I  received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book sounded great! But I was disappointed. It reminded me a lot of the book You because of the perspective. But when written like this and having multiple characters I found it hard to figure out who was talking (I read thE ARC so may have been laid out better in the actual finished copy). There was only one part where my heart was actually beating out of my chest lol. The rest was kind of slow. And even the ending is it a cliff hanger or is it leaving room for a sequel? I just feel like there were a lot of unanswered questions. The synopsis lead me to believe that the main character maybe was the crazy one (I was expecting a Shutter Island feel) and the daughter also is? Or are they both or are neither and just random terrible things happened? I don’t know just too many loose ends for me.

I'd like to thank the publisher via NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review. 

I was blown away by this book. The relationship between Blythe and Violet was absolutely chilling and I was haunted by the happenings that Blythe kept experiencing. Throughout the whole book I was unsure if all of these things were in her head even though I had a nagging feeling that they weren't. The very last line of the book confirmed what I thought was actually happening between Violet and Blythe; Violet just isn't right. The writing kept me hooked throughout the whole story. I am so glad I got the chance to read this book. It was a fantastic read and I can't wait for more from Ashley Audrain.

2021 Favourites List! INSTANT INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!

The hype is real! Even better than I had hoped. Gut wrenching. Most emotional and amazing book I’ve read in years! The Push is one of those books that would stay with me for a long time. It was intense read, at times I literally cringed and wished for the story to be over, at the same time, wishing for more, couldn’t stop turning pages in the search of What’s Next?!

“A mother’s heart breaks a million ways in her lifetime.”

Blythe struggles to connect with her newborn daughter and worries that her own traumatic childhood has damaged her ability to properly bond and nurture as a parent. She battles these thoughts on a daily basis and pushes herself through the endless stress-filled days of parenting a young child. Things seem to be easier once her son is born.

Every now and then a book comes along that completely captures the attention of the reader, telling a story like no other. The Push by Ashley Audrain is just that kind of book. It makes you want to read it in one sitting but you will dread the turning of each page. This psychological thriller will stay in my memory for a long time to come.

This is a well-crafted psychological drama that brought out so many emotions for me as I read. It’s raw and will constantly have you questioning what you’re reading and your reactions to it.

Emotionally draining and compulsively readable. This is one of the most intense and amazing books I’ve read in years. I was quite literally addicted to this book....to this mother’s pain and her struggles. I was rooting for Blythe. My heart broke every time hers did which was a constant ache from start to finish.

The Push is not packaged in pretty words and wrapped up with the ribbon of happy endings. Audrain skilfully delivers some gravely serious issues to the reader unboxed; baring unspoken terrors that should stay buried deep in a parent’s psyche because they cannot even be thought of, for fear they become real.

The writing! I don’t know how to adequately describe the beauty of the writing. The writing flowed directly into my heart and had me feeling as though I was experiencing the heartache and struggles right alongside Blythe. My connection and investment in Blythe’s situation was so strong due to the exceptional writing that I felt as though it was happening to me. Quite simply — I was Blythe while I read this. I have no personal experience with what Blythe went through but I feel like a changed person after reading this. This moved me so deeply.

This is not a happy book. It is brutally honest and raw. It will rip your heart out. It will make you feel the pain of a mother fighting her own thoughts and worries.


I know it’s very early in the year, but I think this will be my favourite book of 2021. This will be extremely hard to top. I usually move right on to the next book once I finish reading but the intensity of this one forced me to take a break to think and truly absorb the situation. Major book hangover! I feel bad for whatever book I pick up next....

The story moves at a good pace and the only character we get to know well is Blythe which is very clever for this story and adds to the mystery of what is really happening and who the reader can trust.

Thank you to NetGalley for the review copy!

Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Random House Canada and Ashley Audrain for free e-ARC in return of my honest review. 

The Push is one of those books that would stay with me for a long time. It was intense read, at times I literally cringed and wished for the story to be over, at the same time, wishing for more, couldn’t stop turning pages in the search of What’s Next?! 

The mother-daughter stories (Blythe-Violet, Cecilia-Blythe) are heartbreaking and distressing. Their relationships create many questions regarding motherhood and raising children. It makes you contemplate about childhood traumas in parents creating childhood traumas in their own kids, about the emotional presence of parents during crucial time of raising their children, parents ability to adapt to certain situations, etc. 

