Three Wishes

by Liane Moriarty

Alternative cover edition of ISBN 9780060586133

Lyn, Cat, and Gemma Kettle, beautiful thirty-three-year-old triplets, seem to attract attention everywhere they go. Whenever they're together, laughter, drama, and mayhem seem to follow. But apart, each is very much her own woman, dealing with her own share of ups and downs. Lyn has organized her life into one big checklist, juggling the many balls of work, marriage, and motherhood with expert precision, but is she as together as her datebook would have her seem? Cat has just learned a startling secret about her marriage -- can she bring another life into her very precarious world? And can free-spirited Gemma, who bolts every time a relationship hits the six-month mark, ever hope to find lasting love? In this wise, witty, hilarious new novel, we follow the Kettle sisters through their thirty-third-year, as they struggle to survive their divorced parents' dating each other, their technologically savvy grandmother, a cheating husband, champagne hangovers, and the fabulous, frustrating life of forever being part of a trio.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Audiobook, Contemporary, Romance, Australia, Book Club

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Liane Moriarty is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Big Little Lies, The Husband’s Secret, and Truly Madly Guilty; the New York Times bestsellers Apples Never Fall, Nine Perfect Strangers, What Alice Forgot, and The Last Anniversary; The Hypnotist’s Love Story; and Three Wishes. She lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and two children.

Reviews

[Suz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to be a Kettle sister. Ha! But I’d do anything for some extra excitement. Nuff said. This is the author's debut. I don’t see that she has anything to improve on if I was to be honest! I just love her original stories, she's got a flair for it.

This one in particular shows me we are of the same era. I love when the books I read contain little tid bits of pop culture references that I can relate to and really bond with. Teletubies and Bananarama’s song ‘Venus’ being a couple of them. The Kettle triplets jumping around to this song with abandoned pleasure made me smile. I smiled all the way through with this Aussie story. All the characters were quirky and real, the story line funny, and every step of the way was completely engaging.

"He’s experiencing empathy for the first time in his life” said Cat with a noticeable lack of empathy. ‘About time.’ ‘He’s just surprised, poor Dad’, said Gemma, who had always suffered from excessive empathy. Lyn had seen her walking down a street of parked cars, winding each time she saw a parking ticket on a windscreen." (This is pretty close to me actually, I empathise with Gemma, I really really do!)

Here’s another bit of gold “Someone did a ladylike fart during Beginners Yoga for Mums-to-Be”. It doesn’t get better than that. Down to earth and a touch self-deprecating, AKA real!

I love a good contemporary read, it’s not all about rocket science, and for me it’s all about enjoyable bantering fiction. I met Liane Moriarty this year and am not at all surprised that I love every book she’s written. The little stories she told at the event I attended I can relate back to all her work and enjoy knowing that little bit more.

Highly recommended reading if you’re like me and enjoy being able to laugh at yourself, it's full of all the non-serious funny stuff you could ever imagine. It’s a treat!

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three reasons to read Three Wishes:

1. You’re a completest, like me. Having read all of Liane Moriarty’s other novels, it always bothered me that I wouldn’t honestly be able to rave, “I’ve read all your books!” if I ever ran into her at an airport or something. After reading this one - her first, originally published in 2004 - crisis averted!

2. You seek out Christmas books that aren’t overtly Christmasy. Much of the plot here takes place over the holidays, so the seasonal reader in me wished I had saved this to read in December.

3. Your favorite kind of writing is easy, yet insightful prose. Can any other author cut to the heart of honest human behavior quite as well as Liane Moriarty? Not in my book, which is why I’ve (now) read all of hers.

Three reasons to skip Three Wishes:

1. You like likeable characters. This is a novel about three twin sisters muddling through dramas in their early thirties (including adultery, infertility, and compulsive relationship sabotage), and I wouldn’t want to be friends with any of them.

