The Push Book Review

WOW!!!!!!!

A mother’s heart breaks a million ways in her lifetime.
Blythe – from The Push

Synopsis:

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.

My review:
I read this book in 2 days. This book pulled me in right from the start. I was doing it as a buddy read (check it out our discussion here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/21848054). WARNING – it is full of spoilers.

So much hurt, so much guilt, so much left unsaid. I flew through it. The only character I loved was Mrs. Ellington, but that was ok. I cared enough about all of them to want to know how they got where they were, and where they would end up. It is disturbing to think about how much mental illness is pushed under the rug and still not discussed. Blythe’s past was full of undiagnosed mental illness. I think she went into motherhood hoping to change the patterns and hoping to be a better Mother than her own mostly removed Mother was. Without spoiling anything, she has a hard time bonding with her first child, has a second child who she easily bonded with while simultaneously dealing with events that have her (and the reader) questioning her first child’s mental health. Throughout the book, the author leaves that question open for interpretation by the reader. Do we believe the character describing the stories, or do we believe she is describing it from her stilted point of view? I liked that. And I loved this book!

Highly recommend – 5 starts.

You know, there’s a lot about ourselves that we can’t change – it’s just the way we’re born. But some parts of us are shaped by what we see. And how we’re treated by other people. How we’re made to feel.
Violet – from The Push