The Wedding People was witty, with dark humor, and I laughed out loud a few times. However it was also emotional, poignant, and had excellent character development.

I was pulled in from the very beginning. It started sad but transformed into a humorous story of Phoebe ingratiating herself into Lila and Gary’s wedding and their guests. Phoebe’s character arc was wonderful, and her honesty and compassion were inspiring. Lila, though spoiled and, at times, immature, was not annoying, and I enjoyed her confiding in Phoebe. With all that occurred during the wedding week, it shows that people really do come into your life for a reason.

It’s set in Rhode Island, which was so fun for me because I’m from RI!

This is also now a #readwithJenna book club book, so you know it’s gonna be a good one! This would also make an amazing movie.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

[Please please read the TWs. There are several, but for sure the most prominent is the main character wanting to unalive herself at the beginning with mentions throughout.]

Thank you Henry Holt and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Henry Holt for an advanced copy of " The Wedding People". I was very intrigued when I read the synopsis of this book and it did not disappoint! Phoebe is a recently divorced professor who has decided to kill herself. Since money isn't an issue since she plans on dying, she decides that she will kill herself at a hotel she and her ex always wanted to stay at but deemed it to be too expensive. When she gets there she is shocked to discover that the hotel is the site of a week long wedding and she is the lone guest not invited. This book surprised me because it makes you think about all the crazy that people bring into your life and how in the end, they are also the reason it shines.

The Wedding People by Alison Espach is everything you’d ever want in a summer read. The second I finished it, I turned back to the beginning. The book starts with Phoebe, existentially tired and ready to make a change, and follows her through an unexpected week spent swept up in someone else’s wedding. I’m hesitant to share much more about the plot; but the punchline is that this is a must-read.

It’s tender, sometimes sad, and often laugh-out-loud funny. Espach will metaphorically punch you in the gut but quickly follow it up with a hug and a joke. The dialogue is irreverent and a masterclass in banter. All of the characters are lovable and messy and flawed, but deeply want to find meaning and significance. It’s such a beautiful story about starting over.

What could have been a super depressing premise in less capable hands is one of my favorite books of the year so far! Every character is so real and will remind you of someone you've met before. The dialogue is hilarious and the plot is so original that I was kept guessing until the end. Bring this along to your next destination wedding and it will get you through all the awkward moments! Highly recommend!

In Wedding People, Phoebe has hit rock bottom and heads to a fancy hotel to commit suicide. Except there is a wedding party that has taken over the entire hotel - except for Phoebe. After Phoebe is thrown into the wedding festivities, everything starts to change. I LOVED THIS BOOK. It was hilarious, clever, compelling, raw and honest. Phoebe was snarky and biting and it cracked me up. The realness of life in your middle age was absolutely perfect and so spot on. I loved the second chance at life and how human connection can make a world of a difference. It was just beautifully written with the perfect dialogue and most in-depth, multi-dimensional lovable characters. Heartwarming, funny and just so relatable. Be prepared to guffaw out loud and wipe tears from your eyes. All the stars.

Gorgeous writing, and hilariously incisive! I really enjoyed this one, though I admit from the packaging, I thought it would be much lighter. This book is pretty dark, at least in the beginning! That said, I really enjoyed the read once I realized I wasn't reading a lighter wedding book.

I LOVED this book! Two friends in my book club read and reviewed this one very early one which made me request it. I did not know anything about the book going into it but once I picked it up I could not stop reading. I went to school in Newport RI so the setting was near and dear to my heart and the author absolutely nailed it! While some of the characters made me roll my eyes at points I couldn't help but root for them all (except maybe Matt!)

I have been waiting for soooooooo long to post this review. The day has finally come! The Wedding People comes out this Tuesday and I cannot wait for you all to pick this up. It is absolutely one of my favorites of the year!

This book had me hooked. I could not wait to pick it up every chance I got. I lost myself with these characters and Allison Epoch’s beautiful writing.

I want to say upfront that this book takes on some difficult subjects. The main character Phoebe struggles with suicidal ideation and infertility and the entire premise revolves around her deciding whether to end her life so you should know that going in.

Following miscarriages and her husband’s affair and decision to end their marriage, Phoebe makes the decision to end her life. To do so, Phoebe books a room at a posh boutique hotel in Newport, Rhode Island that Phoebe had long dreamed of visiting. When Phoebe arrives, she discovers that she is the only hotel guest that is not there for the weeklong wedding festivities of Lila and Gary. When she meets the bride Lila and discloses that she is at the hotel with intentions of ending her life in her suite, Lila quickly takes action in the name of preventing the ruination of her very expensive and very well-planned wedding. Phoebe soon meets Gary and the rest of the wedding people and becomes involved in both the wedding and the other guests’ lives.

