The discovery of science has helped humanity grow into smarter, more complex beings. With scientists on the verge of creating once extinct animals from strands of DNA, the possibility of creating lifelike human clones could potentially happen within the next decade or so. Sarah Gailey’s sci-fi thriller, The Echo Wife, shows the perspective of a scientist, Evelyn Caldwell, whose ex-husband created the “perfect” clone of her. However, not everything is perfect, including this novel.

I found myself walking away from The Echo Wife many times as I was reading it. Which, as someone who will binge-read a full series of books in an attempt of one sitting no matter how bored I get with that book, I got pretty bored with this book. While I love science fiction novels with a thrilling twist, this book just didn’t sit right with me. 

For starters, The Echo Wife feels very rushed. However, it also feels like it drags on for too long about a certain subject. I feel like if the author had been more elaborate about some subjects in the book, that would have been better, and I would have loved to see some of the perspectives of some of the other characters that weren’t just Evelyn being upset at her ex-husband. Even if it was just the other characters talking about their experiences, I would have loved to see the backstory of the side characters. I would have even loved to have learned more about the main character as well. There were a couple of flashbacks, but I feel like just sprinkling in a bit of tragedy towards the end of the book to make the character seem justified in the way she acted just doesn’t sit right with me. I would have rather had that information earlier on.

Not only that, I feel like the trauma that the main character faced was forgotten about. Sure, there were moments where it mentioned a habit she had because of her trauma, but I don’t think that’s how Evelyn should have been written. I don’t think it reflects someone who has suffered through a traumatic event.

Overall, I don’t think this is a book that I would recommend. There are many flaws that I noticed and it didn’t keep me hooked throughout the entirety of the book. It is a good book to read if you want to read about cloning and the process that these characters use for that, but it’s very drawn out and gets boring after a while.