A review by breanneporter
The Push by Ashley Audrain

dark mysterious tense fast-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

This is a hard book to rate; I devoured it, finishing in just over a day, but now that I’ve finished I’m struggling to understand what to take away from it… it follows our narrator, Blythe, as she recounts her experience of motherhood with her daughter, Violet, and her son, Sam, and her tale is interspersed with memories of her own mother as well as her mother’s history with her own mother. It is very dark, so be sure to check content warnings. More than the darkness, it is unsettling. I felt anxious reading it, but was compelled to continue. The pacing is fast, the chapters are short, and it’s very easy to be immersed in the narrative (even as it makes you increasingly uncomfortable).
I kept waiting for evidence of Blythe’s untrustworthiness as a narrator, something to redeem Violet, but I didn’t really get that… and the ending is (horrifyingly) validating to Blythe’s perspective, but there’s no recognition of why only Blythe was seeing this side of her / was the target of her derision for so long…. Idk.
I’m not sure I would recommend or say that it was an enjoyable reading experience but it was certainly an immersive and memorable one!
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