The Push is thought-provoking and challenging. It is one of those books that is very disturbing and hard to review. I can’t say I loved it, possibly due to the sense of the novel and it’s subjects; at the same time, I couldn’t put it down, kept turning pages till late at night with no regrets. I did enjoy the writing style of The Push. The novel was told by Blythe to her husband, Fox, in a very intimate and personal way. At times, I felt like an intruder snooping in someone’s private journal. 

Overall, The Push is a memorable and provocative story, a strong debut in literary world. I am looking forward to more work by Ashley Audrian.

I received an Arc of "The Push" from NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada and I absolutely loved this book. My attention was immediately captured and I finished the entire book in one sitting within a few hours because I could not put it down. "The Push" is a thriller that reminded me of "The Omen".

Blythe's childhood was less than ideal as her mother was distant and she was eventually completely abandoned. When she becomes pregnant, Blythe is determined to be the best mother she can possibly be for her daughter Violet and to give Violet the life she never had as a child. Blythe struggles at first and she has trouble forming an attachment to Violet as an infant. As Violet becomes a young girl their relationship continues to be strained and Blythe begins to wonder if something is wrong with Violet.

Her husband Fox does not see any troubled behaviours from Violet and he dismisses Blythe's thoughts surrounding their daughter. When their son Sam is born, Blythe immediately forms a bond with him and all appears well within the family dynamic. Something is still not quite right about Violet though.  

Blythe's life begins to crumble around her, and after a divorce, her relationship with Violet and Fox become even more fractured. She becomes paranoid and infiltrates Fox's new life. 

"The Push" kept me on the edge of my seat as it's plot was a thrilling action ride with a very disturbing storyline and fantastic character development. I enjoyed everything about this book and I highly recommend it for readers who enjoy the thriller genre. "The Push" is perfect for book clubs as it will most definitely encourage discussions.

The main storyline is Blythe telling her journey through motherhood and how it is nothing what she expected. When her first child is born, she's convinced there's something wrong with her for not feeling what she's "supposed" to feel. But once her second child is born, all is right in the world, it feels like a do-over to her and everything with him is perfect! When an accident occurs and her life falls apart, she can't help but think it all has to do with her first born. 
This story was good and I enjoyed the backstories that provided an obvious link to why Blythe feels the way she does.  Ashley Audrain's debut was well written, and definitely doesn't shy away from the trials of motherhood, but also shares the joys that it can bring as well. This being noted as a psychological drama is the best way to describe what goes on in this book. A deep look inside one mother's thoughts of what might be wrong with her, or perhaps her child.

Every now and then a book comes along that completely captures the attention of the reader, telling a story like no other. The Push by Ashley Audrain is just that kind of book. It makes you want to read it in one sitting but you will dread the turning of each page. This psychological thriller will stay in my memory for a long time to come. And the subject is simply motherhood. Not much can be divulged about the details so as not to reveal the plot. A young mother, Blythe, is expecting her first child. She soon realizes that her new daughter, Violet, is not bringing out her maternal instinct, only making her feel guilty and inadequate. Her husband does not see the problem and makes it worse by not being supportive. Years later, her son Sam is born and she falls madly in love with her second child. But you must read The Push to find out what happens. I recommend the book highly to readers of psychological fiction and family drama. It is a difficult read but is absolutely worth it. The characters are flawed but interesting, the plot is uniquely original and completely mesmerizing. Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Blythe and her husband Fox are expecting. He’s thrilled, but Blythe is hesitant as the women in her family have a history of being “bad” mothers. We learn about Blythe’s traumatic and abusive childhood and see how this trauma flows through generations of maternal relationships in her family.

This is a well-crafted psychological drama that brought out so many emotions for me as I read. It’s raw and will constantly have you questioning what you’re reading and your reactions to it.

Blythe can’t connect with her daughter Violet and doesn’t feel the maternal “ideal” that is pushed to new mothers. But as Violet grows, Blythe becomes more and more convinced that there is something fundamentally wrong with her daughter, while Fox makes her feel paranoid & unreliable with her feelings.

The Push goes to dark places and puts conversations about motherhood that many people don’t want to entertain out in the open. It’s uncomfortable, disturbing and real. It’s this realness that really makes you feel unsettled. This isn’t the boogeyman in the closet, but something so close to home.

This is not an easy read and will be triggering for some readers (I had my moments). But for those that are able, I highly recommend this book. I’ve included trigger warnings in the comments and happy to chat with anyone about anything specific.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the eARC. Supporting debut Canadian authors is so important to me.

