The Wedding People by Alison Espach had been on my radar for a long time. It pops up regularly on my Instagram, it was a Read with Jenna pick, and it even won the 2024 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fiction. So last week when I started listening to the audiobook, I was excited to find out what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately, this was a rare instance where I didn’t get the hype.
The Wedding People is about a woman who travels to a hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, where she intends to end her life. When she arrives, she learns that every other guest of the hotel is there for a wedding.
I went into the book knowing that it wouldn’t be a light read, so the dark subject matter wasn’t my issue with it. One problem for me was that for the first two-thirds or so of the book, not much happened. Essentially, the first two-thirds of the novel include a backstory of the main character’s life up to this point and descriptions of her interactions with the engaged couple and their family and friends. The pace was slow and I didn’t find the content particularly interesting. If I hadn’t been listening to the book on audio, I think I would have struggled to get through it. Another issue I had was that the humour in the novel is quite dry and sarcastic. I usually like this kind of humour, but it was so prevalent throughout the book that I found it grating after a while.
I did enjoy the last third of the novel. There were valuable takeways and the story became heartwarming. The fact that I finished the book being happy I listened to it speaks to how strong the last third of it was. Still, the fact that I didn’t enjoy the first two-thirds of the book meant that it was a three-star read for me.
If you haven’t picked up The Wedding People, I’d still give it a try. Given that so many people love it, I’m definitely in the minority!
What’s a popular book you read that didn’t live up to the hype for you?
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