2. You’re bothered by use of the “r word.” I don’t know if things weren’t quite as PC back in 2004, but these days it’s in pretty poor taste to toss around that slur as an insult to those you think have diminished mental capacities.

3. You want your reads to be memorable. I finished this a few days ago, and having already forgotten 90 percent of the book, I had to take the struggle bus to Review Town. Jeez, I sure wish I could remember things longer than three seconds.

For those with the Hoopla library app, both the Three Wishes ebook and audiobook are available for immediate download.

Blog: https://www.confettibookshelf.com/

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty is a 2016 Penguin publication. ( Originally published in 2003)

I had heard so much about Liane Moriarty I put several of her books on hold at the library a little while back. I read them as they became available, in no particular order. I love, love, love this author’s style of writing. But, while I cool my heels, still waiting on ‘Truly, Madly, Guilty” to become available, at my library, (llllooooonnnnnngggg wait!),I reached back deeper into the author’s backlisted titles and pulled this one out of the hat.

Everything I love about Moriarty is evident in this novel, the almost whimsical quality of the story, the dark undertones, and loads of emotions and family drama, but alas, this one fell a little flat for me.
I suppose it was partly the lopsided way things turned out, with poor Cat getting a raw deal all the way around, and around, and around, while her sisters toy with and flirt with fate and suffer little or no consequences. The ending, well, frankly, I thought it sucked. While the reader gets a slight glimmer of hope for our poor trod upon Cat, it was not enough to make up for all she went through. Sorry, but the HEA must be firmer than that, especially after putting me through an emotional spin cycle. The humor that is another trademark of this author was also muted. I usually find myself laughing out loud at the sharp wit and humor, even when it has a slightly dark edge to it, but nothing in the dialogue tickled my funny bone, and the sisters often got on my nerves.

I suppose I enjoyed the little bit of irony involving the triplets parents the best, although it was not the HEA I was anticipating in the book, I suppose it will just have to do. I may have to write the author and beg her to publish an additional epilogue for this one to assure me Cat’s life turned to be as full as the rest of her family’s. For some reason, I really need to know the details!
Overall, I was a little bummed out over this one, but I’m still a big fan and still feel very excited about catching up with all of Ms. Moriarty's backlisted titles and about reading the new book!
2 stars

[Cathrine ☯️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
My least favorite of the authors books. Three 33 year old twin sisters and their dramas with husbands, boyfriends, children, parents, and each other. It was like reading a three ring circus. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it in my own thirties when I was still drinking cosmopolitans. Perhaps a warning on the cover: Not for mature audiences; reader discretion is advised.

[Andrew Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Liane Moriarty. The ex-advertising copywriter delivers Sydney based tales featuring gritty women who have loud, forthright conversations and live complex, secret ridden lives. I’ve heard her output described as chic lit, but but this feels like a diminishment of what are uniformly snappy, funny and often hard hitting stories. My advice is grab one and judge for yourselves – if you’re not already a convert, that is.

In this book – her first – we are introduced to triplets, the Kettle sisters. They’re enjoying a birthday meal in a busy restaurant and raucously celebrating their shared milestone. Then it all kicks off. It’s typical of the author’s style that we’re then taken back in time to a date some twelve months or so earlier and walked through events leading up to that night. I wouldn’t call it a mystery novel but we do discover a few hidden facts along the way. It’s really a story built on excellent character development and superb dialogue. It’s funny and snappy and sharp. It’s also sad and thought provoking, with some dark issues lurking in the background. All in all, It’s just fantastically entertaining.

Moriarty uses some brilliant tricks to keep the whole thing fresh. She regularly slips in short vignettes of people who have observed the triplets at various times in their lives. And she switches perspective regularly, so we see the story from different angles. The result is a tale that kept me on my toes. I know from experience that she’s likely to spring a surprise or two and, in truth, I had no idea what events would unfold in order to bring me to the fateful night.

