I have just finished this compelling story. It is the second story in a row with which I have had an overwhelming feeling of dread all the way through. All the signs were there from the beginning with the inevitable conclusion.. Very well written story.

This is a very dark but compelling read that leaves you questioning what is wrong with Blythe or if her problem really is her daughter Violet. The bits of Blythe’s family history that are told show a lack of maternal ability however does that mean it’s hereditary? I found the style of writing quite original but very readable, it put you right inside Blythe’s head extremely well. It was very chilling but a heck of a page turner and so unusual to read a book questioning what is supposed to be natural to women.

What a roller coaster of a read. This book features three generations of mothers who all had psychological problems made worse when they had children. The main story focuses on Blythe and her relationship with her daughter who is a difficult child and causes much concern with her behaviour ,which leads to a terrible accident but who was to blame. A real page Turner and its chilling at times, but it's a fantastic read with brilliant characters and it leaves you wanting more. A 5🌟read

Wow! What a compelling, fast paced novel. The reader is really kept on their toes with Blythe feeling her daughter was basically a child with a bad unsound mind.

I knew from the first couple of pages that I was going to love this book - the writing style is so original and the prose is beautiful. I love when a novel is constantly surprising, and this dark perspective of motherhood was smart, deft, and quietly terrifying. The characters are brilliantly realised, the plot moves along at a swift and compelling pace, and I found myself holding my breath on several occasions!

I'm normally a bit wary of books that have had so much hype as the issue with getting people ramped up for a book's release is that expectations are set higher so it's actually harder to please the reader. No such issue with The Push, which actually exceeded the expectations I had.

A gorgeously written, complex and compelling novel. I can't wait to read what this author does next. An easy five stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher who provided me with a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of those novels where when you have read last page, you close it and think wow. It is a raw and uncompromising examination of what it means to be a mother and what the concept of motherhood really signifies. Blythe tells us that she is the third generation of mothers in a family where there shouldn’t be mothers.

Blythe and Fox have been together since college and when baby Violet arrives, after a traumatic birth, Blythe is unsure whether she can love her and be the mother society expects. Violet is a difficult child and Blythe is inexperienced and haunted by her own childhood with a challenging mother. The narrative is told primarily by Blythe but there are recollections of Blythe’s mother’s upbringing and that of her grandmother, both of which have an impact on the person Blythe has become. As Violet grows Blythe’s relationship with her becomes increasingly strained and the arrival of baby son Sam creates an impossible friction. Blythe and Fox separate and he moves on to life with another woman and another family. They share custody of Violet but it’s clear that she prefers the company of Fox and his new partner. Blythe becomes obsessed with the new family and trying to identify where she went wrong as a mother.

This is a well written novel laid out in short punchy chapters which really ramp up the tension. You get a real sense of Blythe’s increasing desperation and fear of and for her daughter. The description of some of the incidents which take place are unnerving and heart breaking. It is quite a tough read but it carries an important message.

The characters are authentic and very believable; they are all trying to do their best without really understanding what the best is. Many of the supporting characters are really important, in particular, Mrs Ellington who tries to provide Blythe with some normality in her childhood.

In essence this is a brilliant book with an important examination of notions of nature versus nurture, of family relationships and the effect they have for forthcoming generations. I found it impossible to put down. As a debut novel this is a real triumph.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a riveting novel, difficult to put down, especially with the short chapters which made me want to read just one more, then just one more, then just one more ...

I think every mother will be able to relate to Blythe to a certain extent, motherhood being such a momentous change in a woman's life and scarily different from everything you learn in books and ante-natal classes. I really felt for her in her isolation with everybody around her refusing to listen and failing to understand her insecurity.

It's difficult to say all the things I like about this book without giving away the plot, so let me just say that I was totally convinced by the characters, I was swept along by the relentless development of the story, and I loved the complexity of Blythe's personality told through the background story of her family, her relationships, her reinvention of herself to create the type of mother she wanted to be, and so many more aspects.

