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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
I don’t remember the last time I experienced such fear and anger at the same time.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed the reading experience of this novel but the whole time I could not stop thinking of We Need to Talk About Kevin (WNTAK), comparing the two. It was probably a mistake to have read both books within only a few months of each other as they are very similar in theme. Tonally they are different – Push is a thriller, rather than a literary novel, and so in exploring the theme it adds something new to the conversation. But the fundamental question the novel poses to you, the similarity of its second-person narration, and the protagonists’ personalities are all the same so it is a feeling of déjà vu .
That said, taking the book on its own merit I can completely understand its commercial success. It is a thriller novel – snappy, short chapters, an unlingering plot that moves at pace, cliffhangers and tension that pull you in and keep you in for the whole ride. But ultimately the setting is not high-stakes, so this writing that tonally reminds you of a crime story is effective for the paranoia we are supposed to feel. It could take a turn at any minute. It is building up to something that never comes – until the very final page.
The ending I loved. It worked particularly well on me as I had misjudged when the final page was so it came on me ten pages earlier than I was expecting. It’s one of those endings where you have to stare in disbelief at the acknowledgement page right after, knowing there’s nothing left. Then you’re left with it. It is the ultimate pay off for everything the book is leading you up to: a question.
The theme of the novel is interesting – whereas WNTAK is more focused on motherhood generally, Push is specifically about *woman*hood. We are told the stories of three different generations of women, and from the initial page of the book quoting When the Drummers Were Women, the idea we are all our mothers’ daughters and carry their blessings & curses is the central question. Can you shrug off generational trauma? Has Blythe? Is she any better a mother, a woman, than Cecilia – is Cecilia any better than Etta? And ultimately… is Violet any different to Blythe?
Even something as simple as the novel’s name just ties it all up neatly. Pushing your child out of the womb, pushing them away.
So yes, an enjoyable book overall. I hope I’m not being unfair to it by comparing so often in this review to We Need to Talk About Kevin, but they are so similar and actually for me, worked together well. I’m glad to have read the both of them, as each compliments the other and the topic they both address is important and richly fascinating.
That said, taking the book on its own merit I can completely understand its commercial success. It is a thriller novel – snappy, short chapters, an unlingering plot that moves at pace, cliffhangers and tension that pull you in and keep you in for the whole ride. But ultimately the setting is not high-stakes, so this writing that tonally reminds you of a crime story is effective for the paranoia we are supposed to feel. It could take a turn at any minute. It is building up to something that never comes – until the very final page.
The ending I loved. It worked particularly well on me as I had misjudged when the final page was so it came on me ten pages earlier than I was expecting. It’s one of those endings where you have to stare in disbelief at the acknowledgement page right after, knowing there’s nothing left. Then you’re left with it. It is the ultimate pay off for everything the book is leading you up to: a question.
The theme of the novel is interesting – whereas WNTAK is more focused on motherhood generally, Push is specifically about *woman*hood. We are told the stories of three different generations of women, and from the initial page of the book quoting When the Drummers Were Women, the idea we are all our mothers’ daughters and carry their blessings & curses is the central question. Can you shrug off generational trauma? Has Blythe? Is she any better a mother, a woman, than Cecilia – is Cecilia any better than Etta? And ultimately… is Violet any different to Blythe?
Even something as simple as the novel’s name just ties it all up neatly. Pushing your child out of the womb, pushing them away.
Spoiler
Ultimately I don’t think there’s any other way to interpret Violet’s estrangement from her mother than that she was pushed away, though of course the book leaves it purposefully to the reader to question. But whereas WNTAK purposefully ensures there is no answer to the nature v nurture debate as presented, I think in Push the question is answerable. The baselessness of Blythe’s beliefs about Violet seems so much more obviously a result of her own relationship with her mother, motherhood as a concept and women, and again this is a reflection perhaps of the genre – thriller – being far blunter in its writing than literature. We interpret the story through Blythe’s eyes, but she is not subtle in her assertions. She does not obfuscate. So I found far more ‘resolution’ in this book than WNTAK. The ending was less of a cliffhanger then but a 'fill in the answer'.So yes, an enjoyable book overall. I hope I’m not being unfair to it by comparing so often in this review to We Need to Talk About Kevin, but they are so similar and actually for me, worked together well. I’m glad to have read the both of them, as each compliments the other and the topic they both address is important and richly fascinating.
