Way different from my initial thoughts that this book would be about. Not in a bad way but in a way that I had to stop and wait until I was in a good head space. When I came back, I did enjoy the story and the way it was put together.

When I requested this book, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Before diving in (on a weekend I was traveling for a wedding, no less), I checked out the NetGalley reviews and found out I was in for a much wilder read than originally anticipated.

But oh, my. The Wedding People soared past all expectations. It was fun and terribly sad and packed full of hope. It was critical and silly and I found myself annoyed with characters from the very first page. But my god, did Alison Espach write a brilliant tale outlining the little things that make waking up in the morning all worth it, even when you're not looking forward to the day. The Wedding People was ultimately so sweet and tender -- I simply couldn't put it down.

When Phoebe's husband leaves her and her beloved Cat dies- she has decided she has had enough. She leaves everything behind to check in at a hotel in Rhode Island (one she saw in a magazine during the pandemic) and decides she is going to kill herself. When she arrives, she learns the entire hotel is rented out to a wedding party and she quickly meets the bride who insists it will ruin her week if Phoebe dies.

It was such a fun and quirky read- I fell in love with Phoebe's character, she is so intelligent, funny, honest and really made the whole book. I highly recommend this novel!!

I am not sure why I requested The Wedding people but so glad I did. I can’t not read and was feeding the habit with
some thrillers and easy breezy choices for end of the year fare. It was amazing to meet Phoebe and Lilia who populated what
might have been a predictable plot with such humanity and the ability to search for direction and reflect in a mostly complicated and unpredictable world.. The use of humor was just right and while sadly the book ended the cadence was just right..not
too much or too little information. I hope the independent booksellers hand sell this title it’s a gem. Four and a half bright stars
even if I wasn’t on board for Phoebe/Gary

i have never read such dark humor and utterly enjoyed it! this was a fantastic story about being so completely alone you say fuck it and spill your guts to strangers. lila and phoebe are open with one another in a way that you’d expect lifelong friends to be. phoebe decides not to kill herself when she overhears the mother of the bride giving a truly heinous speech. she throws up her cat’s pills that she ingested and decides she wants to know more about the wedding people. i can’t wait to purchase this when it comes out in 2024, thank you netgalley for the advanced reader copy!

I absolutely LOVED this book and quickly finished reading it! Ms. Espach writes wonderfully original, real, complex, and thorough characters. I'm already picturing an adaptation of the manuscript. I will definitely look for other works by this author.

I received this book from NetGalley. Opinions are my own!

What a strange novel! Our main character, Phoebe, travels to a five-star New England resort to kill herself. In the elevator, she meets The Bride, a woman who is getting married at the same resort. Their two stories entwine and both women discover some difficult truths about themselves. The writing style is reminiscent of someone else I can't quite put a finger on...occasionally overwrought and over-detailed.

A perfectly fine book, but it just didn't work for me and I can't put my finger on why. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity.

I loved this book so much. The dialogue absolutely sparkles, and the characters are so lovable. I kept finding myself laughing out loud the moment after I felt like I might cry. I wish I could read it for the first time all over again.

Phoebe’s life is falling apart. Her husband left her for an other professor at the university they both teach at, she’s stuck on her dissertation, and to top it all off her beloved cat Frank dies. So she checks into the Cornwall Hotel in Rhode Island, a gorgeous resort that she’s dreamed of staying at for years, and plans to kill herself. But as it turns out, the entire hotel was booked for a wedding. And as Phoebe gets swept into the wedding week and comes to know the wedding people, she sees her life anew through her new unsuspecting friends.

Thank you @netgalley, @alison.espach, and @henryholtbooks for the ARC! This was a really genius and moving book that had so many profound things to say about life, expectations, relationships, and grief. It was somehow heartbreaking and hilarious at the same time and I loved that so much. Phoebe’s character was so richly developed and so layered. I loved her realness and how raw and honestly her emotions were depicted, but that the reader also got to see her come into her new self as the book progressed. All of the characters worked so deliciously together, even those that were more ostentatious and outlandish, because Espach did a wonderful job of humanizing each character and creating characters that were multifaceted. I loved the unsuspecting friendship that developed between Lila and Phoebe, and how they were both able to help each other find their voices. I also really enjoyed Gary and Phoebe’s relationship and how they were able to have so many candid conversations. And I loved that the book showed that even in the hard, messy times of life, there can still be love, growth, and hope. Great dialog, themes, and characters make this a must-read book in 2024! The Wedding People comes out July 30!

This book was quirky, clever, and super addicting. Depressed and feeling hopeless, Phoebe visits a fancy hotel in Rhode Island with plans to end it all, but once she gets there, she quickly gets swept up in a wedding that is also taking place at the hotel that week. Over the course of the week Phoebe forms some surprising connections with the wedding people that teach her lessons about love, loss, grief, friendship, and help her to find herself again. This book is slower paced and very character driven, but certainly not boring- I totally devoured it and read it in just a couple days. The premise was unique and clever, and I found the characters totally captivating. I loved watching both Phoebe and Lila transform throughout the story, and the unusual bond that they formed. The writing was beautiful and a bit unique- it had me fully immersed in the story from the first chapter. It also has a fantastic setting- a swanky hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, that really helped set the vibe. Overall, I adored this book and would highly recommend- probably in my top 5 books I read this year!


