I always knew that I shouldn't be a mother, my own was hardly the ideal but when my husband said that it would be different for me I believed him.
When Violet was born I just knew that the mother and baby bond wasn't there and that she disliked me instantly.
How can I explain that feeling to anyone?
Everyone put it down to baby blues and that the bonding will happen it time but it hasn't.
My daughter hates me and I'm starting to feel the same way.

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley. It has sat on my shelf for quite a while but I am glad I eventually got around to reading it. From the outside a nice, normal nuclear family mum, dad, daughter, son But all is not as it seems. The author has created a great cast of characters to populate her narrative. The narrative itself ebbs and flows as it pulses with an undeniable undertone. Yet for me it just misses something that would take it to a higher rating.

Blythe Connor is determined to be the best ever mother to her new baby Violet. But in the thick of motherhood's exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter. But is it all in her head? Her husband, Fox says she's inagining thinds. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe seems to question her own sanity. Then their son Sam is born. Blythe has the blissful connection she's always imagined with a child. But when life they know is changes in an instant forced Blythe to face the truth.

This is a chilling story of nature versus nurture. Blythe comes fron a long line of women who were not cut out to be mothers. When her daughter is born she finds out that motherhood is not as easy as she thought. Blythe's mother Cecilia had faileed miserably and her grandmother, Etta, was wore in their role as mothers. This is a disturbing, tense and emotionally complex read. There is some scenes that some readers might find distressing. Blythe and Violet never bonded. Violet is a little bit creepy. The story is narrated by Blythe telling us of bith Blythe and her mother's childhoods. I was pulled into this super debut novel from the first few pages.

i would like to thank #NetGalley, #PenguinMichaelJosephUK and the author #AshleyAudrain for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Today is the first stop on the blog tour & it’s my stop. Thank you to Michael j books for having me & for introducing me to this AMAZING debut novel by Ashley Audrain.
Firstly let me tell you if I could give this a million stars I would. It is absolutely insane! Ashley’s writing skills are amazing. This is a real page turner, as soon as I opened the first page I couldn’t put it down. It is a psychological drama that explores motherhood, nature vs nurture debate. As the book progresses the tone grows darker. is Blythe paranoid? Is it a tale of manipulation? I won’t give anymore away as I don’t want to spoilt it for anyone. You need to pre-order this book NOW! It definitely will be one of the most talked books of 2021!

Trigger Warnings: Child Birth, Child Death, Child Abuse, Neglect, Miscarriage, Self Harm

Going into this I didn’t know what I expected. But I feel like it wasn’t what this was. I definitely didn’t read the synopsis properly.

I found it hard at first to put my feelings into words. Especially trying to without spoilers so for this review there will be some.

This wasn’t like majority of the thrillers I read. But it was intense at times.

The flashbacks throughout showing the story of Blythe’s mother and grandmother behaviour while being mothers intrigued me at first. But despite them playing important roles in understand how each mother behaviour lead to the next generation having issues I sadly sort of zone out of them.

Since Violet is still a child this was hard at times. Worrying where she could go next. How far could she go? As someone who watches true crime there were some real red flags that it seemed majority looked past.

Due to this I’m left wondering if how Fox reacted to anything to do with his daughters behaviour was different would their story be different? Or would everything still happen. Is he partly to blame since he looked past so much? Almost like he didn’t want to see anything wrong with his daughter and instead passed all blame onto Blythe.

Fox annoyed me with this. His wife was clearly struggling yet he put blame on her instead of really paying attention to his daughter and any signs that something may be wrong. Doing this only made Blythe worse in my opinion.

The way Blythe behaviour became more concerning throughout the book. Especially once Fox left for another woman who then had a baby with him. I just wanted to shake sense into her and get her the help she needed.

We see the breakdown of Blythe and Fox marriage throughout the book which felt realistic and raw. Heartbreaking at times at how much pain they would have been in but didn’t handle it the best way.

The ending itself was predictable. But that didn’t bother me. It made sense with all the signs left throughout the book. The way the book is left open leaving questions about just what happened.

