The three of us is one of the books you can’t put down, you have to read all the way until the end or you can’t stop thinking about it.

It follows a friendship and relationship in a way that I hadn’t read before, and loved getting each character’s perspective on each other through the chapters.

To say that this book lured me in is a complete understatement. Every move each character makes, every thought they possess, every word on the page feels expertly crafted to entice the reader into the most sordid, devilish of dynamics between the three protagonists. As I read, I felt like one of them - both loving and despising them all in the same way they do each other and equally unable to walk away until I knew how it would end (I still don't know how the final twist plays out and it's killing me!) Ore Agbaje-Williams has created the perfect guilty pleasure - it's the classic 'I don't want to look but I can't stop looking'. I'll be recommending this book to everybody!

The three narrators are clearly all the very worst people, but The Three of Us is pretty funny. I couldn’t decide who I hated more: the bland pushover wife, her boring slightly controlling husband, or her friend Temi who massively oversteps in their marriage constantly. Set over one day and revolving around the question of whether the (unnamed) husband and wife should have a child, I felt like not very much actually happened, that the final reveal was a bit confusing (was the wife still taking the contraceptive pill or did Temi make that up?), but I still had a good time.

This book is about three people—a Nigerian wife, her husband, and her best friend Temi over the course of a day. The best friend and the husband do not seem to like one another and the wife feels stuck in the middle.

What to expect?
Best friend talks, unreliable narration,

I loved the blurb and thought that this is a book with a lot of potential. But Two's company, three's a crowd. And that's what lessened my enjoyment of the book. We see the same instances through the different POVs of the characters. But after a while, it quickly gets repetitive and I began to crave for either more characters or more drama. Also we begin with a disaster recipe (the husband-wife scenes), and it remains a slightly disastrous recipe (for all characters), which is what we already knew from the first few pages. I don't think that I was rooting for any of the characters because it felt like self-sabotage in parts. And I am not talking about unlikeable characters (I love unlikeable characters). I kept having these questions like why does the wife's friend talk like that and badmouth the husband, why does the wife tolerate it etc in the early chapters. The husband is a typical patriarchal guy, but other than that, I wasn't able to understand him in depth either.

I think the writer has a lot of potential. I like the writing. But I did wish it was quicker or more packed with anything—drama, characters, conflict, anything at all. I might give this a re-read after a few months because I am still hooked by the blurb and I wonder if it was my mind space that made me enjoy the book lesser than I hoped to.

Temi and her best friend have been friends since secondary school. Temi is a strong-willed person having had to shine to make her parents notice her over her favoured brothers. She encouraged her friend to have her own opinions as she too was one of three siblings although all girls. The girls go their own way through university all the while remaining friends. Then at a wedding they spot a couple who turn out to be brother and sister and head over to chat. The friend starts to go out with the man and ends up marrying him.
Throughout this book it is only Temi who is named. The husband and wife are not. Yet the first part of the book setting the scene is told from the viewpoint of the wife. The second part told from the viewpoint of the husband. When we get to Temi’s viewpoint we have a slightly different angle. It all takes place over the course of one afternoon and evening after Temi has invited herself over to the couple’s house as she so often does. There is a lot of drinking involved.
Al the families are wealthy Nigerians with family expectations of achievement in careers, in marriage and in starting a family. But this wife is reluctant and after 3 years of marriage there is still no baby.
All characters have their strengths but there are also a lot of weaknesses. When the three of them are together it’s not healthy.
A lot to analyse and do you dislike Temi or pity her?

Watch out for the Three of Us by Ore Agbaje-Williams yet to be released on 11 May 2023. I loved the book (good mix of satire, friendship, marriage,etc). I just didn’t like Temi personally (you will get to know who Temi is soon). Technically the third book I am reading this year and the concept of the wife not being ready for kids but is being pressured by the husband and family keeps running through.

So as the title goes its about three people; a wife, husband and bestfriend (Temi). Temi and her bestfriend’s husband don’t get along at all..

