I'm a fan of Claire McGowan, but this was not one of my favorites. I figured out a couple of the surprises fairly early on, and really couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters.

What could be more innocent than an antenatal group meeting once a week to help new mothers understand the process of childbirth and caring for infants? But at a barbecue celebrating the birth of those babies a few weeks later, one of those women ends up dead. Was it an accident or was there a "push." Alison, the detective who must unravel the mystery is conflicted as she also is desperate to become pregnant. The story unfolds from present to past, the day of, and the weeks leading up to the incident. Of course each couple has their own secrets that must be unearthed to discover the truth. And while you may figure out part of the mystery, there are plenty of twists to enjoy!

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited when I saw this book available because I've read 2 previous novels by Claire McGowan and they were both exceptional. While not many novels will top The Other Wife, this one sure comes close. I really enjoy her writing style of multiple characters pushing forward and going in reverse. It is never hard to keep up with and compels you to just keep turning the page needing to know more and more. She has gained a lifelong fan after reading 3 fantastic novels.

The blurb was interesting with six couples, a summer barbecue and then someone falls of the balcony and dies.
The only common thing between all these couples is they are "expecting". They all are strangers who happen to incidentally meet in a antenatal group therapy and become friends. Every character is different and have their own story. This event where the unfortunate death takes place is a party where they are supposed to be flaunting their squishy, tiny newborns.

Our investigating officer is Alison who suspects foul play and not accidental death. We still don't know who has died though, its just being talked about without any real names. Alison feels they are all making desperate attempts at hiding something under the nonchalant demeanour.

- I found the multiple POVs and timelines to be off- putting, they were just too many.
- Some parts could be obliterated and the story could have a short read.

It was a decent read but missed the surprise/thriller element. My purpose of picking up a thriller after reading the riveting blurb is to be surprised and when that doesn't happen I just cant be invested enough in the story.

3/5 stars

Thankyou NetGalley and Claire McGowan for n e ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and author Claire McGowan for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

I absolutely loved the cast of characters in this novel. The multiple viewpoints really provided an added extra to the story line and kept it moving. I found this really hard to put down once I picked it up and started reading. Definitely a good twist involved, and I really enjoyed it!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. This is my second book by this author and I've enjoyed both, possibly this one more. There were a lot of characters to keep track of but was fairly easy. A well done 'who dunnit' novel with each character having a reason and a backstory. I will say I read this while going through a reading slump so it took me longer to get through than it would have in normal circumstances, but overall, it's a good read!

This was an ok read. The cover is pretty cool and the premise sounded intriguing. It wasn’t particularly thrilling or suspended so I’m not quite sure what genre it would fall in to. I did guess fairly early on about the ‘surprise’ revealed at the end. Most of the characters were either pure stereotype or so over the top that you couldn’t believe them if you tried. There were a few too many For me to keep straight, although that could easily be a reflection on me as a reader. In the end this was just so so. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows six couples, all as different as chalk and anything that is not-chalk, as they come together for weekly antenatal classes and form some unusual friendship ties. We have the older Mums, the posh mums, the young broke Mum, the waste of space boyfriend, the disinterested Dad, the culture divides the lesbian couple and the couple who can’t have children … you know, every single type of character was covered. All that was missing was someone in a wheelchair, and we even managed to shoe horn that in at the end!
That said, it did make it interesting to have a huge variety of people to read about, especially when the story is told from differing POVs throughout. The addition of an investigator who is struggling with fertility seemed to over-egg the pudding for me a bit though.
This was an interesting and hard to put down read for me. I particularly liked the way the story moved around, and it wasn’t too hard to keep track of who was who. Equally, it was a genius move to hide who the victim was for so longer, keeping us on our toes, and unsure. However, that was probably the only real “reveal” as everything else was painfully obvious and make this less mystery and more general fiction.
The Stars
Despite the things that I felt were obviously wrong with this, I actually really enjoyed the book, and because I wanted to keep reading it I have to give it 4 stars. It did have me feeling invested, despite the fact I couldn’t like a single character (the babies, when they arrived were probably alright, to be fair).
An interesting concept, if a little hammy at times.

This was a great fast paced read from McGowan, she never seems to disappoint.

Told from the different views and backstories from most of the characters, that slowly unfolds and gives us a good twist.

Firstly, i'd like to say thankyou to Netgalley for allowing me an advanced reading copy of this book.

This is the first time i've read a book by Claire McGowen and i was pretty impressed. The storyline was good, and as much as i thought i knew what was going on there were lots of revelations that completely caught me unaware! I will give a small spoiler as a trigger warning- Baby loss- just because it is a theme within the book that came up suddenly and i'm fully aware that it could cause distress to some, as well as adoption in the book- which can be equally distressing.

It took me a while to really get into the book, possibly the first 150 pages, but that's mainly because there were lots of characters introduced in a very short space of time with only a small amount if description or backstory (although that did get built upon as you read on) which made it hard for me to remember who was who and how they were connected to the other characters.

Overall i did enjoy it, and the second half had me riveted and i couldn't put it down until i had finished. The twists are good and nothing that you'd expect and the character development is strong, by the end you really have feelings for certain individuals. I wouldn't widely recommend this in my bookshop to every customer because of the sensitive nature of some things but i would recommend it to the right customer!