I listened to this on audio, as I have all of her books, read by the wonderful Caroline Lee. She brings the whole thing alive with huge energy and aplomb, the only minor slip up being the imposition of a Geordie accent on a Mancunian. A minor issue, for which I forgive her.

This book is probably a 4.5 – stopped from a top mark simply by the lack of a killer twist. But I did love it. I’ve listed below my ratings for the stand alone books I’ve read from this author (she’s also dashed off a three volume series I’ve yet to check out). But I’m gobbling up her books up at some rate and am thankful she has a new book coming out this year.

The Last Anniversary 3*
What Alice Forgot 4*
The Husband’s Secret 4*
Big Little Lies 5*

The Hypnotists Love Story – not read yet but already loaded and just waiting its turn!

[Tan Markovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stong 4 out of 5.

Another funny, drama-filled, soap opera like, juuuuicy novel from Liane Moriarty and it's crept in my favourites from her.
The story follows three triplet sisters, in their thirties, who all have very different personalities and outlooks on life and explores how their complex relationships with each other withstand all the dramas that life throws at them. Spoiler alert: a lot.

Despite all their dramas and some dark themes being explored, the author is SO good at still creating humour, and I laughed throughout this entire novel.
Reviews can be found at: www.booknerdtan.wordpress.com

I think what makes me love Liane Moriarty's storytelling is the sheer honesty with which she describes her characters and their inner thoughts. I continuously find myself thinking 'Yes! That's exactly what I thought, but never dared say it'.

Between each chapter, small episodes are featured from onlooking strangers and their views on the sisters interactions from when they were young to present day. These offered an important dynamic to the story I feel; showing that despite not always being able to see it first hand, they were very close and had strong relationships with each other.

I absolutely whizzed through this book it grabbed my attention from the get go. A thoroughly entertaining read which I highly recommend.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Things I generally try to avoid in my reading (aka why I generally don't read adult fiction/Very Serious Literature):
-Pregnancy
-Infidelity
-Infertility
-Divorce

Things this book prominently contains:
-Pregnancy
-Infidelity
-Infertility
-Divorce

And yet, a five star rating. 'Nuff said.

[PattyMacDotComma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4★
“Cat felt that sense of pleasure and pride she always felt when she saw her sisters in public. ‘Look at them!’ she wanted to say to people. ‘My sisters. Aren’t they great? Aren’t they annoying?’”

I reckon that’s just how siblings think about each other – alternating rapidly between loyalty and rivalry. In this case, Moriarty gives us triplets, which includes a pair of blonde identical twins, and an outlier, redheaded Gemma. They are the result of an impulsive, lusty coupling in the backseat of Frank’s dad’s car. Frank was 20, Maxine almost 19.

“Over the following days, while Maxine was chastely dating more suitable boys and Frank was pursuing a curvy brunette, two freshly fertilised eggs were busily bumping their way along Maxine’s fallopian tubes towards the haven of her horrified young uterus.”

This is Moriarty’s debut novel, written in 2003 with plenty of insight and humour and empathy for both the parents (now separated and sparring) and their 30-something daughters who have the same problems their mother had and many young women have. It’s just that things seem magnified when everything is tripled. When one hurts, they all hurt, at least after two of them have finished scolding and carrying on about how the third (injured) one shouldn’t have been doing whatever she was doing at the time.

I am wrong to say 30-somethings when they’re celebrating their 34th birthday, but it seems like the kind of story to say 30-somethings about. All are hitting that point in their lives when they wonder if they’re on the right track – or any track at all, for that matter.

The two blondes are gorgeous, one being a perfectionist, tightly scheduled, every-hair-in-place cool number, the other seeming more casual and less anxious, ‘seeming’ being the operative word. As for the redhead, Gemma, well, she’s in a class of her own and likes to brag that she had a whole egg to herself, while her sisters each had only a half.

