4.5 stars. The Wedding People is a character-driven story with excellent dialogue. I really enjoyed this book and related to the characters in many ways.

The beginning was a little hard to get into; however, I loved the character's big flaws and all. For me this is about finding your authentic self and living a meaningful life that's true to you.

Thank you to Henry Holt and NetGalley for the eARC.

Thank you to Henry Holt and NetGalley for the ARC of The Wedding People.

Wow! I loved this book. It’s one of the best books I’ve read in years. The Wedding People follows the main character Phoebe to a resort hotel in Rhode Island where she is at first mistaken for a wedding guest. Over the course of a six day wedding, Phoebe becomes entwined with members of the wedding party in a beautiful and meaningful way.

This book hit all the right notes for me. The characters were far from perfect and I loved each and every one of them for how wonderfully human they were.

There was one scene towards the middle to end of the book that was just weird and seemed to be written purely for shock value. It was unnecessary. It wasn’t enough to ruin the book for me as it was just a minor part. The rest of the book was perfect.

This is a book I’ll want to purchase a physical copy of to add to my permanent library.

The story flowed really well .very easy quick read
, Thank you Netgalley and Henry Holt & Company for this advanced cop

It's a beautiful day in Newport, 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 dreamt of coming for years―she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she's here without him. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe―which makes it that much more surprising when the women can’t stop confiding in each other.

I really enjoyed this book, The story flowed very well and felt it was very well writte

Phoebe has come to the Cornwall Inn, a place she has dreamt about sharing with Matt, her husband. Matt and Phoebe are academics, she is an adjunct professor, he a full professor. Phoebe have endured their last round of IVF unsuccessfully. Matt has left Phoebe for a grad student. Phoebe is at the Cornwall Inn to taste oysters, drink really good champagne and an obscenely last meal. Phoebe has come to the Cornwall to die. Lila has orchestrated the perfect destination wedding. A week long affair that Will not go wrong. Sharing the elevator from the lobby Lila asks Phoebe who she’s related to that’s attending the wedding. Phoebe responds that not only is she not invited , she’s here to kill herself, she assures Lila she will do so quietly to which Lila melts down to the point of hysteria. Lila confides her lack of a maid of honor and will Phoebe please fill the spot. Phoebe sees the participants through an academic lens. Distilling each with a subjective eye in the beginning, each day softening the edges a little more. Phoebe uses the week to explore a part of her she thought she lost to trying to have a family, keeping up her classes, and keeping her husband. The magic component of this story is these people, some caricature of familiar wedding parties, the couple constantly pricing everything, the cold feet. Here it is the resolution of Phoebe, happy to be on this earth, I found magical.

Thank you to Henry Holt and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book. I loved this book a lot. It was one of my favorite books I read this year, coming in so late in the game. The book is both lighthearted and deeply dark and sad, but it's ultimately a triumphant, bittersweet tale of a very sad woman finding meaning in life again. The story is set in Rhode Island in a beautiful coastal town, painting a great backdrop for this story. I'll be highly recommending The Wedding People to everyone, and I'm excited for when it hits bookshelves next year.

Thank you Netgalley and Henry Holt & Company for this advanced copy! I have never read a book like this before. From the very beginning, I was drawn in and had no idea where the story would go next. This was a very easy read in the sense that there were never parts where the book was challenging to finish or push through. I really enjoyed the story as a whole and the way that Alison Espach beautifully put it together!
I did struggle a bit with the characters, who were very unlikable at times, as well as some of the topics. There were moments in which I felt genuinely uncomfortable with some of the language of the characters or the things they discussed.

This was, without a doubt, one of my favorite reads of the year! I think others will feel the same way when the book comes out next summer. The Wedding People follows Phoebe, who arrives at a lavish Newport, Rhode Island hotel after her life falls apart. She's the only guest at the Cornwall Inn who isn't one of the "wedding people," isn't there for the big event. But after a chance run-in with Lila, the bride, Phoebe soon becomes wrapped up in the wedding party, where both she and Lila will find connection, friendship, self-realization...and maybe even a second chance at the lives they each deserve.

