Surprisingly for a book that starts out with someone wanting to harm themselves this book was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it from start to finish. I could really empathize with Phoebe (not with the suicidal tendencies, but that she finds herself post divorce in a weird limbo where she doesn't really recognize who she's become) She has a job that she doesn't love where she has to see her ex thriving, loses her cat and doesn't have anything to look forward to, so she plans to go on an extravagant trip and kill herself. When she arrives at the hotel she realizes that everyone is there for a wedding and after meeting the bride to be she is suddenly becomes part of the wedding chaos. The cast of characters is a strange bunch of people but that made it fun. I wish there could have been a different guy to grab her attention but I know that it was necessary for the plot. In the end this one will stick with me for a bit. There are some heavy topics that are broached but in a way that was palatable and even enjoyable. I think a lot of people will enjoy this one and probably that's why I've seen it recommended by lots of people.

I was so excited about this book but couldn't finish it - too vulgar and that's just not my jam. DNF about 35% in.

Wow! The hype is real! After listening, I immediately said this might be my favorite book of the year. A week later, I still have that same thought.

I listened to Notes On Your Sudden Disappearance a couple of summers ago and found it a compelling exploration of grief and its non-linear healing process. Espach's writing skillfully balances the weighty subject matter with humor and lightness, making the story impactful and accessible.

And she does that again with The Wedding People. Now, after two books, I can safely say her writing is remarkably readable, easy yet thought-provoking, and sad yet funny. It's simply incredible, and now she's an autobuy author for me!

In The Wedding People, Phoebe’s depression is triggered by grief. She grieves for her baby (infertility and miscarriage), her marriage, her cat, and ultimately her own happiness. Espach captures the darkness, “stuckness,” and the ease and comfort of staying in your depression so well. But she also shows that it only takes one person to give someone a reason to be part of something - to be seen.

As Phoebe encounters all the wedding people, each moment offers a light of second chances, hope, and new beginnings. It is a reminder that everyone can do hard things and proof that even fleeting connections with other people can be meaningful and purposeful.

Helen Laser’s narration is simply superb! She highlights Espach's words with care, grace, and humanity while hitting the perfectly timed comedic moments. The book includes a large cast of characters, which Laser easily performed. I highly recommend this format!

The Wedding People invites us to the grand Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island. Phoebe Stone, mistaken for a wedding guest, is actually the sole visitor not here for the event. Her unexpected connections with other women unfold in uproarious and tender moments. Espach’s novel deftly explores winding paths and serendipitous reroutings. The 4-star rating reflects occasional pacing hiccups, but the journey is worth it.

This is the perfect blend of real feelings, sad, scary ones, and the humor! This shows the deep connection that exists among humans, even when we feel alone the most! I love the audiobook and story so much, I’ll be purchasing the book for sure!

I was lucky enough to get an early copy of this audiobook. I loved it so much. To me it was the perfect book.

Phoebe spontaneously books a solo getaway at an outrageously expensive upscale hotel. She’s dreamed of a trip like this forever. She’s fleeing her life back home that is falling to pieces. It turns out a million dollar wedding is booked the same week and the bride specifically requested that only wedding guests stay in the hotel. The bride is unhinged and worried that Phoebe will ruin her perfect wedding week.

This book is hilarious and charming. I loved the characters and could honestly relate to them so much. The book is about what you do when your life is falling apart. You have to pick yourself up and move on. Phoebe says sadness is like sitting in snow. You sit down and get comfortable and then it’s hard to get up. Before too long you are at risk of frost bite. You have to learn when it’s time to get up yourself and go inside. Becoming the person that you want to be is like anything else. It takes practice.

I loved this book so much and hope that you do too.

Thank you to netgalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook!

The Wedding People by Alison Espach is a touching and funny novel that deals with serious topics like grief, suicide, and divorce. The story follows Phoebe Stone, who arrives at the Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, feeling very low after losing her husband. She meets Lila, and their unexpected friendship helps both women grow. The characters are interesting and relatable, even if some can be annoying at times. The book's humor and the beautiful setting make it enjoyable, but be aware that it touches on heavy themes that might be triggering for some readers. The audiobook, narrated by Helen Laser, is also very well done. Overall, it's a good read with a mix of emotions and personal growth.

This one took me a while to get through, as I was getting a bit tired of how annoying a few of the characters were, but overall this was a decent read.

Phoebe was a very interesting character who made me want to be a little bit more open to others. SPOILER ALERT is that her cat dies at the beginning and that devastated me, so I was invested in her because I too would want to off myself if my cat died, LET ALONE if everything else happened to me on top of that. So for that reason alone, I was rooting for her to succeed.

