Scan barcode
A review by raesengele
The Push by Ashley Audrain
challenging
dark
reflective
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? Yes
3.5
I have such mixed feelings about this book that I'm sure my rating is going to fluctuate back and forth the more I think about it.
The generational trauma between Blythe, Cecilia, and Etta was really well done (though I think there might have been some plot points that were never followed through with, but I tend to miss stuff when I'm listening instead of reading, so I could be wrong), but I also felt like Violet's role in that didn't fit as much. It was almost too much in comparison with everything else. It wanted to be We Need to Talk About Kevin, but was too distracted with being more about Blythe than Violet for it to work. I felt like the book also really wanted to be a thriller, with an unreliable narrator, but just wasn't on either account.
But the stuff with the three generations was really good and made me even reflect a lot on my own intergenerational trauma while listening and I just think the book would have been so much stronger if it had gotten rid of the thriller elements and had just been pitched as a literary drama instead. But that doesn't sell well, so half baked thriller it is.
The generational trauma between Blythe, Cecilia, and Etta was really well done (though I think there might have been some plot points that were never followed through with, but I tend to miss stuff when I'm listening instead of reading, so I could be wrong), but I also felt like Violet's role in that didn't fit as much. It was almost too much in comparison with everything else. It wanted to be We Need to Talk About Kevin, but was too distracted with being more about Blythe than Violet for it to work. I felt like the book also really wanted to be a thriller, with an unreliable narrator, but just wasn't on either account.
But the stuff with the three generations was really good and made me even reflect a lot on my own intergenerational trauma while listening and I just think the book would have been so much stronger if it had gotten rid of the thriller elements and had just been pitched as a literary drama instead. But that doesn't sell well, so half baked thriller it is.