Temi and her bestfriend have been very good friends since high school they did basically everything together. Temi was the confident one and carefree one who didn’t go according to the plan of her Nigerian parents. Temi’s bestfriend was however shy, quiet and always careful not to go against her parent’s wishes. Upon meeting, Temi and going to college she gained the confidence, made more friends and started living the carefree life. These two basically did everything together from getting matching tattoos, shopping, sharing each others secrets and as far as planning not to marry because they didn’t see the benefit of marriage.

Fast forward, Her bestfriend “falls” in love and gets married. Temi is very shocked even up to the point of the wedding day however her friend insists she is ready for marriage. Temi still wants to have her friend to her beck and call, she is always in their house. She drinks wine till late, says jokes about the husband, even slept on their matrimonial bed once. She is basically a pest in the eyes of her friend’s husband and he cannot stand her.

I love the way the book was written in three parts, her friend, the husband and the bestfriend with the story narrated from their angle. Each person’s story was well built up giving enough background to the story.

I loved it and you should get a copy when it comes out, just get ready to annoyed by Temi.

This book leads you through the life, love and friendships of a wife her best friend and her husband.
I found the husband irritating, the best friend very overbearing both were frustratingly annoying and I wanted to reach through the pages and shake some sense into all three of them the biggest problem I know people just like all three of these characters and I believe most people would know at least one of them in real life.
The husband hates the best friend with a passion an emotion recipricated by the best friend to the husband but that could also be because the best friend is incredibly selfish and the wife lacks the abilities to deal with both of them, in saying that I still enjoyed reading this book a lot.

I loved this so much I read it in one sitting. I was completely wrapped up the in story set over one day. Quite mundane in the grand scheme of things and not even that much happens, but I couldn’t help but get sucked in by the 3 very flawed characters.

A tense and immersive exploration of friendship, culture and societal expectation, THE THREE OF US plays out in three acts, from three POVs. All of the characters are deeply flawed and to be honest, unlikeable, but that’s what gives the story so much bite. They say things you don’t expect, they downright disrespect each other, and they’re so unbelievably confrontational you half expect someone to get stabbed. The ambiguity of the ending kinda makes me think someone did, off page.

This is a clever debut. I sped through it in a day and was impressed by the author's ability to keep me hooked. All the characters are compelling. However, I found the dynamic between them a little exaggerated. The best friend's behaviour borders on outrageous and I couldn't help but wonder if this would not seem toxic if the genders were flipped. Imagine the man's friend being this rude and dismissive of the wife and their personal space. It would not seem benign if the husband let that slide and did not pick a side. That was my major grouse. Otherwise, it was an enjoyable read and I would love to read more from this author. I look forward to seeing it published as I'm keen to see how people pick teams between all three. Congrats to Ms Ore on this!

This book was a surprise favourite of mine from 2022. The Three of Us follows a married couple and the wife's best friend who seems intent on always being present at the married couple's house. The book spans over one day, and what starts as light tension between the three characters eventually crescendos into disaster by the end of the book. We get perspectives from all three characters and the book was unexpectedly funny and acerbic.

A quick read and would definitely recommend it!

I feel like if you like Sally Rooney books (or that one film which was literally just a couple walking around someplace in Italy on holiday having an argument), this will be absolutely right up your street. It's very slow-paced, very character study, very meandering and thoughtful. None of the characters are particularly likeable, but in this case, it just makes them feel more realistic and mundane. This wasn't my type of book, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and would definitely be able to recommend this to those who like slower, more character driven books!

I loved this book, finished in one sitting. Some laugh out loud moments and it felt real to me.

I thought that all the characters had personality traits that send alarm bells ringing when you’re reading, but when they are mixed all together, you’re left with a toxic environment.

Well worth a read

This book is a quick & easy read, but within its deceptively simple language, the author poses some important questions about women’s autonomy and subverting society’s expectations. I think it would make a powerful radio drama. Ultimately, Temi has all the power.