“Gemma was dressed, as always, like an oddly beautiful bag lady. She was wearing a faded flowery dress and peculiar holey cardigan that didn’t match the dress and was too big for her. Her glinty red-gold hair was all over the place, a tangled mess that fell past her shoulders. Split ends. Cat watched a guy at the door turn to look at her. A lot of men didn’t notice Gemma but the ones that did really did.”

They are each other’s keepers, as it were, and they have no secrets from each other. They know what their husbands and boyfriends are like in bed and they swap all kinds of personal details. At least that’s what each thinks about the other two. We learn differently, gradually.

There are some very funny email exchanges where the three of them correspond with each other regularly. But when two need to say something privately about the third, one never understands not to “Reply All”, so the third gets a copy as well – not advisable! I loved the last line of one email to another, because it sounds so sisterly.

“PPS. Do you owe me any money by any chance? I don’t seem to have any.”

As in Moriarty’s hugely successful Big Little Lies, there is plenty going on behind closed doors, the secrets they DO keep from each other making you want to read just one more chapter.

Her descriptions of life in this part of Sydney are accurate and familiar to me (I raised little kids there, too), and the relationships between all the family members are spot-on.

She has four sisters and a brother, so it’s no wonder she captures the subtleties and love-frustration-devotion-exasperation swings so well, whether that’s between the siblings or the couples, or the generations. The awkwardness between close family members meeting a new boyfriend is something this family has to deal with a lot – good fun, especially when Nana is on the scene. Nothing shy about her.

I must add this passage, which shows how they think (scheme?). This is about an upcoming date with a newish fella.

“Now, wrapping a towel around her, her mouth minty with Listerine (tonight was most definitely first kiss time), she went dripping down the hallway into her bedroom to choose her most unsexy, unmatching underwear so she wouldn’t be tempted to sleep with him too soon.”

It’s not all fun and games, of course, and everything is not cheerfully perfect in the various households. There are shadowy undertones, but not the dark, criminal elements of Big Little Lies.

I enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone that likes stories that are quick and fun to read but have more to them than “just chick-lit”.

[Jonetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of the Kettle sisters, Gemma, Lyn and Cat, 33-years old triplets (two are identical twins) and a look at their lives at a pivotal moment in time. It's told in each of their voices, transitioning from past to present as they each face a critical issue. The dynamics of how they interact with each other is also an important aspect of their story.

I very much enjoyed this story as the character development was outstanding. I felt I truly knew each sister and how they would behave at every juncture. The transitions to the past were timely as they aptly provided context for the three women's present characterizations. The twists in their stories, especially Gemma's, were stunning, catching me off guard. The men in their lives created even more texture to the story as they represented choices that deeply impacted their individual and collective destinies. Lastly, there were passages provided intermittently throughout the book that were observations by strangers. That was a unique device that gave additional insights about the family interactions and it really worked for me.

I really liked the story and the audio performance though it was sometimes difficult to initially identify when the story was transitioning. Otherwise, I thought the narrator perfectly captured the characters and I could always distinguish the three women. Though not a new story, it was one that kept my interest and attention until the end.

[Phrynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really enjoyable and totally engaging book written in the author's customary style. Chapters are preceded by little anecdotes from strangers who view the main characters antics as outsiders. And then we get to meet all those lovely characters and, whether we love them or dislike them, discovering what happens to them becomes compulsive reading. If you enjoyed Big Little Lies then you will enjoy this too. I guess it does fall into the genre of Chick Lit but it is very good quality Chick Lit:)

[Maria Espadinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

O Humor Alivia a Dor


É muito fácil identificarmo-nos com uma história que nos fala de problemas comuns que afetam os relacionamentos, sejam eles entre familiares consanguíneos ou maridos e mulheres. A banalidade dos problemas está ao nível do respirar, pois todos nós lidamos com eles no dia a dia.

Mas porquê ler um livro infestado de banalidades?

