Maternal instinct is an amazing thing. It will let you love the source of your months-long sleep deprivation. It will bring you out of a deep sleep a second before your baby wakes up. It will give you the reaction speed of a trained ninja. But what if your maternal instinct doesn’t kick in the way everyone talks about? What if you despise the source of your sleep deprivation? What if you don’t hear your child’s cries even when you’re awake? What if you don’t react fast enough?

Blythe never wanted to be a mother. Her own mother, Cecilia, left when she was a little girl after years of neglect. Cecilia’s mother was the same except that she added abuse to the mix until finally committing suicide out in the front yard.

Yet when Blythe marries Fox, life seems perfect. The only thing needed to complete the picture, is a baby. So Blythe decides to make Fox happy and she falls pregnant. From the moment Violet rips through Blythe, she resents her daughter. This child who needs constant attention, who won’t stop crying, who doesn’t sleep, who seems to only love her father. Where is that bond that is supposed to grow? Where is that love that should be tying them together? Why does this look so easy for everyone else?

As Violet grows, the distance between them grows as well. Blythe sees things in Violet that no-one else does. A calculatedness, a coldness. Then Blythe falls pregnant with Sam and suddenly she gets it. THIS is what Motherhood is supposed to feel like. This all consuming love and devotion that she feels for her little boy. Sam is Blythe’s world...until one fateful day.

This is a story of the dark side of motherhood. The feelings mother’s don’t share with each other for fear of being judged. It’s a story of maternal instinct but in no way that you have read before. It is a story of love and motherhood in its most raw form.

If you suspected your child of murder, what would you do?

I'm not going to give any stars or rating. This was my first try of an audiobook and the format is just not my cup of tea. I do love podcasts, but my mind seems to wonder of while listening to audiobooks...

Oh my goodness what a read this was. To use the word I loved it seems a bit strange considering the subject of the book but it was flipping amazing . It is a very difficult read / listen I will admit. There were times when I had to stop listening and take a break. But I was always compelled to come back to,it. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything like it before.

This book has been one of the most talked about and loved books this year on Instagram, and I was keen to see what the hype was about! As a mother of a young child myself I found it harrowing and fascinating in equal amounts, but also curiously cold/weird in places. The main character did not react the way I would have, or that anyone would have i don’t think, and that detracted from the reading experience for me. I was frustrated with her lack of communication or wish to talk things out with her partner, friends or parents in law. She seemed created to invoke the most amount of discussion/strong feelings, and that annoyed me. The book was less an upmarket family drama than it was psychological thriller, which surprised me after reading the blurbs.

Still, the premise is an evocative one, and if you’re into domestic thrillers, this should be on your reading list!

An enjoyable, if not somewhat uncomfortable, listen. I struggled a bit to start with the American narration, but kind of forgot about it once I was engrossed in the plot. The Push reminded me very much at times of We Need to Talk About Kevin, especially in the way Blythe struggled to connect with her daughter Violet. Difficult to listen to sometimes I felt, especially when you are a mother, but compelling listening.

Unfortunately I just really couldn't get into this one so I had to DNF - thank you so much for the opportunity to listen to it.

This was a DNF for me as I didn't enjoy the voice of the narrator. I'll rate it down the middle though as I was enjoying the story and have purchased the book to read another time.

** Audiobook ARC kindly received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review **
Let me start by saying that I felt The Push was a really well written book and the narration on the audiobook was great. However, I had one major issue with the story - for me, the whole plot of the entire book was given away in the first chapter. Now, maybe that was the author’s intention. To lay the story out, and then go back in time, filling in all the detail. For me though, I prefer a story that unfolds as we read through the book and keeps me guessing. I felt that element of surprise was missing with this story. But, as I’ve already said, it is very well written, and I enjoyed the time hop elements where we found out about the mother and grandmother’s upbringing. I would look out for the next book from this author based on her writing, but would hope it kept me guessing for more of the book.
Correct rating for me 3.5 stars

The Push is an uncomfortable and brutally honest read. Written in the 2nd person and from the multiple perspectives of three generations of the same family, I found it jarring but very effective in getting to know the lead characters, predominately Blythe. As an audiobook I found this worked particularly well, as it made the experience immersive.

Told from three perspectives, three generations of mothers, all of whom struggle with motherhood and mental health. For me, it highlights the lacks of awareness around postpartum depression, depression and mental health that still exists today and the devastating effects on a family.

Underpinning this, is the question of nature versus nurture, how mothers effect daughters and whether we can ever change. Blythe's daughter begins to exhibit questionable behaviour that are disturbing and looks at the other aspect - are you born or raised a murderer. But I found this more of a minor part than I was expecting.

It's a unique storyline and very well written in terms of unearthing emotions and motivations but I struggled to connect with Blythe on any level, in the end her lack of action became frustrating for me. I didn't find it much of a thriller until the very end and what a line.