This is a novel to keep you on edge. After the terrible event that came about half way through, I was constantly waiting to see what would happen next. I was holding my breath turning the very last page to find out what the shocking ending would be, and having read the last paragraph, I wanted so much to know what happened next.

I would like to thank NetGalley for allowing me the privilege of reading this remarkable book and I look forward to more from Ashley Audrain.

The Push by Ashley Audrain was a fantastic read! So disturbing on many levels and a very credible account of potential failure to bond, personality disorders, dominance and submission and the power of your history and life experiences. Wow! What a twisty tale. Did I love Blythe and feel sorry for her (& frightened for her) or was there something weird going on with her perceptions? I’m going to leave that for the readers to decide. Suffice to say- I found this absorbing and chilling - oh and God Bless Mrs Ellington (May there be many of those ) A five star read for me!

This is a 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 for next year! ⁣
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I have been hearing some really positive buzz around this book since it was announced earlier this year and was dying to read it! I picked it up this weekend and read the entire thing in one sitting. ⁣
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I would class this as a kind of literary-suspense and I completely understand the comparisons to ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’ now (although, for me, the writing style here was much more readable). It has a similar feel, in terms of the psychological feel and the literary style merged. In terms of the plot, I was expecting a much different story, but I really enjoyed it. It was fairly fast paced and very suspenseful.⁣
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I will post a more concise review closer to publication but I really enjoyed this one. If you’re a fan of more literary psychological stories, I urge you to check this one out. ⁣
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A unique story which is truly tense and terrifying!

This was an extremely compelling book. The reader is never entirely sure with whom the problem lies. The book very cleverly gives you room for doubt. The tension spiked up very quickly after the birth of Violet and from then on it was unrelenting, with the hairs on the back of my neck standing up and my inability to read faster most infuriating. Ms Audrain has written a very unique and insightful book, but whether it's on mental health issues or a theological debate on children being born free of sin is an issue for the reader to decide. A captivating and clever novel that will have you transfixed from the first page to the last.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

heart wrenching and a honest take on motherhood in all its glory...for some its the best feeling in the world but for others its a constant struggle

here is a raw account of motherhood and how it can turn, hard hitting and punchy..not for the fainthearted as this is more or less a true account of how it can turn out...

gonna be keeping an eye out for more of this authors works

This was a very interesting read, emotional and at times quite disturbing, the book flowed well with great characters and a well thought out plot. I would be interesting in reading more by this author.

The Push follows Blythes journey into motherhood, dipping into her own childhood at times. Blythe worries about her capabilities as a mother due to her own upbringing.
Her daughter violet is born and has an amazing bond with her father Fox. Blythe struggles to bond with her daughter.
She thinks her daughter is different but only she can see it.
It was an interesting read, difficult at times due to what it is about. I would recommend this book. Thank you netgally for my copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Blythe is the mother to two children and this is her story. The Push is an unsettling book that left me considering the impact of adverse childhood experiences on a parent, and the damage done to the child when a parent is unable to bond with them and love them as they should.
This isn't an easy read, but it is well structured and powerfully written. It is brutally honest and intense. I would definitely recommend it and hope some of my friends read it so we can talk about it.
Thank you to Ashley Audrain, her publishers and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this excellent book. #ThePush

Oh my goodness what a magnificent read. It was difficult at times due to the subject matter but hard to put down. I was completely captivated as the story unfolded. This was a beautifully written story from beginning to the very end. What an ending. Very impressive.

