Name: Jacqui Spears's review of Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
Item: Three Women
Rating: 2.5
Author: Jacqui Spears

Lisa Taddeo

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 INDIE NEXT PICK Named a Best Book of the Year: The Washington Post * NPR * The Atlantic * New York Public Library * Vanity Fair * PBS * Time * Economist * Entertainment Weekly * Financial Times * Shelf Awareness * Guardian * Sunday Times * BBC * Esquire * Good Housekeeping * Elle * Real Simple * And more than twenty additional outlets “Staggeringly intimate...Taddeo spent eight years reporting this groundbreaking book.” —Entertainment Weekly “A breathtaking and important book…What a fine thing it is to be enthralled by another writer’s sentences. To be stunned by her intellect and heart.” —Cheryl Strayed “Extraordinary...This is a nonfiction literary masterpiece...I can't remember the last time a book affected me as profoundly as Three Women.” —Elizabeth Gilbert “A revolutionary look at women's desire, this feat of journalism reveals three women who are carnal, brave, and beautifully flawed.” —People (Book of the Week) A riveting true story about the sex lives of three real American women, based on nearly a decade of reporting. Lina, a young mother in suburban Indiana whose marriage has lost its passion, reconnects with an old flame through social media and embarks on an affair that quickly becomes all-consuming. Maggie, a seventeen-year-old high school student in North Dakota, allegedly engages in a relationship with her married English teacher; the ensuing criminal trial turns their quiet community upside down. Sloane, a successful restaurant owner in an exclusive enclave of the Northeast, is happily married to a man who likes to watch her have sex with other men and women. Hailed as “a dazzling achievement” (Los Angeles Times) and “a riveting page-turner that explores desire, heartbreak, and infatuation in all its messy, complicated nuance” (The Washington Post), Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women has captivated readers, booksellers, and critics—and topped bestseller lists—worldwide. Based on eight years of immersive research, it is “an astonishing work of literary reportage” (The Atlantic) that introduces us to three unforgettable women—and one remarkable writer—whose experiences remind us that we are not alone.

Three Women

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 INDIE NEXT PICK A Best Book of the Year: The Washington Post * NPR * The Atlantic * New York Public Library * Vanity Fair * PBS * Time * Economist * Entertainment Weekly * Financial Times * Shelf Awareness * Guardian * Sunday Times * BBC * Esquire * Good Housekeeping * Elle * Real Simple “THIS IS THE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR. This is it. This is the one...It blew the top of my head off and I haven’t been able to stop thinking or talking about it since.” —Elizabeth Gilbert “Taddeo spent eight years reporting this groundbreaking book...Breathtaking...Staggeringly intimate.” —Entertainment Weekly “A breathtaking and important book…What a fine thing it is to be enthralled by another writer’s sentences. To be stunned by her intellect and heart.” —Cheryl Strayed A riveting true story about the sex lives of three real American women, based on nearly a decade of reporting. Hailed as “a dazzling achievement” (Los Angeles Times) and “riveting page-turner that explores desire, heartbreak, and infatuation in all its messy, complicated nuance” (The Washington Post), Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women has captivated readers, booksellers, and critics—and topped bestseller lists—worldwide. In suburban Indiana we meet Lina, a homemaker and mother of two whose marriage, after a decade, has lost its passion. Starved for affection, Lina battles daily panic attacks and, after reconnecting with an old flame through social media, embarks on an affair that quickly becomes all-consuming. In North Dakota we meet Maggie, a seventeen-year-old high school student who allegedly has a clandestine physical relationship with her handsome, married English teacher; the ensuing criminal trial will turn their quiet community upside down. Finally, in an exclusive enclave of the Northeast, we meet Sloane—a gorgeous, successful, and refined restaurant owner—who is happily married to a man who likes to watch her have sex with other men and women. Based on years of immersive reporting and told with astonishing frankness and immediacy, Three Women is both a feat of journalism and a triumph of storytelling, brimming with nuance and empathy. “A work of deep observation, long conversations, and a kind of journalistic alchemy” (Kate Tuttle, NPR), Three Women introduces us to three unforgettable women—and one remarkable writer—whose experiences remind us that we are not alone.

Aleksandra Kljajevic

The rumours, as usual, didn't take into account the complexity, much less the truth.

The problem, she’s starting to understand, is that a man will never let you fall completely into hell. He will scoop you up right before you drop the final inch so that you cannot blame him for sending you there. He keeps you in a dinerlike purgatory instead, waiting and hoping and taking orders.