The Wedding People is so beautifully written—the dialogue is witty and sharp, the setting is vivid and well-crafted (now I want to take a trip to Newport!), and most of all, the characters feel like real people. They aren't always likable, but their flaws make them all the more complex and human. They have secrets and conflicts and things they're ashamed to admit to others or even to themselves, they're each on their own journeys to self-discovery, and it was so satisfying to watch each of them ultimately find happiness and love. Alison Espach really captures the full spectrum of emotions throughout the story—humor, loneliness, nostalgia, pain, joy, and everything in between. She handles heavy topics with a lighthearted tone that draws you in from start to finish. This is a book I can see myself rereading again, and one that I'm still thinking about even after having finished it! I can't wait to read Espach's other works, and to see what she writes next. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

One of my favorite books this year! The beginning is a bit depressing since Phoebe has had a number of difficult years (a divorce, her cat dying, and her lonely childhood) and I almost stopped reading but I'm so glad I kept reading. Phoebe, for unexplained reasons, shows up at an expensive hotel for one night only without luggage wearing a beautiful dress. She was not expecting to be the only one staying at the hotel who is not a wedding guest. In the elevator she meets Lila, the bride to be, and tells her a distressing secret. This secret changes both of their lives. Over the course of the next few days, Phoebe and Lila become friends and Phoebe becomes part of the wedding herself.

Fantastic book!! I am always thrilled to find a book that is both well written and an enjoyable read (why is this combo so rare??). I am now recommending it to colleagues and going to look for other books by Alison Espach.

is is one of those books I will think about forever.
I honestly can’t even begin to describe the beauty of this story. I laughed and cried and fell deeply in love with every character.
I am a sucker for a hotel scene, and I love a good wedding, so I figured this book would be for me.
I had no idea how it would capture my heart and soul from page one.
Phoebe goes to commit suicide at a beautiful hotel fully booked by a wedding. I won’t tell anymore because I would hate to ruin this gorgeous story. I will say that she learns to live again through these strangers.
“…this wedding will never be a waste,” phoebe says. “Because I came here to die. And now look at me. “
Espach is a literary genius and is so incredibly gifted at creating. I felt completely immersed in her world, and actually got teary that it was over.
Pretty sure I could have read Phoebe forever.
If I could give this more stars I would. For now it’s 5, solid gold 5.

This book might be my favorite book of 2023. I know it comes out in 2024 but wow, the story of the wedding people really comes down to human nature. How one singular moment can have such a chain reaction, how easy it is to make a new friend.
Phoebe went from being a stranger at a wedding to the maid of honor. By just being a good human being to someone else who was good to her. Genuine connections can come at any point in life. you just have to have the courage to go for them.

This is a book I heard about from Annie B. Jones from From the Front Porch way back in August and I had made note about it because it sounded so good. Then I proceeded to stalk Netgalley over and over for months until it was finally available on there. The day I got approved, I dropped everything and dug in, and I’m so glad I did.

This likely won’t be in my top books of the year but only because it doesn’t come out until July of 2024 and that feels weird to do, so just know, this is an honorary pick.

Phoebe has put on her best dress and headed to the Cornwall Inn. When she gets there, she learns she’s the only guest who is not a part of the wedding people - a group that has rented out the hotel for the week. But Phoebe isn’t there for the wedding… she is there to kill herself. And when the bride corners her, demanding to know why Phoebe is there, Phoebe blurts out the real reason and the bride goes into hysterics, blaming Phoebe for ruining her wedding week, and pleading with her not to do it. But there’s something else - they can’t stop confiding in one another, even while Phoebe is insisting she’ll go through with it.

Obviously, from the blurb we know of the big trigger warning here - suicide and suicidal ideation. And yes, that is a very big plot of the book, but it’s not all of it. I found this book to be more about loneliness and about humanity and about figuring out who the hell we are and what we want out of life. Phoebe has had her life turned upside down, and she doesn’t know what to do now. The bride, Lila, is also struggling to be seen and heard, no matter that she is rich and beautiful.

One of my favorite things is that the author didn’t strive to make these characters likable or to feel pity for them. She simply allowed them to show their full humanity and because of that, we could relate to each of them in different ways, even if the circumstances were different.

With the subject matter, you’d expect this book to be dark and depressing. And yes, it definitely had elements of that, but this was also funny and sweet and compulsively readable. I did not want to leave these characters. I wanted to be immersed for longer in this Newport, Rhode Island setting. I wanted to be a part of the wedding people, in all their drama and problems.

