What do you think?
Rate this book
3
You just have to be a brave and certain kind of person, and I don't think that I am. I'm sarcastic and loyal and a little shy. I'm quietly and slightly Catholic. I'm a daughter trying to learn how to be a sister. I'm a virgin. I'm a butterflier.
I've never been in love.
Taylor Cipriano had everything figured out, back when she lived with her single mother in Miami. Now, she's moved upstate for her junior year to live with her mom's boyfriend and her soon-to-be-stepsister and is trying to figure out who she is out of the shadow of her best friend. When she meets Theo—quirky, cute, sensitive Theo—he seems like a great match...except he has a girlfriend. Josey, icy and oh-so-intimidating.
But Theo and Josey aren't like anyone Taylor's met before; Josey grew up in a polyamorous family, and the two of them have a history of letting a third person in to their relationship. It's nothing Taylor's ever considered before...but she really likes Theo.
Her feelings for Josey, though?
That's where it really gets complicated.
3 unwraps who we love and how we love, in numbers as odd as we are.
I've never been in love.
Taylor Cipriano had everything figured out, back when she lived with her single mother in Miami. Now, she's moved upstate for her junior year to live with her mom's boyfriend and her soon-to-be-stepsister and is trying to figure out who she is out of the shadow of her best friend. When she meets Theo—quirky, cute, sensitive Theo—he seems like a great match...except he has a girlfriend. Josey, icy and oh-so-intimidating.
But Theo and Josey aren't like anyone Taylor's met before; Josey grew up in a polyamorous family, and the two of them have a history of letting a third person in to their relationship. It's nothing Taylor's ever considered before...but she really likes Theo.
Her feelings for Josey, though?
That's where it really gets complicated.
3 unwraps who we love and how we love, in numbers as odd as we are.
261 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 31, 2016
12 people are currently reading
517 people want to read
About the author
Hannah Moskowitz
26 books1,866 followersHannah Moskowitz wrote her first story, about a kitten named Lilly on the run from cat hunters, for a contest when she was seven years old. It was disqualified for violence. Her first book, BREAK, was on the ALA's 2010 list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, and in 2013, GONE, GONE, GONE received a Stonewall Honor. 2015's NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED was named the YA Bisexual Book of the Year. SICK KIDS IN LOVE was a Sydney Taylor Honoree, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and one of both Kirkus and Tablet Magazine's Best Books of the year. She lives in Maryland with several cats, none of whom are violent.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
Read
October 27, 2016I wrote this book! It is very important to me.
The playlist is full of movie and musical stuff, because me:
Fidelity--Regina Spektor
Hang With Me--Robyn
I Can't Do it Alone--Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago Soundtrack
Here I Go--Idina Menzel and James Snyder, If/Then cast recording
Tell Me If You Wanna Go Home--Keira Knightly, Begin Again soundtrack
400 Lux--Lorde
Breakfast at Tiffany's--Deep Blue Something
As Cool as I Am--Dar Williams
Love it When You Call--The Feeling
The Way I Am--Ingrid Michaelson
A Lonely September--Plain White T's
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas--Frank Sinatra
A Higher Place--Adam Levine, Begin Again soundtrack
Young Dumb and in Love--Mat Kearney
Talking in Code--Margot and the Nuclear So and So's
Where I Belong--Motion City Soundtrack
Rain--Patty Griffin
The Freshman--The Verve Pipe
As Time Goes By--Frank Sinatra
Over My Head (Cable Car)--The Fray
Josey--Deep Blue Something
Love While You Can--Idina Menzel, LaChanze, and Jenn Colella, If/Then cast recording
Us--Regina Spektor
All That We Needed--Plain White T's
Floating Down the River--Motion City Soundtrack
One Night Town--Mat Kearney and Ingrid Michaelson
First Day of My Life--Bright Eyes
What I Did For Love--Priscilla Lopez, A Chorus Line cast recording
The playlist is full of movie and musical stuff, because me:
Fidelity--Regina Spektor
Hang With Me--Robyn
I Can't Do it Alone--Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago Soundtrack
Here I Go--Idina Menzel and James Snyder, If/Then cast recording
Tell Me If You Wanna Go Home--Keira Knightly, Begin Again soundtrack
400 Lux--Lorde
Breakfast at Tiffany's--Deep Blue Something
As Cool as I Am--Dar Williams
Love it When You Call--The Feeling
The Way I Am--Ingrid Michaelson
A Lonely September--Plain White T's
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas--Frank Sinatra
A Higher Place--Adam Levine, Begin Again soundtrack
Young Dumb and in Love--Mat Kearney
Talking in Code--Margot and the Nuclear So and So's
Where I Belong--Motion City Soundtrack
Rain--Patty Griffin
The Freshman--The Verve Pipe
As Time Goes By--Frank Sinatra
Over My Head (Cable Car)--The Fray
Josey--Deep Blue Something
Love While You Can--Idina Menzel, LaChanze, and Jenn Colella, If/Then cast recording
Us--Regina Spektor
All That We Needed--Plain White T's
Floating Down the River--Motion City Soundtrack
One Night Town--Mat Kearney and Ingrid Michaelson
First Day of My Life--Bright Eyes
What I Did For Love--Priscilla Lopez, A Chorus Line cast recording
September 19, 2017
So I really enjoyed this book. It's a YA romance that's *about* polyamory, but it doesn't simplify things. The polyamorous relationship (sort of a V? sort of a triad?) in this book is complicated, and the obstacles the characters face in the romance feel real, and deeply drawn. I really liked that these characters were grappling with other things besides being polyamorous.
Taylor, the POV main character, is deeply compelling, and characterized in a complex nuanced way. I fell for her really hard. I especially enjoyed the relationship between Taylor and Josey, and the storyline about Taylor and her BFF. I also really liked that there were polyamorous parents in this book; it felt important that these kids had support from other polyamorous people.
