Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Push by Ashley Audrain

36 reviews

parker_rj's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Death, Blood, Child death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Self harm

marisabenn's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.25

What a debut, holy moly. One of the best opening and ending lines I have read in recent memory. The story is written with the beautiful normalcy of everyday language. It feels like you're hearing a person confide in you about their struggles. You get lost within the world, feeling like you're there experiencing and seeing these stories happen.

Not a 5 star read because I both love and hate the ambiguity. I wanted to know what really happened, but that's not how the story is meant to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Car accident, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Infidelity, Abortion, and Stalking

Minor: Bullying, Dementia, Self harm, Suicide, Abortion, and Miscarriage

batcaves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Blood, Death of parent, Death, Abandonment, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

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

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

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.

eva_k's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Omg, I just realized I completely forgot to write a review along with my rating, so here it is, almost two months too late 😅

First of all, let me prefice this by saying, family oriented psychological thrillers aren’t my thing. Like, at all. Before this, I have never picked one up and read beyond the blurb on the back cover. I even remember holding this very book in my hands one day and idly putting it back on the shelf because I did not think this would be a book I could enjoy.

However, this book has for some reason had such a grip on me from the very first sentence to the last one, and it has mostly to do with the author’s absolutely brilliant writing style. Audrain has given her protagonist, Blythe, such a unique voice as she tells her story of her personal nightmare she finds herself in from the second she gives birth to her daughter. The story itself already awakens every woman’s fear one might have about motherhood, but her fast-faced narrative truly enraptures the reader and forces them to feel like they’re reliving the chaotic whirlwind of her story. Auderlain also added a very personal note to the narrative by having Blythe refer to her husband Fox in second person pronouns. She’s literally telling her story to YOU. And damn, does it chill you to the bone at times. But at the same time, it creates a barrier of sorts between Blythe and Fox as we only ever see him through her own eyes. It also gives the effect of having her scream her thoughts at him while he doesn’t listen to or understand her. And yes, it made me scream at the book several times, too.

I also have to say that I adored the way this isn’t just a story about one mother and daughter relationship, but about three generations of mothers, as the book also features flashbacks to Blythe’s mother and grandmother having their own rocky (to put it VERY mildly) relationship with their daughters. You truly feel the weight of generational trauma, which only adds to the tone of the story.

I feel like I could drone on and on about this book, but I’m stopping here so I don’t accidentally give away any spoilers. But truly, this book is well worth reading, it’s such a good quality psychological thriller even if you’re like me and don’t necessarily enjoy family-centered thrillers. It plays games with your head and makes you question everything, from Blythe even being a reliable narrator to possibly getting second thoughts about ever being a mother. Since I even read it on vacation, I can even guarantee that the book is a perfect fast-paced beach read if you, of course, enjoy reading really dark books on your vacation. 😅

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Pregnancy, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Blood and Suicide

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

4.75 because I needed just a little more from the ending. Otherwise—WHAT A TWISTY, CREEPY, SICKENING RIDE OF CREATION AND DEMISE.

I was hooked immediately and never let go. The writing was smart and breezy and blunt and chilling, the chapters were deliciously short, the characters were multifaceted and unhinged, the plot was searing, uncomfortable, explosive. Darkly fantastic.

“The Push” refers, specifically, to one tragic incident in the main character’s life, but to me it was also a direct metaphor for all of the different types of motherhood represented in the story. How much children shape our worlds, the very good parts and, in this novel’s case, the traumatic and the sinister. 

If you haven’t already, pick this up ASAP. You won’t be able to put it down until the very last page.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Abandonment, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Violence, Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Stalking, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Stalking, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Racism, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Miscarriage, Mass/school shootings, and Dementia

ashlyreadsevrythg's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

keijiwolf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Self harm, Stalking, Physical abuse, Suicide, Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Excrement, Abortion, Car accident, and Dementia

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Abortion, Sexism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Blood, Dysphoria, Grief, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Body horror, Child death, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Car accident, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Cursing, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, Eating disorder, Excrement, Alcoholism, Confinement, Vomit, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Incest, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual violence, and Dementia

nautikal's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Blood, and Child death

Moderate: Suicide, Child abuse, and Infidelity

Minor: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Miscarriage