The Push

I feel like anything I write would be a spoiler, but the psychological twist of this book kept me turning the digital page. I lost sleep staying up late reading it. This could be a movie similar to We Need to Talk About Kevin.

I picked this book up at 3 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon and didn’t put it down until I finished the last page at 1 o’clock on a Sunday morning.

This unique thriller explores what happens when you don’t become the mother you expected to be and struggle to connect with your child. It is all at once brilliant, nuanced, and propulsive.

Audrain lays bare the complexities of the nature of maternal love, generational trauma, and skirting the fine line between sanity and madness.

From one extreme to another!

The Push is a fast-paced suspense that had me on tenterhooks from start to finish and I couldn’t stop reading it. It’s about a woman, Blythe, who is determined to be a loving and kind mother to her new baby. But as the stress and relentlessness of early motherhood takes its toll, Blythe becomes increasingly convinced there’s something wrong with her daughter. The problem is that no one believes her.

This book reminded me of my early days of parenting, when I was sleep deprived, overwhelmed, and paranoid that I was a terrible mother. Looking… show more.

Psych thrillers are always a solid choice for something people will want to talk about, and The Push is no different. This one was a huge page-turner for me. It’s one of those books that has you second-guessing the narrator just when you begin to think you’ve figured out what’s really going on. It’s about a mother and a daughter who have trouble bonding, and well, that’s really all I can say without giving it all away. Don’t worry. Picking apart all the intricacies of these characters is what book club is for.  

This book pulled my heartstrings as a mother. The experience isn’t always as romanticized as we are told it should be and I rejoiced for this refreshing glimpse into a side of it seldom seen. You feel the emotions through the heartache of this mother grappling with raising a difficult child and the ramifications of her actions leave you breathless. I read this on Mother’s Day weekend and could not put it down. Eight hours later, I crawled into bed still thinking about it, and now over a year later, I am still mulling it over. It’s a story that… show more.

I can't say much about this book without giving it away. I will say that this book is highly emotional to the point that most people might not make it to the end. I have a pretty happy and peaceful life now. However, I have gone through my share of heartbreak and then some. I enjoy reading gut-wrenching stories that make you want to close your eyes and scream because they dig their way into your head and plant a seed that grows into an understanding. This book does just that. The contents seem harsh but truly believable. As you… show more.

The very first page drew me in with the richness of the writing and the sheer intrigue and wondering what possibly went wrong in this mother’s life. This book has left a definite imprint on my heart, and maybe not in a good way. This mother experiences something that literally made my jaw drop, shocked me, and kept me frantically wanting to know what happened next, hoping for some sort of relief to the protag’s anguish. This mother’s heart was broken in the most horrific of ways, and I felt them all. As a woman, we all assume if we… show more.