As a polyamorous adult, I am very glad this book is out in the world. I could have really used a book like this when I was a teenager.
A caveat that I know can be important to some folks: this book had some copyediting issues that were distracting for me as a reader.
Trigger warnings:
Taylor, the POV main character, is deeply compelling, and characterized in a complex nuanced way. I fell for her really hard. I especially enjoyed the relationship between Taylor and Josey, and the storyline about Taylor and her BFF. I also really liked that there were polyamorous parents in this book; it felt important that these kids had support from other polyamorous people.
As a polyamorous adult, I am very glad this book is out in the world. I could have really used a book like this when I was a teenager.
A caveat that I know can be important to some folks: this book had some copyediting issues that were distracting for me as a reader.
Trigger warnings:
February 9, 2021
Rep: Cuban American bi mc, polyamorous relationship
February 6, 2017
This was my first time reading any of Hannah's work, and it was such a delight. Her characters are wonderfully governed by all of the hormones and feelings of teenagers. Taylor was great, but Josey had my head and heart from the beginning. I loved that the poly relationship depicted felt real and went through the motions, without ending in a neatly tied up HEA.
TW: Abortion
TW: Abortion
February 6, 2017
"Don't look at me," Josey says. "She's your girlfriend."
"Yeah, now she's my girlfriend," Theo says. "When she wins swim meets it's all our girlfriend is so amazing, isn't she, Theo, but as soon as she confuses you again she's all my problem again."
A fantastic book that made me challenge my own preconceptions on so many different topics, it made me look at my misogyny and sexism in the face and say fuck you. It's an unique book but it's also a book that has a lot of the contemporary things we are used to seeing, like a girl moving to a new town, falling in love, meeting new people. The uniqueness comes from the polyamorous relationship and the way the main character develops her personality and grows as you, as a reader, grow as well. It's the main character falling in love with two people in completely different ways, at different paces with different timing. It's the main character being called out over and over again for her own socially constructed thoughts and people challenging it like this book challenges you as a reader. It's a very weird but comfortable relationship between narrator and reader.
I absolutely adored the way this book was written because you as an outsider can see a lot of the flaws of the main character but at the same time you're reading from her perspective so at times it's frustrating when she doesn't realise what she's doing. Luckily, like I said before, so many different people call her out on her prejudices, on her religion, on her opinions, on the way she treats people and it's hard to see it because when you read from her perspective in first person you kind of become her and it's hard being called out, but it's harder looking at yourself and seeing that you're hurting someone or that you're not giving people enough time to understand something when you had months to understand it and arrive to a comfortable place with it.
One of my favourite characters was Josey, I really didn't understand why she was treated so poorly and why Taylor didn't like her but then seeing that relationship develop into something more was gorgeous. I also loved the family dynamics not only with Taylor but also with Josey's parents, who are also polyamorous and it's important to have those role models in their lives and seeing that it can work and that it's normal. The dialogue and the way the characters reacted and how they expected things from each other without pushing was so realistic and beautifully done. The characterisation was incredible, these characters are all huge dorks and that made relate to them a lot. Mainly, I shipped Taylor/Theo/Josey a lot and I wanted them to be together all the time. The dynamics when they all were together especially at the end of the book were absolute gold.
November 6, 2016
the pacing is APPALLING and the girls don't kiss.
November 6, 2016
Have you seen what I did with the rating (down below)? (4 stars for the story and 1 for the editing/proofing.) I need to get this off my chest first, because I am seriously pissed off and frustrated. This book has a really good story, one that is rarely told (look at them tags), but the editing and proofing is so abysmal that I cannot recommend this book to anyone, which pains me because it’s a fucking shame. Well, I’m not saying you shouldn’t read it, especially if you want to read about teenagers being in a polyamorous relationship, but be prepared. There are wrong words, missing words, mixed up pronouns, so you have to figure out who’s doing or saying what, and just to give you two examples, look at this:
Well, is it or is it not? Probably isn’t because that makes more sense, but I don’t want to need to figure this out. Reading this is confusing at the least. And I don’t even want to know what happened in the second example. If I had realised this in the sample (which is actually written way better), I wouldn’t have bought the book, but, as often the case, this only gets worse later on.
I thought about quitting (heh, I do not finish books all the time and don’t feel the need to continue books that annoy me) but I was too invested in the story and characters to go through with it. Because not only is this book really funny and has a wonderful narration through the protagonist Taylor, but the topic of polyamory is very well handled and interesting and just great.
This book is about growing up and finding your place (at least for the moment) and about all kinds of facets of love and how you can love several people at the same time and how love and relationships are different and not more or less than the other.
I really like that this book doesn’t show us a triad in which everyone loves everyone equally and everything is shared and together (nothing bad with that, don’t get me wrong), but that the focus is on Taylor’s and Theo’s relationship with each other, and Taylor’s and Josey’s, and Theo’s and Josey’s. They all have their separate thing going on but are, of course, also connected and together—how could it not?
Josey’s parents are also polyamorous and it is great to see an older role model, so to say. There are several secondary characters who are well flashed out and give depth to the story. I also like the pacing and the overall emphasis of growing up and learning how to love and live. It’s less about the falling in love and romance (although there is lots of kissing :) ). I have to say, though, that the getting together was too rushed.
The plot device for the final conflict that forces the three to come out wasn’t to my liking, and I feel that the was taken far too lightly. Like, I’m not judging them or anyone but I don’t like how this, to me, difficult and complicated topic was handled.
Okay, let me summarise, I really like the main content of the story (the characters and the polyamorous relationship) and I think this is well worth reading, but because of the bad bad bad proofing I cannot recommend the book, which sucks.
