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A review by burnyayhayley
The Push by Ashley Audrain
challenging
dark
emotional
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
2.0
Hold onto your hats, this is a rant: What the heck is wrong with Ashley Audrain?
Thank the gods I am finally finished with this goddamn book.
Listen, this lady can string some nice sentences together but seems to have gotten well-developed writing confused with never-ending repetitive prose that is gratuitous, depressing, and needlessly psychotic. I didn't know this about myself until now, but I HATE the evil child trope, and regardless of how you feel coming out of this story, I think it was not a well-utilized trope here (and yes, even though I hate it, I have read books where it is used well).
I have many bones to pick, but here they are neatly summed up as rebuttals.
Everyone who seemed to enjoy this book is repeating a few things in the comments, such as:
1) this book is *better* if you are a mother — excuse me HOW?? Please define the word "better"??? More depressing? More horrifying? More harrowing and heartbreaking and frustrating??? Is that fun??? I would theoretically like to have kids someday, and this book made me question that desire SEVERAL times.
2) that the protagonist is supposed to be "unreliable" and the reader is meant to doubt her along with LITERALLY EVERY CHARACTER in the book—but her actual partner telling her she is wrong about her feelings made me believe her more. I did not ever feel like I had a good reason to doubt her. Most of the time, she doesn't even sound deluded in any way, just fucking sad, which she darn well is allowed to be??? I don't see how anyone would remain clear-headed after witnessing the horror she had.
3) that this book is immersive and quick to read, but here I am pausing every few chapters to process and not picking it back up for three days because I literally do not see the point in the story having continued past the halfway point, or earlier. If you just made these characters reasonable, this story would have been avoided. If Fox hadn't been such a shithead and just gone to fucking family therapy with his wife and kid then maybe he would not find himself at the end of the book with another goddamn child of his killed by his psychotic daughter . For real??? Why was he such a stupid asshole?? What's his deal???
Now that I have read this debut and her newest release, I can safely say that I won't be reading any more Audrain unless she learns how to actually write a thriller that is thrilling instead of deeply gratuitously depressing and anger-inducing.
I'm sad that I bought this new when it came out. Libraries 4ever.
Thank the gods I am finally finished with this goddamn book.
Listen, this lady can string some nice sentences together but seems to have gotten well-developed writing confused with never-ending repetitive prose that is gratuitous, depressing, and needlessly psychotic. I didn't know this about myself until now, but I HATE the evil child trope, and regardless of how you feel coming out of this story, I think it was not a well-utilized trope here (and yes, even though I hate it, I have read books where it is used well).
I have many bones to pick, but here they are neatly summed up as rebuttals.
Everyone who seemed to enjoy this book is repeating a few things in the comments, such as:
1) this book is *better* if you are a mother — excuse me HOW?? Please define the word "better"??? More depressing? More horrifying? More harrowing and heartbreaking and frustrating??? Is that fun??? I would theoretically like to have kids someday, and this book made me question that desire SEVERAL times.
2) that the protagonist is supposed to be "unreliable" and the reader is meant to doubt her along with LITERALLY EVERY CHARACTER in the book—but her actual partner telling her she is wrong about her feelings made me believe her more. I did not ever feel like I had a good reason to doubt her. Most of the time, she doesn't even sound deluded in any way, just fucking sad, which she darn well is allowed to be??? I don't see how anyone would remain clear-headed after witnessing the horror she had.
3) that this book is immersive and quick to read, but here I am pausing every few chapters to process and not picking it back up for three days because I literally do not see the point in the story having continued past the halfway point, or earlier. If you just made these characters reasonable, this story would have been avoided. If Fox hadn't been such a shithead and just
Now that I have read this debut and her newest release, I can safely say that I won't be reading any more Audrain unless she learns how to actually write a thriller that is thrilling instead of deeply gratuitously depressing and anger-inducing.
I'm sad that I bought this new when it came out. Libraries 4ever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, and Gaslighting