My heart really went out to Blythe throughout the entire second half of the novel when things take a turn for the worse in her marriage. The problem was his refusal to accept that his children and especially Violet were anything less than well-behaved children. As a whole, Fox was a horrible and infuriating man and husband, but who clearly loved his children for which I really can't fault him. I really despised Blythe's husband as a character and his lack of support of Blythe when it was proven that there was something very clearly wrong with their daughter.

That was the masterpiece of having the book focus always following Blythe's perspective, it was impossible to tell if the crazy events really happened or just played out in Blythe's mind. Throughout the novel, I was always on the edge of my seat trying to figure out if Blythe was having hallucinations and some form of psychosis or whether the events that played out really occurred. Unfortunately, it also impacted Blythe's relationship with her own daughter, Violet. I appreciated how it showed that this abusive behavior was cyclical because that felt extremely realistic. Both Blythe's mother and grandmother suffered from mental illness and were abusive parents who mistreated their daughters.

We even get flashbacks of what Blythe's mother's childhood looked like growing up with her own parents. I loved the flashback scenes that we got of Blythe growing up with her mother and really get to see what her family life was like. I could tell almost immediately that this story would be very intense and at only a little over 300 pages, the plot was definitely very fast-paced. There were early red flags and signals of problems brewing for Blythe and her boyfriend, and later husband, Fox. I read the book in just one sitting and I could not put it down for even a minute. The Push by Ashley Audrain was a gripping, really quick read. Note: This book contains some sensitive topics that may be triggering for some readers, please proceed with caution. If you haven't read it yet, feel free to pick up a copy and form your own opinion on it.Ĭontent Warnings: Grief, Mental Illness, Child Abuse, Child Death, Emotional Abuse, Blood, Domestic Abuse, Violence, Medical Trauma, Toxic Relationship, Self Harm, Infidelity, Murder, Miscarriage. As you consider my thoughts, remember that you are allowed to have different feelings about this book. Before diving into my review, please note that it is based on my opinion of the book.

The push ashley