____________________________________
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult
Tags: Polyamorous Relationship, F/M, F/F, Bisexual, POC, School
Content Warnings:
Rating: 2.5 stars (4 for the story and 1 for the editing/proofing)
Blog: Review for Just Love Romance
[…] the reception room is isn’t going to be ready for a half-hour after we planned […]
[…] I don’tkno2 any stories […]
Well, is it or is it not? Probably isn’t because that makes more sense, but I don’t want to need to figure this out. Reading this is confusing at the least. And I don’t even want to know what happened in the second example. If I had realised this in the sample (which is actually written way better), I wouldn’t have bought the book, but, as often the case, this only gets worse later on.
I thought about quitting (heh, I do not finish books all the time and don’t feel the need to continue books that annoy me) but I was too invested in the story and characters to go through with it. Because not only is this book really funny and has a wonderful narration through the protagonist Taylor, but the topic of polyamory is very well handled and interesting and just great.
This book is about growing up and finding your place (at least for the moment) and about all kinds of facets of love and how you can love several people at the same time and how love and relationships are different and not more or less than the other.
I really like that this book doesn’t show us a triad in which everyone loves everyone equally and everything is shared and together (nothing bad with that, don’t get me wrong), but that the focus is on Taylor’s and Theo’s relationship with each other, and Taylor’s and Josey’s, and Theo’s and Josey’s. They all have their separate thing going on but are, of course, also connected and together—how could it not?
Josey’s parents are also polyamorous and it is great to see an older role model, so to say. There are several secondary characters who are well flashed out and give depth to the story. I also like the pacing and the overall emphasis of growing up and learning how to love and live. It’s less about the falling in love and romance (although there is lots of kissing :) ). I have to say, though, that the getting together was too rushed.
The plot device for the final conflict that forces the three to come out wasn’t to my liking, and I feel that the was taken far too lightly. Like, I’m not judging them or anyone but I don’t like how this, to me, difficult and complicated topic was handled.
Okay, let me summarise, I really like the main content of the story (the characters and the polyamorous relationship) and I think this is well worth reading, but because of the bad bad bad proofing I cannot recommend the book, which sucks.
____________________________________
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult
Tags: Polyamorous Relationship, F/M, F/F, Bisexual, POC, School
Content Warnings:
Rating: 2.5 stars (4 for the story and 1 for the editing/proofing)
Blog: Review for Just Love Romance
February 14, 2021
rep: Cuban-American bi mc, polyam relationship
2.5 ☆
well this book has a nicely shown polyam relationship for which i could almost forgive anything else but.
it also 1) has Way Too Much telling over showing (that telling also most times has little to do w what we're actually being shown), 2) the writing just isn't all that great (& so many!! mistakes!! did no one edit this thing ???) & 3) makes up for it w countless dialogues which aren't exactly always as funny as they were obviously meant to be
it all just.... kind of feels like a first draft
2.5 ☆
well this book has a nicely shown polyam relationship for which i could almost forgive anything else but.
it also 1) has Way Too Much telling over showing (that telling also most times has little to do w what we're actually being shown), 2) the writing just isn't all that great (& so many!! mistakes!! did no one edit this thing ???) & 3) makes up for it w countless dialogues which aren't exactly always as funny as they were obviously meant to be
it all just.... kind of feels like a first draft
May 31, 2019
representation: polyamorous relationship, Cuban (bi or multi-gender attracted? it's never labeled) MC
trigger/content warnings: abortion (occurs on the page)
3 has been on my TBR for a while after I discovered it was about a polyamorous relationship. Though it is about a girl falling in love with a boy and a girl, there isn't any canon physical interaction between the two girls. This doesn't make their relationship any less valid, and I'm only pointing it out so others aren't as confused as I was prior to starting this. So: expect a polyamorous relationship. That's all.
Taylor and her mother are moving in with her boyfriend, Dominic. Leaving behind her best friend in Miami, she's apprehensive about beginning at a new school and meeting new people. Her step-father's son is enlisted to show her around, and they end up at a party, where she meets Theo and Josey. Taylor feels a connection between herself and Theo, kissing him at the end of the night, only to later find out Josey is his girlfriend. Theo and Josey subsequently approach her, stating they're polyamorous and would be interested in Taylor joining them.
I'm not sure if this was an accurate representation of polyamorous relationships because 1) I'm not in one and 2) the other books I've read with polyamorous couples have approached it in a completely different way. However, I felt like this was enlightening and educating at the same time. Before reading this, I hadn't considered the ignorance and ostracisation polyamorous couples (or is it trios?) would experience, primarily because others don't understand their dynamic. Personally, I've never been judgemental of them since other people's relationships are none of my business, but I've seen news articles acting like three people in a relationship is somehow a Big Deal. In their case, their peers at school assume they're in an open relationship or separate themselves from the trio. It's definitely something I hadn't considered happening as a response to polygamy in the past, and I appreciated the information.
However, the writing in this book definitely needs work. It felt like it was published with little to no proofreading. Sometimes I'd come across sentences with typos that seemed glaringly obvious or the phrasing in certain areas didn't make sense, no matter how many times I reread them. There's also a lot of showing instead of telling, with excessive time jumps in between. It made the writing disjointed and awkward to read at times.
Though, I mainly excused the writing because I adored the characters. Separately and together. Taylor is a flawed main character, but I related to her. It's understandable that she'd be jealous at times in her relationship, but also the negative thoughts that spiralled inside her mind because of unthreatening situations was so realistic. For example, Theo would just sigh around her and she'd think he was about to break up with her or deliver bad news. I'm not sure why I liked it, but I found it incredibly relatable. The trio together are adorable, but I wish there was more build-up to Taylor's realisation that she loved them. Since there were so many time jumps and the writing was awkward, it felt like she was proclaiming "I love her/him" out of nowhere. Though, majority of my rating is attributed to the fact that I loved them together. They were adorable, sweet, and heartbreaking.
