Cover Image: The Three of Us

The Three of Us

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Member Reviews

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

While this short tale provides an interesting perspective on the lives and expectations of Nigerian diaspora families based in London, it failed to fully capture my attention. The story is split into 3 parts (each from the POV of one of the three main characters), and only one character is given a name. For the first two parts, I was hoping for some sort of tension or buildup, but every page seemed to be seeped in monotony. I also found it hard to keep up with the conversational writing style at times as the author did not employ quotation marks for dialogue. The last POV did introduce the tension and drama I was hoping for, but it ended abruptly and without resolution -- a frustrating outcome for me personally. I am sure there are readers out there who will find this character-focused story enjoyable, but it unfortunately was not for me.

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This book was. very bland for me. While I enjoyed the narrative perspective of following all three characters through an interwoven day, the plot fell flat. I really felt like nothing happened and I wasn't really interested in any of the characters.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy of this book. It is out now!

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This was just ok for me. I expected more from this domestic thriller and I was just disappointed. It was hard to finish as well. You

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Unfortunately The Three of Us wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. The premise was super interesting but the characters ended up being super toxic which made reading this less enjoyable. I also hate when people have to be in the middle of two people disliking each others so that certainly added to it.

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I wanted to adore this book based on the blurb alone. Sadly, I did not. Told in three POVs - husband, wife, and her best friend - the book felt a little like Groundhog's Day in that the basic story was repeated over the course of a day, only from each narrator's perspective. The narrative structure was entertaining in the beginning, and then quickly became repetitive as I kept waiting for something else to happen...something...more. I felt that this book had the potential for being an intriguing read had it been constructed into a short story rather than a novel.

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I tried, I really did, but this book was not for me. Boring, and pointless (plotless?). I get that it’s supposed to be a commentary or marriage, culture, friendship, and love but I just didn’t get it or anything out of it.

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This was an okay read. It was a typical stereotypical scenario of the relationship between two besties when one of them gets married. The situations in the book reinforce the idea that when a single woman marries, she needs to put some distance between her single friends and find more company with other women who are married. Consequently, I did not particularly like the single friend who does what she can to sabotage the marriage; nor the married woman who was not able to stand up for herself. Nothing surprising. I am not to sure there was anything worth writing about.

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Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group for the e-arc. I really enjoyed this book, especially Temi, the best friend's, POV. I loved that the entire novel took place in a day but when jumping to different POVs (Temi, the husband, and wife), I felt that it was repetitive a bit. Overall I enjoyed the writing and it was a super quick read.

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This was such a unique book. It's a character-driven look into the life and relationship of three people: a wife, her best friend, and her husband. This book is super short, but packs a witty, sharp punch! We get a first-hand perspective of their motivations and feelings as one day in their life unfolds. I listened to the audio version and the three narrators do an excellent job painting a picture of each character.

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I found this too short to be satisfying. It’s told from three perspectives - a wife, a husband, and the wife’s best friend. None of them are terribly likable and the story abruptly ends pretty…yucky.
It did keep my interest throughout, but I was left wanting some sort of resolution.
Thanks to #netgalley and #gpputnamsonspublisher for this #arc of #thethreeofus in exchange for an honest review.

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I thought that this was fine and was a 3 star read for me. Every character was so toxic that it was hard to want to root for anyone. I think the book would have benefited from maybe more richness of the storyline.

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Unfortunately, this book didn't live up to the hype Inhad for it. Usually, I love unlikable narrators, but they didn't work for me in this book.

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I really really liked the format of this book — it was so interesting to get a chance to go into each of the three’s mindsets and points of view to see what everyone explicitly thought, especially after seeing what each person thought the other thought. It was an interesting look at perceptions and inner monologues.

The concept itself was also very interesting — what happens when two of your favorite people in the entire world don’t get along? That being said, I did find Temi to be a bit hard to like and often found myself wondering where she got the audacity; she was constantly inserting herself into her best friend’s marriage despite being a secondary character in the marriage.

