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kittykatcas 's review for:
The Wedding People
by Alison Espach
DID NOT FINISH: 20%
I NEVER DNF books but this one was so painful to read that I had to. Phoebe, the main character, her voice was so frustrating and I hate to say this but annoying to read. Granted she was very depressed in a lot of it besides the bajillion flashbacks (another reason why I didn’t enjoy it, not a big fan of so many flashbacks)
She clearly was struggling but rather than communicate effectively to her husband about what she needed she sulked and dug deeper into her hole and sunk.
Was the husband a wonderful guy, no. But did Phoebe put in any effort to tell him that she needed his support, no. Their entire marriage could’ve been fine if they just, idk, talked? Poor communication Is fine for stories but the way the author was feeding us this information was just hard for me to sympathize. It’s difficult for me to root for a character, especially a depressed main character when they are so unlikable and their whole personality trait for the first 20% of the book is “I’m Sad, I’m alone, but I’m actually not alone, I just don’t want to tell anyone so woe is me”
I understand I’m being harsh to Phoebe. She was going through a lot withher job, her motivation to write her book, infertility, and eventually her failing marriage, resulting in infidelity. But my main point is the author didn’t bring me to REALLY understand Phoebe.
And , oh lord, when we got to the part where (BIG SPOILER)she just blurts out TO THE BRIDE in the elevator that she’s come to the hotel to k*ll herself, I audibly said “girl… wtf is wrong with you…”
The Bride character (can’t remember her name now) was also EXTREMELY unlikable too. Really rude and pretentious.
I get that the point of the story is most likely that these 2 unlikable characters are supposed to become buddies and help fix each others lives, but sorry that’s not for me. One unlikeable character is manageable but TWO? Ugh!
Oh also the amount of times Covid 19 was mentioned (and I mean A LOT of times it was mentioned, and within the first 20% of the book) was so odd to me mainly because it really ages the book. And idk why but it feels so odd to read about especially when it happened 5 years ago.
She clearly was struggling but rather than communicate effectively to her husband about what she needed she sulked and dug deeper into her hole and sunk.
Was the husband a wonderful guy, no. But did Phoebe put in any effort to tell him that she needed his support, no. Their entire marriage could’ve been fine if they just, idk, talked? Poor communication Is fine for stories but the way the author was feeding us this information was just hard for me to sympathize. It’s difficult for me to root for a character, especially a depressed main character when they are so unlikable and their whole personality trait for the first 20% of the book is “I’m Sad, I’m alone, but I’m actually not alone, I just don’t want to tell anyone so woe is me”
I understand I’m being harsh to Phoebe. She was going through a lot with
And , oh lord, when we got to the part where (BIG SPOILER)
The Bride character (can’t remember her name now) was also EXTREMELY unlikable too. Really rude and pretentious.
I get that the point of the story is most likely that these 2 unlikable characters are supposed to become buddies and help fix each others lives, but sorry that’s not for me. One unlikeable character is manageable but TWO? Ugh!
Oh also the amount of times Covid 19 was mentioned (and I mean A LOT of times it was mentioned, and within the first 20% of the book) was so odd to me mainly because it really ages the book. And idk why but it feels so odd to read about especially when it happened 5 years ago.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic
Many flashbacks to 2020 during the Covid 19 Pandemic.