In an attempt to escape her disastrous life in St. Louis, Phoebe flees to a Newport, RI hotel she's wanted to visit for years. Upon arrival however, she discovers that she has unintentionally crashed the wedding of spoiled rich girl, Lila. As she spends the week with the bride and her guests, Phoebe begins to see a different path for her future.

This book was so beautifully written. Each character was so loveable and had so much depth to them. It was easy to somehow root for all of them despite many of them having conflicting goals. This crazy, lavish wedding is an excellent backdrop for all of these characters to come together.

This book deals with some heavy topics, but it's infused with the perfect amount of dark humor and sarcasm. It was really thought provoking and I know this book will stick with me for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for the ARC!

The Wedding People goes back and forth between being a feel good book and a really sad one. Phoebe shows up at a fancy Newport, RI resort, spending the last of her money, and planning to end her life. Coming from the midwest, she travels in a fancy dress and heels, and doesn't even bring a change of clothes, thinking she will only be there for the day. She quickly learns she is the only resort guest not part of the wedding party, the bride and groom befriend her and the group connects to each other in various ways. I loved the connections between Phoebe and the wedding people, each was different and charming. But it was hard to remember that Phoebe was seriously depressed, even before her husband had left her. And there were a couple of side notes about how their other friend had died by suicide, I wish there had been more background on that. But overall, a good book, and I loved the ending.

Main character, Phoebe, is just coming off a divorce when she decides to go to the fanciest hotel in Newport, RI. When she arrives, she learns that she is the only guest at the hotel not part of an elaborate wedding. She quickly becomes enmeshed in the lives of the wedding people, in particular the bride, Lila. We follow along for the week as she and Lila become bonded, both revealing their true feelings about people, life, and expectations to one another. I really loved Phoebe's character and seeing her evolve through the novel was a delight. This book was shocking, funny, sweet, and unexpected. Espach's writing is fantastic; it goes down smoothly and quickly, but is full of deep insights into the human experience. Tw: suicide, grief & death themes

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review.

Based on the cover, I assumed I was falling into your standard rom-com novel. As I began reading, I realized this was far from the truth. I didn't quite expect the turn that the novel would take at the very beginning (which I won't spoil here). I was worried this would be too dark and that I wouldn't enjoy it. I kept reading, and let me tell you, I loved this by the end of it. Phoebe's journey from depression to hope was inspiring. The characters were all so interesting. Those first few chapters are just heavy but trust me, you'll want to keep reading.

This book is a delight! I was laughing out loud throughout, which is rare for me. But the book is also full of deep moments that stopped me in my tracks with their profundity. That’s my ideal type of book - a mix of light and deep. The writing is so smart, and I loved the way that the plot unfolded. Thank you so much for the complimentary eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The Wedding People got on my radar from From the Front Porch and Annie B. Jones. While triggers abound in this (for me infertility), I LOVED this book and it's going to be in the best books of the year for me. I tandem read this on both audio and via my e-arc and I need everyone to read this!

A grieving newly divorced woman gets a hotel room at a lush and swank Newport, RI hotel solely with the intention to end her life. However, she happens to cross paths with a bride who has reserved the whole hotel except for the room our main character is in who will not have her ending her life during her wedding weekend. This novel is an ode to the power of community, finding people who get you, and grief. It's both funny and heavy and wry and I found myself feeling so many emotions. What a treat of a novel.

I loved this book endlessly. The characters, the writing, the setting, the story - it was beautiful. The discussions around grief and death were so authentic. It had the perfect amount of dark humor.

If you enjoyed Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin, I think you’d like this. If you’ve ever experienced grief in any capacity or ever felt lost, I’d recommend this. Please view the content warnings before you read!

Really fun twist on your typical wedding-themed books. Interesting characters you just couldn’t help but become attached too. As someone who’s getting married soon, I appreciated the humor this book depicted towards the whole wedding process.

When The Wedding People begins, it is full of bleakness and triggers! Our poor protagonist, Phoebe, has had one major disappointing life event after another, until she feels her life is not worth living anymore. So, she makes a plan to end her life at a beautiful hotel (that she always wanted to go to,) in a stunning dress (that she never got to wear out,) only to find she is the one guest in the hotel that is not there for a lavish wedding week. Phoebe’s plans get quickly hijacked by wedding drama, which surprisingly and sometimes humorously, brings her back to life. Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for an enjoyable free eGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book! This was one of my most anticipated reads of the summer and it delivered big time, all the stars! This book had the best dialogue, humor, and all the characters felt like they could be real life people. It dialed into the intensity we all feel as being human and experiencing the highs and lows of life. I thought the book did a wonderful job at depicting depression. I adored Phoebe's journey and her efforts to feel truly alive despite the challenges she faced as she was living a life that differed from her expectations. Truly loved it and would recommend to all readers!

Now this is my kind of cozy, FUNNY, and introspective read. Our main character Phoebe is going through a tough time in her life. She’s 40, struggling with fertility, her marriage has lost its spark, and she can’t finish her dissertation. Her life feels blah. So why not end it? Except Phoebe’s luck hasn’t gotten better because her dream hotel (where she goes to end it all) is full of the worst kind of guests…wedding people! Over a week’s timeline…Phoebe gets more and more involved in this wedding while picking up the pieces in her life and theirs.
This book is a great look at holding people accountable. Once Phoebe gains the confidence, she’s able to say how she feels. Phoebe is such a relatable character. She doesn’t center men in her life, she isn’t annoyingly smart. She’s just a good person and good friend. Loved this book!

This book spoke to the hearts of women. The women are complicated, flawed, and truly human. You won’t be disappointed.

Nothing is turning out the way you thought it would. So its time to go out in style. But what happens when your plans are diverted by a very unlikely group of people attending a million dollar wedding at a posh hotel? This is a story about second chances and rerouting your plans. With great characters and dark humor, The Wedding People was so great.
Thanks to Net Galley and Henry Holt for an early read. It's destined to be the book of the summer.

This book was not what I expected--but I loved it anyway. It opens with a character planning her suicide. But from there, it lightens up. It even feels a little silly sometimes, but I liked it. It has some heavy themes-so reader, beware if suicide and infidelity and death are triggers, but I think it was handled well. The characters are quirky and lovable, and you find yourself rooting for them. Loved the Rhode Island setting!

"But you have the Hermit card. Your card. That's you."
"That doesn't sound good."
"That's a great sign, actually. I am really happy to see that, because that means that no matter what happens, you will always be here."


I feel very fortunate to live in the state this book takes place in, and to have attended a release week event at the luxury hotel that the one in the novel is based on. Hearing the author's insights and inspirations was so interesting, and helped me understand the concept of being a "wedding person", a stranger in a crowd who is welcoming and easy to talk to, due to them being a complete stranger.

This novel is one of those that touches on this feeling that is difficult to put into words. Phoebe, our main character, feels dejected and depressed, and now finds herself an outsider amongst a group of seemingly happy, go-lucky wedding people. But people aren't just what's on the surface - this wedding isn't as happy as it may seem, and Phoebe has more to offer the wedding party than she first believes. The result is a beautifully genuine portrayal of humanity and our messy emotions. I related to Phoebe a lot, and this quote in particular hit me reeeeally hard:

She wants to be a part of it. It's okay, the therapist said, to want to be a part of it.


This is one of those books where I finish reading it and weep because someone gets it, and if the above quote relates to you too, you should read this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. This review reflects my honest opinions.

I truly loved this book. I wasn't expecting to but it took me by surprise. I loved how it didn't have much of a plot but it was more about the characters and the journey's we all have. All of these characters are flawed but all have redeeming qualities.

I had a hard time making it through the first part of this book. The details of planning a suicide were a bit much. But after Phoebe becomes acquainted with the bride of the wedding party the book takes a turn. This is a highly emotional and quirky tale. There are adult topics and language so beware. I wanted the ending to be further in the future than it was, I felt a little like I was left hanging. But it did fit this story.
Thank you to Net Galley for allowing me to read this book. The opinions are entirely my own.

At the start of this novel, divorced and depressed professor Phoebe has spontaneously booked herself a trip from Missouri to Newport, Rhode Island to stay in a fancy hotel there she had wanted to go to with her husband but never did. But when she arrives, she discovers that the entire rest of the hotel has been booked for a wedding week and demanding bride Lila is not happy to have her there. But a surprising friendship develops between them that just might change both of their lives.

I went into this one totally blind so it was not quite what I was expecting - but I LOVED it! It’s so funny but emotional too, with characters that are flawed and quirky but also seem like real people. I love a book that can make me laugh out loud but also cry. One of those books where I was sad for the book to end because I want to know what’s going to happen to the characters afterwards. It reminded me of the writing of Catherine Newman and Laurie Frankel, and if you know how much I love their books, you know that’s a huge compliment! This is the first book I’ve read by Alison Espach but I now look forward to going back and reading her first two books. And this book was also just announced as the Read With Jenna selection for August 2024!

4.5 stars

A compelling and sharply insightful novel about a surprise wedding guest and the extraordinary people who assist us as we reinvent ourselves.

Phoebe Stone arrives at the fancy Cornwall Inn, the other guests assume she must be part of the wedding party. But Phoebe is there for an entirely different reason: after struggling with infertility, her husband has left her for a fellow professor and former friends and Phoebe has gone on the vacation of a lifetime with the intent to kill herself. But can an optimistic bride on the precipice of marriage save a women for whom marriage has meant so much pain? While the premise of the novel is quite serious, Espach does an amazing job balancing so much humor in this emotionally satisfying novel. It was so entertaining and I loved every second of it. Looking forward to her next book. Thank you to Henry Holt & Co. and to Netgalley for the advanced review copy.