4.5 rounded up

I loved ‘The Push’ so eagerly open the pages of this one and I’m so not disappointed!! It all starts at a party in the Loverly’s backyard, the most expensive house on the street. Three children belong here, three year old twins - one of each - and an older boy of 10. He looks a bit of a scruff but Whitney’s husband Jacob wisely counsels her to let it go but Xavier sure knows how to push her buttons. She tolerates him as long as she can and then let’s rip and oh boy, does she ever. Unfortunately for her every single person at the party hears her profane tirade. Fast forward to nine months later and Xavier is brought to hospital having fallen from his bedroom window. He’s in a medically induced coma. What happens? How and why did this happen? Is Whitney responsible? Every key female character has their own theory. There’s Blair, her neighbour, bored and very alone with her thoughts a jumbled mess and Rebecca a doctor. She has a lot going on in her own life alongside her concerns for Xavier. Finally, there’s elderly Mara, who at 82 is largely invisible but sees all and feels much. These three give their perspective and tell their own story which runs alongside Whitney, Before and After.

Phew! Can Ashley Audrain ever write! It’s so intense that you become wrapped up in these characters lives and put the book down with utmost reluctance. It’s an exceptionally well written and accomplished novel which is perceptively observed. All the characters are acutely and deftly portrayed with their interactions and silences telling us a great deal. It’s a powerful and at times chilling psychological domestic/ neighbourhood thriller with a plot that mesmerises me. There’s the white noise of many internal whispers that characters desperately try to combat and the more audible whispers of judgements. There are some uncomfortable moments where you feel the dark thoughts and emptiness of loss or feeling lost or you catch the sadness and raw despair which is very moving. There are several key moments where it’s an emotional heart tugger with everything from tragedy to cruelty. As the pressure builds you find you are anticipating the inevitable explosion but are uncertain of its likely source but are certain in the knowledge that it will detonate lives. When the truth emerges it’s a gut puncher and the ultimate ending is so, so good.

Overall, it must be obvious by now that this is another immersive winner for me. Ashley Audrain is an immensely gifted and talented writer and I look forward to reading her next tour de force. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Michael Joseph for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

I absolutely loved The Push and so was very much looking forward to this new book.

One morning the normal small suburban neighbourhood of Harlow Lane four families lives will completely change forever.

This book is full of drama, twists and turns. There is lots of suspense and intrigue to keep you guessing along the way. This book could also be triggering for some people with some of the subjects it covers.

Another terrific character drama from this author who does reality, especially the realities of women, so very well.

Neighbourhood drama, hidden secrets and differing perceptions form the heart of this psychological thriller, which is easily a one sitting read and manages a clever and thought provoking plot brilliantly.

Plenty of emotion and some unexpected moments The Whispers is a terrific read. Recommended

I really enjoyed reading "The Push" by Ashley Audrain so was delighted to be able to read an ARC of "The Whispers". Once again, she looks at the dark side of motherhood but unfortunately this book didn't seem to have the same edge as her first novel. Despite the seemingly simple set up of characters, I struggled to remember which husband belonged to which wife, and I'm still not entirely sure what happened to Mara's son. A good story but just lacking something.

After having read the debut novel from this author, ‘The Push’, I was keen to read the next title from Ashley Audrain and was pleased to receive an advanced readers copy of ‘The Whispers’.

One morning on Harlow Lane, a normal suburban neighbourhood, four families lives are changed forever. Whitney, the professional business woman with the seemingly perfect life is sat by her 10 year old son’s bed after he’s fallen from his bedroom window in the middle of the night. Her best friend Blythe doesn’t know what to do to help, or even if she should when she discovers what Whitney is hiding? Rebecca, the newest arrival to the neighbourhood and the doctor treating the boy, is desperate for a child and can relate to losing a child after suffering several miscarriages but is there something she’s missing with her husband now she’s pregnant again? And what about the elderly couple across the street? Silently watching the comings and goings, how do they fit in?

This was a book that throws you to the drama right from the very beginning, from the first introduction to all the characters you know that something is underlying with them all and the suspense and intrigue is built through each chapter. It does discuss some events quite graphically and would warn this could be triggering for some readers , specifically in relation to miscarriages. This is a title that will definitely stay with you long after you’ve read it, another powerful read from this author and would continue to read more from her.

I loved this authors first book ‘The Push’ so was looking for more of the same with this one. If I am completely honest I struggled to get to grips with this one for awhile due to the amount of characters. Once I got it into my head who was who is improved a lot.

All the neighbours are gathered at the barbecue on an Harlow Street, the neighbourhood couples and their children are enjoying food and drinks late into the night. Everything seems to be going so well until the hostess explodes in fury when her son disobeys her. Later that night that same young boy falls from his bedside window and is now in hospital. His mother, Whitney Loverly sits close to her son and refuses to speak to anyone as her son’s life hangs by a thread.

Over the next three days the women try to deal with what happened on that terrible night.

This is story of friendships, envy, desire and secrets, there is a lot going on to keep you interested.

I enjoyed it in the end but not as much as ‘The Push’ but that was an hard act to follow.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Michael Joseph UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first book by this author, however I was really excited to read it after hearing great things about “the push”.
I really enjoyed this book. The writing is very accomplished but the style remains engaging. It’s a great domestic thriller that I’m sure will stick with me and one that I’ll definitely recommend to others.

I enjoyed the author's writing style and I admire her determination to write about the grittier, unspoken side of motherhood, like she does in The Push. Motherhood is not always easy or pretty or rainbows and unicorns..... It can be selfish, ugly, resentful and many many more things. The Whispers does indeed paint a bright light on this topic and how different women parent. I do feel that many of the characters felt like similar characters The husbands were also not really memorable. .

