uncomfortable, to watch Evelyn’s conflicting emotions around Martine.  This was the highlight of the novel because Evelyn’s thoughts felt both logical and illogical at the same time.  And that dichotomy was the focus of the book for me.  That two impossible and opposite things can exist at the same time.  I also rather liked watching Evelyn go from a rational, if cold, person to being one driven by her emotions.  Her spiral down was fierce.

I particularly enjoyed learning more about the husband, Nathan’s, past choices and what went into the making of Martine.  This was also a huge part of the problem though because there were many plot holes and inconsistences that bothered me.  Some of the plot twists were there to be shocking and didn’t necessarily make sense with the rest of the structure.  Many of the things Evelyn and Martine had to do on the sly happened so easily.  And some of the plot just plain didn’t make sense, especially when dealing with time and resources.  While I enjoyed the ending a lot, the journey to get there didn’t quite make sense and I felt like I missed some steps.

That said, it was a quick and fun read and I have no regrets and have been thinking about the book a lot since I put it down.  Arrr!

So lastly . . .

Thank you Macmillian/Tor-Forge!

Goodreads has this to say about the novella:

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 the Caldwell wives have a mess to clean up. Good thing Evelyn Caldwell is used to getting her hands dirty.

To visit the author’s website go to:

Sarah Gailey – Author

To buy the novel go to:

the echo wife – Book

To add to Goodreads go to:

Yer Ports for Plunder List

Previous Log Entries for this Author

river of teeth – book 1 (Captain’s Log – Alternative History Sci-Fi)
taste of marrow – book 2 (Captain’s Log – Alternative History Sci-Fi)
magic for liars (Walk the Plank On the Horizon – Fantasy eArc)
upright women wanted (Captain’s Log – Sci-Fi)