Cover Image: The Perfect Wife

The Perfect Wife

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Having enjoyed JP Delaney's previous novels; I was excited to read The Perfect Wife, but unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me.

The premise was good - Tim, a tech CEO recreates his wife who mysteriously vanished in whilst surfing, as a 'cobot' with all of Abbie's memories. I just found the whole thing a bit sinister? I couldn't identify with any of the characters and the pacing was pretty slow which was frustrating as a reader, and the conclusion I felt was confusing.

Unfortunately not a favourite of mine; though it doesn't put me off of JP Delaney and I'll be sure to read their next offering.

Was this review helpful?

I was very excited for this book and for the most part it was different, it was a unique concept on the whole thriller thing and reminded me of black mirrors - i found parts hard but overall, this was an enjoyable read and i would certainly read more from this author

Was this review helpful?

Abbie and Tim have the perfect life, Tim owns Scott Robotics designing shopbots.

Abi and Tim have a beautiful son Danny, but when he reaches 4 he develops autism.

Abbie disappears and it a thought she is dead.

A twisty turning page turner of a book.

Was this review helpful?

The Perfect Wife by PJ Delaney is an interesting and unusual read. There’s no doubt it’s suspenseful and very tense at times. I became quite quickly empathetic towards the main character Abbey, despite the fact she is a robot designed in the image of her technology expert husband’s missing wife.

The narrative moved between different characters and, at times, I was unsure whose perspective I was reading. I m not convinced about the ending but neither would I be able to suggest a different outcome.

Was this review helpful?

Well this book was NOTHING like I expected it to be, after finally finishing this novel I was a bit lost for words. I'm hoping I've now been able to process my thoughts enough to write a coherent review!
So this is a psychological thriller story about a husband who is distraught at the loss of his dear wife, so he creates a solution. His solution is an artificial intelligence robot with the face, body and (most) memories of his late wife. Creepy, right?!
This definitely isn't my typical read. I could tell how clever the author is from this scientifically complex novel that was very thought provoking at times. I did struggle to fully enjoy the writing, and because of this I don't think I'll be picking up another book by this author any time soon. I am sure that to those that enjoy this genre that this is a brilliant book!

Was this review helpful?

I find JP Delaney's novels to be a bit hit and miss and this one was more of a miss for me. As in others by the author, there's an uncomfortable focus on the looks of the characters, in a very shallow and boring way, and difficulty to connect or care about the characters made it boring to read. I know to expect twists from Delaney but this one just wasn't for me.

Was this review helpful?

This book was sooooo good! Really unusual storyline and I didn't see the ending coming. Excellent read.

Was this review helpful?

Having read and really enjoyed JP Delayney's first book I was excited to read this. The premise sounded so unusual and frankly not the sort of book I would generally pick up. However I was pleasantly surprised. A really readable story, it took only days to read (sorry it's taken so long to review!) and despite being initially scepitcal I really enjoyed it. It feels worringly like it could happen in the future! I would certainly recommend and will continue to look out for further work from this author.

Was this review helpful?

I really liked the concept behind this book, the topic of tech companies, robots, autism, so vast and varied and so interesting!!!! Lots of layers and slightly confusing but I really enjoyed it!!! I don’t generally read sci fi but this was great!

Was this review helpful?

Abbie wakes up after five years in a hospital bed unsure of where she is and a mix of memories. From the premise of the book I thought Abbie must have had an accident, lost her memory and have to rebuild her life. Very quickly you find out that thus isn’t the case at all. Abbie is an AI robot, built by Abbie’s husband Tim - the founder of a Tech company.

The new Abbie acts, looks and feels like a human she has Abbies memories uploaded into her. She takes Abbies place in their home. As she becomes embroiled in life with her autistic son Danny and husband, she starts to find things are not what they seem. What happened to the real Abbie? What is her Tim hiding?

I enjoyed this book, it had an intriguing storyline which kept me interested throughout with an unexpected ending.