It's a great read for those who enjoy fiction that explores mother/daughter relationships from a dark psychological perspective.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

When you find a book that shakes you, disturbs you and evokes an almost physical reaction you want to be able to do it justice, to write a review which conveys just how brilliant the book is. The Push was never on my radar until I started to see many positive reviews all over social media, and in particular a real buzz and discussion about it. I really enjoy books which promote chatter! I listened to this on audiobook and as soon as I heard the first words I was absolutely gripped. I don’t find it easy to categorise this novel or to summarise it neatly. This is a story of mothers, of relationships, of ‘motherhood’. It is the story of Blythe, her Mother and Grandmother and their mothering. At the beginning of the novel we see Blythe standing outside a house looking in at what we think might be her husband and child with another woman…The story switches between the stories of the three women and between past and present. Why is Blythe standing outside looking in? The audiobook was superb and I felt the narration by Marin Ireland if anything magnified the darkness of the story, adding an almost hypnotic feeling which drew me in. The writing is beautiful, almost poetic, placing word after word in such a perfect sentence that it felt laden with meaning and Marin Ireland articulates these sentences perfectly. I was completely under the spell both of her narration and the prose she was reading. I loved this book for its honesty and its frankness. So many women become mothers but so few books discuss this period of a woman’s life with such a knowing eye, or turn a light on post-natal depression and how it affects the mother-child bond, or contemplate where it really does go wrong. I listened to this book on audiobook but I have now purchased the hardback as I know I want to read this again, to look deeper, search out clues and enjoy it again. With thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK Audio for a digital copy of this book.

"The Push" encompasses the stories of three generations of mothers and subverts our expectations about traditional mother/daughter relationships. I wondered throughout if Blythe was perhaps an unreliable narrator and you'll just have to carry it to find out. The book does raises questions about nature vs nurture. Ashley Audrain's dark debut makes for compulsive reading and I suspect it stays with you long after the final, shocking lines. This starts by saying that a woman's eggs are traceable back through the mother and grandmother. The book explains it better. It flits between different timelines of the grandmother, mother and the daughter who is the main character. Each daughter narrates each timeline. I'm not sure if it was because it was an audiobook but I did get confused on who was who. But, honestly, it didn't really matter in the end as you realise they all suffered from the hands of their mothers. Then this is transferred down the line. I would recommend the print version to the audiobook - just purely as I didn't think much of the narrator. But either way - you MUST read this book. I feel it will be a massive talking point in 2021! Book club recommendation here! The end was like woah! I am astounded that this is a debut novel. Audrain is one to try!

I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Marin Ireland, I found her too slow so sped up her voice after I did find that I enjoyed it better. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher Penguin for the Arc..

I unfortunately had to DNF this book as I found the protagonist’s attitude towards her pregnancy and motherhood to be personally triggering. The audio as far as I managed to listen, was perfect. Well narrated, interesting and easy to follow. I will still post briefly about the book on Instagram and review as a DNF on The Storygraph as it was no fault of the author or the audiobook that I cannot finish it. Big thank you to Penguin Audio and the author for access to this audiobook. Sorry I can’t review properly!

I wanted to read or listen to this, but it was then marked as archived before I could download the book into my device.

I have to admit it took the book a while to get going, and I didn't warm to either Bly or Fox, finding their initial relationship sickly sweet. I also found the back story with Bly's family over long and over written. But Violet's story is excellent, well told, and very creepy and it lifts this book to four stars. I loved the narrator - her flattened delivery accurately summing up Bly's state of mind.

What a book. Motherhood isn’t easy for anyone, but when you are cursed with a daughter who isn’t all she seems, who knows how you should behave. This story has so many twists and turns it makes you feel quite sick at times. I really enjoyed the edginess.

I was lucky enough to be given an audio version of this from Netgalley. I think this version really brings the book to life. You feel the heart ache and experience first hand the emotions running through this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Michael Joseph and Ashley Audrain for my arc of The Push in exchange for an honest review. 
Out now 

The Push spans 3 generations of women and motherhood. We see young couple Fox and Blythe happy and in love and Blythe's determination to be a good mother despite her own mother's failings. Flash backwards show us her experience of childhood with her neglectful and sometimes abusive mother and also of her mother Cecelia's experiences with her own difficult mother Etta. But after Violet is born Blythe finds motherhood is nothing like she expected or hoped it would be, something is wrong with Violet. Fox says it's all in her head. But when baby Sam arrives Blythe finds in him the mother son connection she's always wanted...
I've seen this book everywhere. I genuinely don't know when I'm going to learn the lesson of not buying into the hype because this was hugely disappointing for me. I was expecting to enjoy a creepy thriller and what I got instead was a depressing, mood hoovering, soul sucker of a book with the most unlikeable characters I've ever read. Blythe is supposed to be an unreliable narrator but doesn't come across that way, instead of questioning whether she's imagining violet's behaviour I fully believed it from the get go and consequently ended up hating Fox for being so unsupportive and blind to what his daughter was doing and not supporting his wife. This book took my relatively good mood and turned into a dark and miserable one that left me waking up this morning feeling maudlin and miserable.
If you're not the sort of person who absorbs the mood of a book then you may be ok with this one but to be honest I wouldn't even recommend it for the plot it's just not that interesting or unique.

