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glitteringeyes418's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Violence, Suicide, Self harm, Death of parent, Body horror, Bullying, and Abortion
nocturnalreader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
Have you ever imagined that a mother could hurt her child?
Ashley Audrain’s debut, The Push, is dark, nerve-wracking, and unsettling that will send chills to your spine.
The Push is a devastating tale of a mother that explores the darker side, trepidation, and insecurities of motherhood.
The story mainly focused on the relationship between Blythe and her peculiar daughter Violet, who is unsettling, frightening with disturbing behavior. Soon, Blythe starts believing that her daughter is different from kids and has inherited the trauma and is less trusted by her husband and the more she self doubts herself.
The story is narrated from the second POV and in a manuscript style that is vividly gripping and carefully crafted that captures sensitive emotions like depression, trauma, and postpartum experience/depression in a very well manner.
I finished this book in one sitting and didn’t felt that it’s Ashley’s debut novel. The writing style is phenomenal and absorbing. I love the manuscript style, which is short and easy to read, and an absolute page-turner.
It has fulfilled my desire for a gripping thriller. I highly recommend everyone to pick this book immediately.
“I felt like the only mother in the world who wouldn’t survive it . . . The only mother who couldn’t fight through the pain of newborn gums cutting like razor blades on her nipples. The only mother who couldn’t pretend to function with her brain in the vise of sleeplessness. The only mother who looked down at her daughter and thought, Please, Go away.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Violence
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Child death, Death, Murder, Self harm, Stalking, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Infidelity
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