Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Push by Ashley Audrain

59 reviews

lydiavsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I don't even know what to say. This was just a perfect exploration of motherhood and just womanhood, done just so beautifully. And at the same time an incredible fast paced and compelling mystery.

Wonderful book, absolutely want to reread 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Gaslighting, Grief, Pregnancy, and Self harm

Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Minor: Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Stalking

tditomaso's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Stalking, Pregnancy, Mental illness, and Abandonment

leekaufman's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Gaslighting and Stalking

Minor: Child abuse

literarylaila's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Stalking, Self harm, Pregnancy, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

ebonyrose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

The Push was my perfect psychological thriller. It was so well-paced and incredibly written, I was hooked from the very first page. I raced through this one, with my insides tense the entire time, unsure where the story was headed (though, I was more fascinated by the characters themselves and less fussed about how the story might or might not shock me at the end, like I typically look for in a thriller). This book is heavy on the 'psychological' part of 'psychological thriller' and really functioned as a fascinating character study and rumination on motherhood and the mountains of expectations that come with the role of mothering. That was what made this book stand out from other thrillers I've read and enjoyed. This was just phenomenally done. This book earned every ounce of hype it got when it came out earlier this year, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in this genre of novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Stalking

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage

smehra's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Infidelity, Grief, Death, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body shaming, Stalking, Abortion, Bullying, and Child abuse

exorbts's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

-First off this book is not a thriller and I am completely fine with that since I didn't pick it up because of this aspect, I picked it up because I wanted to read about a mother-daughter relationship (not this kind Per se, but that didn't hinder my experience).

-It is a dark psychological drama of 3 generations of mothers and how each one of them affected her daughter's future and view of the world of motherhood, and it was absolutely scary to think about.

-I LOVED how this book discussed grief and loss in a heartbreakingly beautiful way.

-The ending was not to my liking

Spoiler

IMHO, it would have been more impactful and interesting if the mother's suspicions were wrong

but again I enjoyed the mother-daughter relationship discussion so much more to not think about the ending.

-There are some topics that really intimidated me like giving birth and the aftermath and repercussions on the mother's body and mental health, marriage(the wife-husband relationship).

-Overall, this book was slow, dark, twisted, mind-boggling, hard-hitting, and hard to put down with beautiful writing. A great experience.


P.S: a theory of the cover and how I interpret it: two faces that make a womb-that interpret motherhood\(mother/daughter)\(mother/mother)-. The overall picture of butterfly-that interprets the (Butterfly-Effect)of how a small action can result in large differences in the future.
so like how the experience of a woman as a daughter and a mother can influence the experience of her daughter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Stalking

Minor: Sexual content

maviii's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.5

I mean....okay?? This could have been a lot better, I feel as through the author didn’t spend as much effort in the ending as she should have. I loved the concept as well as the main character, the writing style was a little annoying and I found myself skimming paragraphs at times. Overall a solid read, and an interesting novel with a twist on your traditional thriller. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Child abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Self harm, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

jesscoast's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-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

4.5

Chilling and harrowing. This novel examines nature vs nurture and intergenerational trauma passed from woman to woman. The story and prose are incredibly upsetting but intensely memorable and visceral, some passages hurt to read. Every worst fear is confronted. So many things are written that are rarely said or even thought. Shame, resentment, failed reinvention, broken trust are all examined. Yet somehow I couldn't put it down, reading each dark chapter was like a wreck I couldn't look away from. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Car accident, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, and Infidelity

Minor: Stalking and Suicide

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

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

Minor: Abortion and Alcohol