The Push begins with a party being held after the birth of the babies from group of women that went through classes together. One of the party-goers has fallen from the balcony. Or was she pushed? This is the question that detectives are trying to figure out the answer to. The story is told from many points of view and throughout a time period from prior to the party leading up to the solving of the crime. The detective interviews the party goers about their relationships with one another and about the events that took place the day of the party. There were many somewhat predictable plot twists but this book was still very good and I didn't want to put it down. I found it a very enjoyable, captivating read. Highly recommend if you love thrillers!

I am sad to say this book was a big disappointment for me. I have read other books by McGowan and I do like her writing style. I was interested and sucked in from the beginning but as the story develops it became more difficult to want to continue.

It surrounds couples who are in a pregnancy class to learn how to be parents. There is a large enough cast of characters that it requires you to really think about each one and their circumstances. To set them apart the author does too much stereotyping. There is demographic for everyone and in that sense it feels very political. No doubt some readers will be offended, not too hard to do. Also, it is a who dunnit kind of story, so we know there is a murder mystery going on with these couples. That being said, the characters all have some kind of secret going on, the reader is immediately suspicious of everyone and likes no one. None of these characters have any qualities that "push" the reader to have hope for them. The plot twists are easy to figure out and the ending is anticlimactic at best.

I am thankful to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this copy.

This book was a great read, I'd been meaning to read it for a long time and wasn't disappointed. Lots of brilliant charectors with their own unique backstory that kept me intrigued right the way through. I really liked how the author tied up the end as well and let the reader know what happened to each person in the story. The book is about a group of people that meet at an antenatal class, after the baby's are born they get together at a barbecue when an accident happens. Really good twisty story that had me suspecting everyone with a really good conclusion.

The Push by Claire McGowan was an enthralling and captivating read. You are trying hard to determine if the main character, Jax, is just hallucinating or if things are more complicated than you realize. Then there are all of the other characters. Due to someone falling off of a balcony at a party, so many secrets and horrors begin to come to light. This story kept me reading until I finished it. Every time I tried to stop, I started again within just a few minutes. The twist and turns keep you guessing until the end. Great job!

A pre-natal baby group, with 6 unique couples that seemingly do not have anything in common except their due dates. A hot summer barbecue where the secrets and drinks are flowing. What could go wrong? That's what DS Alison is asking herself when responding to an emergency call at the home of a very wealthy couple in England. The guests gathered at the barbecue, shortly after their babies are born, are in a state of shock that one of the party attendees is dead. While Alison's boss is inclined to believe it was an accident, using her instincts Alison is certain that is far from the truth. When she starts peeling back the layers, each couple has something to hide and Alison is running on limited time to uncover the details of that afternoon.

Overall I did enjoy this book; the writing is smart and quick with good research and detail into pre-and post-partum experiences. The numerous characters, at times, were a little harder to get invested in and how it all related but Claire McGowan cleverly crafted a story that ultimately fits together like puzzle pieces.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Talk about wanting to reach into the pages and slap someone!

These women are catty, unstable, pregnant, and clueless.

I don’t know how to review this as I figured out the plot really early on and found it fairly predictable. I did like it enough to keep reading to see if I was right.

I like strong women and these did not fit the bill.

I do recommend this book as it does have mystery and intrigue. Hopefully you won’t figure it out as quickly as I had.

I really enjoyed this one! It's told through two main viewpoints and varying timelines and that keptnit very interesting to me. You get bits and pieces of each characters backstory in each chapter too so I kept want to read more to find out more. You also don't find out who the victim is until 50% through so the whole first half you're trying to figure out who it is and how it might have happened. After finding out the victim, I did guess one of the twists but it didn't ruin the book for me because I didn't know other things leading up to that twist. I also didn't see the twist at the end coming!! This book kept me on the edge of my seat and each chapter usually ended with a cliffhanger that made me want to read more! I definitely recommend this to my thriller people!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and got really invested in the characters. A really enjoyable story that kept me engrossed throughout. Definitely worth a read.