Throughout history, men have broken women’s hearts in a particular way. They love them or half-love them and then grow weary and spend weeks and months extricating themselves soundlessly, pulling their tails back into their doorways, drying themselves off, and never calling again. Meanwhile, women wait. The more in love they are and the fewer options they have, the longer they wait, hoping that he will return with a smashed phone, with a smashed face, and say, I’m sorry, I was buried alive and the only thing I thought of was you, and feared that you would think I’d forsaken you when the truth is only that I lost your number, it was stolen from me by the men who buried me alive, and I’ve spent three years looking in phone books and now I have found you. I didn’t disappear, everything I felt didn’t just leave. You were right to know that would be cruel, unconscionable, impossible. Marry me.

Laura Gill

First she gave away all the pants because pants mean less than shirts, but during the past few days she has been giving the shirts away as well.

She thought for a moment. Her answer was not wrong but the world, she knew, was too oblivious to the trajectory of womanly pain to fully understand it without demeaning her. Even women would have trouble. Or women would be the ones to have the most trouble.

She may have felt, the way we always seem to remember feeling in the moments before devastation, a sort of divine providence. Look at my long, tan legs. My soft blond hair. My body, which has finally been filled to all of its edges with blood and shape.

But life knows when to throw in a plot twist. It is an idle but seasoned screenwriter, drinking beers alone and cultivating its archery.

Her hormone doctor has told her what he believes her problem is. He has said, Lina, you come from a place where women are taught that their only real value is what they can do for someone else. 

On a yellow notepad, the man takes down her words. The past yawns at her, stretching itself, like a cat.

And her whole thinner body becomes a long ticking pendulum inside a clock. So that

Sometimes when Lina is in the big empty house she imagines a chasm inside her, a black space between one set of organs and the next. She frels she exists in that space, mindless, flavorless, unseen.

Kristina Bonitz

Sloane, on the other hand, long-haired, yogic, fearsome, had ever more layers. Eventually any man in the world would go to her and stay there.

Nina

Gemma Copeland

Did we need another reminder about the plight of being a woman? Quite dark, quite sad. 

Jacqui Spears

this feels like an incel wrote this in order to validate and project his feelings towards women - i was hoping it would live up to the hype but instead it feels like blatant misogynistic stereotypes hidden behind women's "desires"

jackie

Without the sparkle of Animal, but just as well written. Reading Taddeo is like being dragged into a dark hole, exploring the rawest parts of the female experience with a rare, non-judgemental clarity… not romanticised, but so beautiful.

g.m.

Gelaine Trinidad

2.5/5.
Triggering w/ no satisfying resolutions.

The International No. 1 Bestseller'Cuts to the heart of who we are. I'm not sure that a book can do much more' Sunday TimesAll Lina wanted was to be desired. How did she end up in a marriage with two children and a husband who wouldn't touch her?All Maggie wanted was to be understood. How did she end up in a relationship with her teacher and then in court, a hated pariah in her small town?All Sloane wanted was to be admired. How did she end up a sexual object of men, including her husband, who liked to watch her have sex with other men and women?Three Women, which was nearly a decade in the making, is a staggering work of non-fiction for our times.'I will probably re-read it every year of my life' Caitlin Moran'Will have millions nodding in recognition' The Times'As gripping as the most gripping thriller' Marian Keyes'When I picked it up, I felt I'd been waiting half my life to read it' Observer'The kind of bold, timely, once-in-a-generation book that every house should have a copy of, and probably will before too long' New StatesmanThe No. 1 Sunday Times BestsellerThe No. 1 New York Times BestsellerFoyles Non-Fiction Book of the YearA Stylist Book of the DecadeThe Most-Picked Book of the Year of 2019

Louisa

It only took me so long because I didn't want it to ever end. Thank you Lisa Taddeo for your service. Forever indebted.

Teresa Bonifácio

I didn’t like the book. I just finished it because I wanted to know what happened in Maggie’s story. The other two didn’t get my interest. This book talks about the “sex” life of three women. “Sex” because one of them I don’t consider it her sexual drive. She was groomed by her teacher. Also, the three women are almost all from the same backgrounds. There’s not much difference between them. With a little exception on Maggie’s side.

