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Book Reviews of To the Power of Three

To the Power of Three
To the Power of Three
Author: Laura Lippman
ISBN-13: 9780060506735
ISBN-10: 0060506733
Publication Date: 7/1/2006
Pages: 412
Rating:
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 138

3.7 stars, based on 138 ratings
Publisher: HarperCollins
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

35 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed To the Power of Three on
Helpful Score: 3
This was the best suspense I've read in quite a while! I was glued to this book from page one, and I read it every spare chance I had within the past week.

The book reminded me a lot of the Columbine Massacre and the movie "Homeroom", which was about another school shooting.

I really appreciated the pop-culture references throughout the book because it made for a fun read in addition to the suspense.

I was only slightly disappointed in the ending because I had expected something a little more clever to come out of it, however it was still an unexpected surprise.

I can't wait to share this book with others! Excellent read. :)
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 72 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Although I love all of Lippman's Tess Monaghan mysteries and have read all of her books, I have to say I think this was her best book ever, by far! It was really unexpected for me, to see this kind of story from her. It wasn't even so much about "the secret" or the mystery element of it, but just her writing was really, really well-done. Each of the characters - even those who had minor parts - had developed personalities and characteristics. Even if a character only spoke once or twice, you knew about them from the perspective of one or more of the other characters, and I was able to visualize them even. And boy does it ever grab hold of the angst of going to high school - without being overly melodramatic - and the true power of friendship.

I highly recommend it!!
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 170 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I rate this book 2 and 1/2 stars out of 5. It was a decent story but it was quite long-winded. Also, the ending was pretty anti-climactic. I was disappointed in how it all ended. I was hoping for something a little more exotic and exciting. Overall, it wasn't horrible but I probly won't recommend it.
reviewed To the Power of Three on
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent thriller about 3 teenage friends. They are involved in an elaborate shooting.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 32 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Very suspenseful and keeps you guessing!
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 15 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
great book!!
luvbooks avatar reviewed To the Power of Three on + 126 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A great thriller with a surprise twist! Lippman makes a strong case for responsible gun control.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 153 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Well written - not my usual taste in books but an engrossing, if sometimes disturbing, read.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 138 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Outstanding!! I could not put it down.
ilovedale3 avatar reviewed To the Power of Three on + 524 more book reviews
Three girls are in a school bathroom. Only one lives to tell about it. What happened between these girls who were once the best of friends? Is there more to the story than the survivor is saying?

A really good mystery that will have you questioning the motive as well as the characters involved.
jackimck avatar reviewed To the Power of Three on + 4 more book reviews
Unexpected ending
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 6 more book reviews
Excellent book!! Great twists and turns, with a really good ending. A book I could not put down.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 79 more book reviews
a great read
pibblegrl avatar reviewed To the Power of Three on + 64 more book reviews
At times, this book is a tough read. It is a story of 3 best friends in high school...and a school shooting by one of them that leaves one of the girls dead, one in ICU in critical condition, and the third injured but alive to tell the story. Full of unexpected twists.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 7 more book reviews
Good Read
reviewed To the Power of Three on
This is the first Laura Lippman book I have read that was not part of the Tess Monaghan series. It was a pretty entertaining work of suspense; Lippman spends a lot of time creating her characters.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 8 more book reviews
Good book. Surprise ending.
WildOrchid avatar reviewed To the Power of Three on + 222 more book reviews
I listened to the audio version of the book and the reader was so boring I didn't think I could get throught the book. As far as the story itself, IMHO, I kept thinking that she was trying to write like Jodi Picoult and didn't come anywhere near it. Boring, boring and boring.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 32 more book reviews
As usual the book has a twist, and the wonders of youth still prevails.
Laura Lippman at her best
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 17 more book reviews
good book, a bit long but good.
booknookchick avatar reviewed To the Power of Three on + 117 more book reviews
So far I am in the minority after reading this book. Perhaps having read Nineteen Minutes and The Pact by Jodi Picoult already makes me reaction to this book subjective, rather than objective. The latter books were riveting compared to "To the Power of Three" which I was in no hurry to finish (but I did).

Lippman writes well as far as plot and character development, but I felt this story wandered back and forth in time and between characters without accomplishing much. This is the same technique Picoult uses with ease.

