💘 V A L E N T I N E S D A Y mini review 💘 featuring “The (Anti) Wedding Party” by Lucy Knott!

Goodness me, poor Andi catches her fiancée cheating on her with the maid of honour on her wedding day and this completely tarnishes anything wedding or love related to her 💔!!!

But then Andi’s bestfriend Alex surprises her by announcing that she is engaged and wants Andi to be her MOH! The wedding is taking place in Italy and the group sets off for a week in a glorious villa! Soon she meets the handsome Best Man (Owen), who is ALSO veryyy anti-wedding. Maybe this wedding won’t be so bad after all … 😉

Thank you kindly to @lucycknott @headofzeus @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on March 16, 2024!!!!

The title and the cover caught my attention, I feel like it was going to be a quick and cute story automatically. Indeed it was a short and sweet one, sadly it was hard for me to connect with the FMC, I liked Owen and I really wanted to like this one. Loved to be there in Italy, and all the food descriptions! Thank you NetGalley, the author and Aria & Aries for the eARC.

Unfortunately I couldn’t make it far into this book. The main character wasn’t someone I could get along with and I just felt myself getting more and more frustrated the further I got into the book. If I don’t get along with the main character’s personality then I often find it’s not worth finishing the book as I’m not invested in their life enough to continue.

I apologise for the review I’ve given but not every book is for everyone!
Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title! :)

3.25 stars

This was a cute closed-door Rom-Com starring 2 jaded, anti-love characters who have been burned in the past. Forced Proximity, strangers to friends to lovers, found family, grumpy/grumpy-sunshine.

Andi is pretty grumpy/grumpy in all aspects except Owen who is kinda grumpy/sunshine. They fit well together, but it wasn't really explained. It seemed pretty Instalove/lust that brought them together besides them finding solace in the other's also anti-love/wedding points of view.

I was in love with Owen from the beginning. He's a sweet, lovely, caring, man who is the perfect best friend to Charlie. Lucy didn't really go into his past much so all the cryptic phone calls with his brother (who we never meet) about his past and such never really get answered. We don't really know what happened in his past relationships that turned him so cynical (besides the one he briefly mentions).

Andi I found to be irritating and selfish and unrelatable. I get she's stressed with real life and turned off by love and weddings having attempted one of her own that would traumatize anyone, but people are normally pretty good at being happy for their friends even if their friends are getting married. Like she adores Alex and Charlie, but cannot seem to keep making everything about herself.

The novel was more a love story with Italy (and I was okay with that). There was more descriptions of the food being eaten (and they were always eating) than the characters or their interpersonal connections or character growth. I feel like if the effort put in to describing Italy and the food was put into the characters, this book would've been off the charts.

Thank you NetGalley, Aria & Aries, and Aria for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I am rounding this 2.5 star up to a 3 with a disclaimer that I did stop reading at 70%. This was a cute and fun read about the best man and maid of honour getting together at their best friend's wedding. There was definitely some sweetness and enjoyment to it, which is why I'm rating it and reviewing it despite not finishing it. I think there is definitely something here that people will like, but it wasn't for me. It just felt like nothing was really happening. The fact that I was almost 3/4 through the book and it felt like literally nothing had happened, I just felt like I was wasting my time continuing to push through. The banter was cute but it wasn't enough for me. I think if you enjoy slice of life type of stories you will enjoy this.

What is more romantic than a fish and chip shop? What I liked about this was the focus on food! How any of the characters could move was beyond me. I’m pretty sure they must all have needed mobility scooters to drive from one meal to the next p, I was quite hungry by the end! However, seriously, I enjoyed the book. I did think there were humorous moments but I didn’t love the beginning, it took some time to get into. Once I was in, generally a good time was had by all.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. This is an okay read. At first, I was intrigued by this book because of the premise. But, then the execution of this book was not right for me. I wouldn't say I liked the main character in the book's beginning, but I tolerated her towards the end. I was not too fond of the pacing of the book. I felt that it was not consistent and I was confused throughout. However, I liked some parts of the book. The first thing was Italy. I loved the Rom-coms set in Italy. I loved the culture and cuisine. I wished there was more of the culture in this book. The second thing was the romance between Andi and Owen. It started as a no-strings-attached relationship but then developed into a real committed relationship. I liked that development. Overall, an okay read.