Without revealing spoilers, there's a subplot in this book about a teen pregnancy, where she decides to get an abortion. I really appreciated how her - or the boy who got her pregnant - didn't make a huge deal about it. It's her body and she's allowed to decide what she wants to do with it. The abortion is additionally depicted in such a casual way, which was jarring. Not because I disagree with it, but because it's somehow the first time I haven't seen abortion portrayed as a negative thing in literature. Also, it didn't feel like the author was attempting to make a huge statement about it. She wasn't trying to let you know that she's portraying an underrepresented, serious topic. She just writes it into the story, then focuses on something else.
3 isn't really a book I'd recommend since it's definitely not for everyone. Unless you could overlook the writing and appreciate the characters, then it wouldn't be an enjoyable experience for you.
trigger/content warnings: abortion (occurs on the page)
3 has been on my TBR for a while after I discovered it was about a polyamorous relationship. Though it is about a girl falling in love with a boy and a girl, there isn't any canon physical interaction between the two girls. This doesn't make their relationship any less valid, and I'm only pointing it out so others aren't as confused as I was prior to starting this. So: expect a polyamorous relationship. That's all.
Taylor and her mother are moving in with her boyfriend, Dominic. Leaving behind her best friend in Miami, she's apprehensive about beginning at a new school and meeting new people. Her step-father's son is enlisted to show her around, and they end up at a party, where she meets Theo and Josey. Taylor feels a connection between herself and Theo, kissing him at the end of the night, only to later find out Josey is his girlfriend. Theo and Josey subsequently approach her, stating they're polyamorous and would be interested in Taylor joining them.
I'm not sure if this was an accurate representation of polyamorous relationships because 1) I'm not in one and 2) the other books I've read with polyamorous couples have approached it in a completely different way. However, I felt like this was enlightening and educating at the same time. Before reading this, I hadn't considered the ignorance and ostracisation polyamorous couples (or is it trios?) would experience, primarily because others don't understand their dynamic. Personally, I've never been judgemental of them since other people's relationships are none of my business, but I've seen news articles acting like three people in a relationship is somehow a Big Deal. In their case, their peers at school assume they're in an open relationship or separate themselves from the trio. It's definitely something I hadn't considered happening as a response to polygamy in the past, and I appreciated the information.
However, the writing in this book definitely needs work. It felt like it was published with little to no proofreading. Sometimes I'd come across sentences with typos that seemed glaringly obvious or the phrasing in certain areas didn't make sense, no matter how many times I reread them. There's also a lot of showing instead of telling, with excessive time jumps in between. It made the writing disjointed and awkward to read at times.
Though, I mainly excused the writing because I adored the characters. Separately and together. Taylor is a flawed main character, but I related to her. It's understandable that she'd be jealous at times in her relationship, but also the negative thoughts that spiralled inside her mind because of unthreatening situations was so realistic. For example, Theo would just sigh around her and she'd think he was about to break up with her or deliver bad news. I'm not sure why I liked it, but I found it incredibly relatable. The trio together are adorable, but I wish there was more build-up to Taylor's realisation that she loved them. Since there were so many time jumps and the writing was awkward, it felt like she was proclaiming "I love her/him" out of nowhere. Though, majority of my rating is attributed to the fact that I loved them together. They were adorable, sweet, and heartbreaking.
Without revealing spoilers, there's a subplot in this book about a teen pregnancy, where she decides to get an abortion. I really appreciated how her - or the boy who got her pregnant - didn't make a huge deal about it. It's her body and she's allowed to decide what she wants to do with it. The abortion is additionally depicted in such a casual way, which was jarring. Not because I disagree with it, but because it's somehow the first time I haven't seen abortion portrayed as a negative thing in literature. Also, it didn't feel like the author was attempting to make a huge statement about it. She wasn't trying to let you know that she's portraying an underrepresented, serious topic. She just writes it into the story, then focuses on something else.
3 isn't really a book I'd recommend since it's definitely not for everyone. Unless you could overlook the writing and appreciate the characters, then it wouldn't be an enjoyable experience for you.
April 25, 2017
this was really good! i lowkey wanted Taylor and Josey to also be together and kinda sorta cared more about them than about Taylor and Theo because they had a really cute dynamic and by lowkey i really mean highkey because of the things said by Taylor in regards to Josey (aka her saying that she's in love with her??). i was definitely expecting ~something~ to happen between them, but i loved how their relationship developed anyways. Josey was totally my favourite character.
polyamory is definitely an interesting and unique topic to write a YA about and it's kind of hard for me to wrap my head around sometimes but this book is a great way to get a better understanding into an example of that kind of relationship.
there were some grammatical and editing errors in this book that slightly bugged me but besides that i really enjoyed it!
polyamory is definitely an interesting and unique topic to write a YA about and it's kind of hard for me to wrap my head around sometimes but this book is a great way to get a better understanding into an example of that kind of relationship.
there were some grammatical and editing errors in this book that slightly bugged me but besides that i really enjoyed it!
June 9, 2020
okay so this was not particularly well-written (so many typos!) and i can see how it wouldn’t work for some people, but it was SUCH a cute polyam YA romance novel. it was really wonderful to see such great rep that explicitly used the term ‘polyamory’ and showed a healthy (cute!) relationship.
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Ko-fi
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Ko-fi
October 31, 2016
This was a beautiful, exquisite book. My heart is filled with love after reading it and the closer I got to the end the more sad I got because I really, truly didn't want it to be over. I love these characters, and this story, and this writing, and I'm going to spend the next six months being so so happy that I had the privilege of reading this book.
August 11, 2017
This was an interesting read. I've never read a book about a poly relationship and I was intrigued how it worked between Theo, Josey and Taylor, but I also kinda wanted more between Josey and Taylor.
Also, the editing was pretty bad. Not going to lie. I picked up on so many spelling errors and incorrect words and missing words and it was glaringly obvious, which was a shame. I always find multiple errors bring me out of the book.
