A review by pandasbookshelf
The Rule of Three by Sam Ripley

5.0

The Rule of Three by Sam Ripley is hard to describe, part chilling suspense novel, part examination of human behaviour, part urban legend. The books style was very unique with the characters talking to the reading through the use of diaries. The first part of the book is very heavy in its themes of suicide, mental health and drug abuse and could be potentially triggering for some readers. Being in this character’s headspace felt dark and depressing. The book them took off on a strange and chilling path bringing in horror elements, urban legends which felt a bit like a paranoid fever dream. I loved the college/academic setting and the questions about determinism and fate. There were many sections/sentences which I highlighted as the words were just that powerful I wanted to remember them. There were several abrupt POV changes which were a bit confusing at first as there are no chapter headings to let you know that a new character has been introduced. I felt the author did a very good job portraying difficult subject matter and you could tell that they understood what they were describing. While what I got wasn’t what I expected, I did thoroughly enjoy this strange and chilling thriller. I’ll look out for my books by this author.