The Push

Que angústia foi esse livro. Durante toda a leitura eu me senti desconfortável lendo, mas não conseguia parar. É esse tipo de livro mesmo, que é bom mas difícil de engolir. 
Não falo mais pra não dar spoiler. Se for ler, aconselho a não procurar muito sobre ele antes. Quantos menos souber sobre o plot, melhor vai ser a leitura.

This book was a surprise for me. I was intrigued by the premise but unsure I would like it.
This was so good! The writing was addictive and I didn't want to stop listening to it. The story is captivating for sure. I couldn't make up my mind about what was going on. The way it was told kept me guessing. There's a lot to process about it.
I think after a certain development, it dragged a little bit but I still enjoyed it very much.
A great debut!

I read this book 6 months ago but I can't stop thinking about it. It was disturbing and creepy and while there were some elements I liked, I just can't get over the icky feeling I had while reading it. However, I can't stop thinking on it so I'm bumping it up from 2 stars to 3.5... that being said, I need to stop reading thrillers that involve kids - I'm not strong enough for this anymore.

The anger I felt while reading The Push was so intense. The way Blythe's husband Fox refused to even entertain the idea that she wasn't imagining things, or exaggerating, or just over-tired, or any other number of excuses was absolutely infuriating. So many people, women especially, know what it feels like to not be believed, and Ashley Audrain captures those feelings so well that even if you don't know how it feels, you'll know after you've read this book. Something like this should be required reading for people with a history of refusing to seriously listen to their partners.
Not only did Blythe struggle with not being believed, but she struggled with the difficulties of being a mother and the expectations of motherhood placed upon her not only by Fox, his family, and society in general, but by herself as well. It was especially hard to read about the lack of support Blythe received from Fox. He had a specific idea of what he wanted in a wife and mother of his children, and he just didn't want to see anything that could make her less than perfect. As Blythe says of Fox: “You wanted a perfect mother for your perfect daughter, and there wasn't room for anything else.” Watching her deal with all the pressure without proper help and understanding was truly heartbreaking and I imagine too relatable for a lot of mothers.
I like the way The Push is written, as if it's a long letter from Blythe to Fox. Reading it feels like peeking in on something personal and intimate. It's not my business, but I'm nosy. And I enjoyed the bit of mystery over whether or not Blythe was a reliable narrator (though I am one to believe women...).
This was a great emotional and fast-paced read, one that I didn't want to put down. I'm glad I finally got around to reading it!

4.8 -OMG WHY DID IT HAVE TO END LIKE THAT


Okay, this was an emotional rollercoaster.. very heavy on the psychological drama. I really felt the main character's uncertainty and fear, however, it kinda felt dragged on (why it's not 5 stars for me). Like, yes, I know you are feeling this way,and it sucks but like, do something about it. Idk maybe I'm just too harsh on the circumstances in which she was in. It's a very interesting perspective on motherhood as well since we get a feel of three generations of women and their trickling impact (good and bad) on eachother. I think if I remove myself from the story it's 5 stars for me so I'll round up lol the things she did as a mother are not things I would do (or agree with) especially when it came to her daughter. I couldn't empathize entirely but i did when it came to her son, for sure. The ending made me release the breath I didn't even know I was holding

After seeing so many positive reviews of this debut novel on Booktube, I was intrigued and decided to read it. I was a little nervous about the subject matter, but I ended up finding it quite interesting and somewhat provocative.

The main character, Blythe Connor, does not descend from motherly women. Instead, both her grandmother and mother were ill-equipped for motherhood and left their families. Because of this, Blythe is understandably nervous about becoming a mother. Her inner dialogue is very honest about her feelings about motherhood and her concerns about her daughter, Violet. The author is not afraid to reveal thoughts that some women might feel about being a mother, thoughts that challenge the traditional idea that women are natural nurturers. Without demonizing Blythe, the author shows the struggle that some women face when they become mothers.

The husband in this story is not very understanding of what his wife is experiencing. This makes him a frustrating character. He dismisses her concerns about their daughter and only sees their situation through his narrow viewpoint. However, he is justified in his concern over some of the actions Blythe takes while caring for their children. He just does not respond to the incidents in a way that shows any desire to help or understand Blythe.

The plot of the story jumps around occasionally to past events with Blythe and her mother, Cecilia and past events with Cecilia and her mother, Etta. These flashbacks add backstory that allows for a better understanding of the feelings and behaviors of Blythe. The end of the book falls a little flat because it is predictable, but it does not ruin the story.