Also, the editing was pretty bad. Not going to lie. I picked up on so many spelling errors and incorrect words and missing words and it was glaringly obvious, which was a shame. I always find multiple errors bring me out of the book.
February 6, 2017
3.5 stars maybe? I don't know.
October 11, 2023
"I'm not in love with her the way I'm in love with Theo, maybe because it's happening in a directly opposite way; I loved him carelessly and stupidly from the moment he raised my hand at that party, and I love her the way you climb into a bath you ran too hot. Hesitantly, haltingly. A little painfully. Altogether warmly."I loved this book and these characters so much!!
In 3 we follow a polyamorous relationship between Taylor, Theo, and Josey; three teenagers who now own my heart. It is the first time I read about a poly relationship in YA and it was adorable. There were so many things I loved in this book so let's mention some of them. First, the communication in this book was *chefs kiss*, they really communicated better than other characters in some adult romances I've read. Second, I loved how Theo and Josey helped Taylor and were so patient with her since it's her first time in a poly relationship. Third, I loved how the stigmas some people had with their relationship really put things in perspective because you would read what someone thinks and says when they find out they are poly and the things they say are so far from the reality that they're like total opposites.
I've read a couple of books with poly relationships before but they were more like erotic novels. There's nothing wrong with that obviously, but as someone who's normally in them because of the romance, reading a book like this in which we get to see them exploring their relationship was amazing. It was amazing getting to a point where you could see how much they cared for and tried to understand each other. They were always talking about how they felt, about their doubts and fears, and that made their relationship development feel so natural, healthy, and beautiful and I just loved them.
October 31, 2016
This is a wonderful book and I think you should read it. Some notes from my reading experience (as enthusiastically emailed to hannah, play-by-play style, with spoilers removed):
On pg 50 and I love everybody. I'm very into Theo, he has this air of unpretentious/unstudied relaxation that I'm not used to seeing in YA boyfriends, it's super neat. Kind of entranced by Josey, I can't wait to learn more about her.
I was already ruined for non-feminists, but if I weren't, I'm certain Theo would be a big help. I can't wait for Taylor to meet Josey's family. And her relationship with her mom is so cute! I just checked to see what page I was on and now I'm panicking because I'm almost halfway done, nooooo. I'm just. In love. With everyone.
Theo is making me laugh SO much, god. I want in on this relationship, we are making it a foursome.
I've been done for an hour and now I'm just waiting for my soul to return to my body so I can maybe figure out how to go on with my life.
In summary: it was lovely and I love all of them and hannah moskowitz' character development leaves me breathless. If you're interested in polyamorous relationship dynamics, amazing dialogue, and books that wedge their way into your heart for eternity, this one's for you.
On pg 50 and I love everybody. I'm very into Theo, he has this air of unpretentious/unstudied relaxation that I'm not used to seeing in YA boyfriends, it's super neat. Kind of entranced by Josey, I can't wait to learn more about her.
I was already ruined for non-feminists, but if I weren't, I'm certain Theo would be a big help. I can't wait for Taylor to meet Josey's family. And her relationship with her mom is so cute! I just checked to see what page I was on and now I'm panicking because I'm almost halfway done, nooooo. I'm just. In love. With everyone.
Theo is making me laugh SO much, god. I want in on this relationship, we are making it a foursome.
I've been done for an hour and now I'm just waiting for my soul to return to my body so I can maybe figure out how to go on with my life.
In summary: it was lovely and I love all of them and hannah moskowitz' character development leaves me breathless. If you're interested in polyamorous relationship dynamics, amazing dialogue, and books that wedge their way into your heart for eternity, this one's for you.
February 21, 2021
2021:
Depois de várias tentativas de engatar numa leitura esse ano, voltei à 3 pra ter certeza que ia pelo menos ler um livro que eu gosto de verdade. Foi bem interessante ler tantos anos depois, especialmente agora que a não-monogamia deixou de ser um trope interessante pra mim para ser minha forma de cultivar afetos. Apesar de não ser poli, é impossível não me sentir de certa forma representadx com esse livro. Também achei legal que enquanto na primeira leitura eu estava 100% solidária aos sentimentos da Taylor de forma geral, dessa vez me senti muito mais empática com Theo e Josey (ainda que Taylor seja totalmente minha filha).
E eu era bem mais exigente em 2017, esse livro com certeza é 05 estrelas no meu coração e eu amaria uma sequência pós universidade dele.
2017:
Eu acho que a Hannah é minha nova autora favorita. Eu simplesmente to apaixonada pelos livros dela. Infelizmente, 3 tem um MONTE de erros de digitação (por isso perdeu uma estrelinha) que me fizeram ter que reler algumas frases várias vezes pra entender, o que é uma pena. Porém esse livro ganha vários pontos por:
- Representatividade bi
- Poliamor
- Coming of age story (é provavelmente meu período de vida favorito pra ler livros sobre)
- Narrativa feminista
Depois de várias tentativas de engatar numa leitura esse ano, voltei à 3 pra ter certeza que ia pelo menos ler um livro que eu gosto de verdade. Foi bem interessante ler tantos anos depois, especialmente agora que a não-monogamia deixou de ser um trope interessante pra mim para ser minha forma de cultivar afetos. Apesar de não ser poli, é impossível não me sentir de certa forma representadx com esse livro. Também achei legal que enquanto na primeira leitura eu estava 100% solidária aos sentimentos da Taylor de forma geral, dessa vez me senti muito mais empática com Theo e Josey (ainda que Taylor seja totalmente minha filha).
E eu era bem mais exigente em 2017, esse livro com certeza é 05 estrelas no meu coração e eu amaria uma sequência pós universidade dele.
