The Push by Ashley Audrain ~ #bookreview #psychologicalthriller

 

Title: The Push  

Author:  Ashley Audrain 

Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books    

Publication date: January 5, 2021

Source: Purchased 

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | BAM | IndieBound

Synopsis

A tense, page-turning psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family–and a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for–and everything she feared.

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.

The Push is a tour de force you will read in a sitting, an utterly immersive novel that will challenge everything you think you know about motherhood, about what we owe our children, and what it feels like when women are not believed. 

My Rating: 5 / 5 stars 

I'm so glad I happened to see The Push at a bookstore I was at with my daughter. The cover and title of the book stopped me in my tracks, especially that cover, which is designed to evoke an inkblot you'd see in a Rorschach test. I hadn't heard of this book before, but the synopsis indicated this was a book I was likely going to love. 

First of all, I love unreliable narrators where you don't know if their perspective is what's really happening or not, and that was how I felt about Blythe. Was there something "wrong" with Violet, or was there something wrong with her mother? As for Blythe's husband, Fox, he was either being rational or refusing to see what's happening. The book had me back and forth so many times!    

There were times I could see where Blythe was coming from, but I still wondered about this character. I had to know what was going to happen next. I will say I liked her more than Fox though. I don't know what exactly it was about him, although I suppose it was likely his flippant attitude about his wife's concerns that drove me crazy.

The Push was definitely a five star read for me! It was a nonstop thrill ride that kept me turning the pages as quickly as I could, and after I finished it, I had to take a deep breath and process what I just read. I love books that give me that reaction.  

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Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway ~ Dead Dreams by Emma Right

Hey guys! Welcome to my stop on the Dead Dreams Blog Tour hosted by IFB Tours. Click here to follow along with the full blog tour schedule! :D 

Title: Dead Dreams

Series: Dead Dreams #1

Author: Emma Right

Re-release date: October 2013

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Psychological Thriller

Source: Review copy

Blog Tour Organized by: IFB Tours

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 Click here for the book trailer

~ Synopsis ~

Eighteen-year-old Brie O'Mara has so much going for her: a loving family in the sidelines, an heiress for a roommate, and dreams that might just come true. Big dreams - of going to acting school, finishing college and making a name for herself. She is about to be the envy of everyone she knew. What more could she hope for? Except her dreams are about to lead her down the road to nightmares. Nightmares that could turn into a deadly reality. 

~ My Thoughts ~

My Rating: 5 / 5 

Dead Dreams, from the cover, looks like it would be a paranormal kind of novel, but surprisingly not! I checked the genre again just to be sure even though it's clearly stated on the cover that this is a psychological thriller. It was definitely thrilling to read - I felt like I was holding my breath throughout the entire novel!

I enjoyed taking a break from the paranormal genre for Dead Dreams. Brie has moved out on her own into an apartment and advertised for a roommate on Craigslist. When I read that, I couldn't help but facepalm. Craigslist? Really? That'd be the last place I'd advertise for a roommate even if I was end-of-the-rope desperate. After an interview, Brie has found her roommate, who happens to be an heiress. An heiress on Craigslist?? 

A lot of this wasn't making sense to me, but not in an irritating way. It was in an oh-my-God-watch-out-Brie kind of way. I could have kept a tally of all the mistakes Brie makes that I wish she hadn't made in the first place. Sprinkled here and there throughout the novel are hints from Brie that this isn't going to end well for her. I don't know exactly how or when but that something really bad is going to end up happening. It was inevitable. 

While Brie questions her roommate's secrecy and the lies she catches her in, Brie still continues to trust her and doesn't listen to the gut feeling she has that something is very wrong. The situation Brie is in along with the decisions she made had me thinking this was a huge scam, but I couldn't figure out the roommate's angle. What would she have to gain from tricking Brie? The first time I caught my roommate in a lie I wouldn't be able to trust her or explain it away like Brie did. 

Things escalate quickly, and I practically chewed my fingernails. I had no clue what was going to happen and tried to put the pieces together as I went along. This is an extremely gripping read that snatches you up from page one and doesn't let go until the end. And even after that, you aren't going to be able to stop thinking about this one for quite a while!   

  

~ Purchase Link ~

Amazon

~ About the Author: Emma Right ~

Emma Right is a happy wife and homeschool mother of five living in the Pacific West Coast. Besides running a busy home, and looking after too many pets, she also enjoys reading aloud to her children and often has her nose in a book. Right was a copywriter for a major advertising agency during her B.C. years. B.C. meaning "Before Children," which may as well have been in the B.C. era, as she always says. 

~ Social Links ~

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