It was a super quick read, and I enjoyed every minute of it! I found the characters to be very frustrating at times, but that was the point of the book (at least in the way that I interpreted it!)

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I really enjoyed this quick, tense story. An unnamed Nigerian wife has a husband and best friend who hate each other. Told from each character's perspective, we learn that the wife has taken on a traditional "wifely" role and been cajoled by her husband and his mother into trying to have a child. Temi, her friend, is bold in both her contempt of men and her anger at her friend for capitulating to this life. Told over the span of one day, we are treated to messy revelations and three caustic, vibrant personalities. This was like a no-holds-barred therapy session. Absolutely engrossing.

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Very disturbing. The author kept emphasizing Nigerian culture, but I have no idea as to the validity or accuracy. Why a woman’ s “best friend” would be so vested in destroying her friend’s marriage and future eludes me. I can barely guess, but the author provides no real clue(s). Envy? Narcissist? Just a b*tch whose boring, elitist life has motivated her to obliterate the most vulnerable her life?

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Short but definitely not sweet, this is the story of three different individuals-a married couple, and the wife’s long standing, yet interloping, best friend, told from each’s point of view over the course of one day. The narration changes along with the story and when sped up, pairs with the quick tone of the story nicely.

The story opens with the wife’s perspective. She’s a woman who lives very comfortably due to her husband’s occupation, but is clearly still leading an unfulfilled life. Her husband wants a child, to which she’s recently, and begrudgingly, obliged. Her inner voice, however, has doubts about the decision. On this day her best friend has come over where, over much consumed wine, the two pass judgment over everything and everyone.

In part two we see things from the husband’s point of view. Amazingly, he seems rather content in his marriage, even though he’s often annoyed their relationship takes a backseat to the one his wife and her friend share. There is no love loss between the husband and the wife’s friend and the feeling is mutual. Although the husband has many justifiable qualms, it’s clear he bites his tongue far more than he should.

In “act” three get to see things through the best friend’s eyes. A single “woman child”who has never grown up, she’s obsessed with holding on to being number one in her best friend’s eyes, willing to go to great lengths to secure this. The three toss out many an eye roll and toss back many a glass of wine, all while serving backhanded compliments before the final plummet to an ending that lets the viewer decide what would happen next.

Although succinctly written, The Three of Us is a hard book to like, mainly because all of the main characters were such unlikable people. I suppose the husband is the most fathomable of the trio, but it’s his tolerance for the intolerant that really makes you question what any of these people are getting from each other besides quiet desperation and a constant state of first world related misery.

Have you ever had a friend and a significant other who clashed?

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Huge thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for the chance to read and review this book. I liked how the author made each section of the book someone different, but I would have liked shorter chapters with the characters opinions at that time, not an hour in to the book. I felt like the ending was rushed, but definitely left me wondering what happens next.

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An interesting concept for a book, The Three of Us tells the story of three people, through three POVs. It details how they met, their relationship, and the ire that follows them into present day.

While I liked the concept, I found the characters so unlikeable that it became difficult to continue reading. I ended up reading in spurts and in the end, felt I was missing something. The secrets, the posturing, and the unreliable narrators become tiring after a while and because of that, I don’t think this book was my cup of tea.

Special thanks to the NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC. All thoughts in this review are honest and my own.

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First of all, I always enjoy a novel that can be concise. Usually that means less than 300 pages. This one doesn't even crack 200 pages, and unfortunately I think it could've done with a little more. I appreciated what the author was trying to do here with the themes but I found a lot of the characters extremely frustrating. That being said, I think the author did "unreliable narrators" very well. Overall if you like character-forward, short, snappy books, this may be right up your alley, I just wish it had a little more *something* IDK to make it stand out for me.

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This is not for me. It is a well written book, but it is very character driven and as such I could not finish it. I think it is similar to sally rooney and I will recommend it as such, just not for me.

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