This was an interesting and thought-provoking read. I would highly recommend it!

Couldn't put this book down, loved the writing style and everything tied together. I read this the same week as watching The Lost Daughter but somehow still want to have kids, shockingly.

Also, I feel like it would be fun to make note of which actors I visualized as the characters while reading–I don't always mentally cast characters, but I did for these three:

Mrs. Ellington: Gina Torres
Fox: Roby Attal
Gemma: Caitlin Fitzgerald

Wow. This book is a knockout. It's electric. I have literally just finished the ending and it has made all the hairs on the back of my neck prick up. This book is hella dark. It's unnerving and psychologically disturbing but it's razor sharp. I have never read a book like it. Like other reviewers have commented on, it straddles the line perfectly between literary fiction and a dark twisty psychological thriller.

This book follows Blythe who falls in love with her husband Fox and decides to have a baby. While she is apprehensive, as she had a difficult relationship with her own mother. She is optimistic that she will take to motherhood like everyone else. But she didn't bargain on her first born being quite so challenging.

This writer is a triumph. She writes suspense so well. This book had me heartbroken then infuriated and then extremely anxious all in the space of a few pages. She can write sharp edges to the plot that are most widely recognised in horror or thriller genre writing but while also juxtaposing the text with insightful and gorgeous literary writing. That ending was everything.

I loved how the novel played with the reliability of the protagonist. I also loved the accessibility the reader is given into the intimacy of the family dynamic. Some scenes in this book are burnt into my brain. This read has a haunting, claustrophobic beauty to it. A masterpiece.

Thanks to the author Ashley Audrain, Penguin UK and NetGalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. This was a hard book to stomach.

The struggles this Mom faces are very real. PPD coupled with an unsupportive partner will never make a mother life easier. I honestly cannot believe all the hate I've seen this Mom get as what she was experiencing is a very real thing.

The author did an awesome job at putting you into her head and feel her emotions throughout the book. Every time her husband brushed her off it filled me with a deep sorrow for her.

So many things were done right in the book and really there isn't a great way to broach the topic. If you have an aversion to raw emotions or child loss maybe stay away. If you've never dealt with PPD or are judgemental towards those who experience it, spare your negativity and move on.

I really enjoyed this book. I found myself desperate to know where this went, on the edge of my seat with every chapter. The end was more subtle than I expected, but as I grapple with my expectations, I am also fascinated by how this story was told. It takes time to understand this story, told through the lens of the mothers of several generations. It's a study on motherhood, the expectations people put on women and mothers, grief, and generational trauma.

The book's climax was undeniably in the middle of the book. The second part of this book explores grief in a very detailed and compelling way. But it also loses a bit of the tension by punching you in the heart early on, as we try to understand that event through the eyes of someone we don't know is a reliable narrator or not.

What holds this book back from a 5-star rating is its ending. I kept expecting a huge twist or some chapter that revealed something that made everything suddenly make sense. We didn't get that, but rather we confirmed the suspicion we had all along. For as thrilling and confused as I was throughout the chapters, I wanted something more impactful as an ending.

This was absolutely not what I expected when I started the book, but I was so absolutely gripped by it I just couldn't put it down and read it all in 2 sittings.

It was so raw and unflinching in the thoughts and descriptions of motherhood, some of which resonated with me. It's absolutely terrifying to think of the things in this book happening to your own child, its every parent's nightmare.

I also thought the second person POV was an interesting choice, I normally don't get on with it but it really worked in this case.

At first, I was put off by the second person narration. However, as the story goes on and it swaps every now and then, it begins to make sense why the author chose this tense. It draws the reader in to the woman's feelings - it's especially compelling to note that we spend most of this book never knowing her name: she's just a girl who becomes a woman who becomes a wife who becomes a mother.

I'm not one for thrillers, so I actually spoiled the ending for myself before I read the book. I can honestly say it didn't lessen the emotional rollercoaster that this whole story takes you on. I found it nearly impossible to put down, even knowing how it ended. This is a great one.

The last sentence of this book gave me chills! It can't end there! The Push was a bit different than I expected; I thought it would be more thriller-esque, filled with elements like suspense and twists. While I wish these elements were incorporated into the story more, The Push did not disappoint!

This book reminded me a lot of Verity by Colleen Hoover because of the whole mothers-feeling-iffy-about-their-own-children vibe (is that a vibe?) and really beginning to question the sanity of the moms