The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

 ★★★★☆

This was a thought-provoking and very interesting novel. The story follows the trials of a woman whose ex-husband has illegally and without her knowledge created a clone of her. 

While the story is set in a science-fiction parallel world, I found that most aspects of the novel don't deal with the science-fiction. Instead, it is a story of betrayal, heartbreak, growth, and the human spirit. Despite not liking the protagonist, I still ripped through this novel. It was an interesting introspection on the relationships that create us, and the many facets through which we build our visions of ourselves. 

The author subtly weaves a narrative that allows the reader to consider how our upbringings shape us and whether we are defined by our natures or nurture. The end of the novel left me filled with foreboding as I felt the main character began to display traits that she had previously despised in her father. I found myself returning to the storyline and the characters many times after completing the novel. It was haunting.

I read someone else's review which compared this novel and the feelings that it evoked to the movie Ex Machina. I agree. Both deal with questions of what it is to be human and how we end up the way we do. They also examine detailed moments of a person's life and the interplay between the perception of ourselves and how we think others perceive us.

I will look for other novels by Sarah Gailey to see if they are also thought-provoking.