Book Review - The Wedding People by Alison Espach

Title: The Wedding People
Author: Alison Espach
Genre: Fiction/ Contemporary/ Romance
Published: 2024
 
Description: It’s a beautiful day in New Port, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She’s immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years. Only now she’s hit rock botting, determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every details and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe’s plan.
 
Review: In “The Wedding People” we follow Phoebe, a recently divorced woman, who hit rock bottom. She has always dreamed of staying at the Cornwall Inn, so she books a room there to have one last decadent splurge. What she doesn’t know yet, is that all the other guests in the hotel are part of a wedding. She meets Lila, the bride, who is having second thoughts.
 
The book has humor, an emotional journey and hope. The story starts on a very dark note, finding out that one of the characters is planning on killing themselves. But due to the people they meet, starts seeing the brighter side of life again.
 
The book is a bit too long-winded and the humor sometimes feels forced. Some parts, that are supposed to be for laughs, I didn’t find funny at all. There is one moment in the book, where a car is being ‘violated’ in a very obscure way. That just felt strange and out of place. I can’t believe they left that in the story.
 
I really liked Phoebe, she is a good character that I can see readers relate to. I didn’t, but she feels relatable. Lila, on the other hand, was a horrible character. I don’t understand how any on these characters wanted to be part of her life. She is only truly being herself with Phoebe, who she just met.
 
The book isn’t predictable, for the most parts. Some parts are clichéd, but I really liked the ending. Author Alison Espach could have easy gone the tradition romcom route here, but she didn’t fully do that. Especially regarding the characters of Lila, Gary and Phoebe.
 
“The Wedding People” is a mixed bag for me. Some parts I really liked, some I didn’t care for. It ended up being just fine for me, I don’t regret reading it, but I wouldn’t really have missed out of I never picked it up either.
 
Rating: 3/ 5