Book Review: The Push by Ashley Audrain

 Book: The Push 

Author: Ashley Audrain 

Pages: 320

Read on: Kindle 

Read in: 3-4 hours 

Plot Summary: Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had.

But in the thick of motherhood’s exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter–she doesn’t behave like most children do.

Or is it all in Blythe’s head? Her husband, Fox, says she’s imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well.

Then their son Sam is born–and with him, Blythe has the blissful connection she’d always imagined with her child. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth.

Things I Liked: 

1. The premise of this book seemed interesting- motherhood, its many challenges, a potentially sociopathic child. What is not to love, eh? I think childhood behavioural disorders or childhood sociopathy is such an interesting, scary and heartbreaking occurrence. I can't even imagine the state of the parents of such a child. What do you do if your child is an empathy-less, evil monster? You can't exactly send it off somewhere! So, anyway, I was quite looking forward to immerse myself in this book. 

2. This book is an examination of motherhood itself. We see three generations of mothers. The first is our protagonist- Blythe- abused and neglected at the hands of her disinterested, cold, manipulative mother. Then there is Blythe's mom- Cecilia- who, probably, suffered the most at the hands of her, clearly, depressed and cruel mother, Etta. Whilst Blythe has all kinds of good intentions about the kind of mom she wants to be, she finds it extremely difficult to reconcile with motherhood. She is not a natural nurturer and she fails to bond with her baby. So, she starts believing that something is wrong with her baby instead- at least, that's the narrative. Coming back to motherhood, the book takes a hard look at some of the not-so-rosy aspects of being a mom. It may be difficult to read or triggering for some, especially, if you've had a bad experience/ relationship with maternal role models. 

3. The book is scary and heartbreaking in parts. Cecilia's abuse at the hands of Etta, who is conniving and cruel, is, especially, heartbreaking and infuriating! It is strange that none of the men in the lives of these women notice either the abuse or the abusive behaviour! You truly can't believe that fathers or husbands would be so blind to blatant abuse! 

Things I Didn't Like:

1. This book was touted to be some kind of a pacy psychological thriller with an unreliable narrator. In the sense that you're supposed to wonder, as a reader, if Blythe is imagining Violet to be a sociopath or if Violet truly is a sociopath. However, anyone with an iota of understanding of the human condition will immediately realise that there is no unreliable narrator here! So, in that respect, the book was a let down. 

2. *SPOILER* It is one thing for a father to be blind to the faults of his daughter, but when that daughter causes "accidents" multiple times and these "accidents" cause the deaths of other children, anyone with half a brain would want to get their own child assessed by a psychologist! Fox, Blythe's husband, blindly trusts his daughter and dismisses everything Blythe tells him, even though Blythe is the one, who stays home all day with Violet! 

Rating: 3/5 

This is not a bad book, just that it is not what it was marketed as "a taut psychological thriller". If you enjoy books on complex, dysfunctional family dynamics, then this is a good one to pick up.