The Wedding People is beautifully written. The characters are endearingly three-dimensional with all their quirks and flaws. For a book that begins with a plan to commit suicide, it is surprisingly uplifting. Each character shows growth as they get to know themselves and each other. I was so drawn to each of the characters and was rooting them on as they waded through the messiness of their lives and their week together. The Wedding People is a definite must-read in 2024.

I was disappointed in this book and the flippant attitude towards the seriousness of loss of life. I think because of that it was hard for me to enjoy it.

Phoebe goes to a nice hotel for the night and unbeknownst to her there is a large wedding party in the hotel that is cramping her style of no room service amongst the crowds of jolly people in general. She unwillingly gets pulled in with the wedding people and their activities and connects well with Lila the bride. Lila is encircled by a crowd of unlikeable and unkind characters. The book is written in a light manner and attempt at humor that didn't connect for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for the complimentary e-copy of this book.

The Wedding People by Alison Espach is a sharp and engaging novel.
The plot was cleverly woven and it just delivered all the right details at all the right times.
I truly enjoyed this novel from front to back.

Thank You NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This was so much more and so much better than I expected! I really came to care about this crew of flawed characters, and I enjoyed how the story ended. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don't know what I expected from this book - the cover and the title made me believe it was a romance. I requested it long enough ago not to remember the premise. All of this to say - I went into it with very vague expectations of some sort of love story that plays out at a wedding.
I was not wrong, but this book is so much more than that.
Espach's prose is well-paced, smart, and funny. I loved the characters and the beautiful, rarified spaces; everything made sense, and the resolutions lacked the overly sweet "and they lived happily ever afters" of the romance books I suspected this one to be an example of.
Yet there is a good setup for that happiness and better love, and enough hope that it will come true - off the pages. Sometimes, not ending up with the wrong person is a good enough finale.

I loved this book and consider it one of the very best I have read this year.

Thank you, NetGalley, Alison Espach, and the publisher behind the title for sharing an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

The book is out on July 30.

“She is so good at predicting what will happen in books, so bad at predicting what will happen in life. That is why she has always preferred books-because to be alive is much harder.”

This book was so much more than I could have ever predicted. It is a beautifully written story about life’s choices, an unlikely friendship, self-discovery and new beginnings.

The first few chapters dealt with a tough situation and could possibly be triggering to some, but these chapters are important to set the scene, give background, and to show the complexity of the MC. It also helps the reader connect with and feel empathy for the MC from the start. The rest of the story is a week filled with family, friends, and fun adventures leading up to one over the top extravagant wedding. There is a large cast of multi-generational characters who had me laughing out loud multiple times.

I appreciated that the story wasn’t sugar coated and recognized that life isn’t always sunshine and butterflies, but it is up to you to choose which path to take and how you react when confronted with tough situations. Without giving spoilers, I also appreciated that the ending wasn’t a rushed decision just to get a typical HEA…it focused more on the importance of self care and healing. I really enjoyed this story and highly recommend it!

Narrator–Helen Laser delivered a remarkable performance from start to finish. Her narration enhanced the experience, bringing multiple characters, of varying ages, to life with impeccable tones and inflections.

TW: suicide attempt, infertility, divorce, affair, depression, death/grief, mentions of Covid lockdown in the past

Thank you @NetGalley, @HenryHoltBooks, @macmillanaudio and @alison.espach for the #gifted ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a strange book. The story was entirely predictable, seriously. Every plot line you could see coming.

That said, it wasn't an awful book. But it was a lot of words that didn't go anyplace surprising.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I wasn't sure this book was going to take me on a journey that I wanted to go on. I decided to stick with it - I very rarely DNF. I'm so glad I stayed with it. Phoebe and her husband Matt are both working in higher education. They've unsuccessfully tried to grow their family. Their marriage didn't survive the ups and downs of IVF and the loss of a pregnancy. A year after they divorced, they're still working at the same college and Phoebe makes a big decision regarding her future. She travels to a hotel in Newport, RI where she plans to put her plan into action. Upon arriving she realizes she is the only guest in the hotel who is not there as a week long wedding guest of Lila the bride to be. So much is uncovered in the week leading up to the wedding. Good story!

"Funny how you can live long enough, go through enough, and learn how to stop trusting yourself."

What a fantastic novel. While the content was a bit heavy it was also very refreshing. honest and emotional. I'm sure we've all been a version of Pheobe at some point, how lovely it was to watch her come out on the other side. I adored all the characters in The Wedding People and wish I had about 100+ more pages with them. I found myself deeply involved in how it would all turn out and rooted for everyone to find themselves.

Many thank to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. This is one I'll also need a physical copy of so I can swoon when I see it on my bookshelf!

