This hit me like a ton of bricks I never saw coming. I almost didn’t pick this up because I did not like The Push and didn’t see the hype everyone else had about it. The novel centers around four different types of wives and mothers, the choices they make and the repercussions from those. Audrain precisely captures the pressures put on women from the moment they become mothers, from their bodies, husbands, society and each other. How we measure ourselves as mothers and our own worthiness as women spans the story in so many ways.

Audrain’s description of the the whispers, especially the mental load of managing a family that can feel debilitating and the nagging thoughts of something being wrong but being told you’re imagining things, hit so hard it felt like she was writing from my feelings. An incredible depiction of modern motherhood.

None of these women or men in these families are innocent in their choices and just when you think someone may be a good soul Audrain yanks the rug right out from you.

The current time storyline spans only a couple of days but it works so well because of the character development and flashbacks we get. Best ending to a novel I’ve read in a long time; my heart pounded for a long time after I finished this.