I honestly never thought I would rate a thriller 5 stars. I gave If We Were Villains 5 stars at the start of the year and that is indeed a thriller but it is quite differently tonally than most I read. The Perfect Wife on the other hand is pretty much a traditional thriller, albeit with a neat sci-fi twist. And I absolutely adored it.
This is the story of Abbie, a woman who wakes up only to be told that she's not a woman at all. In fact Abbie is now a robot, built by her husband to replace his dead wife. As she tries to resume her life five years on, she realises that her memory is not quite complete and there are some things that her husband isn't telling her.
I wouldn't dream of spoiling anything else about this book. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was completely gripped by both the basic plot and the execution. Fascinating questions about AI and what it means to be a person are raised and, while this is nothing new in sci-fi, it is wonderful to see it explored within a thriller setting. I was not only surprised by the plot but I was surprised multiple times, and each one made me more excited to find out what happened next. This rarely happens for me with thrillers and so I was delighted to experience it here. I hesitate to mention twists in my reviews because I feel like if you expect them then they have less of an impact, but fans of thrillers won't be disappointed here.
The writing and characters are another strength. The story is told in dual perspective, with the chapters from robot Abbie's POV being told in the second person (an unusual choice but one that works really well) and the alternating chapters being told from the POV of an unknown narrator back when human Abbie first met Tim at his workplace. Every character is nuanced and I particularly love how Abbie is explored in such detail.
Overall, I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this thriller. It's unusual, gripping and has a plot I found really satisfying. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you like the genre and I'm so happy to have found a new favourite.
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