The Wedding People by Alison Espach

 

Lynnie

Amy    

contemporary fiction

Phoebe’s life has not turned out the way she had hoped, she’s suffering from depression, and she has checked herself into a fancy hotel planning to kill herself.

 

Lynnie's Review

This is the first book I've read by Alison Espach and I enjoyed every moment of it. The Wedding People is one of those rare books where you like everyone in it. There are no real villians, just people who are trying to do their best to find their happily ever after.

The Wedding People is a beautiful story about lost and found family and learning to accept yourself - faults and all. Phoebe has hit rock bottom in her life and while planning to spend her final day at a hotel she always wanted to visit, Phoebe never imagines her plans will get derailed by Lila, a pushy bride who refuses to have her dream Newport wedding to Gary ruined.

None of the wedding people are perfect - they deal with a myriad of problems, including infertility, death, divorce, infidelity, children and other issues, large and small. There is a realness to the characters who talk openly about their struggles and how they are currently trying to work through their problems, or have overcome them in the past. As Lila reminisces at one point in the novel, "...is there one thing you feel capable of doing right now instead of crying? And there always was."

The Wedding People is heartwarming, funny and filled with characters to cheer for. At its core this is a book about connection, and the lengths people will go to, to find it. I found myself eager to find time to read and spend time with these characters and to find out what would happen at the end of the wedding week. I'm not at all surprised to learn this book has been optioned for a movie. I'm already looking forward to it!

This book is scheduled to be published July 30, 2024.

Thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt and Company and the author, Alison Espach for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Amy's Review

Yep, that summary sounds quite depressing. And, actually, much of The Wedding People is quite depressing. But this story is Phoebe’s journey out of suicidal thoughts. So it does end well and there is much to smile about within its pages.

Luckily for Phoebe, she ends up stumbling upon people who have gathered at the hotel for a wedding and, person by person, in small yet important ways, they distract her from herself. She gradually comes out of her funk and can see a new future.

I know SO many people who adored this novel. I liked it a lot! But I guess it didn’t live up to the level of hype for me. Perhaps that is because of what was going on in my life while I read this novel and I hadn’t expected all the depression within its pages. Don’t get me wrong. It is an uplifting novel overall and the characters are fun and Phoebe’s journey made me want to keep reading. I loved the wittiness of several characters. But I knew where it was going and I don’t think Alison Espach’s characters’ wittiness was any better than some other romance novelists I’ve read. And, yes, I do feel this is a romance novel “plus”. So, I liked it a lot but it would definitely not be among my favorite reads of the year.

The audiobook narrator was Helen Laser. She did a good job for the material. She read Phoebe in sort of a flat, non-personality sort of way which was probably right for someone who was depressed. I was able to see her voice acting capabilities when she voiced the other characters. I’ll give her an A-.