Thank you to NetGalley and Henry, Holt, and. Company for an advanced reader copy for review.

The Wedding People is part literary, part contemporary/women's lit, achieving the perfect balance that makes it the kind of book you can easily devour on vacation, while also being smart and thoughtful. It lacks both pretense and cliché, allowing the story to unfold organically. While some of the characters and scenes were less compelling than others, and occasionally the pacing drags a tiny bit, the book as a whole is really solid and would appeal to a wide variety of readers. Even with the wedding setting, it's not overly saccharine, so lovers of more literary fare will still enjoy this. I would especially recommend to anyone who enjoys rom-coms and is looking for something a bit more elevated.

"Maybe this is just what it means to be a person. To constantly reckon with being a single being in one body. Maybe everyone sits up at nights and creates arguments in their head for why they are the loneliest person in the world."

Coming out of the pandemic, Phoebe finds herself depressed, unsatisfied with her career and newly divorced. She plans to take her own life while visiting her imagined "happy place" hotel she found in a magazine. What she doesn't expect is to find herself with the only room at the hotel not assigned to a guest or member of Lila's wedding. As the week progresses towards the wedding, Phoebe and Lila find they have more in common than they could have imagined. Poignant and witty banter between these found friends.

Highly recommend.

I received this arc from NetGalley.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I was captivated by the characters, premise, and setting. I think wedding books can either be really cheesy or really fun / funny. This was the latter and I'm glad I got the chance to read it. The biggest strength of this book, in my opinion, was its ability to evoke a range of emotions. I think we all relate to Phoebe in some ways but found her brutal honesty refreshing. Her reawakening was compelling and could be very inspiring to someone who is experiencing similar circumstances with their personal lives, mental health, career, sense of self, etc. It touched on so much!

GAHHH there is a good chance I've already read my favorite book of 2024! THE WEDDING PEOPLE by Alison Espach was an utter delight. I enjoyed every minute living in the world of Rhode Island's Cornwall Inn and with Phoebe Stone -- one of my new favorite literary characters. The book is sad, but joyful, dramatic but hilarious. Espach is for sure a must-read author for me now, especially after I also loved her last year's NOTES ON YOUR SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE.

Along with witty writing and fantastic, realistic characters, the plot to THE WEDDING PEOPLE was so unexpected and it made it so hard to put down. I didn't really know much going in, and I recommend the same to you, but it's a perfect story of a woman who has hit rock bottom and an unexpected group of people (a bride and her wedding attendees staying at the same hotel as her) that bring her back to life. It's swoony, heartfelt, and a total joy to read. I can't wait for you to enjoy it too!

Thank you so much for this eARC. This is my second Alison Espach book and she will now be an auto-buy author for me. I love her humorous, emotional, and realistic characters. Watching the growth and connections these characters made was just perfect. They feel like real people. I actually laughed out loud for some dialogue, I love her humor.
I mostly connected with the character "Juice" even though I am basically the same age as the FMC, Phoebe. I too lost my mother young, and Espach writes this character's grief in such an age appropriate way. I also went through a lot of what this character did.

I highly recommend it! Please see my full review on Instagram @bookish_starry_skies

The ideal book for folks who loved A Man Called Ove. A rollicking story of a woman at the edge or ending her life, roped into the close weirdness of a wedding at the hotel she had tried to pick as her final resting place. I fell in love with the characters in this book and couldn't wait to see how everything would turn out. The dialogue is sharp and funny and the topics are handled sensitively here. The growth of the main character was lovely to watch. I really enjoyed this one. It would make a fantastic movie!

Definitely a dark topic to read about but Alison Espach makes it work! The Wedding People is unlike any book I've read before!

Literary, smart, cheeky and fun.
At the start, you’re pulled into this snarky fun judgement of wedding guests. We all totally observe and judge other people at a weddings. Then you’re jolted by a change of pace. Jolted to the point that I almost stopped reading, questioning if the book was the vibe I wanted to dig deeper into…..
Yes, it was. I’m so glad I stuck with it!

Creative character building. Very good writing. It’s a little slow moving at times, but overall a great book that tackles some .serious and not so serious topics. I’d happily read a follow up!

4.5 stars because it was slow in the middle, but rounded up to 5.

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for an early read for my honest review.

Wow, I loved this! Phoebe is a divorced academic who, after finding her cat dead in her basement, decides to run off to Newport, Rhode Island to stay at the fancy hotel she and her ex-husband used to fantasize about. She quickly realizes she is the only person at the property who is not there for the wedding of Gary and Lila, and soon inadvertently finds herself enmeshed in the lives of the wedding people. It was a really fun, wry read.