Too many POV's, too similar, too much story I think....or maybe too much background to the story? I don't know, but I just could not connect with this story or the characters. In addition I found the graphic sexual content unnecessary for the type of book that this was.

Miscarriage is also featured and very graphically, so please ensure you're aware of that as a trigger warning!

2.5 stars

I was delighted to be sent an ARC of this book from Netgalley as I loved Ashley Audrain's The Push. This book has a similar premise, the dark side of parenthood, a neighbourhood full of secrets....but this felt highly contrived and a but underwhelming. An entertaining read but not one I'd be recommending to all and sundry!

Always read a 2nd book by a writer with a fantastic debut with trepidation. But another triumph. Absolutely gripping. Most characters are flawed with one standing out as tragic and wronged and it’s just a matter of waiting to see who that is. However, the rest are all people we know.
I’m going to buy it on release for everyone. And if you’ve not read the first book….go, go, go!

This was completely unputdownable, much like THE PUSH. Also like THE PUSH, it is not an easy read for parents, and I found parts of it quite upsetting. But it's unbelievably gripping, and I would definitely recommend.

A brilliant read. What happened on the night when Whitney Loverly's son falls from his bedroom window is the question that everyone needs to know the answer to. Her neighbours who are also supposedly her friends all became involved in one way or another due to the problems they all have in their own lives but will the truth finally come out and will any of them be involved in any way. A story that keeps you gripped from the beginning with great characters many of whom are struggling with many emotional and guilty secrets. I really enjoyed it

A really tense read and an excellent follow up to The Push - The Whispers is a brilliant domestic thriller.
3.5 stars.

The Whispers, in many ways, feels like it could be a companion novel to The Push but I'm not sure I'll be recommending it quite as widely. I found it gripping, but where The Push was a sharp punchy thriller as well as a character-driven psychological drama, this one is firmly the latter.

Audrain writes in such a raw, honest and emotive way that I feel sure she must have experienced what she's describing herself, yet each character, each experience of motherhood and womanhood is so vastly different that she cannot possibly have been all these characters. It's a true talent that she can make them so wholly convincing, so deeply-flawed and often unlikable and yet still make us care about them.

This book follows four very different women who live in the same neighbourhood, whose lives intersect in various ways. Whitney is a working parent, causing both envy (for being the woman who "has it all") and judgement (for not being there full-time for her kids); Blair is a stay-at-home parent who often feels taken for granted, unappreciated, unmoored; Rebecca desperately wants a baby but a series of miscarriages have left her heartbroken; Mara had a neurodivergent son and blames herself for what happened to him.

Audrain shows why different women make the choices they do and depicts how they punish themselves (and each other) for those choices. She shows women pushed to the brink in their desperation to be the perfect mother, or a mother at all. So many times I would read a sentence in this book and my heart would clench because I could feel exactly what the author was describing; it struck me as such an accurate, if horrible, depiction of what someone would feel in those circumstances.

The stories of these women revolve around the event at the centre of the story-- that of Whitney's son fighting for his life in a hospital bed after he plummeted from his bedroom window. Everyone has a theory as to what happened and most of them are hiding something themselves.

I can't wait for the author's next book.

I loved The Push and was delighted to be approved to read The Whispers.

The story centres around a street on which live 4 couples, whose lives are interlinked in some way together. Whitney and her family live next door to Mara and Albert, an older couple who keep themselves to themselves. Rebecca and Ben are a childless couple, but not for want for trying. Blair and Aiden live across the road with their daughter Chloe, a good friend of Xavier who’s the eldest child of Whitney and Jacob.

The lives of the people on the street are changed forever after Xavier is found unconscious below his bedroom window in the middle of the night. Just how did he get there? Why is Whitney not speaking to anyone? Just what is the truth behind the lives of the families on Harlow Lane?

I would highly recommend this book - I couldn’t put it down and am already looking forward to more from this author.

Non of these characters is having an easy time, and non of them are what they seem on surface level.
This is very much a story of the females in the neighbourhood, the husbands are bit part actors.
Some of the scenes, especially with Rebecca , pulled on my heart strings just a bit.
An interesting look at how everyone is coping (or not) with their own troubles.
Their is a mystery in here, what did happen the night one of the children fell, but for me, it was very much secondary to the domestic dramas.

If you liked Ashley Audrains previous book the push, you will love her newest release the whispers. A domestic thriller that makes you question whether a mother would hurt their child.

Ashley Audrain does it again! Another incredible domestic thriller, if you loved THE PUSH, prepare to be totally captivated by THE WHISPERS. This book was like the lovechild of Liane Moriarty and THE SLAP, exposing the devastating secrets of three ‘normal’ suburban families. A proper page-turned and a must read!

WOW!!!! What an amazing book. This was a superb read with excellent characters. Whitney Mara ,& Blair are so well wrtitten & their stories are brilliant. This book is SUPERB! I wish I could give it more then 5 stars

I was obsessed with The Push so very excited to read The Whispers. The characterisation was so flawless that I could feel the pain, regrets and conflicts of each of the protagonists as if it were my own. I did feel it was a little 'woe is me' - motherhood is hard but it isn't selfless (in most cases there is a choice, and the ultimate decision to be a mother is all too often selfish - humans are at their core self motivated) so I found myself unable to sympathise with that aspect. I also wasn't as enamoured by the plot, it was somewhat predictable and the ending didn't take me by surprise, but it was still a brilliant novel with stunning, raw writing and expert characterisation.