Six diverse couples regularly attend a prenatal baby group. After the babies are born, there’s a BBQ for the group, at which one guest plunges to their death. That’s the interesting premise of this whodunnit that falls a little short. There’s a large group of characters to keep track of, most of whom are annoying and all with secrets, there’s an extra story line involving the police character which seems unnecessary, and each chapter seems to end with a cliffhanger, which I think is overkill. That being said, I still found myself interested in how it ends up. And the pages do turn, so I would round up to 3.5 stars. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through @NetGalley in exchange for an honest review..

Often when I read a thriller/mystery, I am disappointed because I figure out the who or why or what too early in the book. Yet, in The Push, Claire McGowan has woven a clever story with plenty of secrets and surprises along the way, allowing the mystery to unfold at a nice pace and not dropping too many clues here and there to give it all away. I also enjoyed the plotline in general, and the characters each had a big enough role that I wanted to spend time with all of them.

I certainly don't want to befriend any of them but are they capable of murder? Read this story and find out. The story unfolded at a good pace. I enjoyed the ride. Thank you Amazon Publishing and Claire McGowan for the ARC.

I found this to be an easy and enjoyable read - I did work out the ending by the halfway point but still found it interesting to read through to the end. I have read previous books by this author and will certainly look out for the next one.

This book has so much going on with so many characters that I feel like something was lost in the mix. Too many secrets evrywhere. None of the secrets too hard to figure out nor were the "twists". This was not a book I couldn't put down until the last 30% and even then it was more to just get through than to find out what was going on.
Quite a lot of ageism, sexism, racism amongst the storyline as well. I feel like it was just to try add some extra drama which was already prevalent enough. I was back and forth between 2 and 3 stars but this aspect made me stick with the 2.
It felt like it was trying for the Big Little Lies vibe but it just didn't work out as well.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The story revolves around a group of pregnant women and their partners who are in a prenatal class run by Nina . All couples have at least one "problem" which becomes apparent as the book progresses, but most of the book is written from the viewpoint of Jax (her partner is much younger than her) and the police detective investigating the death.
Early on in the book, some one falls or is pushed from a balcony and dies. You don't find out who this is until later in the book.
The exploration of the relationship between the couples and the group interaction is interesting and their stories are realistic.

This is a well written drama / thriller about a death. Was it suicide or murder?

The book tells the story of a group who first met at an antenatal meeting and each couple have their own set of secrets. Each of these is deliciously unwrapped as the book progresses.
The story is mainly told from the perspective of Alison, the lead detective, who has her own personal issues. However, there were 6 couples in attendance and this makes keeping track of each set and each narration a bit of a juggling act. It’s also very ‘baby focused’ which was, at times, a bit much tbh. Also, none of the characters were particularly likeable, with the exception of Alison and that made sticking with it, a challenge. However, I did and overall found it to be a 3* Good Read.

Thanks to NetGalley And Amazon Publishers for the opportunity to preview.

The Push is a very enjoyable whodunit with different POVs. The members of a maternity group had a barbecue and someone ended up dead. It takes a while to even find out who died, so that adds an extra layer of suspense. There is also the fact that it seems like an unfortunate accident. Only one of the cops investigating the events seems to think there’s something fishy, and only because it’s clear that all the parties involved are hiding something. The characters are a little too diverse as to feel forced and stereotypical, but the plot is well-paced and kept my interest. I didn’t figure out whodunit or even what had happened. Once it was explained, it made sense.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Amazon Publishing UK!

I loved this thriller! Six couples meeting at a diverse antenatal group ends with someone dead at the post delivery gathering! The police question everyone, but come up with few leads. Everyone has secrets that they don’t want uncovered. Rich characters pull you immediately into a well developed storyline. A must read for fans of Ruth Ware!

Clair McGowan's, The Push", is a mesmerizing mystery that is so tangled with characters I had a difficult time remembering who was who especially since everyone either was or wanted to be pregnant. However, as the story progresses, gradually Allison and Diana prevail in unveiling the true culprit along with a series of deceptions by all the players.

A who (if anyone) dunnit that keeps you guessing right to the end.

Set over a period of around 12 weeks, we are introduced to the members of a parenting group who are all present when one of them fails from a balcony at a party to celebrate the birth of the babies.

I was totally gripped by this book and loved the way we got to know the ins and outs of the lives of each of the characters throughout.

I have read and enjoyed many of this author's books. However this one was difficult for me to read. I enjoyed the storyline but not the method of delivery. I had a difficult time keeping up when every chapter changed narrators or time spans. I gave this book three stars only because of the writing style. Others might enjoy it.

This is a real page turner; what happened at the fateful barbecue? Great characters and an involving plot alongside the theme of motherhood. Really enjoyed this novel.

The Push by Claire McGowan was an absolute page turner. It was set in London and it was about six different couples going to a prenatal class taught by Nina. It was a little hard to keep all the couples straight but the author did describe them very well. It started out with the BBQ at Monica’s house so everyone could see the new babies. But only 4 babies where there. Monica was really out to impress everyone with her fancy house and the way she dressed but she was hiding something very deep and dark. Jax and Aaron was the couple who she was old enough to be his Mom and she struggled with that and the part of having a baby later in life. Then the couple where the husband had a gambling problem, then the same sex couple and how she really got pregnant. Then the really young couple and Ryan had a temper and gets kicked out of class, then the couple that was adopting from the United States. It was a very good book with lots of twist and turns and lots of deep secrets in all their lives. I loved finding out about Nina.

