This book had an excellent premise, but overall fell very flat. It is filled with racist, sexist, ageist characters, most of whom are unlikeable. Jax and Alison were my favorite, their characters were realistic, often humorous, and easy to relate to. There were way too many POVs to slog through. The book could have been a bit shorter to keep the pace faster.

Great psychological mystery. I enjoyed the different cultural and socioeconomic views in this book. It was a little confusing in the start keeping all the characters straight

Once I got into it I was hooked

The book opens with the arrival of DS Alison Hegarty at the scene and her initial observations. The book then alternated between chapters of the current investigation and chapters about the weeks before from the perspectives of each couple. It was executed perfectly with each chapter giving you little bits of cloudy information that only became clear once all the pieces were put together at the end of the book.


For the first half of the book the victim isn't named and I loved trying to work out who they were. Little hints were given about their identity and I really enjoyed trying to work it out before they were revealed.


Each time we found out more about each couple I had more questions! They all had issues with the victim but was it enough to kill them ? and Why ? There had to be something I was missing, something yet to be revealed and I was hooked on finding out .

The plot twists were exciting right up to the end of the book, some were easier to predict than others but they all made for a gripping read.

I flew through this book in less than 24 hours and loved every second of it.

There are two things I would mention to some one before they pick this book up. The first being that struggles with infertility and the loss of a baby are topics that are mentioned throughout the book and are some of the key points for two characters.
The second is that one of the characters is slightly racist and elitist . This character is not meant to be liked and is written in a way where those characteristics are disliked by the other characters. The book makes a point of pointing out these flaws and makes it clear that it isn't ok.


This has been one of the best books I have read in the last few months and I highly recommend it to fans of closed room murder stories !!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for my copy of this book in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and are in no way influenced by the nature in which I received this book .



I really enjoyed the writing style of this book. Different perspectives, quick chapters, it was overall such an easy read. I did find that it was a little predictable, most of it was figured out before I had actually read those parts of the book.

The characters were unlikeable. I found I didn’t like a single one. They were are flawed to the point of being bad people, people that I wouldn’t want to be friends with. Reading which unlikeable characters is quite hard, but I stuck it out because the writing was so easy to read.

I actually ended up listening to this vs reading. This book had a lot of twists I didn’t see coming. I do feel it was a little long in the middle but the ending had so many shocks thrown at you that you can’t help but rate this book high!

Agatha Christie would be proud

I enjoyed reading this exciting and entertaining thriller. The plot was very interesting and it kept me guessing almost to the very end. The Push is a fantastic story.

I just reviewed The Push by Claire McGowan. #ThePush #NetGalley

Thank you NetGalley I thoroughly enjoyed this book and author in exchange for my honest review. I hesitated in requesting this book due to the low reviews but so thankful I had the opportunity to evaluate it myself.
The avenues Claire McGowan depicted with the use of humor, irony and exaggeration was brilliant. Some people may disagree with the depiction of real people, but with my head out of the sand these people exist. I found myself absorbed in the characters’ lives. Exposing six couples, some with clear issues, with current times of the world, was a direct hit on real people and their interactions. You may hate or love their characters but be assured the representation captured many people and their satirical view.
In the beginning, a death has occurred at a cookout/reunion of 6 unlikely couples and 4 babies that were connected by one common thread....a prenatal care class taught by the suave Nina. The web of characters are uniquely peeled like an onion by 2 detectives set out to disprove the death was an accident. It is not revealed at the beginning who died, so I found myself picking through the characters to see who was left........The couples’ suspicious behavior have more to hide than the “incident”, but also secrets, flaws, and personalities are brought to surface with each interview. You may disagree with some characters, but allow yourself to be absorbed into their lives to appreciate the satire especially in Jax.

The character Jax made me laugh aloud and cry for her inability to grasp the maternal instinct that some parents can grasp so easily. I found myself anxiously awaiting for her chapter to roll back around....wanting to skip directly to her story but settled down to each one had a story to tell.

“Maybe that was why my generation found pregnancy and motherhood so hard. In the past, people knew not to make plans. They knew that life was something that happened to you, not something you directed yourself.” ...Jax portrays the ugly side of prenatal and postnatal depression and an exhausting, foggy brain. Feeling deprived of this maternal instinct, is triple fold by an apparent sabotage by an unknown person.

The delivery of past and present has become an addictive, frustrating style. Carrying you through sorrow and compassion with what should have been 6 babies/couples sadly dissolved to 4 babies and disconnected adults, which is clearly delivered in the beginning....this kept me going to find out the how? Why? What happened to them?
I was not disappointed and I hope you will not be.