Overall I did enjoy this and would definitely check out more from Audrain in the future.

I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to start this review. All that's coming to mind are a series of sounds which don't translate well onto the page. This book has left me gobsmacked, shaken and shaking. The writing is faultless, with a beautiful flow that makes it easy to keep reading. The story is vicious and nasty in parts, hitting where it hurts most - and so, so, so good. The characters were all frightening in their own way. "The Push" is definitely a book you don't want to miss... though it should probably come with a free box of tissues and a trigger warning.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

This is a very dark psychological thriller, which I found incredibly thought provoking.

The story focusses on whether or not new mother Blythe can break the generational cycle (her mother and grand mother) of cruelty, neglect and a lack of maternal instinct towards their daughters after Blyth gives birth to Violet? As her daughter ages, she shows signs of hatred towards her mother/Blythe while mother becomes resentful, whilst Blythe husband finds nothing wrong with Violet’s behaviour which isn’t helped by Violet being a daddies girl. Things truly begin to unravel after the birth of baby Sam, particularly when Violet sees her mum fondness towards her Sam which she felt that she never had. Expectations of motherhood, misplaced trust, psychological manipulation and resentment give way to an excellent page turner that ends in tragedy.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book in return for an open and honest review

I really enjoyed this. I liked how the story was written as chapters from the mum's point of view as a book she was writing. The characters were written really well and sometimes stressful, but in a good way! The ending was great and made me want more.

Ok, so I have mixed views on The Push. First, it was compelling, riveting and beautifully written. There was something about the writing which just pulled me along. My eyes were wandering over the words and I couldn’t put the book down. Emotions were captured in a way I often had to pause for a second. 

The plot was intense, and like nothing I’d ever read before. It was interesting reading about motherhood through three different generations in one family, how we saw the mechanisms of how each relationship between mother and child existed long before our dominant story. 

Some chapters lacked transition, so I was unsure where I was up too sometimes. The book flicks back and forth to the past; some were in italics and had dates so I knew where I was up too, but others didn’t, and it took me a while to figure out what was going on. This was jolting, and I had to re-immerse myself into the story after every flashback. 

Violet as a character was fascinating. I felt so much emotion and tension when she was around. It was hard to understand her, but I liked that as it kept my brain ticking over and engaged in the story. 

Lastly, the ending is very ambiguous, which I’m not a fan of. It’s left very open-ended and up to you to use your imagination about what happened next. It didn’t feel satisfying, and there were too many questions left unanswered for my liking. I can’t help but feel disappointed because the writing was incredible, and the plot was interesting, but unfortunately the ending really put a dampener on my enjoyment.

This is such an unsettling read. Deeply chilling but one that draws you in and refuses to let you go. I read this in one sitting and found it fascinating. The stories of Blythe’s mother and grandmother were so sad and have an insight to Blythe’s own ideas of motherhood. Her relationship with Fox and his mother also posed the interesting question - was it because of her own upbringing that her feelings towards Violet were so difficult?

My last few books have been quite bleak and a little disturbing - so I thought I would stay on trend for ‘The Push’! Blythe and Fox are a happily married couple, but when baby Violet comes along, Blythe has to admit something seems… off about her.

The Push is a psychological thriller told from the perspective of Blythe and it is mainly told as if written for her husband (he is referred to as ‘You’ in second person). We also get some flashback snippets of Blythe’s own childhood with her mother Cynthia and Cynthia’s childhood with her mother Etta. It was nice to have the other perspectives woven into the story and they really emphasise the debate of nature vs nurture in terms of what makes children what they are. Although Etta’s story is told in italics, the other flashbacks are not titled or dated and aren’t used regularly enough so it is a little jolting each time they are presented to the reader.

I actually read the story in one sitting so it did hold my interest, however I did feel like it dragged in places and some of it could have been cut down to make for a more impactful story. The plot reminded me a lot of ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ but I also felt like I had read the story before in other places as well – nothing about it felt particularly original or shocking. The end twist I had been waiting for from around the halfway point of the story and so the whole thing felt very predictable, although it was moving in its telling.

