Thank you for the ARC of this book. I really dislike leaving negative job ok reviews. I just could not get into this book. 😔

I have to admit to loving a good murder mystery, especially the Christie-esque type with a fixed number of suspects. And this new title from Claire McGowan is a thoroughly enjoyable read, if not the absolute nail-biter I expected.

The premise is intriguing: A house party. Six couples from an antenatal group getting together for the first time since their happy events. And a dead body in the rockery that nobody saw falling from the balcony above.

It’s a classic whodunnit, with the added intrigue of who-got-it, and I was hooked from the get go. The plot unfolds slowly but with enough bite to hold your attention, driven largely by a fascinating cast of characters.

These are a wonderfully disparate group of people, whose paths would never cross under any other circumstances. We have the six couples, a scarily unnerving doula, and a female detective, Alison, whose own fertility issues lend an uncomfortable edge to her role as investigator.

I really like how McGowan keeps the identity of the victim under wraps until the end of the book. And how she picks away at the dynamics of the group and of each couple, exposing cracks, flaws and tensions, and eliciting sympathy for some characters and loathing for others.

As the investigation unfolds, it becomes clear that each person has something to hide from their partner, making it impossible for Alison to get to the truth.

There aren’t any shocking twists or gasp-aloud moments in The Push. It’s more of a gentle ride than a rollercoaster. But it’s still a compelling, immersive read, with keen insight into human behaviour and an ending that’s quietly satisfying.

I absolutely loved this book, full of twists and turns with a rather brilliant ending !
I always have loved a thriller and this was a 'proper' one !
I give this brilliant read 9/10

Six diverse couples, one antenatal class, five pregnancies, only four babies... who are the fathers? In fact, who are the mothers? Two frustrated coppers, one missing cat, one PUSH! Murder? surely but who's the victim, who is the killer and why? Everyone has a secret! Thoroughly enjoyed

After reading some of the other reviews of The Push, I had to double check I'd read the same book because I really liked it. It's about a group of women who meet at an antenatal class, and after the birth of their babies are invited to a BBQ at the home of one of the mothers. There, someone falls from a balcony, dying instantly as they hit the deck. Was it a fall, or were they pushed?

The story is told from alternating POVs, mainly focussing on that of Jax who is married to a husband 14 years her junior. At 38, Jax is considered by health professionals as a geriatric in terms of motherhood and she really battles with this and with how she thinks other people perceive her for having such a young husband. The other characters all have their own story, some more intriguing than others I have to say.

And as for Nina who leads the antenatal class, well let's just say if I was in her class, she'd have had the sharp edge of my tongue in the first session. What a horrible woman, and whilst some of her methods had me laughing out loud (a knitted vagina I ask you!) her blatant bitchiness and put downs made me really cross.

The fall happens at Monica's house. Monica's absolutely perfect, not a thing out of place house. Monica arranges the BBQ to get everyone together to celebrate the birth of their babies. There's something about Monica and her own baby that just doesn't seem right. And when someone falls from the balcony and lands on Monica's precious rockery, splattering grey matter all over the lovely garden, well, Monica is less than impressed.

Our hero cop is DS Alison Hegarty, ably assisted by her partner Diana Mendes. I loved these two. Alison herself is struggling to get pregnant, so to be surrounded by all these women is like something out of her worst nightmare. Alison needs to figure out exactly what happened at this party. Was it a fall, or a push?

I quite agree with some other reviewers when they say this book is not a psychological thriller because in my option it isn't. But it is a very good domestic drama and I'm glad to have read it.

A group of six first time mothers and their partners meet weekly at an antenatal (prenatal) group in London. The couples are from diverse backgrounds and a wide span of ages having nothing more in common than the fact that they are all about to be first time parents. After the babies have arrived a party is hosted by one of the group members to come together one last time to meet all of the newborns. What is supposed to be a wonderful reunion turns tragic when one of the group dies after falling from a balcony of the hostess’ home. At first glance the death seems to be an accident but as an investigation takes shape the party attendees and the residents of the home all seem to be hiding something.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book but the premise grabbed my attention. I really enjoyed the characters and the setup overall.
This is my first McGowan book and I definitely did not expect some of the twists which was a nice surprise!
Recently I’ve had a hard time finding good thrillers but this one scratched that itch. I think the pacing had some issues here and there which is why I didn’t end up rating it higher, but overall I recommend The Push!

Thank you to @NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Push was an excellent murder mystery. Through the detective Allison’s work we learn that almost everyone at the party could have done it. It took me quite a few pages to keep track of who was partnered with who. I did guess some of the subplots but definitely did not figure out the whole story. I have become a big Claire McGowan fan and will always read her books!

What was supposed to be a nice party for six couples and their newborns takes a drastic turn when one of the partygoers ends up dead. As DS Alison Hegarty works to uncover the facts surrounding the tragic death, while facing her own infertility issues, she must dig deeply into the lives of each couple, beginning with where they met; an antenatal class.

The Push jumps from the present to the past, as well as being told from multiple viewpoints. I really liked this about the novel because it gives the reader the opportunity to see the action and emotions through the eyes of multiple characters, allowing them to be better understood. The characters themselves are very different from one another with extremely different backgrounds. 

I really wanted to like this book, but I found it very predictable, which took a lot away from my enjoyment of the novel. I often had things figured out long before their reveal and wasn’t surprised enough. I also think that it needed to either have less characters that are better developed, or it needed to be longer so more could be done with the characters; I honestly felt like there was a lot that was missing or was glanced over.

I really had a hard time getting through this one. It had a good storyline to start, but it seemed to drone on with all the possible suspects. I forced myself to get through to 30% of the book. I just couldn’t read anymore. Sorry to the author. I won’t share my review because it could just be me.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

The party should have been perfect: six couples from the same baby group, six newborns and a luxurious house. But not everything goes to plan. Some were there to celebrate while others had their sorrows to drown. When someone falls from the balcony of the house, the secrets and conflicts within the group begin to spill out. DS Alison Hegarty,who is struggling with infertility, is called out to investigate. She's convinced the fall was not an accident. She also finds the new parents have a lot to hide.

The story is told from multiple points of view and it unfolds at a steady pace. The more DS Alison Hegarty digs the more she realises that everyone has got something to hide. I didn't like any of the characters and the pace was slow in the first half of the book. There is two different timeliness, one in the present day the other was leading up to the birth of the babies. I did figure most of it out but that doesn't spoil story for me.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #AmazonPublishingUK and the author #C.aireMcGowan for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Push reminded me a lot of Big Little Lies, so if you are looking for that kind of a vibe, definitely check this one out.

A group of expectant parents meet in a support group as they wait for their babies to be born. The group is a diverse one, including an expectant mother with a much older daughter, a woman with a partner over fifteen years younger than she, a lesbian couple, and a couple using a surrogate.

Then someone in the group is murdered. The police detective assigned to the case is herself facing infertility and has to untangle why this person died.

There were a LOT of POVs in this one, something I'm not crazy about, but it was necessary for the story. And by the ⅔ mark I was pretty sure I'd figured out a major reveal.

Definitely an enjoyable read.

As a whole this book wasn't really for me. The story follows a group of very different people brought together only by the fact that they're all expecting children. When one of them dies during a backyard barbecue, it's up to a detective dealing with infertility to determine whether or not it was an accident, as presented, or something more sinister.

It's a solid mystery, and I think keeps you on your toes by keeping the victim's identity hidden for a large part of the story. It's clear that each character has something to hide and that there is more to the story. The chapters alternate POV of each of the characters throughout the book, and while that typically doesn't bother me, there were just so many of them that it was just a bit too much to keep track of in my opinion.

I also didn't really like any of the characters and that made it difficult for me to really connect to the story.

All in all not bad, just not really one of my favorites in a genre that I love.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really hate to rate this book so low but this book just isn’t good. It was marketed as a psychological thriller but its very slow, too many characters and without cohesion in the time jumps. I wanted to quit this book at multiple points but I forced myself to finish it and it was ....odd. Thank you NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This one was an entertaining read and I would recommend it to readers who would like an introduction to domestic thrillers. I figured out a few of the twists toward the beginning of the book but kept reading to find out if I was correct. The alternating timelines were really well written, and I did enjoy how the end of the book wrapped up almost all of the endings for each character.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

A long book detailing events in the past, present, and future, with multiple narrators, all centered around an incident that happened at an innocent barbecue one sunny Saturday.
This book was truly amazing. An incredible look into 13 very different people and their lives with babies thrown in the mix. (no babies were harmed in the making of this story). The ironic bit I realized about this book was actually the title and the missing scenes of actual childbirth. Many babies were born, and yet, this story is literally about someone getting pushed. A book on babies and parenting is titled The Push; the very verb famous for childbirth, without any gruesome scenes detailing the event!

I loved the character arcs, the mysteries, the satisfying endings for most of the characters, and the way that the story unfolded; taking its time. The length of the story is important in order for the reader to get a true taste of the different lives. Each character is intricate, detailed, human, and important for the crux of the resolution. The vast differences with each woman and her childbirth story was really important and representative. Not just of women in reality, but also representative of the importance that covering up miscarriages or stillbirths, or depression, is not healthy and nor is talking about it shameful. Yes women have been having children in all of history and they never had counseling, or medications, or epidurals, or vaccines, or birthing plans. But more women have been lost to childbirth and mothering and domestic disputes than all the wars in history combined. These were important details that I found were truly what made the book. It's not just about the mysterious death, it's about the lives of these newly-made parents and their coping strategies on taking care of babies that some expected, while others were surprised by.

I loved reading this book and learning about the characters. While some were tedious to get to know, others were much easier to sympathize with.

This book is intriguing in its plot all the way through, and the endings for all the characters are not wrapped up in neat bows, but are satisfying in that the characters learn about themselves and grow as people together and individually.

I highly recommend this domestic drama/murder mystery because of the depth in the story, and because the journey to the end is not as important as the journey to self-discovery that the characters go through. I loved reading the mysteries as well and guessing the answers. I guessed many of them correctly although it didn't take the fun out of reading!

<i>*Thank you to the publishers; Amazon Publishing UK, the author; Claire McGowan, and Netgalley for my free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review!</i>

A five star gripping thriller to read. A group of couples meet at a birthday class. Fast forward to a party and someone ends up dead. Well developed characters add such depth to the plot. A must read.

So, when I requested this one, I was expecting something completely different than what it was. This was a hard one for me to get into. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters because a) almost every single one was terrible and b) I’m not a mother. I didn’t realize there would be so much baby talk; not that it was a bad thing, it’s just nothing that I can relate to. I also predicted some of the major twists very early on. I did get sucked into the drama and at times I found that I couldn’t put it down. I also liked how we’re not immediately told who died, adding another layer to the mystery. But this was yet another book classified as a thriller that was just a bunch of drama with hardly any mystery and predictable “twists”.

A baby group comprised of six couples. Their instructor is a woman named Nina.
Each of the couples are having a baby and are in this group to help them learn what to expect duri g childbirth. On young girl is always at the class alone. Her boyfriend works long hours. Max is an older woman with a very young boyfriend.
Six couples, each with something to hide. Secrets of the heart. Nothing illegal. But if discovered by their partner could damage the relationship.
A part is thrown by one of the mothers for all the new babies. At the party tempers will flare, secrets will be revealed and someone will die.
A psychological thriller. Intriguing, surprising, a must read.

The Push by Claire McGowan was about a group of expectant parents attending a prenatal class together. It was a very diverse group with a lot of secrets........including a murder of one of the members. It sounds like a great plot and it would be a real page turner. Unfortunately, it seemed to have a lot of the same regarding the conversation of the couples and it moved really slow through the middle of the book. The ending had a lot of surprising twists and turns and was that page turner I was expecting. I felt it was an average read and entertaining enough to warrant three stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the advanced copy of this mystery which goes on sale tomorrow, November 12, 2020.