I did receive this book as an ARC for an honest review from Netgalley.

In The Push Claire McGowan tells us the story going back and forth in time and in a couple of different voices. Ms McGowan does an excellent job of meshing all together and keeping the reader guessing as to what happened and who has what secrets. I want to thank NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an early copy to review.

The Push centers around six expecting couples who attended a before-birth class and their group leader. Each couple lives in the same area of southeast London and each had similar due-dates. Two weeks following that date, one of the women holds a reunion barbecue. During the barbecue someone falls to their death from a high glass-sided balcony and DS Allison Hegarty and her partner, Diana Mendes, are called in to investigate the death. Though their boss believes it to be an accidental death, Allison believes the person was murdered and sets out to prove it.

The six couples are as different from the others as they could possibly be. Dysfunction, ageism, sexism, racism, homophobia and every other possible discrimination is well represented throughout the book. I found none of the characters sympathetic and some were downright awful people.

I enjoyed the before and after narrative which included the POVs of each character and Allison. I also was curious as to who died, but other than that, this book really failed to engage me. In many places, it just seemed absurd. Overall, not one I would recommend to my friends.

My thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for providing me with a review copy of the book which is scheduled for publication on 11/12/2020. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

The story centres around a group of mums to be who meet at an antenatal group. The main characters are Monica (prim mum of the group), Jax (first time older mum), Kelly (first time young mum), Cathy (part of a lesbian couple - baby via donor), Anita (adopting from overseas), and Aisha (having a baby after an arranged marriage). The group is diverse, and is run by Nina. Nina comes across as a little bit picky and not pleasant. After all the babies are born Monica arranges a party at her home for everyone to reconnect with their new offspring. At the party there’s an accident and a death. We don’t find out who has actually died until about 50% of the way in - which was great as it gave plenty of time to guess who you think it is. We read the story in two different times - weeks before the arranged party and what transpires in the groups lives, and the actual day of the party and events leading up to it. Reading the story it’s clear everyone has motive, and everyone has secrets.

I loved this book, the story was great. I guessed a couple of the twists, but it didn’t make it any less enjoyable. The characters were great - a real mix of horrible and kind characters, and if you look at your own group of mum friends it’s very easy to spot similarities with the characters here. I enjoyed the fact we were introduced to the two detectives earlier on, and also seeing one of those characters having their own personal struggles with motherhood. There were some subjects in this book that could be upsetting, but I was grateful to see them being explored, especially some that are taboo, even in this modern world. A great book!!

“The Push” is another addition to the mystery genre, this one with a slight twist in that the main protagonists are a group of new parents who had attended ante-natal classes together. Following the birth of each of their babies, one of the cohort throws a party for the whole group at which one of the guests dies in suspicious circumstances – was it accident or murder? One of the police officers attending after the death is not convinced it what an accident and decides to look into the case in more depth.

Each member of the ante-natal group has a different experience of their pregnancy or, in one case, adoption.

All the characters are introduced in one fell swoop towards the start of the novel, an unusual plot device which leads to some confusion in the reader as to who’s who as the story progresses.

The book flits from one point of view to another with each chapter, some of which are only a couple of pages long, as well as jumping around the timeline. Additionally, some are written in the first person, others in the third. The net result of this is that it is difficult for the reader to feel any empathy or engagement with any of the characters.

Most of the characters are driven mainly by money in one way or another, there is little real difference between any of them. The Muslim couple only seem to have been included as a box-ticking EDI exercise, although the same sex couple are dealt with better.

The police officers are a new partnership, having not worked together long, and there is some tension between them at the start of the book. However, this doesn’t really come across.

This genre is well established and shelves are groaning under the weight of new thrillers/mysteries/detective novels. To stand out in the field a book needs to have something very special and unfortunately this doesn’t – there’s no tension, no mystery (it’s not hard to guess what happened) and neither of the two reveals at the end come as a surprise.

There needs to be more characterisation in the book, and ideally at least one engaging character.

On a very picky personal level, the constant use of “alright” rather than “all right” annoyed me. It is becoming a more accepted usage, but still seems wrong. I haven’t let that influence my scoring of the book, though.

I read the description and requested it because it sounded like a good story, and it might have been a good story if it was a linear story line. Way too much jumping from present, to past, to different past, back to present and each chapter is "voiced" by a different character in the story. While a chapter per character doesn't normally bother me, this time it did, maybe because there are SO many characters! This was my first time reading a Claire McGowan story, maybe her other books are better? I'll have to check them out and see. This one just wasn't my cup of tea.

This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. All opinions are my own.

The Push by Claire McGowan
Six couples from extremely different walks of life come together for a “New Parent Baby Class”. Their lives will be forever changed because of it. “Everyone has secrets. Everyone had something they didn’t want the world to know about.” But, what if someone was aware of your secrets? What if someone was slowly exposing those secrets to the world? How does it affect you and those you love? And at what cost? How do you cope? What will push you over the edge?
Pick up this gripping, psychological story. The story is told from varying points of view. It is really good. It will draw you in and not let you stop til you figure it out. But, be careful because you don’t know as much as you think you know.