Reviews

This was a cute, light read with some genuine feeling, and I really enjoyed it. Minor spoilers ahead.

One of the things I most appreciated about it was that Lily was kind of a self-absorbed jerk. She had a right to be angry and hurt about some of the stuff the Bridezillas demanded of her, but her actions with the blog was not right. I was glad to see the book call her out on this. It was a complicated set of circumstances, and I felt the book did a nice job of portraying that, balancing Lily's need to apologize while also giving her the chance to talk about the slights she had a right to talk about. Real life is complicated like that, and I enjoyed seeing that reflected in this book. Too frequently I read books in which there aren't any actual stakes tied to the main character's actions, so I was glad this book resisted that approach.

I also appreciated that, while this book does contain a lot of the tropes of this particular genre--and let me be clear, I don't have any problems with that because I read books like this with certain expectations--I like how it also wasn't afraid to invert some of those tropes.

I was a little disappointed in Alex because I thought his behavior was slightly underhanded.

Before I close this, I also want to mention how much I'd like to see more books like this, tackling what weddings are like when you're not the bride or the groom. Some of what happens in the book may seem outlandish to people who don't have experiences with being bridesmaids, but a lot of it resonated with me. People getting married really do need to give some serious consideration to what they're asking of the people standing up in their wedding and ensure they aren't crossing any boundaries. One thing I didn't agree with in the book was Lily saying she'd do whatever Caryn wanted her to do, because I don't think ANY bride has the right to demand that her bridesmaids physically alter themselves in order to meet some specific vision of what the bride wants her wedding photos to look like. That's well beyond the realm of self-absorbed and into the land of toxicity. In my opinion, the American obsession with excessive weddings is ripe for the plundering, so while I'd definitely read more books in the vein of this one, I'd also like to see some heavier works tackling the topic of the American wedding industrial complex.

This is an author I plan to keep an eye on.

meikac's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

cduu's review against another edition

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4.0

Fun

Quirky, cute, funny romcom - a lovely escape and the perfect “sitting by the Christmas tree” read this holiday season.

rachels_booknook's review against another edition

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5.0

I love Sara Goodman Confino’s writing and I really enjoyed this book. While it was her first novel, it was the last of her three published books I read. I love books about weddings and parts of this one felt like reading an episode of Say Yes to the Dress. With 27 Dresses vibes (which the author nips in the bud by making that comparison herself), single Lily ends up as a bridesmaid in five weddings in one summer. Having been in several weddings before I met my husband, I felt like I really understood Lily. I also love and relate to the Jewish representation and body image discussion behind the humour.

Where Lily and I differ is with her decision to write a tell-all blog about her bridesmaid experiences, hoping to earn some cash to pay for her wedding obligations.

I was so anxious about what would happen when Lily’s friends and family inevitably discover her blog. While I know they had a right to be mad about what she wrote, somehow I was totally on her side. During the wedding planning process Lily was so attuned to the needs of the brides and other bridesmaids that she was basically a model bridesmaid (although I thought maybe a bit of a pushover). She may not have always known exactly what was going on behind the scenes with the brides, but she was doing her best to give them everything they wanted for their weddings – including spending money she didn’t have, standing up to their mothers, and taking really mean criticism about her appearance and even changing it when demanded. I think Lily definitely deserved more apologies.

Through all the wedding drama, I loved reading about Lily’s growing friendship/relationship with Alex. He was so supportive of her as she navigated all of these wedding responsibilities and I loved their texts and banter.

This was such a fun book and I highly recommend it along with all of Sara’s other novels.

casie1143's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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