Lila was so annoying BUT I also really enjoyed the fact that we see where all of her weird quirks and anger come from and how she's just repressing a lot of feelings. I also really enjoyed seeing her (and other characters) open up to Phoebe. It's true that it's so much easier to confess your true feelings to someone who has no stake in the game and doesn't know every piece of your soul yet.

Overall, did this book become one of my favorites of all time? No, but I did really enjoy it and I can see a bunch of people really resonating with it. I'd say pick it up if you're looking for something humorous while also being really relatable.

There isn’t anything I could say about this book that hasn’t already been said. It was evocative, heart warming and funny, despite touching on some serious topics. It was an unexpected read but in the best possible way.

I listened to the audiobook version, the narrator (Helen Laser) did an excellent job at painting the picture of each character.

I can definitely see myself buying a physical copy of this book just to have on my shelves!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

THE WEDDING PEOPLE by Alison Espach ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I was drawn into this story so quickly by the characters! The way she describes people is both hilarious and relatable. Or maybe it’s hilarious because we have all met, “neck pillow girl,” or, “high bun.” Lila and Pheobe’s quirky friendship was so endearing to me. But do not be deceived! This is not a light, happy, romcom like the cover may seem. It is actually quite heavy and deals a lot with suicide, divorce, and grief. I think if you don’t know what you’re in for, it can be a lot. In the end, I did love the resolution and personal growth I was able to see.

Pheobe and Lila both arrive at a five star hotel, but are there for very different reasons. Lila is ready to start her next chapter, and Pheobe is ready to be done. When their lives intersect, they are able to find theirselves and the direction they want to move in.

Perfect if you like:
•Dry humor.
•Found family.
•Grief and loss.
•Character driven.
•Dreamy setting.
•Unlikely friendships.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️ (implied intimacy)
Mood: 🍿🍷

⚠️: explicit language

This book was an unexpected treat. Based on the summary, it could have very easily fallen into trite and predictable tropes, but Espach did a great job of not crossing that line. I listened to this one so quickly, and greatly enjoyed the dark humor interspersed with tender realness. The characters were well-developed, and even Lila, who had hatable moments, felt very real and more nuanced than how that type of snotty privileged character usually gets portrayed.

I loved Phoebe's character and going along on this journey with her.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audio ARC!

An absolute favorite of 2024! Alison Espach's The Wedding People felt like a mix of Amazing Grace Adams + A Man Called Ove. While the author tackles some incredibly heavy topics (CW: suicidal ideation, infertility, miscarriage, infidelity), she does so with a tremendous amount of humor and heart. I loved Phoebe, the protagonist, and I was rooting for her throughout the novel. Espach also does an excellent job of writing truly compelling and dynamic supporting characters, and the setting was perfect for the story. I would love to read more of Alison Espach's work!

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

The narrator’s monotone voice made the story not that exciting. But the story was good!! Kept me guessing!

Guys say hello to the new addition of one of my top reads this year!

One chapter- that’s all it took for me to know that I was going to love this book!

I’ve been seeing this book everywhere on booksta with raving reviews so obviously I picked it up and wow, I did not expect that the plot was about THAT. And so immediately I know that this is going to be an uplifting read.

This is a book that reminds us how important it is to be kind and not judge people because you’ll never know what someone is going through. This book also reminds you that sometimes you meet certain people that you NEED at a certain point in your life.

I loved everything about this book! The wedding week vibes set in a luxury hotel in Rhode Island, the characters, the dialogues, EVERYTHING!

I am so impressed with how the author can talk about such difficult and dark topics that are so insightful but yet it’s written in a lighthearted effective manner!! I’m not a super fan of character driven stories but Phoebe was such a great lead character!! She was written so well that you can emphasize with her life and how she looks at life.

I love the audiobook too!! I have the physical copy but I just cant stop listening to the narration! Helen Laser just brought these characters to life with such talent and I finished this book so quickly!

This book does cover a lot of triggering topics so please proceed with care. And if you want trigger warnings, please DM me.

Some of my fave quotes:
“.. maybe they are all lonely. Maybe this is just what it means to be a person. To constantly reckon with being a single being in one body”

“You do things in the moment for the person you hope you might be two years from now”

“She wonders if her feelings could be a new form of love, one she’s never known before: love without expectation. Love that you are just happy enough to feel. Love that you don’t try to own like a painting”

Thanks @netgalley for the free audiobook!!

I LOVED every second of this book. From the narrator to the characters and story line and the deep messages behind it. I laughed and cried and will highly recommend to everyone

Phoebe, a college professor from St. Louis who is recently divorced following her ex-husband's affair, unintentionally crashes a wedding at a Newport hotel when all she meant to do was unalive herself. But in becoming one of The Wedding People, she finds new reasons for living.