Overall The Push was a moving, if predictable read. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK – Michael Joseph for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this...lots of suspense, and never sure where it might end up...great new author to me.

The Push by Ashley Audrain is unlike any other book I’ve read before. It is a raw, unnerving, unsettling story of motherhood not going to plan, in a very extreme way.
The book’s main character is Blythe, a woman who knows she doesn’t want to be a Mother. Her husband Fox is desperate to be a Father, to replicate the family life he had as a child. Despite Blythe’s strong reservations, she is convinced by Fox that she will be a wonderful Mother, so they start planning their family.
Through the chapters, we travel back to see the lives of her Grandmother Etta, and Mother Cecelia. Starting with Etta, we see the cycle of maternal neglect, cruelty and abandonment. Blythe, and her daughter Violet, are the products of all this hurt through the years. My mind was constantly changing on who I felt the “problem” was. Blythe, Fox, Violet?
When I read the last paragraph of the book, I tried to turn the page, hungry to read what happened next, but there wasn’t another chapter. I am now sitting, wondering what happened. Did she do it? If so, what? What will Fox do/think? So many questions.
I would suggest that if you are pregnant, or a very new Mum, still in that sleep deprivation stage, maybe leave reading this book for a little while. It is a book that will polarise opinion, while at the same time being “one of those” books that people will be talking about in 2021.
Personally, I will be thinking about the book, and Blythe for a long time. The Push is a startling debut. 5* from me.

I’m so blown away by this book, I actually don’t know what to write!

This is a dark and disturbing book about motherhood. It had me feeling every emotion possible and I loved it. I enjoyed the narrative, almost written like a letter to another main character (reminded me of We Need To Talk About Kevin) and the chapters are quite short, making it easy to put down (although I didn’t want to). There are a few unpleasant subjects touched on and I think it may be too heavy for some. It will certainly stay with me and to my fellow dark literature lovers I will be recommending it aplenty.

The Push by Audrey Audrain is a spectacular book. I stayed up until around 3 am to finish reading it because I couldn’t wait until morning to finish it.

The Push follows three generations of women and their relationship with motherhood. Etta, her daughter Cecilia and her daughter Blythe. Blythe and her daughter Violet are the central focus of the book, but it is implied that the impact of these other relationships should not be ignored. The Push is a living embodiment of nature vs nurture.

Etta and Cecilia would both be considered to be unfit mothers and after the birth of her daughter the reader has to decide if Blythe has inherited their problems or if her daughter Violet is an innocent victim or evil.

Fox is dismissive of Blythe’s misgivings about Violet and several times goes as far as to suggest that Blythe is the problem.

The Push is an intense book and left me on edge during the whole time I was reading it.

It begins with a woman sat in her car on Christmas Eve watching her ex-husband and her daughter with their new family. Next to her on the car seat is a document written to explain her said of the story to her husband.

We watch Blythe transform from someone who is determined to escape the pitfalls of her past and is confident she can do so to someone who is not confident in her mothering skills and sometimes wonders if maybe she is the problem after all.

“I would be different. I would be like other women for whom it all came so easily. I would be everything my own mother was not.”

I can see why The Push is already being spoken about and I think it will be one people are divided on.

I loved it.

I was lucky enough to have both the print copy and the audio version of this book.

The book took me a little while to get into - I think this was because I started with the audiobook, and I wasn't particularly liking the narrator. She had an incredibly strong american accent, and I found it quite monotone at times. However, when I started reading the hard copy I was gripped. After I was gripped by the hardcopy I felt like I could go back to the audio version - and so for the rest of the book I flipped between the audio and hardcopy.

The book isn't at all what I expected, based on the blurb I thought the book would be more of a thriller, but it felt a lot like literary fiction. The entire time you are wondering about the authenticity of the narrator, Blythe. I love books with a unreliable narrator, as it always feels more realistic - I mean, everyone sees things differently and would have their own version of the truth - this is the same with this book.
There is so much going on with this book, and would be a great bookclub read, as there is a lot to discuss and unpick.

I feel that this book will stay with me for a long time. I really loved the writing style, and I felt connected to the characters. This book is heartbreaking, and intriguing all at once.

I would recommend the print version to the audiobook - just purely as I didn't think much of the narrator. But either way - you MUST read this book. I feel it will be a massive talking point in 2021!

Let me preface this by saying that I could not put this down - I was hooked. I started this on Christmas Eve, woke up at 7am on Christmas day to feed the cat and then chose to not go back to the cosiness of my bedroom to catch up on extra sleep but stay downstairs to finish this book. And I don’t regret it one bit.

“One day you’ll understand, Blythe. The women in this family...we’re different.”

Blythe never wanted to be a mother. The women in her family weren’t cut out for motherhood. But it happened to her anyway and so she vowed to be different. To be nothing like her mother. But soon after her daughter is born, Blythe realises that something is wrong with her. Something doesn’t feel right. Is it real? Or is it all in her head?

✨ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨✨
Ashley Audrain’s debut novel, The Push, took me on one hell of a ride. It was a tense, psychological domestic fiction that should also be classified as a work of art. It will make you question everything you think you know about women and motherhood. It will make you question what you know about children. If you’re a mother, it will make you question what you would do in Blythe’s shoes.

So, mother or not, if you’re after a fast paced read that will leave you shouting out, ‘What? WHAT? I need to know what happens next!’ when you finish the last sentence, buy this book. Borrow this book. I don’t care. Just find it somehow.

And Ashley, if you’re reading this, can we talk? I have so many questions and I seriously need to know what happens next.

Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
This is a fast paced psychological rather chilling and disturbing family drama,
Motherhood is not what Blythe had hoped for, she herself had a traumatic childhood and her mother before her.. Blythe is determined her own motherhood experience with her daughter Violet will be different. She finds it hard to connect with her baby daughter, is constantly exhausted. Violet is a daddy’s girl
Her motherhood experience changes completely when she gives birth to her son Sam, how she loves him, she is drunk on happiness, could snuggle him all day and even Violet is taken with him.
The drama builds and even though they are now a family of four the tension remain between mother and daughter. The family unit is shattered and slowly disintegrates following the most tragic event, Blythe blames Violet, she can’t cope with what has happened, slowly her husband an Violet leave her, they build a new life without her whilst Blythe struggles.
This is an addictive read, there are lots of twists and surprises, lots to think about even when you reach the end.

The Push is a thought provoking novel that tackles many difficult issues, the main one being what should a mother do if she knows her child is dangerous?
When Blythe becomes pregnant, she worries that she won’t be a good mother. The book examines her relationship with her husband and new daughter Violet, while also telling the story of her mother and grandmother. The history shows they were not naturally maternal and in some situations, abusive and neglectful to their daughters.

Blythe and Violet do not bond and although Blythe cares for her infant, she feels disconnected and can see her husband has a more natural relationship with her. Blythe’s instincts tell her that Violet isn’t like other children, and after a serious incident at a playground, these concerns are confirmed.
The story continues as baby Sam comes into their lives and Blythe suddenly feels all the emotions she knows were missing with Violet.

I found this to be an intense read that provoked many emotions in me. The no holds barred descriptions of pregnancy, birth and motherhood, as well as the close examination of marriage and relationships was brutally honest and refreshing. The story is also terrifying in parts and created many questions in my mind regarding a mother’s love and loyalty. A brilliant Book Club read.

This book is about three generations of women who had struggled with motherhood, from holding their newborn onward, only Blythe really does think her daughter, Violet, is bad. I enjoyed the beginning of the book, describing how hard it is to be a new mother and could empathise with this. I also liked from about three quarters of the way in when Blythe makes a friend at a parenting group and through to the end. I just found a lot of the book to be repetitive, hence the 3 and not 4 stars.