My Murder

The Echo Wife meets How to be Eaten and The Final Girl's Support Group. 
I am very glad I did not figure out what was going on until the reveal - I'm even more relieved this was not a ‘the husband did it' plot. I really admire the book for presenting the doubt in motherhood, and a character who is not shamed for deciding that motherhood and marriage were not right for her only after having tried it. The main perspective is that of the woman who chooses to be a wife and mother, who wants to stay, so subjectively the judgement could be there, but the narrative leaves room for an individual to make their own choice. The commentary is clear on which figure society sees as more sympathetic  - the young mother being the role model victim - the original clandestinely slipping away to a new life - though that probably has more to do with the fact that she can't just pop up without creating issues for the cloning company and possibly herself given the murder investigation. I'll admit for a while there I was more enamoured of the first half than the second, when the first had the literary sci fi bent of examining how a woman fits back into her life as a clone of a previous self, how a VR setting could provide intimacy, could provide catharsis for murder victims - though I guess that last one's more a second half revelation; how the serial killer and the cloning board both seem to view the women as special and yet homogenous, replaceable, the idea of women feeling devalued, unrecognized even as they're unable to escape public attention. Then there are the non sci fi related questions around dealing with a sense of self, mortality, vulnerability, being a woman not automatically  meaning victim, even as trauma, as media,  as society keeps trying to attach that label; the struggle for control, obviously the concerns about trying to be a good mother, worries about connecting to one's child, physically and emotionally, even before post partum depression is suggested. Because the second half shifted into murder mystery mode I thought I was losing the contemplative pieces but the last revelations, the choices available, the role cloning actually played, that the husband actually played, really worked for me.Similar to The Echo Wife, all the comps above, really, I enjoyed how this worked out way more than I thought I would. Adding another ‘clones' book to my favourites pile!

⚠️mentions of domestic abuse