📖 The Wedding People

✍🏻 Alison Espach

☑️ Contemporary Fiction

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 4.25

“𝙄 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣, 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣.”

I really enjoyed this book! It feels like a mashup of A Man Called Ove (Fredrik Backman) and Happy Place (Emily Henry). 

Overview:

•Lavish Wedding Festivities 

•Newport, Rhode Island 

•Serendipitous Meetings

•Life Pivots

•Mental Health Rep

CW: Suicidal Ideation, Infertility 

𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗲𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲. 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀.

First of all, I love books that tap into the vulnerability of being human. There was so much heart and dark humor, and it had such a unique setup that I can genuinely see it as a movie. 

While there was on overall heaviness especially in the beginning, the characters had me immediately invested. 

𝙋𝙝𝙤𝙚𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙖𝙧𝙚…

Phoebe was an incredibly relatable and endearing main character. Her introspection and frankness felt so fresh, and her growth from beginning to end was inspiring. 

𝙏𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩. 𝙏𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙩. 𝙏𝙤 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙙, 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚.

When authors write about depression, I often feel like they can be cliché or heavy handed, but Espach portrayed mental health with a candid and honest view. There were so many lines that struck a personal chord. 

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚. 𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙙, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙙 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚.

Beyond her musings on mental health, I loved how Espach crafted the character of Phoebe. It’s common to see characters who have high expectations for themselves, but I love when they do the work of diving deeper. 

Plus, she forced herself to check her own assumptions about others. Espach created a book where each character had depth and connection.

𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚, 𝙨𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙚𝙯𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙭𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙨? 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨: 𝙉𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚.

So many of the characters were reflecting on whom they are and what they want out of life, and I appreciated the nuanced narrative of their intertwining relationships. 

𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚, 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙞𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙮. 𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙗𝙞𝙜, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩, 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙞𝙩.

While I really loved the beginning and end of this book, there were a few too many meandering monologues in the middle. The dialogue felt a little forced, and that is one of my bookish pet peeves. 

There were themes of friendship, personal growth, meaning of life, and human connection. I will always appreciate books that make me think about life’s big questions while also entertaining me by wild fictional stories, so this book scores top marks on that account.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone wanting an introspective and evocative story! 

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