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A review by agrippinaes
Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton
5.0
I pretty much loved everything about this book. The writing is gorgeous. I’ve read all of Lupton’s works and had mixed feelings about them, but I can’t fault her writing. The books are well-written and very engaging.
It was, after a point, a very fast-paced book that was hard to put down. The story moves really quickly - I suppose necessarily, because the story is set over such a narrow time frame. The story moves around a lot between the perspectives of different characters. Normally, I find I want to follow one person’s story and get impatient when I’m taken to a different POV. But I didn’t have this here. Each perspective had equal value; each added something, even the smallest of snippets. I didn’t necessarily notice that I hadn’t read a particular person’s POV in a while, so it was a pleasant surprise when I suddenly came across them again.
The storyline is very gripping. It’s a difficult read - it covers a wide breadth of topics, all of which are complicated, but I think the book covers them with skill. They all fit very neatly - there are even hints of back stories of smaller characters which are not part of the wider story, but are beautifully told in the context of it.
A main theme of the story is love. Having read Lupton’s other books, this is a recurring theme of her work and one I have found a bit too sentimental in her previous works. However, all the different stories of love in this book, interwoven with the acts of hate being committed against the characters, combined in a way that made me feel very emotional. I’m not an emotional book reader, but this one made me tear up on a few occasions, for the acts of bravery as well. It was just an incredibly emotional book. And the ending - whilst possibly a little unrealistic - was what finally did me in. It was just beautiful.
I also admired Lupton’s commitment to the political message that she was conveying in this novel. It truly was a story about love triumphing over evil, wonderfully told, and incredibly gripping.
That said, I found it a little slow to start, but once I got into it I couldn’t put it down.
I would recommend it if you want a fast-paced but hopeful thriller novel.
Content Warnings:
It was, after a point, a very fast-paced book that was hard to put down. The story moves really quickly - I suppose necessarily, because the story is set over such a narrow time frame. The story moves around a lot between the perspectives of different characters. Normally, I find I want to follow one person’s story and get impatient when I’m taken to a different POV. But I didn’t have this here. Each perspective had equal value; each added something, even the smallest of snippets. I didn’t necessarily notice that I hadn’t read a particular person’s POV in a while, so it was a pleasant surprise when I suddenly came across them again.
The storyline is very gripping. It’s a difficult read - it covers a wide breadth of topics, all of which are complicated, but I think the book covers them with skill. They all fit very neatly - there are even hints of back stories of smaller characters which are not part of the wider story, but are beautifully told in the context of it.
Spoiler
One example of this is when the teacher in the pottery room is trying to build up a defence on the windows and she thinks of a (presumably) deceased partner. The scene is lovely and heartbreaking, and the courage of the character really shines through. There are lots of moments like this.A main theme of the story is love. Having read Lupton’s other books, this is a recurring theme of her work and one I have found a bit too sentimental in her previous works. However, all the different stories of love in this book, interwoven with the acts of hate being committed against the characters, combined in a way that made me feel very emotional. I’m not an emotional book reader, but this one made me tear up on a few occasions, for the acts of bravery as well.
Spoiler
The teenage romance between two characters who never actually appear on-page together; a teacher’s grief over her dead partner as she packs clay into windows alone to protect her children, the story of two brothers; refugees from Syria and everything they’d already had to overcome; the teaching assistant with her nail gun, ready to defend her school children…I also admired Lupton’s commitment to the political message that she was conveying in this novel. It truly was a story about love triumphing over evil, wonderfully told, and incredibly gripping.
That said, I found it a little slow to start, but once I got into it I couldn’t put it down.
I would recommend it if you want a fast-paced but hopeful thriller novel.
Content Warnings: