My 2% readers, I feel we’ve reached a milestone together as I’m able to say that I’ve read a bandwagon bestseller at the time it’s still relevant rather than waiting my requisite two years before touching it. I went in expecting (and ready for) the standard chick-lit tropes I had come to expect from any book with white, handwritten fonts on the cover and sketched graphics. I was met with surprising characters, unexpected storylines and a very endearing read.
We meet Phoebe Stone at the lowest, albeit most elegant, moment of her life – the end. Phoebe is no longer able to deal with the hand life has dealt her and has chosen to have one night of excessive luxury to see it off. Only, she’s mistakenly been booked into a hotel that’s been exclusively booked for a wedding with a bride (Lila) who refuses to let Phoebe overshadow the wedding week with her intended purpose. While being unwittingly whisked into the activities and mayhem of the wedding week, Phoebe and Lila warm to each other, sharing and confiding at levels unexpected of strangers. Through the course of the wedding week, Phoebe is able to process and confront some of the circumstances and self-doubt that brought her to the hotel in the first place.
There were several times where I thought I had predicted the plot and Espach kept me on my toes, proving that there’s more breadth and variety possible within this genre than one might think. I found the characters refreshing, the read easy, and the ending delightfully tender.
The Wedding People defied my expectations and I hope you are as surprisingly charmed by it as I was.
2% Rating: 7/10
Recommend? Yes
Re-Read? I would potentially!
Time: 1:53