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A review by susannahpk
The Push by Ashley Audrain
3.0
Audrain is great at pacing, the super short chapters really make it so you can't put the book down. At the same time, the writing was relatively basic and straight-forward, though there were some passages that hit emotionally - I just wish there had been more of them!
I think Audrain did paint a vivid picture of Blythe, but the other characters didn't really get the same treatment.
To what other reviewers have said: yes, the "twist" was obvious and personally I was team Blythe from Day 1, so I would've been more surprised if she had been imagining Violet's cruelty than what the ending actually ended up being.
The only open question I really had was how much gender had to do with the suggested "curse" on the women in Blythe's family. Because Blythe enjoyed motherhood with Sam, and was an only child herself, we didn't really get to see if Cecilia would've treated a boy child differently. This feels mirrored in Blythe's relationship with Mrs. Ellington, who also wanted another child of a different gender.
Overall, 3/5 because I did badly want to find out what happened, and some of the little reveals gave me a real shot of adrenaline.
I think Audrain did paint a vivid picture of Blythe, but the other characters didn't really get the same treatment.
To what other reviewers have said: yes, the "twist" was obvious and personally I was team Blythe from Day 1, so I would've been more surprised if she had been imagining Violet's cruelty than what the ending actually ended up being.
The only open question I really had was how much gender had to do with the suggested "curse" on the women in Blythe's family. Because Blythe enjoyed motherhood with Sam, and was an only child herself, we didn't really get to see if Cecilia would've treated a boy child differently. This feels mirrored in Blythe's relationship with Mrs. Ellington, who also wanted another child of a different gender.
Overall, 3/5 because I did badly want to find out what happened, and some of the little reveals gave me a real shot of adrenaline.