This was a tense, witty, and sharp novel looking at relationships and particularly the level of influence involved in the intricacies of marriage and friendships.
What I loved most about this book was how it was split into three sections with each section belonging to the mindset of the three main characters – the unnamed married couple and Temi, (who is interestingly the only main character who is named). Temi is, without a doubt, the reason for the steady build of tension and chaos throughout the day and her perspectives in the final section of this book really reflects how she is always one step ahead of the married couple. The final sentences are PERFECT and hints at the potential damage that Temi has caused both during the course of the day and in her friend’s marriage.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I enjoyed the unusual structure of this novel, with the afternoon, evening and night of the same day each narrated by one of the three protagonists. It’s an interesting device and I did find my sympathies shifting a little with each perspective. On the other hand, it is hard to get a handle on the truth of some situations, as each narrator is unreliable. A fairly quick and easy read and one that I enjoyed. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley and Vintage Books for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

It was a quick read, I started it at like 1am or so and I was done by the evening. I think the idea of it being told from 3 person POV was cool and Ore did this quite well - I could tell the difference between the 3 characters as they had their own personalities.
If the goal was for us to despise all the characters by the end then it was a job well done, I hated them all, the husband a little less than the other two but they were all mad people. I think the tension build up was good, I was binge reading to get through it so I could find peace but the end of course fell flat. There was no conclusion / resolution or anything. It was just a build up into nothing which was a shame but I also understand that was intentional.. It didn’t have to be nearly wrapped in a bow but it was really just a whole load of nothing in that sense. Didn’t hate it but didn’t love it. Sidenote, I genuinely think Ore should give suspense / thriller writing a go too, she’d be great.

I devoured The Three of Us in one sitting. It’s a tight, taught story that takes place over an afternoon. Told in three perspectives, we get narratives from an unnamed husband and wife and the wife’s best friend, Temi. The conflict comes as Temi does not like her best friend’s husband. At all. He’s not a fan of her, either.

The couple live in a nice London home and the action takes place mainly in their kitchen when Temi comes over to visit her best friend.

The narration bounces between the characters throughout the afternoon so as the story chronologically progresses we get an insight into what they are all thinking at the time. This format works excellently to steadily build the tension in this domestic simmering-pot of a story.

What’s so enticing is that all of the characters have personality traits that send alarm bells ringing when you’re reading, so when you mix them all together, you’re left with a toxic environment.

I particularly enjoyed Temi’s narrative as it had some laugh out loud moments and you know she’s not going to hold back. I also loved all the contemporary references (including opening with this epic line from House of Gucci: I don’t consider myself a particularly ethical person, but I am fair.) It perfectly set the tone for the book.

The Three of Us is a great one-session read, I was fully engrossed in the characters and the tension built up in just the right way. If you enjoy eavesdropping on a stranger’s juicy conversation that spills the secrets on their private life (let’s face it, who doesn’t?) then you’re going to be totally drawn into this book, like I was.

The battle to keep her friend all to herself, despite the fact she is now married, a funny and at times annoying story of things and ways to try and come between them and have her friend back to herself.

The Three of Us is a short read told over the course of one day from three perspectives: a husband, his wife, and her best friend. The best friend and husband hate each other, and with the best friend visiting often, the tension between them has escalated.

I enjoyed reading all three perspectives, although it was a little repetitive in places, it allows you to get to know the three characters and their flaws. The husband is too pushy, the best friend is overconfident, and the wife seems to change depending on which one she is interacting with; with her husband, she is a doting wife, with her best friend, she laughs at jokes made at her husband’s expense.

One aspect of this book I didn’t like was the lack of speech marks, it made the text difficult to read at times which detracted from the enjoyment of the book somewhat. Despite that, I’d still recommend this book, it was a quick read that I devoured in less than a day and would be ideal for people interested in character driven books.