I was unsure about The Push for the first quarter to one third of the book. It has a slow start, but, stick with it because it becomes compulsively readable! After a certain point I could not put this down!

Blythe and Fox meet in university, fall in love, get married and decide to have kids. Blythe is initially nervous about this as her own mother was neglectful and abandoned her at a young age. However, she decides that she will commit to motherhood, and form a bond with her child that she never was able to with her own mother. Though when her daughter Violet is born, Blythe finds that she cannot connect with her in the same way that Fox can. She is sure something is wrong with Violet, but Fox denies her concerns and gaslights her. This novel is written as a letter to Fox, years after heartbreak and change occur in their marriage.

I loved the writing and found this story to be SO realistic and suspenseful. I could feel Blythe struggling and really experienced all of her emotions. It is a dark and heavy as it involves a troubled child, grief, postpartum depression and marital problems. It's not so much a thriller as a contemporary or literary fiction novel about motherhood. There are some shocking twists, but it is very personal and difficult to read at times.

Though I loved this book, I would have preferred less time spent on flashbacks to incidents in Blythe's childhood as well as in her mother's. I could tell early on that a cycle of abuse lead to some of the emotional aspects of Blythe's character, and I rushed through these later sections to get back to Blythe's current family drama.

I'm still thinking about this story and would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a page turner! Literally read it in one day!  Blythe is the main character. It’s goes through the generations of the women in her family - her mother and her grandmother.  Blythe doesn’t think she’s a good mother to her daughter Violet when she gives birth and through her toddler years.. things get a little easier when she’s about 5. Violet has some physiological issues that only Blythe sees, her husband Fox thinks it’s in her head. They have a second baby- a little boy and everything seems great, till it’s not. I don't want to spoil anything so that’s all I’m saying. Enjoy the book, it’s really good!

Blythe Connor wants nothing more than to be the perfect wife to her husband Fox and live up to his belief that she’s going to make a wonderful mother. Coming from a generation of malfunctioning-mothering, she is as determined as she is fearful of being the best mother to their new baby daughter, Violet. 

But as hard as Blythe tries, the baby bond is missing – Violet seems to cringe at her mother’s touch and want only her father’s. As this aversion grows, Blythe wonders if there is something wrong with her little girl, or is she manifesting her every fear? Then, Sam is born, and she feels the fulfillment of maternal, pure, reciprocated love. 

When the unspeakable happens, Blythe’s life becomes a nightmarish existence. Has her despair warped her soundness? Do her suspicions have any rationalization? Is it normal for a mother to have these thoughts? 

The Push is not packaged in pretty words and wrapped up with the ribbon of happy endings. Audrain skilfully delivers some gravely serious issues to the reader unboxed; baring unspoken terrors that should stay buried deep in a parent’s psyche because they cannot even be thought of, for fear they become real. 

A daring-to-go-to-dark places, staggering story, that I read with my body tensed and heart pounding. I could not put it down until the last spine-tingling sentence.

The Push is one of 2021’s must-reads. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada, for the read of Ashley Audrain’s, The Push. 

Opinions expressed are my own.

Audrain’s debut is full of beautiful, poetic prose, but I found myself unable to get into the actual story. This was largely due to the book’s pacing issues and the second person POV. It takes a phenomenal writer to make second person writing work, and unfortunately, I don’t think Audrain is there yet. The POV often took me out of the narrative, which I found somewhat sloppy as well.

The highlights of this book were the flashbacks to the seventies following Blythe’s mother, but largely just because it was a break from the novel’s unreliable (and entirely unlikeable) narrator.

This book was hard to read, and not in a good way. What was billed as a psychological thriller read more like a laundry list of new mom complaints at times and torture porn at others. The weirdly short chapters didn't help either. 

As a fellow Torontonian, I really wanted to love this book, but I just couldn’t.

The Push by Ashley Audrain is a psychological thriller about mothers and daughters, expectations of motherhood, and mental illness.  

The long standing expectation of parents, and in particular mothers, is that they will have an instant bond with their child, automatically be nurturing and loving, but not everyone has this experience.  It certainly wasn't true for Blythe Connor's mother and Blythe wants to be so much better than her own mother.

When Blythe and her husband Fox, have their daughter, Violet, Blythe doesn't feel connected to her.  The little girl seems to like her father more and they obviously have a special bond.  Parenthood is hard; maybe it's just a phase and maybe it's just the difficulties of adjusting to motherhood, but Blythe feels it's more than that.  As Violet grows older, the distance is still there.  Fox dismisses Blythe and sometimes Blythe thinks maybe it is all in her head.  