Sorry, there just wasn't enough suspense for me and adding several subplots were more of a distraction than an improvement of the story.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 126 more book reviews
Three high school girls, who are best friends, are found shot in their school bathroom. The popular one is dead, the athletic one was shot in the foot, and the brooding dramatic one has an apparent self-inflicted bullet in the face. The question is how did it happen and why?
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 21 more book reviews
I forced my way through this book. I wanted to find out what happened to the girls but the author introduced too many characters that weren't even necessary to the story. I tried a second book of hers but gave up. Once again too much unnecessary info.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 216 more book reviews
I found it hard to put this book down once I started reading it. Three girls, friend since third grade, then something goes horribly awry. But you don't know until the end what exactly went wrong and when. Great read.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 13 more book reviews
Josie, Perri, and Kat have been inseparable best friends since third grade - the athlete, the brilliant, acerbic drama queen, and the popular beauty with a heart that is open to all around her. They live in an affluent suburb of Baltimore and enjoy privileges many teenagers are denied. But on the final day of school one of them brings a gun with her. And when the police break down the door of the high school girls' bathroom, locked from the inside, they find two of the friends wounded, one of them critically - and the third girl is dead.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 85 more book reviews
Josie, Perri and Kat are three inseperable best friends since third grade. On the final day of school one of them brings a gun with her. When the police break down the high school bathroom door, locked from the inside, they find two of the friends wounded. One critically...and the third is dead.
Emotional, riveting, powerful. provacative and consistently surprising tale of secrets, friendship and betrayal.
More than a whodunnitt! This will keep you glued. I could honestly not put it down. A gripping mystery novel, very strong characters.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 18 more book reviews
An interesting psychological thriller.
sfc95 avatar reviewed To the Power of Three on + 686 more book reviews
This was a good book, I am not sure what happened to my copy, but I remember enjoying it. A good and different suspense.
reviewed To the Power of Three on
According to the Baltimore Sun, "'To the Power of Three' is no simple whodunit...An addicting and chilling page-turner."
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 45 more book reviews
Josie, Perri, and Kat have been inseparable best friends since third grade - the athlete, the brilliant, acerbic drama queen, and the popular beauty with a heart that is open to all around her. They live in an affluent suburb of Baltimore and enjoy privileges many teenagers are denied. But on the final day of school one of them brings a gun with her. And when the police break down the door of the high school girls' bathroom, locked from the inside, they find two of the friends wounded, one of them critically - and the third girl is dead.

From one of the most acclaimed authors of crime fiction writing today comes a novel breathtaking in its emotional depth - a riveting, powerful, provocative, and consistently surprising tale of secrets, friendship, and betrayal that brilliantly illuminates a dark and chilling event with startling clarity and unique empathy.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 66 more book reviews
Intricate mystery story of three highschool girls, friends since third grade. What is underneath that caused two of them to die?
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 354 more book reviews
THIS BOOK TELLS OF THREE GIRLS IN SCHOOL WHO BECAME FRIENDS AND THEN ONE DAY IN THE GIRLS BATHROOM AT SCHOOL THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENED,TWO WERE WOUNDED,AND THE THIRD GIRL DEAD.VERY INTERESTING BOOK,THINGS CAN GO WRONG SO QUICKLY.
PrairieBlue avatar reviewed To the Power of Three on + 76 more book reviews
Josie, Perri, and Kat have been best friends since third grade. They live in an affluent suburb and enjoy privileges many teenagers are denied. But on the final day of school one of them brings a gun with her. And when the police break down the door of the girls' bathroom, locked from the inside, they find two of the friends wounded and the third girl is dead.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 42 more book reviews
josie, perri, and kat have been inseparable best friends since third grade- the athlete, the brilliant, acerbic drama queen, and the popular bueaty with a heart that is open to all arund her. they live in an affluent suburb of baltimore and enjoy priveleges many teens are denied. but on the final day of school, one of them brings a gun. and when the police break down the door of the girls bathroom, locked from the inside, they find two of the friends wounded and one dead.
reviewed To the Power of Three on + 143 more book reviews
From the back of the book: Josie, Perri, and Kat have been inseparable best friends since third grade...the athlete, the brilliant, acerbic drama queen, and the popular beauty with a heart that is open to all around her. They live in an affluent suburb of Baltimore and enjoy privileges many teenagers are denied. But on the final day of school one of them brings a gun with her. And when the police break down the door of the high school girls' bathroom, locked from the inside, they find two of the friends wounded, one of them critically...and the third girl is dead.