I read The Push by Ashley Audrain as part of a global readalong. Huge thank you to tandem and to Michael J Books, for sending me a hardcover copy of this book so I can join the readalong. The Push really intrigued me from the very first start and it was one of those books I devoured in a day, needing to know the next chapter. If you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller, it will not let you down.

Synopsis:
Blythe is afraid that history will repeat itself when her first child, Violet, is born. Having a complicated relationship with her own mother, she is dedicated to give all the love and attention to Violet.

But Violet is not an easy child, and something is not right. She doesn’t smile at all, and no matter how much Blythe tried, Violet seems to not like her at all. Blythe’s husband, Fox, is certain that Blythe is just imagining this. But he cannot understand what Blythe has experienced as a child.

Fighting a battle that she might never be able to win, Blythe is on the verge of losing her daughter, her family, her husband, her marriage, and everything she does seems to be wrong. Is her child really evil, or is she just being delusional?

My Thoughts:
The Push was certainly a different book, unlike anything else I’ve read. Many people in our group have compared it to “We Need To Talk About Kevin” by Lionel Shriver, because of the style of writing. I haven’t read that one, so I couldn’t compare it, but it’s definitely on my radar now.

The Push is written in a first person perspective, where Blythe is telling her story to her husband, Fox. There are also parts in the book where we follow the stories of Blythe’s mother and Blythe’s grandmother. These parts help us learn more about those relationships and help us understand Blythe better, as well how her childhood plays a part in her relationship with her daughter, Violet.

The relationship between Blythe and Violet was presented in such a unique way, full of anxiety. Their interactions made me uncomfortable many times, but I enjoyed that. It’s not often that a book can push me out of comfort zone like that and I hope to find more books like this in the future. I am not a mother myself, but this book might be a hard read for parents. Especially during certain scenes, I could barely read chapters without taking a break.

The short chapters and the many plot twists are what made The Push unputdownable for me.
I was staying up all night, flipping pages and I loved that. I mostly felt for Blythe, because of what she was going through. no one should have to experience that and she should have received more support from her husband. However, there were also instances where she was neglecting Violet as a child and I wonder whether this had any consequences to Violet’s personality later on, as well as her development.

I loved the suspense of The Push, as well as the fact that we can never truly trust Blythe to tell us the truth, because this is her story, but it may not necessarily be completely true. The only part that I wanted more of was the ending. It didn’t finish as concluded as I’d hoped, but that’s just my personal preference. I also hoped to see Violet’s point of view, as well as what was going on through the husband’s mind – I feel like this might have brought more plot twists, or make people choose sides and discuss this.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Push.
It was a very interesting and dark psychological thriller. Extremely fast-paced and full of plot twists. If you are looking for something to keep you on your toes, look no further.

Push... I listened to the audio book. This is an intense story that explores countless angles of motherhood, daughterhood and the relationships that both impact and are impacted by that dynamic. It further explores the nature-nurture argument as we watch an inter-generational unfolding of emotional twists and turns, where there is a longing for love, even when it is absent, leading ultimately to a sense of failure.

Blythe is an unreliable narrator, owing mostly to her self-doubt, which escalates as time goes by, and this serves to force the listener to 'read between the lines'. She struggles between what she 'knows' and what she 'believes' to be the truth. It is an intense examination of the effects of relationships on one's sense of self and well-being. The whole story is a demonstration of her need to be heard, listened to... it is her account of events.

The listener might recognise parts of themself, or of people they know, in the characters, or relate to situations they have experienced. There is a lot of sadness in this story - some desperate sadness at times, but also a lot of love and hope. It is certainly thought provoking. I'm pleased that I listened to it, and would recommend it.

The Push is a dark, slow burner with a cracking final line in the book. (Dont read ahead, it will ruin it for you!)

Blythe gives birth to her daughter Violet but doesn't settle in to motherhood as she hoped. She has a hard time with her daughter and to be frank, they don't get on from birth. Her husband is not supportive and makes is clear to Blythe he thinks she is the problem. Blythe is left wondering who the problem is with, her or Violet.

If you are a fan of gone girl and girl on the train you'll enjoy this.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

When Blythe gives birth to her daughter, Violet, she is saddened to discover motherhood is not always the idyllic picture it is painted as, and she struggles with her emotions and to bond with her young daughter. With her relationship with her husband becoming strained, she looks back at her relationship with her own mother to try and understand a bit more.
When tragedy strikes, Blythe can no longer be the mother she is expected to be and starts to dread spending time alone with her daughter. She is starting to wonder if she is justified in her apprehension around Violet or if the problem lies within herself.
The plot was dark and gripping, this book did not shy away from difficult questions Blythe faced and it was intriguing to find out where the story was going.
I was hooked!