Book Review – Push by Claire Wallis

Push

WHOA. OMG… I’m just… whoa. Now that was an exhilarating read indeed. Excuse me, while I pick my jaw up off the floor. I’m just sitting here. Stunned. Dying for the next one. DYING!!!! Yes… yessssssssss, it ends with a MAJOR cliffhanger but just like a fellow reader said, I don’t regret reading it not one bit. If I hadn’t, I would have deprived myself of all of this exciting “crazy”, this buildup, this anticipation, this THRILL. And heck, I read especially to feel like this!

Now first, I want to thank Melissa, Skye, and Pam for recommending this one to me. You guys know EXACTLY what I like. SPOT ON, my friends!!!!!

Melissa: Maryse, I just finished a book that you would love!! It’s called PUSH by Claire Wallis. Holy moly was it good! Right up our alley with a bad boy, but with a HUGE dark twist that will shock you! Its not your typical romance but it is a love story. i think it is very dark, but you might not think so. I want to tell you every little part about it, but that would give away the plot. I don’t know if the author has written any other books because I couldn’t find any other ones, so this might be her first. It’s on sale on amazon for like $2.50. You need to read this one ASAP! I would love to know what you think!

Skye: Hey Maryse, I just wanted to let you know about a book in case you hadn’t seen it yet. It’s called Push by Claire Willis. I don’t know the author, but I started reading it and damn it is sooooo dark. And well written. Thought you might want to take a peek. The prologues are pretty intense so I think if it’s gonna hook you, it will do so in the sample 🙂

Pam: Just finished Push….wow… Just wow… So good and I didn’t even mind the cliffhanger. Gah!!!! So good.

Oh wow! There was just something so raw and real about these recommendations. I one-clicked it immediately, and went in, completely blind. Just on the trust of these recommendations alone. I didn’t even read the blurb.

So if you want to trust me implicitly, and you like to read stories dealing in “dark” subject matters, and you like wondering about your own sanity for loving characters that are apparently er…. not, well… you get the picture. I think this one’s for YOU!

And now don’t read further below. I won’t give anything away or spoil anything more than the blurb lets on (yes, I just read it now), but since I LOVED going into this blind, I think you might, too. All I knew was that the end was gonna blow me away, and I was good with that info.

So for those of you that want to go in blind (it’s SO fun!!!) stop reading this review, here! I am going to say that I’m giving this 4.5 to 5 stars. I’m gonna work that out below, now, so no more peeking!!! 

Now for those of you that want to know more… what’s it about?

Twenty-something year old Emma moves into an apartment, starts her new career and has a new lease on life, leaving behind her abusive family and past. She quickly meets her new neighbor, David, who is also the maintenance guy for the building she lives in. Although only there to repair a few cupboards, David takes it upon himself to renovate the entire kitchen, and to her dismay, installing himself comfortably into her daily life. Oh she resists at first (maybe even a bit too aggressively at times), but they soon find a comfortable “friendship”. It’s cute. And then it becomes sooooo much more.

But David’s a mystery. He’s got seemingly obnoxious friends that he doesn’t want around her, extra curricular activities that had me guessing all sorts of things, and well… a dark, and I mean DARK past that is revealed to us, piece by crazy piece.

For the first time in my life, I was enjoying a taste of contentment. Happiness. But then, as it always does, the unrelenting ache swirled back into me, striking me, biting into my brain like a gnawing hunger. A craving for a single, perfect moment in which I have absolute control. I can’t ignore it. Even with her. Even though I really do love her back.

And I’m gonna end that, there. The rest is for you to unravel. And what a crazy web it is.

But what I loved about this is that you get it all. That sweet budding friendship that continuously evolves into so much more, the extreme protectiveness (much needed, and a sweet relief),

…his chin rests on top of my head. My face sinks into his neck, and I start to cry. Relief swirls through me.

“I know all about a$$holes like him, Emma,” he murmurs. And I openly sob against his body. I feel sad for David. Sad that he has to know this about me. Sad about what he heard. Sad that he knows how damaged I am, I do not want his pity.