I am so grateful for the ARC and hate leaving negative reviews but I really did not like the FMC personality. I had to tap out.

The (Anti) Wedding Party by Lucy Knott is a delightful romantic escapade set against the stunning backdrop of Italy. Andi, a wedding-hater, reluctantly becomes the maid of honour for her best friend's wedding, leading to a week filled with potential disasters. Enter Owen, the equally anti-romance Best Man, whose warmth begins to thaw Andi's icy heart. The book masterfully captures the charm of Italy, and Owen's endearing character adds to the allure. However, Andi's repetitive insecurities become a drawback as the story progresses. Despite some dramatic moments and the occasional self-centeredness of the protagonist, the novel succeeds in delivering a cute and romantic narrative. The depiction of bisexuality adds a positive layer of representation. With a mix of humor, drama, and romance, The (Anti) Wedding Party is a recommended read, particularly for those dreaming of love in Italy.

This is such an easy digestable read. Oh the teeming chemistry of the characters even the bestfriends are one of a kind. this is like a road to discover of the Andi's heart of taking a shot at believing in life and love again. What I love the most is how much her anxiety and problems are all realistic that I actually relate to her, the pressure and anxiety to keep your family afloat, missing out on a lot of things cause financially you couldn't afford to, being so stoically anti-love cause of what happened to you, feeling left out even with love, feeling guilty of being in a vacation and not learning to settle back and enjoy life, gosh I can name a few more but I love how honest this book is. Glad I read this, thank you. NETGALLEY and ARIA and ARIES / house of zeus PUBLISHER for the trust on reviewing this book, oh to be published on my bday as well? Love it! will add review on my Good reads and IG!

This book was difficult for me to read. I did not connect with the MC and had a hard time getting past her constant struggle with insecurities. Owen was a great distraction from Andi. This was not a book for me.

Thank you NetGalley

I wasn’t a fan of this writing style, at all. The FMC wasn’t very likable so that also made the book hard to get into.

I have not read anything by this author before, but I will definitely be looking out for their work in the future. I loved seeing the story unfold and seeing the characters grow.

Thank you Netgalley and Lucy Knott for allowing me read and review an ARC copy of The (Anti) Wedding Party.

I loved the concept of this book but I just don't think it was really for me. I loved that it was set in Italy which was the perfect setting for a wedding (honestly the wedding of my dreams) and also the different activities involving food made my mouth water, it all sounded so good!

When I was 50% through I honestly did not know where the book was going to go and I was not a fan of FMC but I loved MMC. I would not be overly happy if my best friend acted like the FMC around my wedding but I suppose that is the point of the book. I just personally wished she was a little more likeable.

I do not think the writing was at all bad I just wanted a little bit more plot and the characters to be a little bit more likeable.

"The (Anti) Wedding Party" by Lucy Knott is charming and witty. Knott's humor, relatable characters, and a touch of unexpected romance make this novel a fun and heartening escape into the world of love and self-discovery.

The blurb for this book sounded like a great rom-com, in book form, but honestly I was severely disappointed. I completely understand that in books MCs go through character development and change and it’s part of their character arc - but I just doing Andi, the FMC so unbearable and just bitter! Owen was just as bitter, but I didn’t feel like he only cared about himself - he made an effort to be there when he was needed for his friend.

Andi and Owen both hate weddings, and they’re both asked to be the maid of honor and best man. They both go into the week of festivities dreading their roles… until they find out that they share the same views!

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!
All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book just did not do it for me. I found the beginning really slow even though I love books about weddings. I did not like Andi and I feel like the way she acted at her best friends wedding was ridiculous.

I know they say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I did and I was shown why. I just could not get into this. I got about 20% in and found the pace so slow I had to give up. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style or what I saw of the characters. This was my first time reading this author and sadly it did disappoint.

This book had such a fun cover and exciting premise (wedding haters, Italy, wedding preps, friendships!) but I found the main character Andi extremely annoying.
- Fictional characters can be unlikeable of course but I didn't really root for Andi at all
- There was hardly any chemistry between the leads
- I am not sure if I felt how much the main leads hated the wedding. Perhaps Andi being annoying masked that.

The main character was insufferable! I also didn't vibe with the writing style, and overall, it was just really boring and a slog to read!