2017:
Eu acho que a Hannah é minha nova autora favorita. Eu simplesmente to apaixonada pelos livros dela. Infelizmente, 3 tem um MONTE de erros de digitação (por isso perdeu uma estrelinha) que me fizeram ter que reler algumas frases várias vezes pra entender, o que é uma pena. Porém esse livro ganha vários pontos por:
- Representatividade bi
- Poliamor
- Coming of age story (é provavelmente meu período de vida favorito pra ler livros sobre)
- Narrativa feminista
December 28, 2016
Super glad I decided to give this a read. Never really read anything with a poly relationship before and it was really interesting to read about.
The best thing about this book is probably the characters. They're very endearing, but also really fleshed out. I like that all the misconstructions about polyamory wasn't a black and white thing, but very nuanced.
There were a fair few typos, which were a bit off-putting, but nothing that really majorly took away from the book. Overall, a fantastic read.
The best thing about this book is probably the characters. They're very endearing, but also really fleshed out. I like that all the misconstructions about polyamory wasn't a black and white thing, but very nuanced.
There were a fair few typos, which were a bit off-putting, but nothing that really majorly took away from the book. Overall, a fantastic read.
April 11, 2019
I love Hannah Moskowitz. She's one of those authors that I will read anything she's written (although I'm still working my way through the list). Everything I've read so far has solidified that she's just my kind of author. Plus, as an aspiring author myself, I'm inspired by her - her writing style is very similar to mine, so reading her works makes me think it's possible for me to publish someday, too.
I really, really enjoyed 3. I know very little about polyamorous relationships, so it was interesting to read about it in this book. I liked the characters a lot and just really enjoyed flowing through the story with them. So I would absolutely recommend this book because the story is really great and really well written, with really great dialogue.
But here's the crappy thing. Shortly into the book, I started noticing mistakes. One or two incorrect words. Mistakes irrationally bother me in any published book, but these bothered me extra because they just kept happening. It made me think I somehow stumbled upon some sort of unpolished draft by accident, but I bought this book legitimately off Amazon for kindle. She's a published author, so it boggled me how this could have happened. It got to a point where I looked up the book, only to discover that this specific book was self published. Honestly, I'm still boggled how it got released with so many mistakes. The thing is, that most of the mistakes aren't typos, they're things like using the word "cone" instead of "come" - cone is still a word, so if you run your novel through your run-of-the-mill spellchecker it's gonna be like yep, cone, looks good. But it's not good, it's the wrong word. And that happens over and over and I am just a casual reader and not a professional edit, but it would take me probably a day of straight reading/editing to fix this to a point where everyone would not be pointing out these mistakes in every review.
It got to a point where the mistakes were so frequent I started tracking them on the kindle app. A smattering of examples:
"... it also means that the warm-up before the meet began has already lost all its effect, and i'm as shocked by the cold water as I would be if..." (kindle page 2841)
"I'm awful when I first starts out a race." (kp 2862)
"Because I love Aanya, And people have been making jokes." (kp 3172)
"she does not want to to grow up." (kp 3901)
"She's good. Cone on, we've got geometry to do today." (kp 4731)
"I might not know what to say to you, I might still be so mad you, I might not be really sure who you are." (kp 5397)
"And the reception room is isn't going to be ready for a half-hour after we planned" (kp 5485)
Etc, etc, you get the point. Just so, so distracting and I hate that that's my big takeaway from this book - I don't remember this book because of the characters and the story, I remember it because the typos drove me so freaking nuts. I spent most of the latter half of the book actively looking for errors, which was totally distracting.
I really hope the author eventually reads any of these reviews and pulls the book to make changes, because it isn't fair to these characters and this story that this is the way they are being presented to the world. I think they deserve better.
I really, really enjoyed 3. I know very little about polyamorous relationships, so it was interesting to read about it in this book. I liked the characters a lot and just really enjoyed flowing through the story with them. So I would absolutely recommend this book because the story is really great and really well written, with really great dialogue.
But here's the crappy thing. Shortly into the book, I started noticing mistakes. One or two incorrect words. Mistakes irrationally bother me in any published book, but these bothered me extra because they just kept happening. It made me think I somehow stumbled upon some sort of unpolished draft by accident, but I bought this book legitimately off Amazon for kindle. She's a published author, so it boggled me how this could have happened. It got to a point where I looked up the book, only to discover that this specific book was self published. Honestly, I'm still boggled how it got released with so many mistakes. The thing is, that most of the mistakes aren't typos, they're things like using the word "cone" instead of "come" - cone is still a word, so if you run your novel through your run-of-the-mill spellchecker it's gonna be like yep, cone, looks good. But it's not good, it's the wrong word. And that happens over and over and I am just a casual reader and not a professional edit, but it would take me probably a day of straight reading/editing to fix this to a point where everyone would not be pointing out these mistakes in every review.
It got to a point where the mistakes were so frequent I started tracking them on the kindle app. A smattering of examples:
"... it also means that the warm-up before the meet began has already lost all its effect, and i'm as shocked by the cold water as I would be if..." (kindle page 2841)
"I'm awful when I first starts out a race." (kp 2862)
"Because I love Aanya, And people have been making jokes." (kp 3172)
"she does not want to to grow up." (kp 3901)
"She's good. Cone on, we've got geometry to do today." (kp 4731)
"I might not know what to say to you, I might still be so mad you, I might not be really sure who you are." (kp 5397)
"And the reception room is isn't going to be ready for a half-hour after we planned" (kp 5485)
Etc, etc, you get the point. Just so, so distracting and I hate that that's my big takeaway from this book - I don't remember this book because of the characters and the story, I remember it because the typos drove me so freaking nuts. I spent most of the latter half of the book actively looking for errors, which was totally distracting.
I really hope the author eventually reads any of these reviews and pulls the book to make changes, because it isn't fair to these characters and this story that this is the way they are being presented to the world. I think they deserve better.
