Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Push by Ashley Audrain

73 reviews

madeleinebay's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

autumnrevisited's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

wowowow this book is insane. I was skeptical at first but it draws you in in a way you don’t expect. The ending was both open ended and darkly rewarding. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Cancer and Sexual harassment

abrasieve's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Self harm, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse and Excrement

Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Vomit, and Abortion

zoiejanelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

(another library audiobook rental) 

jesus mary and joseph this book was a mindfuck. motherhood is so scary and this book only worsened my fear. this was a thrilling examination of generational trauma and, as the summary says, what happens when women aren’t believed. 

it was admittedly very slow and takes place exclusively in this woman’s mind, so anyone looking for action or plot should not turn to this book. however, i found the internal monologue, paired with the flashbacks, very entertaining. i was on the edge of my seat the entire time, begging for some closure, some truth. 

not my typical read but totally worth it. 

hashtag mommy issues, amirite?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Blood, Stalking, Abortion, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Suicide, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent

jaylee_books's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Grief, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

thelibraryofanolive's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

THIS BOOK HAD ME CRAZED OMG IT WAS SO GOOD CANT EVEN PUT INTO WORDS HOW INVESTED I WAS

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Excrement, Dementia, Abortion, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

gabforshort's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Self harm

kelly_e's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Title: The Push
Author: Ashley Audrain
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 2.75
Pub Date: January 5, 2021

T H R E E • W O R D S

Visceral • Unsettling • Complex

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Blythe is sure she will be the nurturing and comforting mother she never had. But in the midst of the exhausting early months, and incapable of connecting with her newborn daughter, she is convinced something is wrong with Violet. When she shares her concerns with her husband, he dismisses her claims.

When Blythe gives birth to her son, Sam, the situation is very different, and it's everything she always imagined a mother/child relationship to be. When their lives change on a dime, it will force them to face the truth.

💭 T H O U G H T S

The hype had definitely subsided when I finally picked up The Push, unfortunately it stilled influenced my reading experience and it ended up not living up to all my expectations.

What I like:
- I appreciated the honest insight and portrayal of the expectations versus the realities of motherhood, yet as a childless woman I didn't connect to the plot line.
- The plot line of multi-generational trauma
- Written as a letter, I thought the format was clever. And it was obvious that Audrain is a strong writer.

What I didn't like:
- The plot delivers quite a few stereotypes but I don't know that it leaves us a whole lot further ahead in our understanding, but rather upholds stigmas that can be detrimental to mental health awareness.
- I believe I'd have liked it more if the ending was different. For me, the ending felt like it was used for shock value rather than a natural resolution.

At the end of the day, I wouldn't call this a thriller, rather it's a psychological drama that is sure to spark discussion. But because the plot has been so overdone, The Push is easily forgettable to me.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers looking for a compulsive read
• bookclubs

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"A mother’s heart breaks a million ways in her lifetime." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Medical content, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Blood, Stalking, Car accident, and Death of parent

postpartum depression

carbs666's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I did not really see the point of this book at all - it felt like the plot was a series of "and then this happened and I reacted this way and I don't know why I did" statements. I understand the devices at play here and the goals of the book, but I don't feel like the book was successful in delivering on them. 

I thought the choice of narration was interesting and had the potential to create a lot of tension for readers who could come to see Blythe as unreliable. However, the actions of her daughter were just so egregiously obvious that I never really felt like enough doubt was injected into the narrative to make readers wonder if Blythe was right or crazy. 

I'm curious to see how the book could have been different if it incorporated the themes of the psychological and physical horrors of motherhood with an exploration of what to do when your child turns out to be dangerous; I feel that could have made it more interesting for me. 

Anyways, the book wasn't bad enough to DNF so that's a point in its favour. The writing is technically solid and there are some evocative moments tucked in here. It's fine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual content

her_little_library's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book! It's very dark, but I loved seeing how everything unfolded in the end. The writing style was very interesting and kept me engaged throughout. It's a quick read, too, which shorter sentences that flow together well.

I loved seeing Blythe's descent to truly believing her daughter is a cold-hearted killer at 13 years old, and how it might just be all in her head. How everyone around her dismisses her, but comes running to her by the end to say she was right. I just wished this book went down that insanity path. I wanted to see Blythe snap in the end, but I'm glad she found some closure from her son's death.

This was an interesting tribute to the scary, dark parts of motherhood and I'm excited to see what this author does next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

This book is very, very dark. There's a lot of horrific things that happen in detail and that come back up over the course of the book.