Porque aqui os dramas são encarados com algum humor, e é essa a componente que múltiplas vezes nos falta para aliviar a dor. Um pouco de comicidade é essencial para atenuar qualquer tragédia 😉🌟🌟🌟🌟👍

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three Wishes is a family drama novel written by Liane Moriarty nearly two decades ago. I've been reading all her backlog books this year, hoping to get fully caught up by the spring. I'm well on my way with this one, now having finished everything except her short stories and very early series. I'll probably stop here temporarily for two reasons. One, the rest all have less than a few hundred reviews, which tell me they aren't anything big to worry about... but I also need a break from family drama for a few months. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed this book! Just need a new sub-genre for the near term. And I'm grateful almost all in her collections have been strong stories.

Three Wishes is about triples (2 identical, 1 fraternal) and the ups/downs of their late 20s and early 30s. Pregnancies, marriages, affairs, jobs, run-ins with the law, dealing with divorced parents, et al. Each sister has a defined personality, and I liked them all. I suffered a bit from the non-American syndrome, meaning life can be so different in other countries that I might not always connect with the way they do certain things. It's funny how we can all be so different, yet offer great things from a different perspective. I liked how the story was pieced together through different POVs and time periods, but not necessarily clear ones. Sometimes we're uncertain when the plot takes place. Other times we're not entirely sure which sister is the focus.

Moriarty is a gem. I've loved almost all her books, and I'm definitely keen to read her newest one whenever that comes out. I wouldn't start with this book, as while it had a great family connection and relationship-centric setting, it had moments of missing some essentials, e.g. a serious tone rather than a fight in which they make up ten minutes later. Where's the drama!?!? LOL In all sincerity, another good one.

[Kaora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely not my favorite Liane Moriarty.

This book follows a similar format as her other books with the book opening with a dramatic and very public argument in a restaurant as they celebrate their 33rd birthday together. The book then goes back to the events leading up to the big blowout to provide some context.

Having read quite a few Liane Moriarty the twists and turns in this book were predictable, and I felt like this is one of my least favorite of her books due to the ending. Moriarty is usually great at tying up all the loose ends at the end, but this one is left open ended which I didn't enjoy as much. I like that she makes everything look so bleak and then ends on a happy note, and while this one did sort of end on a happy note, it wasn't as happy as it could have been I suppose, which is partially why I read her books.

They are an escape from the usual dark books I read, and unfortunately this one wasn't much of an escape.

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story about the Kettle triplets over the course of their thirty-third year. Cat, Gemma and Lyn Kettle are a strange sight when they are together and their lives take turns over the next year that no one could foresee.

Right from the beginning I was hooked as the book opens to the sisters celebrating their Thirty-fourth birthday. The story then jumps back to the previous year and all that has happened in the fascinating triplets lives.

The story is told from multiple perspectives. I found it relatively easy to follow along with the point of view at each point in the story. I found the interaction between the three girls and the other characters in the story very entertaining. The characters are well developed and very believable. I loved each of the sisters and their individual personalities. They have a very lovable and dysfunctional family dynamic that really did have me laughing out loud quite a few times.

Great summer reading! Recommended!!!

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading most of Liane Moriarty’s novels, it was interesting to read her debut. Although you call tell that’s she certainly honed her craft since then, her trademark humour and deep understanding of her characters shines through. Nobody writes female characters as well as she does and the three sisters in this novel are so well drawn you would recognise them in an instant if you met them.

The three Kettle sisters are triplets, two identical blonds Cat and Lyn and red headed Gemma, who as she puts it, didn’t have to share her egg in the womb. They are all different but get along really well, while still bickering and arguing each other as any close siblings will. Now in their thirties they still share many details about their personal lives, especially their boyfriends and husbands, and think they know everything about each other, but do they really or do they all have secrets they keep to themselves?

