Reviews with content warning for Miscarriage - No estás en la lista

Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

No estás en la lista by Alison Espach

835 reviews

memeraryfiction's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Wedding People surprised me in the best possible way. It sits at the intersection of several novel types about which I have mixed feelings. I don't personally love Victorian literature, especially marriage plots, and I've had pretty mixed reactions to works by authors who are heavily inspired by that era: I loved Intermezzo but was pretty neutral about Pachinko and Normal People. I've also found the current "40-something professional woman having a midlife crisis" trend in litfic to be a mixed bag: I loved Colored Television but couldn't stand All Fours. All of which is to say that I went into The Wedding People pretty skeptical but found it delightful.

The book is sweet without being saccharine and incredibly funny. The humour is also darker than the book's synopsis and general vibes would indicate, which balanced out the sweet and somewhat predictable nature of the plot. The characters were well rounded and so very flawed, but those flaws were what endeared me to them. The novel went quite a bit more meta than I was expecting, but I thought it worked well and, again, kept it from feeling too sweet clichéd.

My one (ultimately quite minor) complaint is that because the plot was somewhat predictable (due to the meta approach mentioned above) there were times in the final third or so of the book where the stakes felt lower than they probably should have. I say this is minor because the low stakes for the reader are specifically telegraphed in the plot, and they are an intentional part of what the narrative is doing. Despite this, I found the entire book incredibly readable and compelling, and I finished it in a day.

Content Warnings

jenneticist's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

ngerling's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I’m glad I knew a little about the book and the suicidal thoughts of the main character. It was jarring at times, but it felt relatable. I felt like it gave hints to the future but didn’t come right out and say what happens next. I appreciate the struggles and the inner thoughts of the characters. Not a favorite book of mine, but a decent read.

Content Warnings

toniatigre's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Quietly beautiful and unexpectedly moving.

The Wedding People starts in a place of deep grief and discomfort — so much so that I wasn’t sure I would stay with it. But I’m glad I did. What begins as a somber, almost disorienting narrative slowly unfolds into a layered exploration of loneliness, human connection, and the strange in-between spaces we sometimes find ourselves in.

The characters feel real in their contradictions and uncertainties. I appreciated how the story resisted easy resolutions — instead, it invited us to sit with discomfort and allowed emotional truths to emerge at their own pace. The literary references and internal reflections gave the book depth without feeling heavy-handed.

One of my favorite elements was the hotel itself — moody, timeless, almost sentient. It felt like a character, or maybe a mirror, reflecting the guests’ inner turmoil and quiet hopes.

This isn’t a traditional love story, and it’s not always an easy read, but it’s an honest one — and that’s what stayed with me.

Content Warnings