Review: The Three Day Rule by Josie Lloyd & Emlyn Rees

No phone. No electricity. Snowed in with your family. Welcome to one hell of a Christmas.

When the Thorne family gather for the annual Christmas festivities - the arguments, jealousies and long-held enmities that make every family Christmas so special - they think they've only got to endure each other for three days, and then they can return to normality.

But then the snows come, along with the ninety-mile-an-hour winds and the plunging temperatures, and the Thornes get cut of with only each other for support, or to blame. It promises to be a Christmas like no other...

Get to know the family you're never going to forget. (Arrow, November 2006)

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars (Above Average)

I debated between a 3 and a 3.5 for this book because I did really like the way some characters developed (Kellie and Michael), but others just seemed two-dimensional and over-the-top (mainly Taylor and Elliot). In all honesty, it's a rather forgettable storyline, and not quite as interesting as the synopsis made it out to be. In places it was truly quite depressing - particularly Stephanie's storyline - but I was pleased with the way that certain situations worked out in the end. Sometimes chick-lit novels glorify extra-marital affairs, and I was worried that would happen here, so I was pleased with how human Kellie seemed and how she came to realise the truth of her situation. 

From the books I've read previously by these authors, it seems like they like inserting rebellious, angsty, sexually-active teenagers into their novels, and the same can be said for this book. I did appreciate how Michael grew over the course of the book, even if I wasn't so keen on him at the start, and his sub-plot was a bit of a typical "coming of age" storyline. Taylor, however, just seemed a bit barmy! I really could not figure her out, and at the end of the novel she just seemed completely insane, far beyond the spoilt, rich teenager she was meant to be.

All in all, it was an easy, quick read with some heartfelt moments, but there were a lot of characters to keep track of and, inevitably, a couple that I just couldn't relate to. I did like the setting and the growth that some of the characters made, but I won't be rushing out to read another book by these authors. I think I appreciated them a lot more when I was a teenager!