The Push is the author's first book. Her writing is truly exceptional. Through flashbacks and, more crucially, their deeds, we get to know her characters. I never lost interest reading this novel. The suspense was enough to keep my attention and the characters will cause the readers to feel a variety of emotions, such as happiness, anger, and heartbreak. It was a great page turner with enough suspense to keep you guessing.

This was a tough one! It had it all in terms of traumatic childhood, unreliable narrator, marital issues. All the makings of a good thriller. It was unsettling and well written. The ending was a bit predictable if you read a lot of thrillers but still a good read.

I loved this. I was hesitant going into this book because I had seen some mixed reviews, so I did not expect to love this as much as I did. I will say, I don't think this book should be marketed as a thriller, and I think if you go in expecting a thriller, you'll probably be disappointed. This is more of a psychological drama about a family, and it's a character study of our protagonist Blythe.

This story will take you on some very emotional journeys as you follow a young woman into her marriage and child bearing years. The story is built in layers and does ramp up the tension and "bad" vibes you'll feel as Blythe first embraces her longing for a conventionally normal life only to have it turn into one of those front page stories you see in the news every day.

Ashley Audrain has poured so much feeling into THE PUSH, I'm surprised the cover was not splattered with her tears. She wrings out every emotion a less than confident young mother can experience only to show us the horrible aftermath of everyone ignoring her cries for help. This was one helluva good book.

A psychological, emotional debut thriller/horror mash-up. Blythe wants to be a *good* mother. She did not have the ideal childhood so she desperately wants to control that narrative for her daughter, Violet.
Except, Violet is not a "normal" child.
This reminded me a bit of Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage. The way the child comes between a happy couple who view their child through a different lens.
It also reminded me of Rosemary's Baby with the gaslighting.
Growing tension and an unsettled feeling throughout made this a page-turning thriller that I had to get to the bottom of--a relentless unease that was so amazing! I will for sure read more by this author.

I really enjoyed The Push. It was dark, twisty, and kept me guessing. I got Verity and Turn of the Screw vibes from it. This book definitely isn't for everyone as it can be triggering, but I did enjoy trying to figure out the next moves and still experienced several surprises. I didn't love the characters, so I wasn't as invested as I could have been, but this was still a great book for sure.

I thought The Push was an extremely brave book. It was difficult to read, yet a compelling family drama. I am a bit tired of the fathers in books completely disregarding the mother's feelings and intuition.

Oh my goodness. I listened to this book, and I COULD NOT STOP LISTENING. This was very intense and extremely dark, but I thought it was so, so good.
Definitely one of the best books I've listened to. This is one that will stay with me for a long time.
And now I need a drink.
I've recommended this to several friends, and they have all really liked it too.

I was disappointed at first because many of the blurbs and reviews stated it was a thriller, though it most definitely is not. It has a lot of the same beats as a thriller, but the focus is more on the tolls of motherhood and intergenerational trauma rather than the potentially evil child. Regardless, it was a wonderful and quick read with an absolute gut-punch of a final line.

I enjoyed this one well enough, but it never gripped me like I thought it would. It's gotten great reviews, so it may just be that this wasn't really what I was into at the time.
It took me a minute to realize that there was a futuristic/distopian type element to this book, and that is not generally my kind of book. I do think that it would make for a good discussion about what does being a good mother mean? Are mothers allowed to make mistakes? Which mistakes cross the line? etc.

This book was definitely interesting but it was hard go keep up with the characters/storyline at the start. I had to write down notes to keep track of who was who, and felt the author could’ve told the story in a more cohesive way. Overall, the premise was very intriguing and I loved the air of mystery in which it ended. I would read more books by this author in the future.

Really well told story. A little creepy at the beginning but worth getting past that part for the rest of the story. An excellent choice for book groups.

This book is very well-written. The characters are complex, realistic, and evoke deep emotions. However, the overall story was just too bleak. I can handle tough, dark, grim, etc. but I need that level of despair to be balanced with some hope or beauty, and despite the dollop given at the end, it wasn't enough for me.

ominous and compelling. though i thought that the ending of this book was somewhat predictable, i couldn't put it down and enjoyed the exploration of trauma and motherhood within this book. blythe's voice was captivating, and i found myself enjoying the time i spent in her head. i love books that explore the darker aspects of motherhood, and this book fit the bill. i do feel like audrain wasn't quite sure if she wanted this to be a tense, quiet psychological drama or a total thriller, which showed with the character of violet, but i liked the novel nevertheless.

Wow-
This was a story of motherhood unlike anything I’ve ever read.
And one that will linger for a long time..
Five stars and I cent wait to see what comes next from this amazing author.

This book had so much potential....sadly I did not find that it lived up to it. For a suspense, I felt like the plot was very straight forward and did not leave many surprises or twists.

A psychological family drama more than a thriller. This was a very good book. Intense. The writing is incredible.I couldn’t stop reading. Definitely recommend!

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a great psychological suspense tale of family drama. I appreciated the pacing and character development, but I was disappointed with the abrupt ending.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Viking for the e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

A roller coaster of a book. Intense and sad and always leaving you on the edge of your seat. Such a good, fast read.

I read The Push about a year after having my first child. I was curious to read this one because of the description addressing the fears and exhaustion that comes with motherhood. I feel like so much of motherhood and having kids is put through rose-colored lenses. No one wants to talk about the struggle for fear of feeling or sounding like a “bad mom,” so I was really interested in the potential here.

When it comes to the struggle and the journey, I’ve probably always been a bit more blunt and honest than most people. I’ve also always wanted to be a mom and thought that most of it would come naturally. I had no idea that something like breastfeeding, which women have been doing since the dawn of time, could be so difficult. So, I went into this book expecting to relate to the main character Blythe.

Unfortunately, I didn’t relate to Blythe at all and I struggled to understand her perspective, making it that much harder to read this book. I do think Blythe had postpartum depression, which was likely only made worse by a lack of support and family. However, I thought that Blythe was really selfish, and even through all of the hard times, I just can’t imagine putting in headphones and letting my baby cry, neglecting feedings and diaper changes.

The Push explores themes of grief and loss, as well as motherhood, of course. It also really delved into the importance of being yourself in a relationship. So often people become what their partners want, especially early on in a relationship when you’re in the “honeymoon phase,” but eventually the pretenses fall away. The thing is that when those pretenses are gone, you really see each other for who you really are, and too often you’re no longer a fit.

While I loved all of the themes this book explored, I can’t say I particularly enjoyed reading it at the time. It took me a long time to even get through this story, but I will say that by the end there were some unexpected twists that did make it more entertaining and thrilling.