This page-turner is full of gritty details of parenthood. Is my child normal? Am I a bad parent? Did I see what I think I saw? I totally related to a lot of the difficulties and ways motherhood can make you doubt yourself. Thankfully, not all of them.
I expected too much from this book. I thought the framing narrative indicated that this was a very long suicide note. Or maybe Blythe was going to go postal and kill her daughter as revenge. Nothing as interesting happened.
That Violet is a psychopath was never in doubt, so there was no real mystery as to whether Blythe was the "crazy one". I wondered if there would still be a "Shuttet Island" rug pull regardless. Nope. The daughter is a psychopath and enjoys causing pain.
This book could have been so much more. There were many moments where the author could have violated the reader's expectation and used the tension to introduce something unexpected, but again and again she chose to serve up the most tepid version of events. There are no real twists in this novel, and what could jave been an unreliable narrator turned out to be a brutally honest one.
Also, Fox was an awful husband who was too preoccupied with using his partner as a tool to fulfill his desire to be a father rather than as a partner who he goes on the adventure of parenthood with together. This book gets two stars for creating a character I disliked and wanted to see hurt.
That Violet is a psychopath was never in doubt, so there was no real mystery as to whether Blythe was the "crazy one". I wondered if there would still be a "Shuttet Island" rug pull regardless. Nope. The daughter is a psychopath and enjoys causing pain.
This book could have been so much more. There were many moments where the author could have violated the reader's expectation and used the tension to introduce something unexpected, but again and again she chose to serve up the most tepid version of events. There are no real twists in this novel, and what could jave been an unreliable narrator turned out to be a brutally honest one.
Also, Fox was an awful husband who was too preoccupied with using his partner as a tool to fulfill his desire to be a father rather than as a partner who he goes on the adventure of parenthood with together. This book gets two stars for creating a character I disliked and wanted to see hurt.
dark
tense
fast-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
I felt scraped raw on the inside after reading this book; it's such a visceral and frank account of motherhood. I feel seen, even a little exposed.
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Outside of the plot and the immediate focus of the book, this book is also about how important it is for moms to have legitimate support systems: friends, family, the medical system, etc. After birth so many people focus on the baby (understandably) and it can be so easy to dismiss the mom’s concerns. This book was really good, and really, really sad.
TRIGGER WARNING: death of a loved one.
Bitch this was good. The first person perspective in this book really through me off for a while. The whole novel is essentially being told to her former husband. As a reader, you're pretty much told what's going to happen at the end. It's up to you if you listen. I love a good possible unreliable narrator and it felt like that for a bit. Ultimately, I did call the ending (nearly 10% in) but I still think this was super interesting regarding the themes of identity, motherhood, and absolutely nature vs nurture. It also deals with some themes of grief so tread carefully.
Bitch this was good. The first person perspective in this book really through me off for a while. The whole novel is essentially being told to her former husband. As a reader, you're pretty much told what's going to happen at the end. It's up to you if you listen. I love a good possible unreliable narrator and it felt like that for a bit. Ultimately, I did call the ending (nearly 10% in) but I still think this was super interesting regarding the themes of identity, motherhood, and absolutely nature vs nurture. It also deals with some themes of grief so tread carefully.
3.5 stars but rounded down. This fell flat for me. It's labeled as a thriller but I don't see it as such. It's more sad than anything and just a little disturbing. Maybe since I'm not a mother myself it didn't affect me as much.