New parents from a prenatal group meeting up after the births in a swanky house! Everyone has something to hide! A fall from the window but was an accident or more sinister!
The officer assigned to investigate, DS Alison Hegarty is dealing with her own infertility issues and this case hits too close to home. Ed & Monica who own the home where the party is held have a newborn who is just taken out at short intervals during the party to show and photograph and a mysterious teenager daughter who the group only becomes aware of at the party. Hazel & Cathy conceived through a sperm donor, as far as Hazel knows. Anita and Jeremy were planning to adopt but have shown up to the party childless! Kelly, who lost her baby unexpectedly shows up to the party distraught and not thinking straight. Jax is an older woman withe a younger man who has been through some terrible things the last few weeks and is convinced that someone is trying to ruin her life.
With so many people holding on to secrets, they are bound to spill out and the aftermath could have led one to murder.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

A few too many couples for me to fully engage in each character. I didn’t particularly warm to any of them either and did find the book a bit tedious.

Also in my opinion I wouldn’t class this as a psychological thriller. I think I would still like the opportunity to read another of this authors book just this one didn’t capture me unfortunately.

Thank you for the opportunity to read an advanced copy by Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK in return for my honest review.

I quite enjoyed this book of maternity, pregnancy and family relationships. It was an interesting concept that did keep me guessing. However I did find that there were just too many characters to really focus on them all. I rather lost track, but I did enjoy the book.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinions. I felt this was a very easy, pulled you in from the start read, easy to get into and difficult to put down. I liked both Jax and Alison, their characters were realistic, often humorous, and easy to relate to. This book will keep you guessing until the very end. I highly recommend.

This is the thriller you’ve been waiting for!
Told by multiple POV and the timeline jumps from before and after ‘The Push’ each chapter to days, weeks and even minutes, but it is not hard to follow.
To have each character’s perspective is key to the timeline and helps with the suspense.
Six couples take a 8 week community pre-natal class. They are all vastly different couples in age, status, culture and relationship. Their only visible link is their pending baby arrival dates.
When they all gather after births for a final BBQ, one member of the group plunges to death. Each person has a slightly different version of events. Each seems to have something to hide unrelated to the day. How are they all linked?

The Push was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed the book, but found the twists and turns, and the secrets held by each character a little predictable, and there were so many characters that at first I found it tricky to keep track of who was paired with who. That said, the characters are well developed, and I found that I either loved them, or loved to hate them. Every one of them felt very real to me, and I loved the premise of the book, which put me in mind of Lucy Foley's books.

What an interesting premise is used for this title. An antenatal group have been meeting to prepare for the birth of their babies and this is a post-birth party. A murder occurs - or was it an accident? - and for the first part of the tale we do not even know who is it who has died!! Her boss wants this logged as an accident, but DS Alison Hegarty is confident a murder has been committed because not one of the couples at this party have a blameless life. They all have something to hide, and therein lies the tale.
The story unfolds from 10 weeks before the event from the point of view of the mothers to be and the present, and from the point of view of DS Alison Hegarty in the present.
The pace is good and the reveal is not predictable.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Amazon Publishing/Claire McGowan for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

I enjoyed the premise of this book, and the characterizations--I was pulled into the lives of these characters and wanted to know about their secrets. I did figure out the main twists fairly early on (one as soon as Chloe was introduced, and the other about midway through). Despite that, the characters were interesting enough to keep me reading, although I did hope there was going to be another twist that twisted the twists I'd already figured out (if that makes sense!), but that didn't happen. Without spoiling anything, I did find one portion to be a bit too hard to believe, even with willing suspension of disbelief (the portion involving Ed and Isabella), and I was confused about why that part was necessary. Overall, a solid read.

The suspense of The Push was gripping. I went back and forth between who I thought might have been the killer. There were also a few twists at the end that I didn't infer. The only reason I would not recommend for my classroom of sixth-graders would be the strong language and adult content. I enjoyed the book!

I really loved this book. It starts with a reunion party for an ante natal group, where someone falls from the balcony and dies. But was it a fall or was she pushed? The story then goes back 10 weeks and we get to know the very different couples who attended the group. I really liked the characters - they were a diverse mix, and most of them were keeping secrets! The story is pacy and well written, and I was desperate to find out the truth! Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Read this is a matter of hours, barely stopping along the way to do much else.
A few twists along the way but did fathom it all out well before a end.
A real decent read nonetheless.

Thank you to NetGalley, Claire McGowan and Amazon Publishing UK for this ARC.

I wanted to love this book, I really did. The premise sounded great, but the characters are just so unlikable. I actually rooted for certain characters to be killed off! I'm really hoping Claire McGowan's next book is better than this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-arc to review.

The Push follows a hodge podge group of expecting mothers and their partners through the journeys of their pregnancies/adoptions, loss, and postpartum period. I really enjoyed the gambut of characters, from 22 year old Kelly to 44 year old Monica (who I frankly hated). The majority of the story is told from two people's POV - Jacqueline, called Jax, is a 38 year old woman pregnant for the first time with her 24 year old boyfriend. She narrates in the first person; and Alison, a detective, told in third person. I thought that the shift in perspectives was a nice touch. As we moved slowly through the events that the author called "The Day Of" we hear from the other women in the antenatal group, giving the reader a glimpse into their thought processes and psyches.

I have to say that I didn't see a lot of the twists coming! This book is a slow burn, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and getting all the answers I wanted.