I was expecting a domestic thriller, but this is much more science fiction, not a genre I enjoy or seek out. While Delaney is an excellent story teller, this wasn't my cup of tea. Definitely a creepy story reminiscent of Stepford Wives!

Thank you to Net Galley for the advance copy!

“The Perfect Wife” by JP Delaney was a wild, wild book. I mean really wild, lol. I cannot even get into the story line with you. What I will say is that I love science fiction. I love when stories are told in ways that are unique. This is a unique, unsettling story. It was so good. There was some confusion especially towards the end but overall, I really like this book. Definitely keep an open mind while reading.

I went into this domestic thriller without any information other than what was on the cover and, as much as I try to avoid spoilers, it's going to be impossible to tell you about this book and my reaction to it without mentioning one huge thing that's already in most of the other reviews.



If you don't want that element revealed, go ahead and skip down to the next cover image or to another post. Somehow this book manages to be a domestic thriller with all off the usual trappings and something else entirely.



Abbie, who was in a terrible accident five years ago and just woke up with gaping holes in her memory, is a robot. Her tech genius husband has developed an artificial intelligence, fed it with all of the real Abbie's social media posts and texts and re-created his wife with a few holes in her encyclopedic knowledge. Some fill themselves in as her mind reaches out to the cloud for answers. Others remain stubbornly empty, like the details of how the real Abbie died.

I struggled with this one at first because Abbie wasn't actually Abbie. I can get attached to fictional characters, but apparently not if they're machines pretending to be someone else. The chapters alternate between the new Abbie in the present and the first days of flesh and blood Abbie's relationship with her husband, all of it told in second person. It took a couple of chapters, but before long I was completely caught up in it. The robot isn't the same as the woman, but that works because she's a separate being with her own fears and problems.

I'm very glad I read it even though something at the climax left me completely and utterly confused.

An original domestic thriller with a sci-fi thrown in. A creepy read at times that was an enjoyable ride. A suspenseful read that left me speechless at the ending. A realistic read that kept me turning the pages and it was an enjoyable read. A perfect page-turner for a vacation read. An enthralling read that I would recommend to friends but not tell them much about the story to keep them in suspense while they read! Thank you to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for my copy. All opinions are my own. Highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this novel! It kept me wanting more and I couldn’t put it down! I will continue to read anything the author publishes as well as previous books! This novel was a definite four stars!

The Perfect Wife by J.P. Delaney is a 2019 Ballantine publication.

Ingenious!

I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading this book. I did not realize it had a sci-fi element in it, but, I’m glad I chose it without picking up on that, because otherwise I might have passed on it.

The author has constructed a very clever premise in which Abbie, who suddenly awakes- unsure of herself or her surroundings, believes she must have been in an accident of some kind. However, she soon learns, from her husband, Tim, that she is a ‘companion robot’ made in the image of his dead wife. She begins to piece together memories and information from the 'real' Abbie as she attempts to connect with her autistic son and be the perfect wife to Tim.

What ensues is an intelligent and darkly imaginative look the consequences of technology, and the possibility of robotic feelings of empathy and maybe even accountability. Some of the characters are almost satirical, but the story is still wildly original. As the mystery deepens, so do the complexities, and the various, and often surprising, emotions that develop with the story.

The format is also unique with both first and second person narratives, which paves the way for an incredibly shocking revelation that made my jaw drop open.

Overall, I really liked this book. It was shocking, and gave my brain a nice workout, and was a nice change of pace for me.

4 stars

“Was I in an accident? Is my family all right?” These are Abbie’s first thoughts as she awakens in what appears to be a hospital bed. She feels her head and finds it swathed in bandages. She moves her legs. Thankfully, they move. The man beside her, her husband, tells her that she had a terrible accident five years ago. Through technological advancements, she is alive! But his meaning and motives are certainly not what Abbie expects! And her husband is not the man she thinks he is!

I do not want to tell much about this story. There are a lot of surprises here, and they start off at the very beginning! This one keeps you guessing! The characters are very well-developed and multi-dimensional. And they effectively carry the reader through a convoluted plot filled with surprises. I bet you can’t put this one down! I couldn’t!
Thank you NetGalley, for the free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Abbie wakes up and is told this man beside her is her husband. He owns this artificial intelligence company in Silicon Valley and proceeds to tell her she is a robot with the memories and essence of his dead wife, Abbie. She’s been programmed using data from the “cloud” which includes her social media, online presence and all of the memories Tim has installed. But no one knows everyone’s secrets and inner thoughts. Abbie decides there are questions she needs answers to and sets out to find them. But on this path to answers, even more dangerous questions come up. Can she figure out the truth before it’s too late for THIS version of her…

