This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

Loved Three Hours. I enjoyed it all the way through - it was incredibly tense and well written, not overdone at all despite the multple POVs the books circles between, It kept it's pace and made me think throughout! It's not often you consider shooters in a UK school but Lupton is incredibly talented and I believed every second. What a relief to finish and it be fiction!

Not quite a thriller, I’d say, but this definitely held my attention. The horror of such a scenario was undeniably captured but the multitude of characters and the layout of the school made it a bit hard to follow at times.

This was just stunning.

Horrifying, compulsive and uplifting. Highly recommended.

3 hours is 180 minutes or 10,800 seconds. It is a morning's lessons, a dress rehearsal of Macbeth, a snowy trek through the woods. It is 180 minutes to discover who you will die for and what men will kill for. In rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard, the unthinkable happens: a school is under siege. Told from the point of view of the people at the heart of it, from the wounded headmaster in the library, unable to help his trapped pupils and staff, to teenage Hannah in love for the first time, to the parents gathering desperate for news, to the 16 year old Syrian refugee trying to rescue his little brother, to the police psychologist who must identify the gunmen, to the students taking refuge in the school theatre, all experience the most intense hours of their lives, where evil and terror are met by courage, love and redemption.

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This was a really difficult read but not because of the writing style or anything but because of the topic - school shooting. It is based in Somerset and actually was a bit close to home as a teacher in Devon. This really chills you to the bone and explores the important themes of PTSD and mental health. One of the things I found most difficult about the book was the character of Rafi who is a refugee and knows, as soon as the bombs go off, what to do and what is happening. Very poignant, very emotional .

I enjoyed the story might have been better with less overlapping perspectives to and fro between characters viewpoints but overall would recommend

Not long after the morning school bell rings the arrival of gunmen signals the start of a nightmare. Three intense hours unfold where everyone is on edge but the main intention is to keep the children safe and sound. No-one can understand why this particular school is the target and who would do such a thing. Will they find out before it is too late?

I know I am in the minority but I just found that the book timeline lasted thirty three hours rather than just three. I don't mind a slow burn as long as it doesnt fizzle out and I felt this one never really ignited for me. It started off well and I was ready for a tense read but then I felt it became bogged down with too much detail and any tension was lost for me. A lot of themes were bubbling under the surface from family drama to xenophobia but I think it would have been enough to just focus on the heightened emotions of both those in and out of the school grounds. Between Lara and myself we figured things out fairly early on but both hoped that we would be proved wrong, but we were right. I was also disappointed in the use of stereotypical tropes when it came to certain themes. One aspect of the storyline I was fully invested in was following Beth as she desperately waited for news on her teen son Jamie. The worry was realistic and relatable for most of the book, especially the way she clung to her phone as if it was her son's hand. However it was not enough for me to love this book. I know my opinion is an unpopular one as this is a much revered book but I have read other books focusing on this subject matter each of which dealt with it in a much better way

Three Hours. This book had my heart beating so fast towards the end, it is absolutely gripping and I stayed up in to the early hours to finish it. It captures every parent’s worst nightmare and makes me want to go hug my kids tight and never let them go. I’ve read other school shooting books but they’re always set in the US, so this but change in setting made it an even more unsettling and harrowing read. The newspaper headlines and Trump tweets really hit home too, how can we live in a society that normalises this sort of attitude and fosters such hatred? It’s sickening and very, very worrying.

Lipton did such a good job of building tension and emotion that I almost hate to mention that I found the Macbeth comparisons a little much at times, but overall it was so enthralling that I can forgive that. <spoiler> The woodland scene at the end felt a little strange and rushed after all the build up but in all honesty I was so glad they got out ok that I didn’t care how they managed it. <\spoiler> Apart from that I have no complaints, I thought it was an excellent story, and to those reviewers who’ve said that we don’t have independent schools in the UK so the whole premise is implausible, we most certainly do.

The characterisation is incredible; Although they’re all fictional my heart aches for Rafi, Basi, Mr Marr and most of all Beth Alton. As a parent myself I found her sections the most harrowing of all and her later parts were the toughest to read. What she went through in that is unimaginable and the thought of what her life would be afterwards is very upsetting too. It made me question how we immediately accept the media’s version of events and the backstory they give with little thought. On top of that, the bravery displayed by so many of the characters is so moving and what makes this book all the more hard-hitting is that, sadly, I can’t imagine people acting that heroically in real life. I’d love to think that they would but hopefully we’ll never have to know.

