A review by hann_cant_read
The Wedding People by Alison Espach

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

My first impression was that I loved it, 5 stars, no notes. After I sat with it for a little while I did have a few critiques that brought it down to a 4 stars for me, but ultimately I still absolutely enjoyed it.

This book was beautifully written, and honestly the pacing was great. The author was able to jump back and forth in time in a way that felt natural and didn't detract from the present-day story.

The attempted suicide happened much earlier in the book than I was anticipating,
and while it was a tense moment, because it happened so early I knew that she was ultimately going to survive (whether through it failing, her changing her mind, someone saving her, etc. I didn't know exactly) but I did know she would make it through

That being said, the flashbacks to Phoebe and Matt's marriage slowly falling apart was so much more emotional for me.
All of the different feelings she has with the failed ivf / miscarriage, the way her husband distanced himself from her because of her depression, and how that spiraled into him having an affair with her friend.
It was balanced with humor but it made my stomach churn.

A lot of the complaints I read said that they didn't like the callous way the author joked about suicide and depression, and I actually disagree - it felt so realistic to me, the sarcastic and flippant way that Phoebe treated everything once she made her decision. She had stopped caring about being alive, and I think that really came through in her humor.

I loved all of the Wedding people because they were so unlovable. Each one had such human characteristics of so much love to give, but also so selfish in their own ways. The contrast of so many different ages interacting with Phoebe also created an interesting dynamic for us to really see different sides of her.

I also saw people critiquing Phoebe for her relationship with Gary. I see what conclusion people are drawing, but I think they're over embellishing what actually happened. Which is nothing. We're in Phoebe's emotionally over-stimulated brain thinking about a man she has a crush on. Multiple times she had opportunities to cross the line and she didn't. She just thought about what would happen if she did. 

Most of my critiques from both a character and story standpoint come toward the end.
Phoebe is a better woman than I am, because fuck Matt dude. She forgave him so easily. I would have made him sleep in his car. The fact that he was essentially abandoning a baby that he had helped raise for two years was completely ignored in favor of Phoebe's closure which I also thought was odd.
Speaking of closure.
Everything tied up just like way too neat for me. It felt like we're being given a vague "...and no one knows what the future may hold..." type of ending, but we're also being spoon fed some very specific puzzle pieces that fit together a specific way.

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