Disturbing but fascinating insight into a troubled mother daughter relationship right from the beginning. The mother struggles with loving her difficult daughter because she has tremendous baggage from her own fraught relationship with her mother. Her various coping mechanisms are challenging but things change dramatically with her second child

This book gets you hooked in the beginning and keeps you turning the pages. A tense story that describes three generations and how each one effects the next. In the beginning I thought it was a story of one woman's feelings about motherhood, but soon realized it was so much more than that. Haunting, dark and chilling is how I would describe this book. I could see this being made into a TV movie.

The Push offers an interesting portrayal of strained relationships between mothers and daughters, and a unique spin on mothering without being inherently maternal — its definitely what first drew me into this book, but what I enjoyed most was the creeping suspense that lingered in the background the entire time, it had me turning page after page right until the very end. It's a bit heavy at times, however, but only because the author did such an incredible job of capturing the rawness in the unraveling of three generations of women struggling with motherhood. It's a very well-done, riveting read that you won’t want to put down and will stay with you days after you finish it. I would definitely recommend it and look forward to reading other works by this author.

Most pregnant women worry about the dangers that can befall their unborn and then worry even more after they are born. They cover sharp objects, open outlets and keep watch almost 24/7. The thing they don't think about is if the baby will love them or if they will love their baby. Blythe had a really abusive childhood so she vowed to become mother of the year once she found out she was pregnant. Violet arrives and all her expectations go out the window. Violet is not an easy baby and grows up to be not an easy child except towards her father - becoming a total daddy's girl. Blythe doesn't want to see what she suspects Violet is capable of or the coldness in the way she looks at her. We feel for Blythe but she could be the world's best unreliable witness. When the unthinkable happens sides are taken and everything starts to unravel. Ashley Audrain presents an intimate look at motherhood and grief. The writing style is tense and sparse which adds to the sense of foreboding. This is one of those books that you keep reading and realize you held your breath for most of it. For readers who couldn't get enough of DEFENDING JACOB this is your next read. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

I was ready to share how disappointed I was in this book. And I am, but by no fault of the book. I made the mistake of looking at the tags of others who have read it. Psychological thriller! Mystery thriller! And I felt cheated. The summary, now that I re-read it, says psychological drama. That is true. If you like this genre, you should be relatively pleased with this read. Under my own misconception, it was lacking. This isn't what I would have normally picked up. That said, reviews also said this was the book that would have buzz around it for 2021. I would not place bets on that. For this classification, it was a solid read. For me it was more of a cautionary tale about poor mothering and failing to seek out professional help when you sense something is wrong in your family dynamics. I truly appreciate being granted the ARC by Netgalley/Viking.

I enjoyed this page-turner but the story-line was very similar to other books I have read. A woman who has a troubled childhood gets pregnant mainly to please her husband. She fails to bond with the child and suspects that her daughter actually has an evil streak and lacks any remorse and empathy. No-one else shares her feelings and her husband actually blames her for not showing her daughter any love. When her son later dies in a tragic accident she is convinced her daughter is to blame and slowly her life falls apart.

Thanks to Netgalley for this advanced reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Blythe and Fox are college sweethearts starting their family together, but Blythe needs to come to grips with motherhood without a solid role model in her own life, save for a family friend. Can a woman get past her upbringing and break the cycle of mental health issues of the past?
This book is a page turner. It only took me a couple days to read it. Its gripping, and thrilling with plenty of twists and turns. Its also dark and twisted, much like The Perfect Nanny.
There's a lot to talk about in this book, from the insecurities of motherhood, to mental health, to the cycle of motherhood issues from one generation to the next and the potential for another cycle to begin.
Its a very hard read for me, being a mother and thinking back on every error I might have made, whether in my head or not. Not my personal preference for something I would chose for myself to read, but I do commend the author for a great concept, pace and execution of a subject not talked about enough.

I read about 42% of this book but I just couldn’t get through it. I didn’t enjoy the first half and I saw where it was going after her second baby was born. Just not for me.

A page turner that will keep your up at night reading and reading. Haunting and thought-provoking and masterful storytelling. I can’t write more without hinting at spoilers! This will be a book everyone is talking about ( and a great movie one day! ). Highly recommended.

Wow! The Push by Ashley Audrain is an unsettling and disturbing masterpiece. I mean that in the best way possible! Great book that you will not be able to put down.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC of The Push. I could not stop reading this book and read it over the course of just a few days. It was an engrossing and painful read. Blythe and Fox are married, seemingly happy, until their daughter Violet is born. Blythe comes from a line of women who aren't good mothers. Her insecurity about mother carries over to her raising of Violet, who she suspects has something wrong with her. Fox brushes Blythe's concerns aside, even as evidence of Violet's problematic behavior surfaces. Ashley Audrain writes such heart-wrenching descriptions of a mother's feelings of dismay over her child's inability to love her back. Fox's affair, the fallout of a broken marriage and the ultimate tragedy a family can endure add up to a really great book to read.

The Push wrestles with the unspoken truths that surround motherhood--the things purposely left unsaid. Shifting between the timelines of current day and her mother's upbringing in the 1960s and 70s, Blythe grapples with where and on whom to lay the blame of her life's struggles. Once I was able to decipher the characters, the text was easily digestible, which enabled me to better focus on the narrative. The twists in the story are expected, and far from satisfying.

I heard about this book at Book Buzz & it sounded interesting.

I just finished reading it & I’m blown away.

“The Push” is such a powerful book. The story about the three generations of mothers is incredibly sad but so provocative. I will not stop thinking of this forceful book for a long time. It is haunting and gripping from beginning to end.

I highly recommend it.

Never sure till the last sentence of this chilling psychological/domestic thriller if you're hearing from an unreliable narrator. Do parents know from infancy if their children are "damaged" & just deny it? Like Depending Jacob, a story of how a mother knows their child & father looks the other way.

This novel focuses on a new mother struggling with her past and trying to live up to expectations while dealing with a difficult child. The novel’s opening pages pulled me in, and the last third of the book offered an unexpected twist. Overall, it was a gripping, page-turning tale. I didn’t appreciate the dual timelines and slow-moving internal dialogue. Reading this stark story felt like stepping into a dark closet and not coming out until the last page. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book for an honest review.

The Push is a hard to put down family drama, rolled onto a thriller. Blythe isn’t at all sure she wants to be a mother, but she marries a man who wants nothing more than the perfect family, and so, a child is born, and then things get really interesting! Told in alternating chapters, we get an inside look at a long line of women not fit to be mothers, and the ways our own childhoods impact our ability to mother. The writing is lyrical, the characters well developed, the emotion fully realized. This is a roller coaster of a book you will be thinking about long after the final page is turned.

Blythe comes from a long line of women not cut out to be mothers, but when she falls in love with a man who wants nothing more than a happy family she tells herself she can be a good mother. When her daughter is born however she finds that motherhood is just not that simple. This complex book was so beautifully written, the characters so nuanced that I couldn't put it down. Heartbreaking and so much more than just a family drama, it's also a thriller that will stay with you for a very long time.