Three Wishes: A Novel

There are already 2,511 reviews of this novel on Amazon, and so I will just explain why I found it such a pleasure to read. It wasn’t for the plot or action (mostly chick concerns) but for the witty, humorous voice of the author in describing her characters. In general, she tends to find people and the situations they get themselves into far more droll than tragic. The novel is filled with comments that made me laugh out loud. Instead of a review, I will just list a few of them to show what I mean: • Dan had cooked the spaghetti, so it was hearty and bland.…He stirred his ingredients like concrete mix, one arm wrapped around the bowl, the other stirring the gluggy mix so vigorously you could see his biceps working. • Gemma was dressed, as always, like an oddly beautiful bag lady. • She was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt that looked suspiciously like it might have been ironed. • In fact, she generally swore only in situations involving cockroaches or her sisters. • He was always so chipper after sex. • It was a bad habit of hers, complimenting strangers on their physical attributes. She once told a woman in an elevator that she had an especially lovely collarbone. The woman had looked panic-stricken and had begun jabbing at the elevator buttons. • Sometimes when Gemma thought about sex, sometimes even when she was having sex, she felt a faint echo of that horror she felt as an eight-year-old. My goodness, she’d think, looking up at the ceiling as some boyfriend earnestly scrabbled around her body, what in the world is he doing now? • “My wife is a triplet, you know,” Dan said chattily. He leaned back against the squeaky vinyl sofa and crossed his arms comfortably behind his head. Cat watched him suspiciously. He was finding marriage counseling far too enjoyable for her liking. • The cab pulled away from the curb in a mature, sober fashion so Cat could see just how childishly she’d behaved. • Perhaps she could just choose to stop being angry, as recommended by Lyn’s self-help gurus. • When Lyn was in her final year at university, she had a profound, almost religious experience: She read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Every page brought a new epiphany. Yes! she kept thinking, as she highlighted another paragraph in fluorescent yellow and felt herself expanding with potential. • Next thing she knew Michael had his arms around her and they were kissing in a way that had a very distracting sexual element. Lyn had become the Other Woman—an event not listed on her five-year plan. • It was later that night and Lyn stood at the bathroom mirror applying her moisturizer with upward patting motions. • Most men, Gemma knew, were convinced they were extraordinarily talented lovers and simultaneously terrified that maybe they weren’t. It was important to pay them lavish compliments about their abilities. It put them in a good mood. • He could remember rugby league grand final scores from fifteen years ago and quote whole slabs of Simpsons dialogue, but his memory of personal events was notoriously shocking. • “There you go, my dear! All defuzzed!” The beautician patted Cat’s legs with uncalled-for intimacy. • One of the multitudes of ex-boyfriends had been a country music fan and left Gemma with an unfortunate passion for Tammy Wynette. It was like, Cat thought, he’d given her herpes. • He was a strange, inscrutable man, with a disconcerting habit of allowing his eyelids to droop, turtlelike, whenever any of his staff spoke. The longer they spoke, the more it seemed he was drifting into a deep, comfortable sleep. • Cat didn’t need to see her mother’s face to know the lemony expression of distaste that would be pulling at her mouth as she said the word “counseling.” Counseling was something other people did. • “I’m a little tense” was a deeply personal revelation for her mother. It must be something terrible. It would be just like Maxine to announce terminal cancer over Christmas lunch. • There was a moment’s silence in the kitchen. The central characters had left the stage, leaving the supporting cast without a script. • Lyn had even given her a book called Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Lives and helpfully indicated with a Post-it note the chapter on the stupid thing she believed Gemma was doing. • I’ve always had an interest in lepers,” Nana Kettle told Dan. “I beg your pardon?” Dan looked dazed. His paper crown was leaving a stain of red across his forehead. “Lepers!” chimed in Gemma. “Nana has always had an interest in lepers. It means your present is probably a donation on your behalf to the Leper Foundation. That’s what she gave Michael last year. • Something about the expression on his face made Gemma think, Uh-oh, he’s about to share. It was lovely of course, but she had a terrible habit of laughing in the wrong places when boyfriends got profound. • For starters, Hank was American. Americans were more open about this sort of thing. They liked chatting about deeply embarrassing emotions. They loved weird phobias! There was no such thing as an Aussie Oprah. These are just a few quotes from the earlier parts of Three Wishes. If they don’t make you want to read the novel, I guess the novel isn’t for you.

I just don't get the people who gave this book 1 or 2 stars and called it boring and underwhelming. I'm going to assume they aren't fans of Marian Keyes either. This book wasn't difficult to read. It did NOT jump all over the place. I'm seriously stumped by this. I followed the characters and events quite easily. And one person went so far as to say that the book was depressing! Holy guacamole, people! It's called LIFE! And anything that WAS depressing was handled with a lot of humor and love. Not everyone is perfect and this book shows that even as imperfect as you THINK you are, there are always people out there that love you unconditionally.

