The Perfect Wife

This book had a brilliant concept, however I was really disappointed with how it ended.

Once you get past the terrible title, this is a surprisingly good book. It's fast-paced yet surprisingly thought-provoking (though it does occasionally feel the need to explicitly state some of its main points when it would have been more effective to just leave them implicit.) Delaney impressively manages to blend sci-fi with domestic thriller, making it pretty much an all-round crowd-pleaser (I'm more of a sci-fi person, and while most of the members of my book club would normally avoid sci-fi, they still loved this novel).

The one downside to this book, and the reason why I'm giving it four rather than five stars, is that I don't think the ending lives up to the promise of the rest of the book. In the final fifty pages, revelations were coming so thick and fast that I got mental whiplash trying to keep up with it all. Every page seemed to overturn the reveal of the previous page, and by the time I actually finished the novel I wasn't entirely sure what had happened. Perhaps I've missed something, but it does feel like a few of the big reveals at the end then seem to undermine earlier aspects of the novel, which is a tad frustrating.

Despite the confusing ending, I would certainly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a page-turning read with some level of substance. As the title suggests, the book has a lot to say about marriage, but also about male-female relationships more general. While it occasionally hits a little harder than necessary, The Perfect Wife is well worth a read.

Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3211553029

This was a fairly gripping read; the book does a good job of maintaining momentum with small chapters and lots of cliffhangers. The resolution didn't make much sense, specifically where certain strands of plot build up to a big reveal which the writer seems very disinterested in and fails to explain. I had a lot of questions about how the technology in the book could be remotely possible, primarily when it came to recreating a person's memories in an AI. That being said, this was enjoyable enough with some interesting though over-explained ideas presented about technology, relationships and the human mind.

Wow! That rare book that keeps getting better as you reach the end, maintaining the suspense, keeping you guessing, holding onto you with a grip that won't let go. Couldn't put it down. Brilliant.

If, like me, you don't normally read Sci Fi then toss aside preconceived ideas and settle down for a really good psychological thriller, the perfect companion for a journey (or for distraction from pandemic related self-isolation) when you want to be entertained and have your mind expanded a little too.

The novel can be read easily and quickly just for the story and characters yet raises complex questions with no easy answers about what it means to be human, how we treat and react to people with autism, misogyny and sexism in the workplace especially in high tech industries. Moving in places, disturbing in others, not without humour. A clever book well written and conceived, the very definition of a page-turner, that keeps you guessing to the end. I really grew to like the bot Abbie, the most sympathetic and, more surprising, empathetic character in the book.

Now this book is the very definition of a page turner! Based in the world of AI, it raises many profound questions about ethics and science impacting human life. The short chapters give the book a great feeling of pace - you'll find yourself saying 'just a few more pages then I'll set it down!' I'd have given it 5 stars, but I found the ending a little bit confusing. Excellent holiday read and I will definitely hunt out other titles by this author.

We were asked to read this book at our Book Club. It’s not the type of book that I would normally read. At the beginning you think it’s going to be a sci-fi as it’s all about AI, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s a very good thriller. It has a lot of unexpected twists and turns, which make it very enjoyable. I did find it a bit confusing at the end, and had to read the last three or four chapters again to try and fully understand the ending.

Nothing about the title will prepare you for what you are about to read! This book was definitely in the “can’t put it down” category for me, not for what I would describe as any obvious suspense aspect but in the intense interest in the building of the story line. It touches on some potentially disquieting aspects, can a man made machine really be given or acquire human emotions and thought processes? It was easy to feel sympathy for the “bot” and the predicament it was landed in, the writer made it seem entirely reasonable and realistic to think of “it” as “her” right to the very human actions that led to it’s/her demise. The reader almost feeling cheated that the husband, the creator of the bot could simply take another off the shelf and reboot. It left a slightly uneasy, almost scary, vision that this could indeed be a glimpse into the future or perhaps more worryingly a current reality we don’t yet know much about!

The writer was very skilful in introducing often subtle twists that changed the readers view of the characters and the direction the plot was heading. The building of the story through the eyes and minds of different characters at various points of time added additional layers and depth to the story. This is a very well written and thought out novel, it will not disappoint.

I found myself staying up later and later so that I could finish this book! I couldn’t put it down. Not a thriller in the true sense, however it is totally gripping with so many twists and turns. Highly recommended 👍

Abbie wakes up in a hospital bed with Tim, her husband by her side. She is confused has no recollection of why she is there or what has happened to her. Tim is the founder of an innovative tech start-up that specializes in Artifical Intelligence. He explains to her that she died in a surfing accident five years previously and that he has “reconstructed” her both physical, mentally and emotionally. Basically she is a robot. But as Abbie the robot begins to live the life of the real Abbie she discovers that things may not be quite what they seem. This is part crime, part psychological suspense thriller with twists and turns aplenty along the way.

Let me start by saying that this is a fantastic book. I feared the worst when I started it as there was a sci-fi feel to it, not one of my favourite genres. However, I needn’t have worried as it wasn’t long before I couldn’t put it down. Unfortunately I was reading it as my “bus book”, one which I carry with me when travelling locally. Ridiculously, I found myself going on completely unnecessary bus journeys just so that I could read more of it – why on earth I couldn’t have just stayed at home and read it instead of my other book I have no idea. Anyway, hopefully you get the drift – it was great! Not only is it a fantastic storyline, worthy of any prestigious crime or thriller writer and utterly compelling right from the start, it also raised a large number of philosophical and moral issues which the reader is at liberty to either explore or ignore without affecting their enjoyment of the book. These complex and thought-provoking ideas add an extra dimension to a novel which is already brilliant in both its conception and its execution. Also, the “sci-fi feel” is really just Artificial Intelligence taken to a slightly higher plane than I believe we have yet reached, but most of the building blocks are probably already in place for this kind of robot to be a fairly imminent reality. At the risk of repeating what I have already said, this book is a very unique psychological suspense thriller which is pretty much unputdownable.

Downsides – none whatsoever!!

As a result of reading this book I will be actively seeking out other JP Delaney novels. If this one is anything to go by, I strongly recommend that you do the same. However, I would only start reading it when you have plenty of free time available otherwise you may have sleepless nights, a reduced work output and/or a hungry family.

A book unlike anything I have ever read! Fascinating, thought provoking and original, with crazy twists and turns until the very end. I put my real life whilst I read this book. Stunning!