I was intrigued about the setting and time for Three Cousins. I too came of age in the mid-1970's but unfortunately the characters just didn't engage me like I'd hoped. Other reviewers have noted that this is part of a trilogy and maybe it would all come together better with all 3 books.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of Three Cousins in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a little better than mediocre. It didn’t hold my interest. Maybe if I had read the other books in the series first, I would have liked it better.

Three Cousins focuses on three women who are roommates at Yale. I am intrigued by books that reflect on women "coming of age" and becoming independent while navigating romance, life, and friendships. I found that even though I liked the premise, the characters and story did not keep my interest. I struggled to get through it. I learned this is a prequel to two other books so curious if the longer story arcs would be more interesting to me.

Thank you to Netgalley and She Writes Press for an ARC and I voluntarily left this review.

Three cousins—Anna, Robin, and Julia—are embarking on their adult lives during a time of sexual freedom and women's liberation. Each must navigate how to explore this newfound freedom, carve out a life that reflects their desires, and confront the high expectations and disappointments that come with it. While the story offers an intriguing exploration of the era, I found that the three characters did not fully engage me.

Thanks to NetGalley and She Writes Press for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is the prequel to The Geometry of Love and Nothing Forgotten, two novels I haven't read. The novel follows Anna, Robin, and Julia when they were at Yale and shared an apartment from 1976 to 1977. The themes of the novel include relationships with family and lovers and trying to find one's place in the world.


This was an okay novel. There wasn't exactly a huge conflict or anything in the plot. However, it does give readers an origin story for the characters. I didn't care for the characters, and none of them dealt with their problems. I don't think it was the right book for me.



ThreeCousins #NetGalley.
Expected Publication Date 08/04/25
Goodreads Review 04/03/25

“Three Cousins,” by Jessica Levine is a novel about three cousins, Robin, Anna and Julia who share an apartment together in New Haven, Connecticut during their last year at Yale in 1976. Robin, the oldest, from San Francisco, is attending graduate school in Psychology, while Anna and Julia, from Long Island and Manhattan, respectively, are in their senior year. Anna and Julia are “artistic,” Anna a painter while Julia is a poet. The book focuses on their emotional struggles as they attempt to maintain their freedom while pursuing sexual and personal relationships. The novel does depict graphic sex, however the sex is not gratuitous, since their sexuality was an integral part of the cousins’ identities.

In preparation for reading the ARC of this novel, I read the author’s first two books, which focus on the same three characters in reverse chronological order. The first book, “The Geometry of Love,” was set in 1986-2005, while the second, “Nothing Forgiven,” primarily dealt with Anna in Italy in 1977, shortly after she graduated from Yale, interspersed with events from 2004.

While I enjoyed the first two books, “Three Cousins” felt repetitive as most of the material had already been covered in retrospectives in the two previous books. That being said, this book, like the previous two had well-drawn, nuanced characters, dynamic dialog and realistic descriptions of time and place which allowed the reader to become fully immersed in the characters’ lives and emotional dramas, the latter of which were often related to their complicated non-monogamous sexual relationships.

Perhaps I would have enjoyed this book more if I hadn’t read it so soon after reading the first two. However, as mentioned previously, it should appeal to those who enjoy character driven novels with well written depictions of time and place.

Thank you to NetGalley and She Writes Press for providing me an ARC of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Beautiful writing and author has a lot of promise.
I didn’t engage or relate with the characters as much as I would have hoped…I felt a bit disconnected at times. However, it was an enjoyable read and story!
Looking forward to more from Jessica Levine who has a big future!

Thank you NetGalley and She Writes Press for this exclusive early release.

Three Cousins was an enjoyable read. It was a look back at the sexual revolution. I found the characters believable but would have liked to have seen better explained angst. I did however enjoy that each of the cousins were perusing their own lives and livelihoods and making their own way.

This book read like a self-indulgent and thinly veiled iautobiography. I have no idea if that's true - that is just the feeling I got. There were holes that I couldn't fill with the information given. I was interested in the characters, but my interest waned as I learned virtually nothing about them. Time and POV were too fluid - it was difficult to know how much time had passed and who whose internal monologue we were experiencing unless it was stated. The cousins I kind of liked but their mothers were all horrible and unbalanced. The men were two-dimensional, uninteresting, and I didn't like them at all. Hmmm...maybe I didn't like the characters as much as I thought.

The writing itseThis book read like a self-indulgent and thinly veiled iautobiography. I have no idea if that's true - that is just the feeling I got. There were holes that I couldn't fill with the information given. I was interested in the characters, but my interest waned as I learned virtually nothing about them. Time and POV were too fluid - it was difficult to know how much time had passed and who whose internal monologue we were experiencing unless it was stated. The cousins I kind of liked but their mothers were all horrible and unbalanced. The men were two-dimensional, uninteresting, and I didn't like them at all. Hmmm...maybe I didn't like the characters as much as I thought.

The writing itself was wonderful. I would perhaps.read something else from this author with different characters.lf was wonderful. I would perhaps.read something else from this author with different characters.

I haven't read other work by this author, so I didn't know what to expect. I didn't really care for this novel--didn't like the characters and I tend to get triggered by stories of people who have issues with parents so that didn't help.

This book is about 3 cousins who become roommates at Yale. The story revolves around the year they spend together during 1976 & 1977 when women are just beginning to become more independent from their male counterparts. Each cousin has her own issues regarding independence & sexuality. They each struggle to know what happiness means to them and what they want with their lives. I found the story to be engaging. This book is a prequel to two previously written books by the author. You don’t need to read them in any particular order as they are said to be standalones.
Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for allowing me early access to an eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Even though this book takes place in the 1970s, I felt comparisons to how women go through life today. I enjoyed Levine's look at the female relationships of cousins with one another. I'm the oldest cousin on my mom's side and truly love how we are friends and family. I think this would be a great book club selection. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.