The Wedding People

When I started reading this book it was so dark because of where the main character, Phoebe, was in her life. But as the complexity of the story and characters developed, I began to find myself unable to leave it even for the short time needed to take care of life's necessities. Which, when I'm reading, means "this is an amazing book". As the story evolved I had no idea where it would end up. As always I was sad to finish the book and wanting the story to continue, however, it clearly made some thought provoking points on how we choose to live our lives. I highly recommend this book as it was one of my best summer reads.

This was slow to start, but the characters came alive and it is one of my favorite books of 2025 so far. Everyone is struggling with something in this novel. In the end, several of the main characters become real, become their true selves. One of my favorite quotes is when Phoebe tells Lila that she gave her a reason to get up everyday of the wedding week. It’s just a very beautiful story about living life, becoming who you were meant to be and it is well written.

When one sees the word wedding in the book title, it causes an inward shiver and moan. The book is going to be wedding driven, kitschy, maudlin perhaps.As it turns out this book is about the wedding in a different way. It uses it as a force of nature to push the characters forward from various endings - death, stagnation, life itself.Great character development drives the plot.The whole book was a pleasant surprise.

I will freely admit that I avoided reading this book for a while because I kept confusing it was "The People We Hate at the Wedding" which was a book I despised. This story starts slow and a bit dark, how could it not with Phoebe's decision, but it picks up quickly.Weddings can range in production and religion and practice, but the coming together is the same everywhere. Celebrating a milestone and blending two families never goes perfectly smoothly. Throwing in a stranger deep in her own crisis now makes it all highly entertaining.I enjoyed this book for the genuine humanity uncovered as Phoebe got to know the wedding people. We all have our own struggles and joys and too often we hide them.Yes, COVID and lockdowns are a plot point but I appreciated how the situation impacted everyone's stories. The same with literature. I grew up with professors and within many books and even the references I didn't get I enjoyed learning.There is some profanity and a few graphic descriptions, but no long scenes. Other CW: suicidal thoughts, parental death, cancer, pet death, depression

I rated this a four because the first half felt unconnected. Then I connected or the characters did.Phone sets off to kill herself then finds herself saved by the future bride, one who's only desire is t have the perfect wedding at any costIs there ever a perfect wedding or is it a replacement for something you can't have?