January 15, 2018
You just have to be a brave and certain kind of person, and I don't think that I am. I'm sarcastic and loyal and a little shy. I'm quietly and slightly Catholic. I'm a daughter trying to learn how to be a sister. I'm a virgin. I'm a butterflier.
I've never been in love.
Taylor Cipriano had everything figured out, back when she lived with her single mother in Miami. Now, she's moved upstate for her junior year to live with her mom's boyfriend and her soon-to-be-stepsister and is trying to figure out who she is out of the shadow of her best friend. When she meets Theo—quirky, cute, sensitive Theo—he seems like a great match...except he has a girlfriend. Josey, icy and oh-so-intimidating.
But Theo and Josey aren't like anyone Taylor's met before; Josey grew up in a polyamorous family, and the two of them have a history of letting a third person in to their relationship. It's nothing Taylor's ever considered before...but she really likes Theo.
Her feelings for Josey, though?
That's where it really gets complicated.
3 unwraps who we love and how we love, in numbers as odd as we are.
Surprisingly touching and deft look at polyamory with teens, and how it's about more than just one guy dating two girls at the same time.
A lot sweeter than I expected, and I was of course hoping that there would be more romance between the two girls but that wasn’t the point of the book, anyway. While Taylor is the protagonist, this book isn’t just about her own growth.
I thought it was interesting Theo was described as lazy. Because usually you hear that a polyamorous relationship requires a lot of work. Josey was such an ambitious teen, and she contrasted him so clearly, and her own relationship with Taylor was nuanced and has a lot of potential in it.
But the rep was good, the relationships were good. It had good drama without being… angsty, I guess? I liked that the lives of teens was real and there was a clear clash with the more traditional values of parents.
Damn, I loved this trio and I consumed this book in a single day even as my eyes swam. I wish I could have more of them.
Pages: 261
Year: 31 October 2016
Publisher: Self-Published
Read: 22 September 2017
Stars: 4.5 (adored it)
May 11, 2018
So I really wanted to love this book but it kinda fell short in some areas. I've read Break by Hannah Moskowitz and loved it, I thought the plot was so original. I was specifically looking for books about polyamory, had a hard time finding anything interesting, gave up and just started looking at authors I previously read and enjoyed and ended up looking at Hannah's work and it felt like fate that she wrote a book about polyamory, and YA polyamory at that!
I do think the strengths of this book are all in the plot. It was totally original, I haven't read anything like it, there was a but of a twist that was kinda surprising but didn't feel forced at all, and it kept reading til the end. I think the way the different minor plots all make sense and all got the right amount of attention. I do wish that there was a little more depth to the story though, which I think could have been achieved with more developed characters.
Overall, I found the writing style to be fine, nothing crazy, pretty straightforward which I prefer. But my issue is with the characters. This focuses on the main character, Taylor, and I wish I could understand more of her motivation, I wish there had been more backstory to explain why her thoughts on her relationship. And in that way, I kinda felt like her jumping into the relationship was rather quick, not that I felt she needed to struggle with the choice, but just that I could have gotten more into her mind about it. And the same goes for the other characters, there's very little backstory given to them which was disappointing. I would have loved to have seen this book have rotating perspectives, especially since the three main characters have different family lives, it would have been great to see their first-hand experiences with their family.
Overall, I thought it was a nice quick read on a topic that was very interesting. I just felt it was lacking in general and would have loved to go deeper into the character's lives. Definitely read if you want to see polyamory done by teenagers, I felt like that aspect was handled very well, especially since the characters are so young, they had a very mature take on the whole thing.
I do think the strengths of this book are all in the plot. It was totally original, I haven't read anything like it, there was a but of a twist that was kinda surprising but didn't feel forced at all, and it kept reading til the end. I think the way the different minor plots all make sense and all got the right amount of attention. I do wish that there was a little more depth to the story though, which I think could have been achieved with more developed characters.
Overall, I found the writing style to be fine, nothing crazy, pretty straightforward which I prefer. But my issue is with the characters. This focuses on the main character, Taylor, and I wish I could understand more of her motivation, I wish there had been more backstory to explain why her thoughts on her relationship. And in that way, I kinda felt like her jumping into the relationship was rather quick, not that I felt she needed to struggle with the choice, but just that I could have gotten more into her mind about it. And the same goes for the other characters, there's very little backstory given to them which was disappointing. I would have loved to have seen this book have rotating perspectives, especially since the three main characters have different family lives, it would have been great to see their first-hand experiences with their family.
Overall, I thought it was a nice quick read on a topic that was very interesting. I just felt it was lacking in general and would have loved to go deeper into the character's lives. Definitely read if you want to see polyamory done by teenagers, I felt like that aspect was handled very well, especially since the characters are so young, they had a very mature take on the whole thing.
May 8, 2021
I stumbled upon this book accidentally through an LGBTQIA book list and became enamoured by the plot line. I had my heart set on reading this book the moment I found out it had a properly represented polyamorous relationship and not just one that portrays it as over-sexualised and simply involving threesomes. This book and the characters in it are written so beautifully - the three-dimensional quirks and personalities each of them get in their storylines makes them utterly relatable and loveable and *shock horror* allows them to be portrayed like they're in a proper relationship (because weirdly enough, that's exactly what a poly relationship is!).
I became doubly set on reading this book when I realised that Hannah Moskowitz was also the author of one of my current favourite books ('Sick Kids in Love'), because I knew that if she could write about chronic illness in a way that makes it not only respectful, but also realistic while managing to keep away from 'inspiration porn', then I knew she would do polyamory justice.
I love this book and everything it represents and I ended up buying the book because I knew I'd want to read it again!
Only downside is that the book is actually super hard to get a hold of - not sure if that's because I'm Australian and it's just not sold or available here, but the only place I could find it was on Kindle so I had to read it as an ebook - not that it bothered me too much! Just a warning to future readers!