With that being said, I really loved this book. It's the first one I've read by this author and I'm so glad I didn't listen to any of the 1 and 2 star givers. I would have missed out on a witty and poignant book about three flawed (who the heck isn't?!) but connected triplets who, when all is said and done, have each others backs. As I said before, it's reminiscent of Marian Keyes and the five Irish sisters and their whacky mom and dad. This story very effectively gives the points of view of three very different women who all happen to be one of a set of the same triplets. They all face serious dilemmas and momentous personal tragedies and self-doubt and anger and resentment and love and a family bond that only strengthens in their times of upheaval.

I enjoyed this book so much that I have purchased the author's four other books and pre-ordered her fifth one. And no, I do not know the author. Not a relative, never met her, and never even heard of her name until one of her books showed up in my BookBub. Thankfully, I purchased the paperback book (not on Kindle) and now have a new favorite author to add to my list. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm heading over to my bookshelf to open up and start enjoying The Last Anniversary. Cheers!

I was initially a bit hesitant to read this. I had read her most recent novel, Big Little Lies, a few months before and, while I enjoyed it, I felt that it was a bit on the satirical side. That is fine now and then, but I had the feeling--unfairly--that this tone would show up again in Moriarty's other novels. But, then came the day I needed something light to read on my phone (I'm hiding my face in shame as a I type that....) and, scrolling through the many, many kindle titles I own, I settled on Three Wishes.

I did not realize that this was Moriarty's first novel until after I had finished it--there is nothing less mature about this book compared to her latest novel. In fact, I found this book to be superior to Big Little Lies,

The strongest aspect about the book is how well Moriarty crafts here characters. At the center of the story, of course, are the triplets. Each woman has a very distinct personality, and Moriarty doesn't base their characters solely on the fact that they are triplets (I've read a number of books with twins as characters where this was the case). Yes, there is some element of their birth in their personalities, especially in Gemma's character. Lyn and Cat are identical and Gemma is not, which would, of course, have some impact on her. For the most part, however, the women are shaped by what they experienced in their back story and will experience as the plot of this book. Even the secondary characters--the women's parents, their assorted parents, and their grandmother-come to life and, with the exception of the Grandmother, are able to buck any cliches (and, even though she is a bit stereotypical, Nana Kettle is still a treat).

Moriarty deftly structures this novel so that you are sucked in at the opening scene and you spend the next 3/4 of the novel getting back to that point. It doesn't read as a flashback--instead, it is almost like looking at scene through a window and then walking through a door into the scene itself. I was afraid that the last 1/4 of the would be a letdown. Once the reader swoops back to the original scene, where can they go? While Moriarty does use this part of the book to wrap up the rest of the story, it doesn't fell like a throw-away. She takes the time to draw each character's arc to a satisfying conclusion.

There is only one point that keeps me from giving this a 5 star review. Two of the sisters are or were involved in adulterous situations, but on different ends. Moriarty makes a few comments about this, enough to make the reader think that this should be a point of contention between the two characters, but then she drops it without offering any closure. I think Moriarty missed a great opportunity to delve even deeper with these two sisters.

In the end, though, this was a delightful read and one that convinced me that Liane Moriarty is more than Big Little Lies. This is a book that I would recommend to just about anyone looking for sometime fun and light--but not fluffy--to read.

Fun read, written from different points of view of adult sisters with occasional observances from complete strangers. These vignettes are cute and insightful, reinforcing the back story that is critical to present day relationships and issues. Love the secondary characters like the mom and grandma, who are well written and very believable. Australian setting is a nice change of pace for Americans, and important to the story. At first the many characters can be confusing, but I very quickly got drawn into their personalities and story arc.

Disclaimer: I am a HUGE Liane Moriarty Fan! Huge!! I have now read all her books and I'm comparing this work to the best of her work and of course to the general standards I hold for a fantastic book and thus giving it a 3-star.

Don't get me wrong, it was a GOOD book. It is a great story and it is funny and sad and addresses the great domestic and family and interpersonal and relationship issues that Moriarty does brilliantly in all of her works but you can tell she is just starting out at her craft in this book and it gets SO MUCH better in her later works, especially Big Little Lies and The Husband's Secret (which is my absolute favorite).

Three Wishes is the story of 30-something triplet sisters who run into new challenges, uncover their true selves in the process and butt head on more than one occasion to get through this fun journey of life. It is a light-hearted easy read, but it didn't flow as well as I had hoped. For some reason, the interactions and exchanges between the three didn't flow well for me. I have read books (Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, anyone? :)) where I've followed hundreds of characters and their journeys, but something about the story-telling process and the characters and their relationships just didn' fit together all that well.

The author always touches on a deep meaningful issue in her works and in this book, she chooses abuse - verbal and physical abuse of a boyfriend to demonstrate the complexities and victimhood that women could get trapped in when they believe they have no choice or that it is "their fault". It was well done.

Also, I have to admit, I have no idea who was telling the story at the start of select chapters - the font was all in the italics. It was the view point of some outsider person watching the triplets throughout their lives. That part did not integrate too well in the story either.

Overall, I didn't fall in love with any one character. Sure, I cried for Cat and even Gemma. I laughed hard in parts too. Moriarty is a master storyteller but she had not yet mastered her craft with Three Wishes, and I would recommend her later works more strongly than this one.