The novel opens with a scene in a restaurant where the triplets are celebrating their 34th birthday (with three individual cakes and three renditions of ‘Happy Birthday’). One of them, who is heavily pregnant will end up with a fondue fork stabbed in her belly and another with a broken jaw. How matters got to this point is then deliciously laid out by the rest of the book. This was a very enjoyable read with delightful characters, some heavier topics, lots of cultural references for those who remember the 80s and 90s and lovely little vignettes interspersed between the chapters from anonymous voices who had observed the triplets during various stages of their life when they were out and about in Sydney.

[Carla Caruso · Rating 5 out of 5]

How have I only just properly discovered Aussie author Liane Moriarty? I loved this book, and can't believe it's her first novel (she now has many more under her belt) - it's so richly written.

I kept seeing Liane's name about the place, then was drawn to reading her debut tome as it's about triplet sisters and I'm preggers with twins. Well, I will definitely be searching out more of her titles.

The Kettle sisters depicted and their various partners, exes and rellies all seem so real and will 'live on' in your mind - no joke. I particularly loved the quirky, dreamy triplet Gemma - the other two, Cat and Lyn, were a bit harder around the edges, but very realistically painted.

The book touched on some heavy issues, from miscarriage to domestic abuse, without losing its overall light, cheery tone.

My only tiny niggle was that there were often flashbacks or time-jumps right when something big and dramatic happened and you wanted to see what would unfold next. But, in saying that, it was likely a clever tactic by Liane to keep you turning the pages. A must, MUST read!

[Britany · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
Triplet sisters living in Australia and trying to figure out their lives. The book opens with a crazy dinner sequence where the sisters are together for their birthday, one is pregnant and one stabs the pregnant one in the belly with a fork!

... Let the hi jinks commence! This book was crazy and fun. The three sisters are each unique with their own set of quirks. As the book progresses, the story continues to twist and twist. I literally kept gasping and the story change again. What a fun family-- "Stop being a ham sandwich" - I laughed and found this to be the perfect light hearted read with enough depth to throw a conciliatory arm around around their shoulders to say "We've all been there".

Nothing literary-ish or amazing writing. Just a quirky, fun story about an lovable family with a full cast of characters.

[Rachels_booknook_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread-March 2023

This has more dark themes than I remembered but still maintained the overall cozy sensation.
******
An entertaining look at a dysfunctional but loving family and the relationships they have, centered around a set of triplets with very different personalities.

It took me a bit to get into this one, but I’m glad I stuck with it. Gemma was just the sweetest and definitely the most endearing sibling in my opinion, it made my heart hurt to read about her and Marcus.
Anyway, I wanted something light, and kind of warm and fuzzy and this fit the bill.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this was not exactly very good. It changes p.o.v. between the 3 sisters and also has little pointless excerts from a strangers p.o.v. that is never discussed in the book. It really doesn't go anywhere and I didn't learn anything.

Lyn is married to her husband (once a married man whose marriage she ruined), a 2 year old terror of a daughter, and a teen step-daughter (teen says it all). She runs a small breakfast catering company and has the perfect life. Really, she has no issues.

Gemma, is the whishy-washy one. She was once engaged to a moody, controlling man who so happened to walk in front of a bus, literally. Since then, she has floated around and house sits. She has no permanent place or person in her life. She meets Charlie and finds him to be "the one", however, she struggles with the fact that his sister is having an affair with her sister Cat's husband. She eventually becomes pregnant and in the end, she's with Charlie and they live happily ever after.

Cat has a great husband (or so she thinks) and a great job. Until one evening her and Dan are watching a movie and he subtly tells her he's cheated on her. Cat is the epitomy of what a cheated wife would feel like (I assume) and after having him sleep on the couch a couple weeks, tries to take him back with a little dose of counseling. She has had a history of miscarriages, but when she finds out she's pregnant again, they try to make it work. Not until she miscarries again does he reveal he's been continuing his affair for a year.

As predictable as it can get, Dan ends up with the girl he was having an affair with, Cat ends up alone and desperately wanting a baby, Lyn is fine and Gemma has a happy ending. Really not worth the read. I was hoping for more.

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story & audio 4 stars**
Narrator Heather Wilds

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I normally love books by Liane Moriarty, and while Three Wishes was a fun and interesting book, it doesn't exactly hold up to the expectations I have for this author. I suppose I can forgive her since this was her debut novel.

I really liked the pace of this book. Stories that drag tend to bore me, as I'm sure they do most people. There was always something happening or some type of drama needing to be resolved in this story. I really particularly love how, at least in all of the stories I have read from her, Liane Moriarty starts her books with some type of tragedy, but you don't know who it happened to, who did it, or why they did it. It makes for an interesting read.

This story only got three stars from me because, as I stated before, I have a little bit higher expectations from this author than what was provided in this book. There was a lot of drama, but I never felt like there was an overall point to be made. I was left feeling a little indifferent.

[Theresa Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn’t my favorite Liane Moriarty book, but I enjoyed it a lot. A story about triplets—two identical, one fraternal—it’s about the friendship and angry spats that come from having a family. Nobody can piss you off in an instant quite like a family member because it’s never just about the one thing you’re upset about, it’s an accumulation of your shared history. Which is the exact same reason no one will understand you in quite the same way your sisters will—they had the same parents and thus the same strengths and weaknesses facing the world.

I liked all the sisters as they try to get their lives straightened out. The sister who seems to have it all is barely holding it together. Another sister made me afraid to ever fall in the love again. The other sister I thought had a slightly too facile reaction to a past relationship in terms of the mistakes she continued to make with men. But all in all, I enjoyed the story, the well-drawn characters, and, of course, Moriarty’s writing.

For more reviews please visit http://www.theresaalan.net/blog

[Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is only my second Liane Moriarty novel. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as her more popular Big Little Lies, but I did.

It may not be literary fiction, but Moriarty can write characters incredibly well. Most importantly, their stories are so relatable, so real.

It goes without saying that being about triplet sisters made things even more interesting as most of us are intrigued by twins, triplets and so on.

Moriarty masterfully interspersed bystanders' povs with the sisters'. It works really well to convey the plot and, especially, the characters' many layers.

This is a novel about family, relationships, sibling relationships that can be intense, vicious at times, but also so loving and all consuming, as only relationships between women can be.

4.5 stars

This novel goes towards my Aussie Authors Challenge 2018 on www.bookloverbookreviews.com

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Triplets Lyn, Cat and Gemma are out celebrating their 34th Birthday's, the nightout is about to be curtailed as things soon get out of hand.
What could push these close siblings to a full blown row.

Since loving Big Little Lies I've wanted to read all of Liane Moriarty's novels.
Her debut is enjoyable but it's very noticable that this is a writer who is still learning.

This tale didn't quite have the same intense drive as some of her later novels, but the hallmarks of why she has become so popular is still evident here.

The main thrust of the story is following the three sisters over the previous year and start to see how that Birthday celebration ended so abruptly.
Whilst all three grew up together, its intriguing to see how different each of their personalities shine. From various relationships to the sibling who has kids, wants kids, and lastly not fussed.

It's still an enjoyable read just dont expect the same high caliber thrill that her bestsellers have achieved.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters the dialogue and the quirky situations make me wish I could jump right into this book and into their lives, such fun spirited characters, the story revolves around triplet sisters, they have a heathly or is that unhealthy? dependence on each other bordering on a love/hate relationship that brings the most bizarre and fun encounters which, having this book set in Sydney and surrounding suburbs makes it that much better, feeling ever so familiar. This is Liane Moriarty's debut book, I'm trying to read her books chronologically so this is why I chose this as my first, and if this is any indication of her talent then I can't wait to dive into more of her books. Four fun stars!

[A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this!



How can I not? I'm an only child.