I became doubly set on reading this book when I realised that Hannah Moskowitz was also the author of one of my current favourite books ('Sick Kids in Love'), because I knew that if she could write about chronic illness in a way that makes it not only respectful, but also realistic while managing to keep away from 'inspiration porn', then I knew she would do polyamory justice.
I love this book and everything it represents and I ended up buying the book because I knew I'd want to read it again!
Only downside is that the book is actually super hard to get a hold of - not sure if that's because I'm Australian and it's just not sold or available here, but the only place I could find it was on Kindle so I had to read it as an ebook - not that it bothered me too much! Just a warning to future readers!
June 1, 2017
Fluffy and adorable!
3 is a wonderful YA contemporary about Cuban-American 16 year old Taylor whose mum is getting married and they move to a new town, which means a new school for Taylor. She meets Theo and Josie and it's all very cute and endearing and polyamorous.
My first book about polyam relationship. I adore this three teens. They are so in love with each other, they push each other to become better people. I'm so here for healthy relationship based on mutual love and respect. Taylor was new to polyamory and it took her time to figure this out. The development felt natural.
Also 3 is coming of age story. I love seeing Taylor growing up. Josie's arc is so important too. I relate a lot to Josie in particular.
Special shout out to relationship between Taylor and her mother; Taylor and her new family.
This novel is very charming and fluffy, I highly recommend to read it!
3 is a wonderful YA contemporary about Cuban-American 16 year old Taylor whose mum is getting married and they move to a new town, which means a new school for Taylor. She meets Theo and Josie and it's all very cute and endearing and polyamorous.
My first book about polyam relationship. I adore this three teens. They are so in love with each other, they push each other to become better people. I'm so here for healthy relationship based on mutual love and respect. Taylor was new to polyamory and it took her time to figure this out. The development felt natural.
Also 3 is coming of age story. I love seeing Taylor growing up. Josie's arc is so important too. I relate a lot to Josie in particular.
Special shout out to relationship between Taylor and her mother; Taylor and her new family.
This novel is very charming and fluffy, I highly recommend to read it!
December 2, 2021
People always tell me they have no idea where I get my recs because I always seem to be reading books no-one has ever heard of and I love that. I love discovering unhyped books and hyping them up. Unfortunately these experiments can also go wrong sometimes.
I had never read about a polyamorous relationship before, so I was very excited to read this book. However the editing was not up to the mark of a published book. If there's one thing I absolutely hate it's a book with mistakes.
The plot was really unique and this could have been a wonderful book. Just the execution wasn't as perfect as it should have been.
I had never read about a polyamorous relationship before, so I was very excited to read this book. However the editing was not up to the mark of a published book. If there's one thing I absolutely hate it's a book with mistakes.
The plot was really unique and this could have been a wonderful book. Just the execution wasn't as perfect as it should have been.
February 3, 2019
YES!
+Polyamory! F/M/F!
+Taylor is weird and bold. I like her. She's open and honest about hooking up, and doesn't pretend to be someone she's not.
+Theo and Josey are also weird. I like them.
+Taylor is Cuban. Theo is Brazilian. #WNDB
+Theo, Taylor, and Josie talk openly and honestly about the inner workings of their relationship, jealousy, sex, and the future.
+Taylor and her mom!
+All kinds of relationships are represented.
NO!
-Typos.
-Taylor's narrative is a little rambly and disjointed at times.
-Alexis. Taylor doesn't like her and neither do I.
+Polyamory! F/M/F!
+Taylor is weird and bold. I like her. She's open and honest about hooking up, and doesn't pretend to be someone she's not.
+Theo and Josey are also weird. I like them.
+Taylor is Cuban. Theo is Brazilian. #WNDB
+Theo, Taylor, and Josie talk openly and honestly about the inner workings of their relationship, jealousy, sex, and the future.
+Taylor and her mom!
+All kinds of relationships are represented.
NO!
-Typos.
-Taylor's narrative is a little rambly and disjointed at times.
-Alexis. Taylor doesn't like her and neither do I.
June 5, 2018
I will read absolutely anything with a polyamorous romance in it. I confess to some initial skepticism regarding the combination of young adults and polyamory, but it was handled so well and all the characters were well-drawn. The whole thing was super cute and really enjoyable. It also had some dialogue that made me laugh out loud. My one wish is that Taylor and Josey had kissed, but at least they did have a really deep and important relationship.
June 5, 2017
I'm still sort of reeling that it took reading this book for me to remember how it used to take two people and a gallon of water to get a swim cap on my head.
Anyway, the message/premise was interesting, even if the characters were a bit one-dimensional and I felt not a lot of emotional attachment to any of them.
Anyway, the message/premise was interesting, even if the characters were a bit one-dimensional and I felt not a lot of emotional attachment to any of them.
dnf
June 16, 2020DNF @ 52%
It was really subpar from her other work, glaring typos and everything, and it just felt dry and I wasn't interested.
Also
So I drastically cut the books I wanna read from her and will be promoting her work far less and won't be purchasing any more of her books (library only).
It was really subpar from her other work, glaring typos and everything, and it just felt dry and I wasn't interested.
Also
So I drastically cut the books I wanna read from her and will be promoting her work far less and won't be purchasing any more of her books (library only).
November 20, 2017
The book itself is great and I love the story but the editors for the kindle edition need to step up and do some revising because there are so many typos in it. It makes me really frustrated because it makes the publisher and the author look sloppy and takes away from a great novel.
November 5, 2018
I completely love this author.
My second read from Ms Moskowitz and both have been five star reads. Full of family, heart, and self discovery, 3 was a beautiful story about love in all its forms. I highly recommend it, and can't wait to read all the rest of her books.
My second read from Ms Moskowitz and both have been five star reads. Full of family, heart, and self discovery, 3 was a beautiful story about love in all its forms. I highly recommend it, and can't wait to read all the rest of her books.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews