The Perfect Wife: A Novel

Very original plot that grabbed me right away. Interesting having an unknown third-party narrating at times; didn't annoy me and you do find out who it is at the end. Couldn't wait to find out if she was a real person or a robot. LOVED this book from beginning to the awesome ending. WOW ! I became very attached to Abbie. Loved the twists, especially how the end was written. I was shocked by the added note at the end about Google !!! I need to mention since many of my reader friends like a heads-up about "hot topics", this book does deal with the treatment of autism; some may agree and some may not. The author's son is autistic and he speaks about this at the end.

I bought it and paid a lot for it so I wanted to like it. I just could not connect to anything or anyone in this book that captivated my interest. I'm not interested in robotics, certainly don't know anything about it. Thing is I don't want to know either and I felt like I had to read through page after page of it to get to the meat of the story. There were no characters I really can say I liked, most I just felt uncomfortable with. I read 53% before deciding life is too short to keep reading a book I will find an interest in. A lot of readers do like, so I'm not saying skip it, just be sure the subject matter is where your fictional interest lies.

The Perfect Wife by J.P. Delaney had a really 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.I will admit that I was somewhat confused at first, by the dual perspectives in the book. They are merely labeled numerically or by word-number which was rather confusing and didn’t help to identify whose actual perspective each chapter was from, though eventually I caught on. Perhaps that was the intended effect.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 and a one-of-a-kind thriller.

Abbie and Tim have the picture perfect life - he’s a high flying tech genius - she’s a conceptual artist.But all may not be as perfect as it seems - the cracks begin to show when their beloved child develops a terrifying degenerative form of autism and Abbie wakes up in the hospital to find out she ... isn’t actually human.Abbie discovers to her horror that the real, human Abbie she is modeled on, disappeared five years ago and she, herself, is merely a replica created to help Tim regain his perfect life with this perfect version of his beloved wife.But every day Abbie is “remembering” more of her human past and becomes less and less sure that Tim is as perfect as he seems. She begins to doubt Tim’s stories about his perfect wife and worse, she begins to doubt his claims that her human counterpart was lost at sea in an accident.“The Perfect Wife” probes the very idea of what it truly means to be human - and Abbie the AI creation who has been created to have empathy goes to touching and heroic lengths to find out what happened to the “real” Abbie.But ultimately, you’ll find yourself asking - which one is the “real” Abbie, after all?

It's so cute when men try to write convincingly from a woman's perspective, especially about such complex and thorny issues as misogyny and the sexual politics of being an attractive woman in a male-dominated industry. Other than that, it's entertaining. A guilty pleasure, you might say ;)

This book made me think about ethics. The ethics of AI, of being mega-wealthy, and of autism treatments. For those who have autistic loved ones, there are parts that were hard for me to read. But it definitely made me think.

So there ARE great writers with fascinating premises out there. Still mulling over this one and will be for some time to come. And someone has a GOOD copy editor I see.

This book is badged and, unfortunately, marketed, as a thriller, but that's not quite right. This is a thrilling book about humanity, set in the context of a near-future in which AI has advanced to the point where a robot, the protagonist, is fully sentient, autonomous and able to express emotion - and has been designed to do so to replace a person - the creator's wife - who has been missing for five years. This situation, in which the robot (or "cobot") is trying to find her/its place, is contrasted with a child - her child? - who has a severe form of autism and is only able to communicate in certain ways.The premise is immediately gripping, but the story develops slowly and carefully. Initially it may seem like a sci-fi tech thriller, or even a near-future psychological suspense novel. The things that might lead one to those conclusions are, in effect, the backdrop to a much more engaging story.The author has personal experience with severe autism and trust me, as someone who also has some experience in this area, it is evident in the writing that the author is intensely familiar with the challenges - and the love and, at times, desperation - that come with caring for an autistic child. Yet at the core of this book is the question of what we see as humanity. “But of course Danny isn’t any less human just because he doesn’t have those things. He’s just differently human: someone with an unusual ratio of rigidity to empathy.” “Perhaps the real test of someone’s humanity, you think, is how tenderly they treat those like Danny. Whether they blindly try to fix them and make them more like everyone else, or whether they can accept their differentness and adapt the world to it.”This is a remarkable book. Sadly, I fear it is being poorly marketed and represented.

I've read both 'the girl before' and 'believe me' and loved them. They both had an edge and had so many twists and turns.However I just couldn't get into this book, there was to much description and even though it was a Sci Fi story it just didn't seem at all plausible.

*MILD SPOILERS* 2/10 • First of all, the idea that cogent memories can be reproduced from a person's “social media records, texts, and other documents”, and that the resulting memories can then be used to recreate that individual’s personality, is patently absurd. Admittedly Delany notes in his acknowledgments that he deliberately avoided getting too technical about the creation of an AI but for this reader his approach was unsatisfactory to say the least. And then there’s the use of the second person. What can I say? – it bugs the hell out of me. I’ve never read an example that didn’t come across as artifice, and hence destroy the effect the author was trying to create. And then there’s the skimpy plot, which never convinces, and the characters, who are, for the most part, contemptible. And finally, for a thriller this book isn’t thrilling at all. I’m no aficionado of the genre, as I read very few, but frankly much of this novel is dull. The author even includes a couple of recipes, which I really could do without. Now I know some highly esteemed authors have done the same thing but no, seriously – stop it. I wanted to like this book, because the premise intrigued me, but the fact is I was deeply disappointed. Oh, and as for the ending – I don’t even want to get started about that …

Loved the idea of a first person AI narrator. Not entirely new of course to explore humanity by using non human creations - Gene Roddenberry taught us that many years ago as did many other sci fi writers and indeed literature has investigated the nature of 'man' using comparisons with non humans since literature and drama existed.The premise of using a non humna narrator is not disputed and for a while I enjoyed the narrative and wondering 'is she? isn't she?' ( dead). The input on autism coming from the authors own experience was also very interesting and gave several insights into undertanding some of the experiences of a neuro diverse person. What let this novel down for me was quite simply the plot and the ending. It felt like a rushed denouement stuck on at the end as if a deadline was due rather than a thoughtful way of resolving this nerrative. Yes it does comply with a cynical view of nothing really changing and the 'heroine', as always, being expendable and replaceable but that again was already done in Stepford Wives in two different ways depending on which one you watch. I'm not sure how 'Abbie' took that story much further? In short, loved the idea but not so much the execution .

I completed this book in 24 hours. I was absolutely captivated. I have read all of J.P. Delaney’s other books and was excited to get into reading this one. I was so hyped to get to the end and find out what happened... only to be let down big time. Never been into Science fiction but this book I thought was really interesting and I actually really enjoyed the characters...right up until the last few chapters.What was that ending? I had to re read it about 15 times and I was still confused. Seemed incredibly rushed compared to the rest of the book. It actually seemed like I had started reading a completely different novel. If the author had continued this book and took a slightly different approach with the ending I would have given this book 5 stars but the ending really ruined the book for me. Confusing, rushed and just a bit boring would describe the ending perfectly. The book builds up to this one moment at the end and makes the reader excited and then just lets you down. It’s such a shame.All in all I would say to give the book a go if you like psychological thrillers/science fiction books. But don’t be surprised when you get the end and feel slightly underwhelmed.