Written in first, second and third person narrative, The Push is a story about motherhood which (compulsively) reads like a thriller. Although I try to read broadly and diversely, I haven't read a book like The Push in quite some time and so I had to adjust to the pace of the plot, which, for what is essentially a family drama, felt pretty high-speed. The prose is compelling, to the point of being addictive- I read the book in under twenty-four hours, and I have a small child to care for- but who needs sleep?! The chapters are short which makes you reach for the next bit of information and overall provides an adrenaline-fuelled reading experience.
Whilst the read was a bit of a thrill, I didn't really connect with the subject matter and was really hoping for a different twist that would throw a light on some of the subject matter which I found quite problematic.
Audrain writes about birth viscerally and gives a realistic representation of the early days with a small child, but other aspects of the novel are quite far-fetched and it felt like often the most outrageous choice for the narrative to follow was being made rather than one that might be realistic.
Without doubt the book will be compared to We Need To Talk About Kevin, though The Push deals a little more with a history beyond the family in the present which I felt wasn't fully explored and like WNTTAK, this book had such a great opportunity to discuss the subtleties of motherhood, rather than turning to a binary conversation about whether children 'good' or 'bad' innately and whether its because their mothers are 'good' or 'bad', which was a disappointment, because I felt the blurb pitched something that was a bit more rigorous in its exploration of the nature/nurture debate.
Although overall the book wasn't for me, I can't fault the writing and it is a quick and immersive read that will doubtless open countless conversations in book groups.

I couldn't put this book down. I loved the short, sharp chapters, like little stabs in the heart. It was dark, but honest and truthful. I can't wait to read whatever Ashley Audrain writes next.

The Push tells of a young woman named Blythe who falls in love with and marries a man named Fox, although we rarely actually read his name - Blythe's narrative is largely addressed, in the second person, to her husband. And then they have a baby, Violet. And that's where it all breaks down.

Blythe's never been confident in her own ability to be a mother. After all, her own mother, Cecilia, failed miserably in the role, and her grandmother, Etta, was even worse. (We see snippets of the lives of both of these earlier women.) Cliché though it's now become, its hard not to think of *that* Philip Larkin poem, as woman hands on misery to woman. Only lovely childhood neighbour Mrs Ellington provides an example of good mothering.

Frequent comparisons have been made with Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin, which I've never quite been able to bring myself to read. The relationship between Blythe and Violet is disconnected, with the girl clearly preferring her father from early on. But is the threat and violence Blythe perceives in her daughter real, or does she see only what she subconsciously expects to? It's never quite established.

The Push is a fascinating and compulsive read, acutely observed and very well written. It's also hauntingly dark and disturbing at times, particularly the devastating event at its core.

Wow, this book was extraordinary! I flew through it in a day as I was unable to put it down. Blythe is our protagonist, she had a very difficult and complex relationship with her mother who ended up leaving the family home when Blythe was still young. Now a mother herself, Blythe is struggling to form a connection with her daughter Violet but she’s not sure if it’s her or if something is very wrong with her child.
Ashley Audrain has written a heart-stopping psychological thriller, I felt as though I was constantly waiting for something awful to happen as the tension is so high throughout. The Push is about motherhood and it’s many different elements, those women who did not want children, those who desperately wanted them but then are disappointed with the reality of the experience; the constant guilt of not being enough as a mother; the loss of the person you were before; the strength of love you can feel for one person and so much more.
The Push follows three different mothers, Blythe, her mother and then also her paternal grandmother. Each are shaped by their childhood experiences and I think that this is something that is magnified when you have a child. The only experience you have to relate it to the first time round is the experience you had with your own mother.
I liked Blythe as a character, the tragedies that she has to live through are horrendous but even in her darkest hours she keeps trying and hoping; she makes mistakes along the way but she doesn’t give up at any point.
I think this book is going to garner a lot of attention on publication, it is so well written and thought out. It would be a fantastic choice for a book group as there would be a huge amount to discuss within the story.

Oh my goodness, this is not a happy book! It's moving, it's unnerving and unsettling. I was frustrated by the husband and his blindness to what was going on, and his lack of empathy. Some of the descriptive scenes to do with how a woman feels after childbirth, the love (or lack of) for your newborn are so spot on, and also how a relationship can break down under certain stresses and strains - it was all so real. Of course any scenes with Violet the daughter put me on edge. Just think 'We Need to talk about Kevin'...
It's not an easy read, but I enjoyed it. A great thriller.