Reread. Just as impactful second time around

Sarah Erle

alice browne

not sure if it’s because of my age and life experiences but the only narrative i found particularly compelling/moving was maggie’s. huge respect for the amount for the work that went into this in terms of speaking to so many women for such a long time, but it just didn’t live up to the hype for me

Cassie B

The International No. 1 Bestseller 'Cuts to the heart of who we are' Sunday Times 'A book that begs discussion' Vanity Fair All Lina wanted was to be desired. How did she end up in a marriage with two children and a husband who wouldn't touch her? All Maggie wanted was to be understood. How did she end up in a relationship with her teacher and then in court, a hated pariah in her small town? All Sloane wanted was to be admired. How did she end up a sexual object of men, including her husband, who liked to watch her have sex with other men and women? Three Women is a record of unmet needs, unspoken thoughts, disappointments, hopes and unrelenting obsessions. *The book Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Alexa Chung, Jodie Comer, Reese Witherspoon, Harry Styles, Fearne Cotton, Caitriona Balfe, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sharon Horgan, Zoe Ball, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Davina McCall, Gemma Chan, Christine and the Queens and Gillian Anderson are all reading* 'I will probably re-read it every year of my life' Caitlin Moran 'Will have millions nodding in recognition' The Times 'As gripping as the most gripping thriller' Marian Keyes 'When I picked it up, I felt I'd been waiting half my life to read it' Observer 'The kind of bold, timely, once-in-a-generation book that every house should have a copy of, and probably will before too long' New Statesman The No. 1 Sunday Times Bestseller The No. 1 New York Times Bestseller Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year A Stylist Book of the Decade The Most-Picked Book of the Year of 2019

THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

Lila R E

Surprised by how divided the crowd is over this one because I have to say I thought it was pretty spectacular. So much sex! But also some really insightful moments about men and women and relationships and love (or lack of) and it just spoke to me sometimes in unexpected ways. Definitely recommend as a quick, addictive read — I absolutely raced through this!

I thought this was a really powerful book, telling different tales of three women. Although I found the topics important and interesting, I struggled with the writing and delivery of the book. Feel like there’s some areas that could have been developed more.

Robyn Claridge

Coming to it without any prior knowledge, I didn’t know I was signing up for a lot of harlequin-esque sex tales. Yes, it was a page-turner and objectively well written one. Some women will find familiar stories here. But what it lacks is any deeper analysis of desire, especially in an intersectional manner.

Karolina

juicy and compelling portrait of three women's sex lives ✨️

Bailley Leppert

This book was not what I was expecting at all. Where I expected a deep discussion and analysis of female desire by examining 3 individual women, I got intimate and personal diary entries of sexual events and feelings relayed by the author. I can’t say that I disliked the book but it didn’t captivate or engage me the way I was hoping.

I did thoroughly enjoy Sloan’s parts of the book as I felt they were the closest to an honest, introspective look into female desire that I was expecting. Her story showed that a woman’s desire is often equated with accommodation of male desire instead of a true celebration of her own sexuality. Her story was complex and raw and so self-aware. I truly enjoyed it and would recommend this book on her section alone.

I did feel the epilogue had some redemption as it collected some overall thoughts on desire and the female experience based on the three women’s stories, but overall, I was a bit disappointed. It didn’t quite live up to the anticipation I had built up.

I couldn’t put this down, this book is raw, beautiful, layered and covers so many aspects of the complexity of being a woman and women’s sexuality. Thanks to the women for sharing their stories. What a powerful voice brings them together through Lisa Taddeo.

Isabel Urbina Peña

Lyric Hooey

This book was well written and you can tell the author did in fact spend nearly a decade with these women by the way she describes their inner thoughts and feelings. All three women have complex stories and I felt for them all. However, there didn’t seem to be a real point to this book. I felt disappointed at the end of all 3 women’s stories as there was nothing to wrap it up with.... no moral of the story, no broad statement regarding female desire. Just felt unfinished.

Amy Thibodeau

This book feels important because it looks at women and sex and their relationship to it in a way that is rarely done in books, fiction or otherwise. But I didn't enjoy the experience of reading it, or take anything away beyond just the reinforcement that women at sexual beings and that there's often a double standard that doesn't allow us to acknowledge that.

If I could give it more stars I would. A stunning representation of women and their complexity. I shared sadness, joy, anger and love for all of our experiences and deep gratitude for Lisa Taddeo bringing some of the beautiful nuances of female experience into the light.

Megan Snodgrass

3.75

Similar to the other reviews, this book doesn't quite hit the mark as a time series study discussing the desires of women across the United States. Based on the title of the book, it's obvious that the sample size was small, 3 to be exact.. so I was expecting more of a case study type read, but that's not really the case either. So if you're going in expecting any sort of real research or analyses, you will be quite disappointed.

