Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Push by Ashley Audrain

101 reviews

mommarex1221'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I read this in less than a day, which is something I've never done before. I could NOT put this down. Enthralling, well worth the read. I absolutely recommend it, although I would suggest that the content warning is reviewed, as there are a lot of triggering topics explored here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Self harm, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Abortion and Alcohol

gem114's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.0

Oof. This book did not live up to the hype for me. For a psychological thriller, I did not find it very thrilling at all. I thought it was slow and predictable, and I kept waiting for a twist that never came.  Maybe part of the issue is that I don't have kids so I couldn't relate to the motherhood drama? I'm honestly not sure, but regardless, this won't be going on my list of books to recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, and Gaslighting

Minor: Stalking

caties_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.5

MASSIVE TW FOR CHILD/BABY VIOLENT DEATH, CHILD ABUSE, SELF HARM AND GRIEF. Can't possibly overstate how much you should not read this if you are sensitive to any of the above, they're very explicit

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy

megs_trief's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, and Murder

sadhbhdunne'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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Abortion

gm_vak's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

anniepaigespages's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Abortion, and Murder

znvisser's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Oof. I read this book in a day but it will definitely haunt me for more, and in more than one way too.

The Push introduces us to a line of dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships. We follow Blythe, mother of Violet, but we also learn about her mother Cecilia and grandmother Etta. Blythe is not the first woman in her family who, despite having had a rough childhood herself, becomes a mother because society - and therefore, men - expect them to. Blythe manages to convince herself she will be a better mother than her own, but when Violet is born she can't seem to establish a connection. As time goes by, she starts to suspect there are some alarming reasons for this, but she is the only one to believe so. Then her son Sam is born and everything changes, at first for the better.

Throughout the book, you are constantly reminded that the narrator is unreliable. I decided to just go with it and believe her, and that made for quite an experience. But even if you go at it another way, this is still a very sad story, just for different reasons. And the fact that both possible realities exist simultaneously throughout the book, makes this story so incredibly heart wrenching. The short chapters really manage to aggravate the tension, and they made me turn page after page.

This book definitely warrants some content warnings so if you're not sure you can sit through it all, look into those before picking this up. But if you decide to anyway, get ready to be VERY disturbed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity

readwithkat's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I was eager to read this after hearing so much hype about it, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. This WAS compulsively readable and I finished it within 24 hours, however I kept waiting for some big reveal or twist that never came. The multiple timelines and change in generational stories could be confusing at times and I'm ultimately not sure how those stories connected to Violet's character. There are LOTS of content warnings for this one: child death, PPD, vaginal birth, childhood abuse, suicide, abandonment, neglect, miscarriage, infidelity, and some others I'm sure I didn't catch. This is definitely not a book I would blindly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, and Blood

magnifyingreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Gore, Blood, and Vomit