I am really tired of books told by unreliable female narrators. The characters in this book were unlikeable from beginning to end.

Basically a good thriller. The story line was different than most and I kept reading to see how it all wrapped up.

It was confusing with all the different POV and timelines. Seems like all the characters had secrets, most of which had nothing to do with the murder\accident.

This was a decent thriller, but the storyline is so similar to some other thrillers I have read recently. The twits are corny, and characters are pretty unlikable. I was disappointed in this one.

I was able to read this book thanks to NetGalley. I really enjoyed the story and it was a quick paced thriller. I have read many by this author and they are always solid reads. I absolutely will be recommending this book to family and friends snd will be looking for more from this author in the future. Thanks again for the opportunity to read this book.

I loved how this book had several different characters and the "who done it" vibe of the novel. I enjoy trying to guess who is responsible or guilty in a book and guessing then second guessing everyone one at a time. A good novel that I recommend you read if you haven't already.

Having read this authors other books I was looking forward to reading this one. This book was a good suspense read and you would enjoy it if you like to read or watch dramas with a who has dunnit theme as the story is based on what actually happened at the party held for the participants of a baby group and the events leading up to the births of their babies and the devastating consequences of what happened afterwards. It reminded me of big little lies in a lot of ways.

It was a gripping read and once I started reading I was hooked and intrigued as to what was happening in the story and eager to read more. If you like domestic psychological thrillers then I think you would like this.

Thirteen people. One party. And soon, one of them will be dead.

They say that 13 is an unlucky number, and that certainly proves to be the case in The Push, the latest novel by Claire McGowan.

A summer barbecue to celebrate the arrival of the babies from an antenatal group ends abruptly when a body falls from a balcony, and inspector Alison Hegarty is certain this was more than a fall. The only problem? Everybody at the party is hiding something, and she is determined to find out exactly what.

This is the second novel I have read in as many days that I’ve been unable to put down, and the little titbits and cliffhangers at the end of chapters are very moreish - McGowan knows how to hook the reader and keep them wanting more!

Alongside the main story - told from the varying perspectives of the guests and inspector, and jumping from several weeks before the fateful party to modern day - there is the theme of pregnancy, fertility issues and baby loss which may be a trigger for some; it certainly was for me. However it’s not gratuitous, these themes are important to build the whole picture of what happened and why.

Initially striking me as similar to Big Little Lies, we eventually find out who fell and the many secrets every member of this antenatal group was hiding from their partners, and themselves. I managed to suss out the various twists quite early on, which is par for the course when you read so many novels in this vein, but this was still a thoroughly enjoyable book.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed this one. I felt like there was something missing though, something I needexd to love it. Well thought out plot and easy to read.

Her books always go at a great clip. I wish it had been vacation time and not a pandemic because this would be the perfect beach read. I liked the lens of infertility, it is such an issue for so many people but you don't see too many thrillers/suspense books about it. It added some depth to what could have been a flat book. It was a great way to connect a bunch of very different people who ordinarily wouldn't come in contact with each other; something other books struggle with.

An intriguing premise, a la Ruth Ware’s ‘In A Dark, Dark Wood’ – or so I’d hoped. An interesting setting – six couples together for an ante-natal group – and a murder to kick things off. But the problem was the large cast, and the difficulty I had connecting with the characters and keeping up with the multiple narratives. It was hard to root for them or be invested in the outcome of their part in the plot. A reasonable domestic noir, but nothing that will stay with me.

I received an eARC of The Push by Claire McGowan from Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
2 stars. The plot was promising and I enjoyed Claire's other books, so I figured this would be a win for sure. Unfortunately, this one fell short for me. It was not the thriller that I hoped for and a few of the secrets were right there in plain sight. I had a difficult time getting through this book.

So this is a traditional locked room story of who is the killer. It started strong but toward the end it was no longer a mystery and we were just watching things play out. There were also a lot of characters to keep track of. I felt like it had a lot of potential but fell a bit short for me.