BUT

If you can let those ideas go out the window and read it for what it is, which is a juicy non-fic novelization of 3 women's sex lives, then the book is so much more enjoyable. I love some good goss and drama so I was enthralled in reading about the details and emotions of these 3 women's sex lives. I think it also paints a good picture on the power dynamic of some heterosexual sexual relationships and the effects they have on the non dominant partners.

Ally Gagliardo

I thought this book was really good. More graphic than I could have imagined but it wasn’t so overwhelming I couldn’t enjoy the book. The ending was a little underwhelming but I guess that’s real life?

courtney garrison

I really enjoyed three women because it explored the sexuality of three individual women and their lives. This book showed women in their sexuality and all their flaws.

Lisa did well with this book. She followed these women through their lives for a few years and wrote about them, their desires, their pain, happiness, etc. The writing does get me because of the weird analogies and puns that just do not make sense. I also hate flipping back and forth between character, but that’s just a preference.

I included trigger warnings at the bottom because this does cover dark topics and how that affected these women’s sexualities and their desires. It also does not wait until the middle or end. The prologue its self is a disgusting topic. I was not quite prepared for it, so if you can not handle any of those topics, skip.

I was fascinated throughout the book by how vulnerable and flawed the women were, they spoke their truth. I felt bad for them because they felt trapped and encased in a world of misogyny.

Certain chapters angered me for Maggie and I wanted to scream for her. She got involved with her teacher and thought she loved him. She went through everything to try and claim the truth and she was slut-shaming, called ugly and a liar. The Narrator in the audiobook also wasn’t great for her character. I felt the pitch was just way too high.

Lina, I felt awful for, but at the same time, I hate cheating. If you want to leave, leave but do not cheat. At the same time though she was so starved for the basic need we want, to feel loved and to kiss your spouse. My only issue is I felt like she was cutting her self short for the affair with a married man. She could have done so much better and found someone who would cherish her and love her the way she needed.

Sloane was an eye-opener for me honestly. I’ve always heard of Men being turned on by letting their wives have sex with other men in front of them. I really felt bad because to me she felt like she loved her husband but was also trapped because all she wanted was him. Her story was just heartbreaking to me, they all were though.

All of these women were being used by men whenever they called. Both Maggie and Lina just wanted to be loved and were there for married men at there every call and need. Sloane was being used as sex object for her husbands pleasure. These women were being used by these men and controlled. These men made it feel like these women are beneath them and it didn’t matter how they felt or how it affected their lives.

Overall this is four stars for me. What killed it was the analogies that do not make sense and the fact that this is eight years of research. I felt like there just should have been more for being eight years worth.

Trigger Warnings - Rape,
Talks of Suicide,     Slut Shaming,
Statutory Rape,      Fat Shaming,
Anorexia, Graphic Sex

Three Women follows the accounts of three women's very different sexual experiences.

The writing of this book is almost story-telling in the way I had to keep reminding myself it was a non-fiction and these experiences actually happened to these women. The writing is direct and raw, and as it carried the accounts forward, you cannot help but feel as these women do, even if your experiences are nothing like the ones being portrayed.

I went into this book expecting it to be an account of women nurturing their own sexual desires. However, it is more retelling how these women had no control over their desires as they were fully under the influence of males in their life, which left me with a feeling I can't quite describe.

Victoria Justice

Three Women follows the accounts of three women's very different sexual experiences.

The writing of this book is almost story-telling in the way I had to keep reminding myself it was a non-fiction and these experiences actually happened to these women. The writing is direct and raw, and as it carried the accounts forward, you cannot help but feel as these women do, even if your experiences are nothing like the ones being portrayed.

I went into this book expecting it to be an account of women nurturing their own sexual desires. However, it is more retelling how these women had no control over their desires as they were fully under the influence of males in their life, which left me with a feeling I can't quite describe.

Allison Garrett

DNF. I’m so upset because I wanted so badly for this book to blow me away. First off, I’m really not a non-fiction reader, but I figured I would branch out and try it with such an interesting topic. Recently I read an interview with the author, and Three Women sounded so intriguing and I was instantly attracted to it. I paid some absurd amount of money to attain my copy, and I didn’t even finish it. 

The Good
•	I hate to be so negative, but not much 

The Bad
•	POV switches- I know it was kind of the premise of the book to switch between POV, but I found it a little hard to keep up with the different switches 
•	Character building- I may have felt sympathy for some of the characters, but I really didn’t like any of them and it’s hard for me to keep going with a book and not like a single character 

Overall, I’m really disappointed with the book as a whole. I DNF it at around 80 pages after trying for 2 months.

Xenia

ah i finally got to finish it but i am also a little bummed bc i could have gone on and on

Gemma Copeland &
Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

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