Three Hours is a harrowing and heartbreaking read and if you’re going to sit down with it make sure you’ve cleared some space in your diary because you won’t put it down! It is a book that will make you reflect on society and its ills and make you wish for a better world. Children are our only hope in that regard, and as parents and teachers it’s our responsibility to help create more tolerant, accepting and caring generations going forward. And as Mr Marr says all that matters is love. Three Hours still stay with me for a while.

This gripping thriller is set in rural Somerset where a school is under siege. Masked gunmen are holding the school hostage, the headmaster has been shot, while children and staff are trapped in their classrooms. With a snowstorm building, stressed parents are stuck outside wondering what's happening while the police are desperately trying to negotiate an end to the standoff.

Despite all this, there's more going on than meets the eye in this tense novel.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton was a book that I could not put down and read in one day.
A school in rural Somerset is under siege. There are masked gunmen on the premise and the headmaster has been shot. Groups of children and staff have barricaded themselves into classrooms. Emergency services and police can't get into the school and are trying to negotiate with the gunmen. There is a snowstorm outside and panicked parents begin to arrive.
As normal for Lupton this was a tense thriller that kept me gripped until the end. Fantastic. 10/10.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. I absolutely adored Lipton’s books, and this was a compelling read.
The story takes place within three hours following a school that is attacked by a crazed gunman. We follow the POV of various students and staff, alongside the detective. It’s nerve-wrecking and tense stuff.
This was a compelling read however there were some flaws. I found that due to the huge cast of characters I just couldn’t quite connect with them. Not much happens in the first half! It’s awfully repetitive and busy setting up the scene. It isn’t until the second half we get suspects and there’s an actual investigation happening that things pick up. Also the last act felt rushed and not explained properly. Most of the book was predictable and I guessed who one of the gunmen was; however there’s a twist but it’s not properly explained. I was so confused regarding the third gunman. That aside this was a stellar read.

This is an amazing and brilliant read, traumatic, unforgettable, and intense. I couldn't put it down.

Really slow to get into at first. Once it got going it was just ok, there were a couple of parts where I held my breath with dread as to what was coming next but I just never really connected to the book, maybe I was expecting more as I loved her other books.

The premise of children stuck inside a school is already quite scary. You can completely immerse yourself in that scenario.
I actually was interrupted multiple times when reading this, so kept losing the atmosphere built. Best to read in one go to keep the pace

3 hours was all it took to for a terrorist group to destroy a happy school. “The school is being attached for taking in Muslim refugees.”

The Bukhari brothers are two brothers who come to the school from Syria, they come to the school through one of the teachers.

Some of the pupils continue rehearsing for their school play to block out what is happening to them. They know the theatre is one of the safest parts of the school.

The two attackers are people the pupils know and they work together to look after their friends to stop their teachers and friends being harmed.

This book took my breath away.
It is a raw explosive read that scared me as it’s something that could happen in our schools.
This book was written so well and had been researched so well.

Such an emotive subject, and beautifully written. The author creates a real sense of creeping dread as events unfold, and drags you through such a range of emotions, keeping you turning those pages all the way to the end!

The premise of this book is an exciting one - A school shooting and hostage situation. This is not a high speed, thrilling read though - more of a slow burner that definitely picks up intensity as the story progresses. It took me a while to get into but as many people have said, the ending is very good.

If you are looking for a deep, soul searching book then this may be for you. My favourite part and character was the mother that we meet (I don't want to give away any spoilers). As a reader (and a fellow mother), I really felt her fear and pain and that total disbelief about what her son had got embroiled in.

This story is told from multiple character viewpoints and is expectedly tense because it is about a school under siege by gunmen. Who, and why is unknown for much of the book which adds to the tension. The plot control is skilfully unravelled whilst maintaining the tension throughout. I was in absolute bits at the end of the book and am keen to read more by this author.

I wanted to read or listen to this, but it was then marked as archived before I could download the book into my device.