Six couples attend weekly birthing classes for their pending babies. At the final meeting, someone meets an untimely demise and this is where our story kicks off. I think my favorite thing about this book was the diversity amongst the couples and the different takes on pregnancy. The only thing that stopped me from giving it five stars is that it needed to be fleshed out a little bit more instead of spotlighting one couple. I found the couple with the arranged marriage far more intriguing and would have loved knowing a bit more about them. Overall, it was a good book and though I had about 95% of the mystery figured out halfway through, I didn't see that final twist coming.

I really enjoyed The Push by Claire McGowan. An intriguing mystery with enough character intrigue and twists to keep me guessing right till the end. A refreshingly different thriller.

A tragic incident at a baby group party leads to an intriguing death investigation.
The only thing these couples have in common is that they have all joined the same antenatal group but they are all from very different backgrounds and everyone seemingly has a secret or something to hide.
This read gave an honest insight into being a new parent and did not paint the picture of perfection that the couples anticipated it to be.
I enjoyed the gradual unwinding of everyone's story, the author flicks between the couples while they are being investigated and we get a more thorough glimpse of what it is they are hiding and why.

This was ok. Not horrible but not especially gripping, unfortunately.

I liked the premise. It had potential to be a proper thriller but for me it fell a bit short.

There wasn’t a great deal of suspense as the main twists were glaringly obvious throughout. The characters were stereotypical and their portrayal was shallow.

It would have been far better if the hidden secrets were not as easy to find. The identity of the victim was hidden to begin with then revealed without fanfare which I found unnecessary and distracting.

The police officers again were not strongly characterised and did not come across as particularly competent.

Having said that I did read it all and I was interested in elements of the storylines.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for this review. As an aside, I know the copy was not yet corrected, but the overuse of the word probably as a fronted adverbial was jarring.

I needed a fantastic story after the last book I read bored me half to death! I’m pleased to say The Push is that incredible thriller that we’re all searching for!

Full of suspense and I had no idea what to expect! Claire McGowan has done it yet again!

It’s so good I recommend to everyone! If you’re the type of reader that only grabs one book a year then make it The Push!!

The Push is not your typical thriller. Initially lots of characters are introduced and it is hard to figure out who everyone is and their connection to each other. Once you have that sussed what follows is a book filled with family issues, fertility issues, the difficulties of being a parent and consequences.
For me, I think it’s more of a “who dunnit” than a thriller, I had figured out what 2as going on before the big reveal but that doesn’t detract from the story as I was eager to see if I was right so read the second half faster than the first.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I started this and then put it down because I couldn't get into it. I read another book and then started again. It was obviously my state of mind because I got on with the book much better second time around.
The story revolves aroubd 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 policedetective 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.
Personally I thought that the last part was a bit rushed and the detection of the crime not always well grounded. Some questions are not answered, it may have been better to concentrate on less characters and tell the full story rather than leaving it hanging.
I would give this book 3,5 stars so have rounded it up to 4.... Benefit of the doubt! All in all, better than I thought it would be and worth perservering with

Thankyou to Net Galley for an Arc in exchange for an honest review

This was a tale of the dark side of pre natal groups! I don't remember mine being so toxic but there was certainly new mum judging going on!

This book covers so many topics adoption, same sex relationships, big age gap relationships, cultural differences all thrown together because they happen to be having a baby at the same time, a group of people who in any normal walk of life probably wouldn't be friends.

Once the babies arrive, they are reunited at a celebration party to parade the babies in an Instagram worthy post.

That is until someone disappears over the balcony. Detective, Alison believes they were pushed, she just needs to find the motive, evidence and wade through everyone's accounts of their alibis as something isn't adding up.

I worked out the identity of the victim fairly early on and once the PM came back, I realised how they were connected to a certain character and it really could've only have been one person whodunnit as it tied their story up.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

After "What You Did," I already knew that Claire McGowan is a skillful suspense writer, so I was excited for "The Push." Let me tell you it is as good as her previous books, if not better!

Let's start with the premise: One fancy party. Six couples. Six babies. Someone falls from the balcony and dies. Alison Hegarty, the detective assigned to this case, has grounds to suspect that this was not an accident. And so, if the course of the investigation, one dirty secret is revealed after another.

I loved the style of this mystery, which reminded me a lot of the recent favorite, Lucy Foley's "The Guest List," when you just know the killer is among the guests, but the investigation brings out a lot of dirty laundry. The characters are almost totally unlikable, which I think is exactly the point - McGowan wants you to dislike everyone and their unreliable POVs, so that you can't root for anyone or guess the ending.

I'm giving this book 4 stars because I don't think it's as fast paced at "The Guest List," although this could totally be a personal preference.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Push by Claire McGowan
Pub Date 11/12/2020

I really enjoyed this book it has my favorite set up to it. The "locked room" mystery.
One party, thirteen guest, one dead before it was over.

I love trying to figure out a good whodunit story. This one you even had to figure out who was murdered before the big reveal. I also loved to hate most of the characters. My two favorite characters were definitely Jax and the detective Alison.
I would most definitely recommend this book to a friend.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you to the publisher and to #netgalley for the book.