Was this review helpful?

I was given a copy of The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney in exchange for an honest review. I have read other books by JP Delaney which I have enjoyed. When I began reading the book I had no idea the main character was a robot and wasn't sure if I could continue but I'm glad I did. Abbie is a robot made by Tim, she is a replica of his dead wife who disappeared 6 years earlier. As the story progresses it's clear their perfect life was less than perfect. I loved the twists at the end, so glad I stuck with this book.

Was this review helpful?

Abbie Cullen died under strange circumstances but bizarrely five years later she wakes up one morning with her husband Tim, expert in AI and founder of Scott Robotics in Silicon Valley, beside her. He adores Abbie and Danny, their autistic son, but something is wrong, very very wrong with his perfect wife!!!!!!
If like me you loved Stepford Wives you will love The Perfect Wife !!!!!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and JP Delaney for the arc of The Perfect Wife my review is honest and unbiased.

Was this review helpful?

I found this book really thought-provoking. Imagine a world where you can turn people into robots so that they can live forever. Though the timeline is more than a little far fetched, I was still fascinated but the idea and just wanted to keep reading. It was intriguing to read a book like this from the perspective of the robot and I loved finding out about it's relationships with different characters.

Was this review helpful?

This was a great edge of your seat book! This book kept me captivated the whole time! I could not put it down!

Was this review helpful?

As a long time fan of JP Delaney I was so excited to read the latest book and it was NOTHING like I was expecting. This is part a story about AI and partly domestic thriller and I absolutely loved it. It was fasicinating, thrilling and disturbing in equal measures and like nothing I have ever read before. I am usually a sci-fi hater but this book was the exception so I urge anyone to read it. Highly recommend!

Was this review helpful?

Many thanks to Net Galley and Quercus Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
Definitely different from anything I have read before, and not what I was expecting at all.
When Abbie disappears her devastated husband Tim, who is a technology freak builds a robot to replace her, the robot looks like Abbie, sounds like her, even has some of her memories and personality! The story is told in Abbie’s past perspective before she disappeared and then her present timeline. It can be a little confusing.
I was really grabbed by the first part of the book, I found though it went downhill, perhaps because I am not a sci-fi fan, it was all a little unbelievable. Robots v humans, robot shop assistants ? It just didn’t work for me.

Was this review helpful?

Well, after the most interesting start to a book that I remember reading for a while (occasional second person chapters, and the main character is a robot), this book soon became kinda dull and predictable. I struggled to motivate myself to read it. The sci-fi aspect was cool but it soon turned into a run of the mill thriller.

I liked Danny a lot, and was unsurprised to read in the acknowledgments that the author knew autism first hand with her own son. I feel like Danny's autism is a plot point that will stick with me more than the robot protagonist will.

Was this review helpful?

Abbie wakes to find herself in hospital but doesn't remember how or why she is there. Her husband, Tim tries to explain but then drops the bombshell that she is, in fact an AI robot made in the likeness of her former self and has "uploaded" various memories.

She struggles to come to terms with this, particularly as she starts to get memories and feelings that had not been uploaded to her system. As time goes on, she finds that her marriage may not have been as wonderful as Tim makes out and sets out to try to find what happened to the "real" Abbie.

An unusual storyline that flips between the "real" Abbie and how her and Tim met and current day on the AI Abbie. You soon start to realise Tim's true nature and feel for Abbie's situation and the twists keep you guessing on what did happen five years ago.

A great read and will look for other books by JP Delaney to read.

Was this review helpful?

This was an amazing story, a psychological thriller but also a story with science fiction overtones. The storyline made for compulsive reading and there was a great twist in the tail.

Was this review helpful?

4/5 stars.

I really enjoyed this book. Delaney has such a way with words and I love his directions in terms of both plot and mystery. I can’t say I enjoyed it as much as Delaney’s first two books but I did really enjoy this read overall. Would recommend!

Was this review helpful?