I saw this book and saw the author and decided a psychological suspense/thriller sounded fun. What I didn’t expect was the sci-fi aspect of this book. I’m not really a sci-fi kind of reader. What I’ve discovered is I need those elements of realism for me to connect and become engrossed in a book. What Delaney did with this work provided a perfect combo of this. It is very possible that artificial intelligence with this capacity is in the works somewhere on Earth. You even start asking questions of yourself like, “What rights should this AI version of someone have?” I mean, if it is supposed to be a version of someone in a more indestructible shell, does that impart them any rights of the previous human version? I don’t want to go into the plot as a reader should go into this book totally blind. I will say this book wavered between a 3.5 and a 4 star for me. I’m not sure how I thought it SHOULD end, but was left somewhat dissatisfied with the end. Based on that, I’d rate it a 3.5 out of 5. Having said all of that, if you like psychological thrillers, this one is well done and doesn’t fall into that same cookie cutter mode so many authors use.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballentine for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for the chance to review this galley prior to publication. Please refer to my goodreads profile for a full review.

JP Delaney has become one of my favorite authors and this book didn't disappoint. It was just weird. I love weird. Can you imagine waking up one day only to find out you have been created to become "the perfect wife"? Your husband claims you were brought back after your accident to continue living as AI; you have no memories of any of this, until those memories start coming back.

It's almost scary how this book could actually happen. If you like books that make you think, then this would be a great book for you.

I was given this book for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book! I devoured it quickly, enjoying each moment.
Tim lost the love of his life Abbie in an accident. Tim, who works in programming and creation of robots and AI throws his focus into making a cobot, a companion robot with the personality of his wife. The story focuses on Abbie as she adapts to her world learning her life with her husband and son while dealing with the philosophical ideals of humanity and what makes a soul.
The one criticism I had of the book is that it gives you two weird perspectives. I simply shrugged and let the story envelop me. By the end, I saw that these perspectives were not a criticism, that they, in fact, wrapped a stunning twist that I never saw coming.
Like any good Scifi, this book makes you look at humanity as a whole and try to understand our own actions. Abbie may have been a robot but you cheered her on and understood what she did every step of the way. Abbie was a person, not just some piece of plastic to the reader.
This has been one of the best books I have read in some time. I would absolutely recommend it to my friends.

I don't know what I expected when I picked up this book, but this was not it. Regardless, I was intrigued and found myself invested in the story, even though I found it to be bizarre. And the ending was not at all what I thought was coming, but it was perfect.

Special thanks to Random House for providing our copy in exchange for an honest & fair review.

I've heard such a great things about JP Delaney. When I finally got around to reading this one I thought, robots - nope! Well, I got over that! This book definitely has elements that I really enjoyed. It's a book that I bet science fiction lovers will really enjoy. There are a lot of topics to dissect. I liked it enough that I will read more of Delaney's books.

Thank you for the opportunity to be an early reader.

The Perfect Wife had a unusual and interesting premise. In a day and age quite overrun with thrillers (I’m not complaining) it’s a challenge to come up with something new and unique, and Delaney did it here. It’s a sci-fi mixed with domestic thriller and it carries a heavy dose of creep factor. The scientific-tech aspects of it were quite fascinating and thought-provoking, if also definitively unnerving.

The plot, and its concepts, when you stop to ponder it, is disturbing and slightly horrifying, but also immensely intriguing. The whole idea of artificial intelligence embraces the notion of man playing god, while being a natural extension of the pursuit of what’s next in technology.

The ending was chilling, moving, and a stunner. I understand that some found it far-fetched, but really the whole story is meant to be slightly out there, as are all futuristic concepts, so to me, that’s what made it entertaining thriller.

A twisty, suspense filled thriller combined with a touch of sci-fi. Was Abbie human or a robot? Read and find out.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title.

This is a tough one. Parts of it were very good, and parts of it fell flat.

This book was okay, however it's definitely not my favorite. I really wanted to like this one because I had heard a lot of great things about it and it wasn't terrible, it just wasn't my favorite read. For that reason I'm giving it 3 stars...

This was one of my favorite thrillers of the year. It’s told from the point of view of a human-like robot created in the image of a tech titan’s deceased wife. So, obviously the reader has to suspend disbelief regarding the overall concept. If you can do that, it is a really cool idea told in a compelling way. I loved the ending.

This book of suspense was a great read! Scary how it could be possible With technology today. How creepy! It grabbed my attention and kept it through the end.

The Perfect Wife was a stellar adventure in a world where sentient robots are becoming a reality. I thoroughly enjoyed all the twists and turns that kept me glued to my kindle app. The book was truly great, but there were a few things that bothered me. There really is no way for someone (even a technological genius) to transfer memories from a human being to a robot, which made all the flashbacks somewhat of a stretch. I also found the depths of the protagonist’s feelings and thought processes to be a little much. I don’t see how an actual robot can have quite that many layers.