[Iryna *Book and Sword* · Rating 5 out of 5]

4/5 stars

“Opinions were for other people. It was fascinating how upset they got about them.”

Having been quite disappointed in my last Moriarty read (Truly Madly Guilty) I was very pleased with Three Wishes.

I think this was her debut novel, and man it was good. Probably the funniest one I've read by her. Sure, her other books also have lough out loud moments, but this one was loaded with them.

Also, Moriarty needs to write more books because I have only two to go before I've read all of her works. I've just had such a craving for women fiction this year, particularly Liane Moriarty's women fiction . It's only March of 2018, but I've already read 3 of her books.
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“You're having one of those days of accumulating misery when you argue violently with someone in a position of power: a bank teller, a dry cleaner, a three-year-old.”

I don't know why recently I've been having such craving for women fiction. Maybe because I'm getting closer and closer to being thirty, and her books usually focus on women of that age. Maybe because I cannot get enough of family drama, social life problems, motherhood, relationships and anything else that life throws at women in her books. But I inhale simply inhale her books.

“The year Lyn turned twenty-two someone switched her life over to fast-forward and forgot to change it back again. That’s how it felt.”

​The story follows three women, in this case triplets, and their lives - husbands, kids, family relations. Most of Moriarty's books follow this patter, and in some cases it does gets repetitive, but this book felt fresh for some reason. Maybe because it was her first work, when she found her style. Maybe because the way the story was told brought different perspectives, I don't know, but it was very, very enjoyable.

Surprisingly I enjoyed all of the characters in this book, all of the female characters at least: Gemma, Lyn and Cat - all brought something to the table that I could either relate to or just learn from. Gemma was probably my favorite though.

Three Wishes deals with grief, separation, siblings relations, divorce, infertility and many more issues. I loved how Moriarty never pulled her punches and always wrote things that I thought myself at times, but was too shamed to admit them. She painted her characters real and flowed, and I loved that. There was no magic solution, no over the top happy ending - it was just life.
​Definitely recommend.

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[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my first read by the much talked about Aussie writer, Liane Moriarty. I bought this book from Kmart last year when we were in lockdown to treat myself. I went in with much gusto but soon I found myself annoyed.

The story follows the three triplets who are going through different things in their lives. Gemma is a free spirit and just enjoys her life and she has someone who could be the one. Lyn has a great life. Cat is married and wants kids desperately and then she finds out that her husband is a cheater. I couldn't like Gemma and Lyn but I liked Cat. In fact, my heart went out to Cat and only because of Cat I finished this book.

A lot of people talk about humor in Liane Moriarty's books but everything irritated me, things that were supposed to be funny, they didn't feel funny to me rather it all felt too dreary and I kept rolling my eyes throughout. There was a lot of drama but it was all predictable and just didn't work for me. I did like the sisters' bonding.

The writing was okay but like I said, I didn't like two MCs so I just couldn't enjoy the story. I really pushed myself to finish reading this and I don't know why I bothered because it was the worst ending a book could have. I will still give other books of this writer a go.

2 stars

[☮Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three Wishes was Lianne Moriarity's first novel, and it's not surprising. She's really come a long way since this one. Or should I say, she and her characters have really matured over time. I was not following, understanding, or caring about anyone here at first. But the more I got to know the characters, or really just Gemma (the triplet who was fraternal), the more I liked it. The other two triplets were identical twins, so Gemma was more unique and her sisters let her know how different she was. I didn't care for Cat or Lyn. For three sisters turning 34 years old, I thought, they sure didn't act it. But thinking back to when I was 33, I was still doing some pretty silly things too.

This would be my least favorite of Moriarity's many books. She has proven, though, many times, that she can do much better.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh how I'm going to miss Gemma, Lyn, and Cat! I loved these characters. The fact that they were there for each other through thick and thin, that they were flawed, just endeared them to me more. This book made me laugh even when dealing with some tough subjects. Another one of my favorites!