Thursday Thriller Audio: The Push by Ashley Audrain
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Mystery
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Penguin Audio (January 5, 2021)
Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Narrator: Marin Ireland
Three days after reading The Push by Ashley Audrain, I still don’t really know how I feel about it! This book makes you question everything, but it’s definitely not the kind to hand you all the answers. At its heart is a story of difficult motherhood like no other, through the eyes of one of the most disturbingly unreliable narrators I’ve ever read.
Traumatized by her own harsh childhood of growing up with a distant and uncaring mother, Blythe never thought she wanted kids of her own, but that was before she met Fox in college—her perfect boyfriend who would later become her perfect husband. Loving, kind and gentle, Fox was always meant to be a father, and Blythe soon warmed to the idea of starting a family with him, despite her reservations and memories of the past. After all, she was determined not to let history repeat itself, and so long as she and Fox were a team, she was convinced that together they would conquer any challenge—even parenthood.
Soon, their daughter Violet came along, but what didn’t arrive as expected was the sense of joy and connection to her baby that Blythe had so badly wanted. Of course, it didn’t help that Violet was a difficult child from the start, seeming to actively reject all of Blythe’s efforts to calm or comfort her, though with Fox she would be an absolute angel. As Violet grew older, it only got worse. Blythe fears there is something wrong with her daughter, the way her eyes sometimes flash with something cruel or wicked behind them, or the way the other children at preschool would shy away in fear. No one else seems to notice, causing’s Blythe’s resentment to grow and a rift to develop between her and Fox. Desperate to fix things, she hastily agrees to have another child, though later, she realizes that the arrival of their son was exactly what the family needed. Blythe’s mothering instincts were reawakened with Sam, a happy child who was adored by everyone, even his temperamental older sister Violet. However, the bliss is short lived. Tragedy strikes out of the blue, dealing a final, irreparable blow to Blythe’s marriage, and worst of all, she can’t be sure if her own daughter had a role in what happened.
Told in a unique and distinctive style which has Blythe narrating her story to her husband, the book also alternates between flashback chapters which include the perspectives of her mother Cecilia and grandmother Etta. By establishing that our protagonist came from a long line of women with a track record for suicide, abandonment, and abuse, we’re able to sympathize with her determination to break that cycle.
Unfortunately though, the law of reverse effect in full play. Heartbreakingly for Blythe, it seemed that the harder she tries to be a good mother to Violet, the worse their relationship gets. True, The Push is a psychological thriller, but in many ways it is also a commentary on the pressures of mothers in society, and the question of nature versus nurture. Echoing the stories of so many first-time mothers, Blythe’s disillusionment begins on day one as her perfect birth plan falls apart and she fails to form an immediate bond with her daughter. The difference though, is that Blythe never seems to move past feeling this failure, and the emotional toll this has on her can be deduced from her increasingly unreliable narrative. As her discomfort around Violet grows, doubts arise about her mental state. Could she be exaggerating the problem? Might she be justifying her mistakes or reading too much into things? As the reader, I wanted badly to believe her, but as her actions grew more erratic and paranoid (not to mention more stalkerish and manipulative), it became hard not to ask these questions. Blythe also goes through a lot, suffering experiences I would not wish upon anyone, and that most certainly has an effect on her perceptions as well.
Speaking of which, The Push touches on some dark and uncomfortable themes. That sense of unease settled in early as I started reading, and to be honest, it never really left me. Part of this is due to the aforementioned dark themes, but admittedly, some of it probably had to do with the lack of answers and clarity as well. The final line of the book was especially infuriating and I can’t say it helped at all with providing closure.
Still, this was a fascinating read, and provided a lot of food for thought. The Push is definitely not your run-of-the-mill thriller that you can read and enjoy and then set aside as you move on to the next one. I think if some of the story’s topics weren’t so sensitive and distressing, this would make an excellent book club title, spawning all kinds of interesting discussion. Even though all the elements didn’t quite come together in a satisfying manner, and the ending kind of swings and misses, this is still the kind of novel that stays with you and burrows under you skin. I have to give it credit for holding my full attention, making me wonder and question everything along the way.
The BiblioSanctum 
The topic is quite interesting and different and I confess that only for that I would love to discover it to understand why Violet is like that and what happenned exactly to Sam
LikeLike
It was pretty awful – definitely don’t want to spoil it, but it can be upsetting for some!
LikeLike
It’s a disturbing theme, granted, and it’s possible that the presence of an unreliable narrator would make the journey harder, but it also sounds fascinating – darkly so, but still… 🙂
LikeLike
Yeah, it’s an unsettling feeling, always questioning whether you can trust Blythe!
LikeLike
Anytime a book “infuriates” a reader, I tend to either be instantly curious about the book or decide it’s not for me at all.
Based on the rest of your review, this is not for me…
LikeLike
The story also doesn’t treat the protagonist kindly. I guess I wanted some kind of vindication for her, but the book also left me hanging on that front.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This book wasn’t on my radar at all. But I do love books that are hard to figure out, I’ve read a fair number of them myself. Even if the story wasn’t perfect, it says something that you can’t stop thinking about them.
LikeLike
Yep, perfect description of how I felt!
LikeLike
Great review. I’ve seen a lot of mixed reactions for this one so I’ve been on the fence about reading it. It sounds like it’s probably not for me.
LikeLike
It’s a lot to take in…and it also goes to some very dark places!
LikeLike
Hm… Any book that pokes at the issue of motherhood and the ridiculous pressures we put on parents – especially mothers – these days is worth considering. But it sounds as if this one stirs up quite a lot of emotion, without leaving the reader with any sort of closure. That’s okay if this is literary fiction, I suppose. But this is one I shall leave alone…
LikeLike
Yes, constantly questioning whether you can trust what the protagonist is telling you, that can wear on you after a while. But I did appreciate the story’s multiple layers of meaning and messages!
LikeLike
Fabulous review – I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!! Which is what I meant to finish saying – and then pressed POST COMMENT by mistake!
LikeLike
No worries!
LikeLike
Ooh this reminds me of Baby Teeth a bit, although that one had more supernatural (possible) element. This sounds really harrowing and intense though…
LikeLike
I vaguely recall seeing Baby Teeth somewhere…but I gotta go look it up now, especially since you mentioned a supernatural element 😀
LikeLike
Well this sounds like it made you think a lot if nothing else. I do like that in a book. 🙂
LikeLike
Yep, the kind of book that stays with you for days! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
MMM, I was curious to see what you’d make of this. Part of me is very curious and part of me wants to sit a fence a little bit.
Lynn 😀
LikeLike
I know what you mean! I had a feeling from the vagueness of the synopsis that it would be a doozy though, and boy I was kinda right!
LikeLike
Probably not one I’ll get around to trying, but it is fascinating when you run into something that leaves you unsure how to feel about it.
LikeLike
Haha, fascinating and frustrating! I guess that’s why it took me so long to gather my thoughts about this one 🙂
LikeLike
Interesting, it has been some time since my last thriller
LikeLike
You need another mystery/thriller to be addicted to 🙂
LikeLike
Pingback: Best of 2021: Notable Debuts | The BiblioSanctum
Pingback: Best of 2021: Notable Debuts – Imobiliare 24