When their son Sam is born Blythe has an instant connection with him.  This causes some tension between Blythe and Fox and when the unimaginable happens it only pushes them further from each other. 

This thriller is written from Blythe's perspective which makes the reader wonder if she is a reliable narrator.  Is what she thinks about her family true?  Are all of the other mothers really better at mothering than she is?  Can she keep her marriage together?  The flashbacks to her own mother and childhood are heart wrenching.  

The story moves at a good pace and the only character we get to know well is Blythe which is very clever for this story and adds to the mystery of what is really happening and who the reader can trust.

The ending was not a surprise for me, but only because I have read similar stories.  Overall, I thought this was an excellent debut and I look forward to reading more from Ashley Audrain.


Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an e-copy.

This is a VERY INTENSE psychological drama that kept me reading all night!  I think the author did an UH-MAZING job portraying Blythe's struggle with and navigating through motherhood. I really enjoyed the second-person perspective that Audrain used throughout the book. I think it definitely brought the characters to life and provided a dark feel to the book (probably intentional??). Looking forward to reading more books from Ashley Audrain!

Wow! This was an immersive, difficult read that will stay with me for a long time. I've seen it compared to "We Need to Talk about Kevin," and I can see why, but I like the added exploration of intergenerational trauma. I will recommend it wholeheartedly to customers in the bookstore where I work, drawing their attention to a number of content warnings, including the death of a child, mental illness, and child abuse.

Amazing read. It’s gripping, heartbreaking, and utterly fascinating. It’s the best book I’ve read in a while. You need to pick this one up. Trust me.

4 STARS

Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had. But in the thick of motherhood’s exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter–she doesn’t behave like most children do....Or is it all in Blythe’s head?

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Wow, THE PUSH was a wild ride. Dark, unsettling and completely addicting, I wasn't able to put it down! 

This is definitely not going to be a book for everyone (this one has been compared to Baby Teeth, so be prepared) however, it was exactly what I look for in a psychological thriller. THE PUSH has it all: confusing, unreliable narrator. Well fleshed out, flawed characters. Plus a creepy kid (seriously, as an educator she would have raised some BIG red flags!) and a gas lighting husband. Put it all together and you have an "un-put-downable" thriller with a shocking ending. You won't want to miss this one!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my ARC and #gifted review copy. THE PUSH is out now!

Y’all……where do I even begin? I loved this. So much so I gave it my first five stars of 2021.

If you haven’t heard of this very hyped debut, it’s about a new mother adjusting to motherhood and coming to terms with the histories of bad parenting in her own family tree. However, as soon as her first child is born, she gets the sense that something is wrong. Some may call it motherly instinct. When strange and terrible instances start happening around her daughter, she starts to wonder if there’s really something wrong with the girl or if it’s all in her head.

This was a dark, twisted, heartbreaking novel about the hardships of motherhood and childhood and how our own experiences shape us. That whole multigenerational study was my favourite part of this book because it was so real.

And since this book is a thriller, I have to talk about the more chilling aspects of this book. A major theme when it came to the terrible and sinister and mind boggling moments was when no one believed Blythe at all. No one took into consideration what she was saying or feeling, they all just swept it under the rug. She’s the one with the bad childhood after all. But it was so frustrating to read through and really added a sense of vulnerability and suspense that I really loved. I will say that the things that happen in this book are not for the lighthearted. Please read my trigger warnings and please check other reviews for any I may have missed because this can be an extremely triggering read.

This was a truly compelling read. I think the relationships were beautifully done and this is really a book about mother / daughter relationships and how it shapes us and how it shapes others views on ourselves. I would highly recommend you go out and pick this up for yourself!

(posted on my blog @perusewithcoffee)

Quite a riveting pager turner for me! I found this book hard to put down and I caught myself thinking about the plot long into my evenings. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Book Rating : ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 
Cover rating : 🌟 🌟 🌟 

This seems to be one of this year’s biggest hits so far, but it really didn’t stand out for me too much. It felt quite similar to We Need To Talk About Kevin, but less disturbing and violent 

What I liked 

✔️ the back stories of Blythe’s grandmother and mother , and Blythe’s childhood - I wish there had been more 
✔️I liked Blythe - with all her faults and mistakes, I thought she tried her best 

What I didn’t like
✖️ the husband - he just totally annoyed