The Wedding People: A Novel

Everything Lady Gaga said in that one interview but the opposite

Loved this book! Dark humor and lots of good life lessons.

This book starts off very depressing and stays there for a bit which made it hard to flip the pages to start. Once we arrive at the Hotel, things pick up and the other characters made the story come alive. I may not have liked all of them but they came across as real people. The author's witty dialogue saved this book for me. Plus, there is a lot of good insights buried in these pages. And I really liked how this meandering love story (for oneself) didn't follow a formula or go for the Disney ending. While not my favorite book of 2024, I would try another from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

I don't often recommend ARCs to people before they're published, but I'm definitely telling people about this book. I love literary fiction and this book had such a unique premise. I loved the cross of reminiscence with the slice of life and commentary on a wedding by a suicidal person. I think it's a really amazing read with a lot of character depth for both the main character, Phoebe, who has such beautiful and astute observations on life and aging, and the other FMC, Lila, who is complicated even in her own spoiled bubble. I loved their interactions with each other.

Another huge note on this book is that the romance doesn't feel forced at all. It feels very empowered and inconvenient at times, but definitely has the most satisfying ending without feeling cliche. I wish I could read this again for the first time.

5/5 will recommend, think this has potential to be one of the books of the year.

Removed one star because it’s not quite as memorable as I thought initially.

Interesting series of events that bring a group of people together.