Oh my goodness. This book. I'm gobsmacked over how much I enjoyed it, and I was not ready for it to end. From the well-formed characters to the witty dialogue to the lavish descriptions of all of the over-the-top things that rich people do to spend an entire week (OK fine, Lilah, six days) celebrating a wedding...I absolutely cannot find fault with The Wedding People. The relationships built between Phoebe and each of the main characters are so interesting and touching. I want to see this adapted for TV as a limited series.

I didn't think it was possible to have a favorite audiobook narrator, but Helen Laser is IT for me and this is definitely the best I've heard from her so far. Her delivery through the sad, the tense, the romantic, the hilarious moments was spot on.

I'm definitely making space for this book among my favorite reads of 2024. It will be at or near the top.

Content warnings for suicidal ideation, infertility, and pregnancy loss.

delightful and sprightly entry to the middle-aged romance genre. Phoebe is spinning her wheels as an adjunct professor, her husband has left her for a colleague and her beloved cat dies, so she decides to go to the Cornwall, a resort hotel she has fantasized about since seeing it in a travel magazine. Her plan is to have a perfect evening and then kill herself with her cat’s tuna-flavored painkillers.

But almost immediately on arrival she gets swept up into the drama of the wedding party that has taken over the hotel, and when her perfect evening goes awry, she decides to live and explore life in a more adventurous way. She meets a very attractive man in the hot tub and though he turns her proposition down, she feels a connection with him. Unfortunately he is the groom.

Over the course of the next week, Phoebe explores the joy of living without restraint. She says what she feels, she tries out new experiences, and she becomes the glue that holds the wedding people together. Her only regret is that she took nearly 4 decades to come to this realization.

The writer does a terrific and entertaining job of showing how buttoned-up Phoebe, a Victorianist trapped in the self-imposed constraints that her cherished Brontë and Austen characters were obliged to follow, is catalyzed by the wedding into a freedom she did not understand she had. At the same time, her honesty propels several of the party to come to their own epiphanies.

Helen Laser does a terrific job of narrating, modulating her voice to create and distinguish a dozen different characters while keeping the warm vibe of the text.

Highly recommended audiobook and I’m sure the text reads just as well.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the review copy.

This book dealt with some heavy topics but was so well done.

The audiobook was so well done. Helen Laser narrated and brought all of the characters to life for me. She let us feel the heavy things, but also brought humor to some of the situations as well.

We've all been to a wedding and seen various wedding people and this book nailed it!

Many thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an ALC.

4.5 stars

It’s hard to categorize the Wedding People by Alison Espach. If I had to choose a genre, I guess I would consider it women’s fiction. But, it’s also a romance, a comedy and a story about grief. Phoebe Stone is a great lead character. She is a strong, intelligent woman whose husband left her for her best friend. Pheobe meets, Lila, a bride who is getting married in a week. Lila is entitled, impulsive and very pretentious, but I found myself rooting for her too. The two start a very unlikely friendship under very funny, but sad circumstances (as I said, it’s hard to categorize this book).

I really enjoyed this quirky, dark book. I loved the friendship between the two women and how they really had each other’s back (something that I find you don’t see too often in women’s fiction). I can’t say much more without giving the story away, other than I would love a sequel to this story.

On a side note, the narrator of the audiobook was fantastic!

The book - The Wedding People - is a story that’s both funny and tender, showing how the unexpected ways our life can surprise us.

The novel is set in Newport, Rhode Island, where we meet Phoebe Stone. She arrives at the elegant Cornwall Inn alone, wearing a green dress and gold heels. Everyone assumes she’s part of the wedding, but she is actually the only guest who not attending. She had once hoped to visit this beautiful inn with her husband, but now she finds herself visiting the inn alone, for the weekend.

Despite being on the outside, Phoebe ends up connecting with the bride in a way she never expected. Espach’s writing explores the ups and downs of marriage, the sting of infidelity, the ache of loneliness, and the challenges of dealing with disappointment. But alongside these tough themes, the book also highlights the power of friendship, the resilience of love, and how we cope with loss. The audiobook, brought to life by Helen Laser’s narration, makes the characters even more vivid and relatable.

I found this story to be a thoughtful, engaging read that speaks to the mysteries we all experience in life.

If you enjoy stories with strong, but likeable characters or/and are looking for a mix of humour and heart, this book is for you! I highly recommend this book to anyone after a meaningful, yet enjoyable read.

I listened to the Audiobook - Thank you Netgalley and MacMillan Audio.