I LOVED this story about second chances, starting over and found family! I hate to be cliche but this book gave me all the feels

Our main protagonist Phoebe has arrived from St. Louis at the gorgeous Cornwall Inn in Rhode Island with the intent to end her life. It turns out she is only non-wedding guest at the hotel that week as Lila, the high-strung bride to be, planned that the entire hotel was to only be occupied by family and friends.

This inauspicious beginning ultimately gives way to new friendships and new beginnings. Alison Espach is a master at character development, so that by the end, I had fallen love with all of the characters. I didn’t want this book to end. It’s witty, funny, tender, thoughtful and engaging.

This book is a #ReadWithJenna pick for August and it deserves all the accolades. The audiobook was narrated by the talented Helen Laser who performed the cast of characters with great aplomb. Highly recommend!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt & Company, and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this fabulous book by Alison Espach, with the audiobook narrated perfectly by Helen Laser. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

Phoebe Stone arrives at the Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, for a one-night only stay. She's immediately mistaken as one of the wedding people, because Lila has taken over the entire inn for a 6-day, million dollar wedding. As much as Phoebe tries to stay out of the way, she soon becomes a confidant to Lila, and the two become close.

This is the perfect summer novel. It's beautifully written to touch all your emotions, but with that dark humor I love to balance it out.. I loved getting to know these characters, especially Phoebe, and loved going along on their journey to find themselves. It's hilarious, touching, hopeful, and will have you rooting for both these women while you are vicariously experiencing all this wedding and family drama. There's a wonderful cast of supporting characters too, those you'll love and those that will have you rolling your eyes.. I already miss all the wedding people - don't miss this wonderful book! Helen Laser's narration only added to the perfection.

Phoebe leaves her home in St. Louis with a mission. Upon reaching the Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, dressed in a green party dress and without any luggage, the recently divorced and despondent Phoebe intends to check in, enjoy a nice meal, and end her life. While in the lobby, she realizes the wedding of Lila and Gary will be taking place and everyone around her is one of the wedding people. They all assume she is too. When Lila learns of Phoebe's intentions, she tells her that she cannot and will not ruin her million-dollar six-day wedding celebration. This unusual encounter leads to some honest conversations between the two women. As Phoebe gets drawn into Lila's wedding sphere, her people skills and intelligence captivate everyone she comes in contact with. The perfect wedding Lila planned is about to have some surprises. 

The Wedding People deals with some serious subjects such as depression, suicide and infertility. Yet without diminishing them, author Alison Espach has created a tenderhearted and often hilarious story. The character development is excellent, especially the appealing Phoebe, an adjunct college professor specializing in Nineteenth Century Literature and an expert on the novels Jane Eyre and Mrs. Dalloway. She's forty and alone. Lila, the bride, appears to have it all except a genuine friend, while Greg, the somewhat older groom, seems to just be along for the ride. One of my favorite characters was Lila's mother, who comes across as incredibly self-centered but is masking her own sadness. Ultimately, readers will root for every character to find happiness.

To be honest, I was not sure how I was going to feel about this book upon finishing the first chapter.

After an unfortunate life event, Phoebe is D-O-N-E. She’s looking for an answer and spontaneously decides to visit a resort in Rhode Island that she’s always wanted to. Only, it’s closed for a wedding and she winds up in the middle of the wedding party. The bride befriends her and brings her into into the week’s festivities, which turns out to be a blessing in disguise.

But, more than it’s about overcoming personal challenges or a celebration of two people entering into marriage, it’s about the beautiful complexities that come with being a human — The desire for connection, love, hope, happiness. Simple things we all want out of life. And yet, there’s so much that could be said of the story. In this novel by Alison Espach, you will find:

🥂Dark humor
🍾Witty dialogue
🌴Rhode Island hotel setting
💍Wedding drama
🗣️Important topics and conversations of the human experience in a beautiful and poetic package
💘Love story woven throughout
👭Friendship and belonging

When I first started, the story was darker than I imagined, but there was something in the tone of the dialogue and the heart of the characters that kept me coming back for more. And after finishing it, it just might be in my top five reads of 2024.

This is a character-driven novel that peels back the layers on the idea that maybe we’re all a little more alike than we realize. We struggle with loneliness, being ourselves and wondering if we show our true colors, will those we’re closest to accept us for who we are? Or how can we ask for what we want, even if others don’t understand, including ourselves?

These characters are so real and I could imagine it as an HBO miniseries unraveling before my eyes, like The White Lotus meets Palm Royale.

This is a great read for your August book lists! Get your copy on Tuesday, July 31! It’s also the Read with Jenna pick this month, which I’m very excited about. Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co.for the advanced reader copy.