… the mysterious “activities”, the friends and the funny moments (even in it’s intensity, it made me laugh out loud, at times). Like her drunk scene:

“Shhhhh,” I say, with so much drunken silliness that I want to punch myself, “it’s all good, baby. I got your back. Because you, David Calgaro, are one fine-ass man.” I pat him irreverently on the chest and he shakes his head at my sloppy drunkenness. My neck feels floppy, and I roll it backwards and start to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” he says with a grin.

“Me. I’m funny,” I say, poking myself in the chest with my own index finger.

*giggle* This is TOTALLY something I would have done. I mean… they felt SO REAL, I couldn’t help but love ’em!

The romantic intensity, the intense possessiveness… and the “backstory”. Ohhhhhhhhh the backstory. Just. You. Wait!

Even though details were handed to us on a silver platter, even though there appeared to be “no questioning” things… I still found myself questioning… everything. Wondering all sorts of “am I imaging things?” and “Why do I love it/him/them so much when er… it is so obviously, certifiably insane?”

Oh don’t worry, I didn’t give away too much, ’cause it starts off with a crazy bang. I mean, you come into this KNOWING what you’re in for… oh yeah. NO. You’re dead-set, mind made up, right from the start.

But the author is just sooooo good at this. She’d slap me in the face with reality… and then have me questioning it. I’d question my reading reality. I’d question their reality. I’d superimpose ideas into it, thinking, maybe I misunderstood something. Guessing all sorts of scenarios. And I’m not saying whether I was right or wrong in the end. Just telling you… that my mind was playing games with me… and my heart was getting in on the action!.

******* Okay and for those of you that continued reading this review, but that haven’t read the book yet… I’m hinting that maybe you want to stop reading the review now? No spoilers below, but maybe too much info for those that like to experience it all for themselves? ‘Cause I’m gonna get a bit deeper into my experience of it… *******

I’d start feeling cuddly. Snuggly. Swoonie. Heart palpitate-y. I’d forget. Yep.

But then she’d remind me again. I’d go from swoooooooning and floating in my cozy love bubble, to “GAH!!!!!!!! WHAT!?? Ohhhhhhhhh riiiiiiiight!!!! Now I remember!!!” I’d shake my head, wondering what was the matter with me for forgetting… and then I’d eventually forget again… and so on. 😉

And as I just tried to explain this story to my husband, trying to er… make myself sound sane in the process of describing the circumstances and my connection to the story, my… affection for the characters, he pretty much just looked at me like I’d lost my marbles.

Husband: “No.  It’s not good to root for the psychos, Maryse.” <—sidenote: Noooooooooooo?  *whoops*. My bad.

Me: “Ahhhhh, you don’t get it. I guess you just gotta read it, to feel it.”

*smirk*

But he’s right. And I agree. It’s just that… ah. Nevermind. I’ll let you decide for yourselves. 😉

He did mention that it would make a great movie. If not a Blockbuster, than at least, one of those crazier “Lifetime” movies (and he likes Lifetime, so that’s a compliment). LOL!

But this is why I love fiction. Books let us dig in deeper. Let us experience everything. Give us reasons. Give us certain perspectives. Now of course, in “real-life”, there’d be no question as to my perception of… ahhhhhhhhh you know the “I-love-dark-reads” drill. 😉 I always find myself making this same excuse when I enjoy the dark-reads too much. LOL! But come on, it’s all in good fictional crazy fun, right? 😉

Yeah… I think. I think I’m gonna 4.5 this. Or maybe a “reserved” 5-star, and only ’cause it is a bit much, at times (certain decisions, certain things, situations and circumstances that *realistically* could be picked apart and are a bit over the top), but then again, they’re only human and most certainly not perfect. Oh gosh no. LOL!!!! So not perfect, and at times SO bad… you’ll see. Yeah. Craziness.

Yep. So crazy that I am questioning my own sanity for having this much affection for a er… umm… let’s just call a spade a spade shall we? Or in this instance… a psycho.

Maryse’s Book Blog: I am at 96% of “Push” (I linked it in the first comment), and I’m savoring every last line (and I’m on the edge of my seat). It’s been a perfect mix of *OMG! WHOA! CRAZY!* and *Awwwww OMG LOVE*. Totally TOTALLY different from our usual “dark reads”. In fact… “David” has a sort of “Matt from Night Owl” feel to him. I’d say the book as a whole, even if it’s completely different, storyline wise, has that “Night Owl” feel to it. It’s the only way I can describe my personal connection to it. My experience of it. SO VERY GOOD and now I’m off to experience the grand finale. P.S. I hear it’s crazy, and even now, I have no idea where it’s going…

Melissa: There are so many emotions when reading PUSH! You love him, then I’m like no!! Then I love him again!

Lisa: I devoured this book. It is crazy brilliance

Heidi: OMG YOU HAD ME AT “MATT FROM NIGHT OWL”

Val:  You had me at Night Owl.

Maryse’s Book Blog: Oh. Whoa. <— side note: I had just finished the book

Kathy: Does it have a cliffy?

Nancy: I read someone wanting to throw their Kindle after reading this. I love my Kindle. Do I really want to read this?

Kathy : Nancy, those are my favorite kind!

Maryse’s Book Blog: Oh yes my friends, it has a cliffy. Major… and yet. I do not regret reading this one at all. What an experience!

Rebecka: Finished Push this AM! Love em hate em. It’s just shy of a 4 for me. Just a few parts that had me saying C’mon Really?? Then I remember they are a bit warped to begin with and cut em some slack and just go with their madness. A cliff (er um bridge) hanger) Definitley! So looking forward to the next book.. I just hafta know– ya know?

Angie: You had me at Night Owl too. I just one clicked it.

Judy: just finished. Good Lord almighty…

Stella: Maryse! I just finished PUSH!!! WHAAAAAT?!?!? OMG!!! I couldn’t put it down. :O So Intense! A Roller coaster of emotions. Definitely not what I was expecting but I Loved it!!

Toski: I’m 56%. My mind is reeling. Ooooommmmgee David is so Matt Maryse !! You are spot on

Maryse’s Book Blog: YES!!! YAY!!!! Somebody that has read both of ’em and can see it, too. Just wait… he gets even WAY MORE “Matty-feel” in the second half…

Nikole: Amazing book…however when I read the last page I yelled “noooooo it can’t end like this”

*tee hee!!!* Yep. It ended like that. 😉

This is a fun MUST READ “dark read” my friends!!!! Not too dark (at least not to me)… just dark enough for our reading thrill!

4.5 to 5 stars <— Lemme think about it for a few. One thing’s for sure, as SOON as I was done reading, I immediately felt the need to review it. I was EXCITED to review it. And other than the steamy scenes (plenty of those, and it would seem I find myself skimming sex scenes more and more these days), but for the rest of the story? I didn’t skim a thing. As much as I was dying to know the outcome, it was just so good that I didn’t want it to end. I ate up every last line.

P.S. It appears we have a desperate urge to chat about this crazy read and “spoil” our guts out. 😉 So here is the chat I created in the “spoiler forum” —> https://talk.maryse.net/threads/push-by-claire-wallis-whoa.2374/

P.P.S. *eeeeeep*!!! Guess what!?? I will be interviewing the author soon, and she has offered to answer some our questions in regards to “Push”. So, if you have questions (I know I do!), now’s your chance.  If your questions are non-spoilery, you can post them here in the comments. If they are spoilery, you can email them to me here, OR you can post your questions in the chat spoiler forum I just put up: https://talk.maryse.net/threads/push-by-claire-wallis-whoa.2374/

YAY!! I love inside “scoops” 

October 19th 2014: BREAKING NEWS UPDATE!!! “Pull (Part Two of Push)” (the sequel to Push, over there to the left, just went up for pre-order on Amazon!) —>