When this book comes out, I’ll be buying a hard copy to keep for my shelves because the experience of reading it is one that I won’t soon forget.

Great read. I thought this would be a light comedy - and in a way it is. The smart dialogue of the characters is entertaining. But this book is so much more - we watch and cheer for the characters as they discover who they truly are.

The cover of this book really does invoke the way the writing makes you feel. Like you’re actively drowning before everyone’s eyes but you’re just like, it’s all good dudes ✌🏻because that’s how all of the characters feel in one way or another.

The way I could feel the depths of Phoebe’s despair - the point where you have stopped scrabbling for an edge or a reason or a break because you’re so tired - I actually had to put the book down and come back to it a few days later when the sun was out because it was written so well that I could almost feel myself slipping. That’s talent and is also traumatic to me 😌

Also, every single time Matt or Mia was mentioned I was filled with a feral rage unlike anything I have ever experienced in my life or would like to experience ever again. I kept hoping the book would take a sudden twist and one of the wedding people would kill them or something (so that Phoebe didn’t have to, obviously, homegirl has been through enough). I was truly shocked and appalled at the depth of my own loathing. 10/10

Wow! This book was truly like no book I’ve ever read before and I read a lot. The plot instantly drew me in. The characters felt so real and were so multidimensional. Each twist and turn along the way was a pleasant surprised. This book covers real topics, real people, and real situations. It’s raw and although a work of fiction, it was so real. The setting was perfect (hint, takes place in the ocean state)! I highly recommend this book once it is released next summer (July 30, 2024)! Definitely add it to your TBR if you haven’t yet. Easily a 4-5 star book! I am giving a 4 simply because the narration was different than what I’m used to. Not so much a con, but I did have to reread a few sentences here and there to make sure I knew which character was being referenced. But once I really dove in, the words were more seamless!

What a gem! I really enjoyed reading about these people. Even when I couldn't relate to them at all, they all really felt like real people. The only mistep I felt was having the ex-husband make an appearance, it felt out of place and threw off the pacing a little.

I honestly wouldn't mind reading another installment about this group of people. Maybe from a different character's point of view? I loved Phoebe's story and it was wrapped up well but I wanted to know more about everyone else.

When I first started this book I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. Phoebe goes to a hotel after she feels her life has fallen apart to end her life. Well life gets in the way and she gets drawn into a wedding group that stays at the hotel. Second chances and realizing life will get better. Wanted a little more from the ending but overall a great read.

Will this become a hit when it's released next summer? I hope so. It’s one of my top reads of 2023.

I confess this was an impulse Netgalley request based on the cover. I expected a rom com—and in some ways it is—but it’s definitely more in the vein of literary fiction.

The first 20% of the book was a straight up gut punch—incredibly depressing and dark, but also so beautiful.

Just when I'd settled into the more introspective style of writing in the early chapters, there was an abrupt shift to a very dialogue-heavy story and a lighter tone. Things could have gone all wrong from there, but Alison Espach is blessed with the ability to write both insanely good dialogue and prose that is tender, incisive, and affecting. I’m eager to explore her backlist. She’s very talented.

I have a couple gripes: A few of the characters seemed like outsized caricatures. And one character makes an appearance at the end of the novel that seemed a bit rom com tropey and not actually needed to show that the heroine has moved on. But these were small issues.

This book is a comedy and a romance, but it contained within it a darkness and depth that really spoke to me. And at its core it's a wonderful character study. The heroine, Phoebe, is one I won’t soon forget. I felt for her from beginning to end—when she was at her best and at her very worst. And I found myself genuinely moved and uplifted by the choices she made as the story progressed.

I expected a forgettable, fun little romp with this one, but I think this will turn out to be one of the most memorable books I read all year.

This book is absolutely phenomenal. I truly never wanted it to end. Phoebe is unhappy with every part of her life when she heads to the grand Cornwall Inn with a plan. Once she arrives, she quickly realizes that everyone else at the inn is there for a wedding and her objective starts to shift. I found it to be such a relatable story of connection and friendship. Phoebe shows how important and powerful it is to find your own voice. I am honestly tempted to immediately reread it to savor the perfection.