Thank you to NetGalley and Rbmedia for the free copy of this book to review!

“The uncertainty doesn’t just come from wondering how well you know the person you love. It comes from wondering how well you know who they will become, who you will become, and what that will mean for each other. And then going for it anyway, based on the hunch that it’s going to work it out, that whatever changes you make will end up being compatible.”

This book felt like a love letter to music and an exploration in what it means when two people choose each other forever. I found it a little slow at times, but using weddings as a story telling device and the jumps in time kept me interested. By the end of the book I could not stand V and 0 percent of me was rooting for her. The author did a good job of capturing how heart wrenching the end of a relationship is. I’m glad I stuck it through and finished, but I wish the quirky humor and witty banter so present at the beginning of the book, would’ve lasted throughout!

As someone who is married to a person that has literally written and sung songs for other peoples weddings, as soon as I saw the title I was intrigued! I absolutely loved the narration, and the songs being played and sung were a wonderful surprise. I enjoyed the songs so much that I tracked down the album (soon to be released) so I could add them to my playlist.

This story was, at the heart, about love and the many different sides of it. It follows J, who is dating V. V receives a great job opportunity, only it means her moving to New York. While she is pursuing her career, the distance between them feels like it just keeps growing. J keeps trying to bring them back in harmony (pun intended), even going so far as to find gigs in New York to be close to her. While doing this he gets to watch love and heartbreak play out in the couples around him. I really loved listening to this story play out. It has a vast character cast, and it was so enjoyable seeing him listen to their stories and write the song that best suited their love. Highly recommend.

"All the weddings in the world can't teach you about love. Only love can teach you about love."

An "accidental wedding singer" gets at the heart of love in this anti-romance. David Levithan blurs the line between real musician, Jens Lekman, and a character named "J" in his latest book. Levithan has incorporated music into his stories in the past, including Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, which became a movie. So this latest partnership with a musician seems like a natural fit. I'm curious what the collaboration looked like behind the scenes.

The audiobook for Songs for Other People's Weddings features songs from Jens Lekman's first solo album in 8 years, which shares its name with the book. Lekman performed at 10 weddings, singing original songs for the betrothed, just like J in this book. Video footage of these weddings appears in a music video for Lekman's album.

So, the songs are real, but it's up to the reader to guess at the rest of Levithan's writing, especially J's relationship to girlfriend, V. Most of the book follows their inability to define their relationship despite their love for each other. The red flags are there from the beginning, so as a reader, I never quite got to the point of rooting for them. Instead, I appreciated the nuanced descriptions of a slow-motion heartbreak.

Levithan's writing is terrifically tender and holds both humor and despair. Lekman's music has a twee softness that contrasts with casually blunt storytelling. It's hard to imagine reading this story without hearing the songs, so I highly recommend listening to the audiobook and/or the album, once it's released in September. One of my favorites in the audiobook was "For Skye."

I received an advance copy of the audiobook from RBmedia via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love David Levithan and his audiobooks ALWAYS hit for me. (Will Grayson, Will Grayson anyone?! Loooove)

That being said, the audio was FANTASTIC. The music - loved it. The story was a little flat for me though. I feel like the focus ending up being the production which is okay. I can see the a traditional reader being thoroughly confused though.

Get the audio. Enjoy the audio. Love the audio.

What is love? And when two people no longer have it, has it moved away or simply transformed? This one is complicated for me, I love Levithan! If John Green’s stories are like Albom with middle school humor, Levithan is somewhere in the middle of that sliding scale. This book moved my heart but I wasn’t gutted, but so many statements (too many to write down) made me think deeply - a mark of a good book in my opinion! As a lover of music, I wanted to love the songs in the audio book, but I just didn’t. Some of the lines were quite cheesy for a wedding and it distracted me. I listen to books at a high speed, and going back to slow the songs to hear them and then speeding the talking back up was distracting as a listener. I really enjoyed the story telling. Having character cosplay as different love songs at the beginning of the novel, absolutely hooked me from the start. Believe it or not, I didn’t write down every statement I could have for this novel. Just really thought provoking. Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read and review.

This book is about J, an accidental wedding singer known for writing unique and personal songs for every couple. While his line of work suggests that J would be an expert on love with all the songs he has written about it, this is not the case. In reality, J and his girlfriend V are finding their once stable and comfortable relationship upended when V’s job moves her from Sweden to NYC and her life grows busier and J’s role in it grows smaller. This is a book about love, and if it is enough.

I listened to this book as an audiobook and I definitely think this is the recommended format if you chose to read this book. Music is such a central part of this story, and the narrator sings original songs throughout the novel. These songs do NOT sound good when sped up (I listened to most of this book on 1.5x speed) and I did have to repeatedly adjust the speed of the book when the songs were played. The narrator did a fantastic job during the reading portions. Characters were easily discernible without having over the top voices (I personally find it annoying when a male reader tries to make their voice really high pitched when reading female characters). The songs were enjoyable and fun. That said, I don’t think this narrator will be winning a Grammy for best vocalist.

As for the story, I felt myself more engaged in the secondary or minor characters than J and V. The different couples and their weddings were so unique and I enjoyed reading about these different couples and their very different weddings. The chapters just about their relationship when J was between gigs were boring and after a while I stopped rooting for them to be together at all. Their relationship is so obviously not working from the earliest chapters I wondered why they kept trying to force it. The idea for this book is really creative and in theory I like the juxtaposition of a wedding singer writing love songs while in a dying relationship, but ultimately J and V were not likable enough for me to want to root for them.

I would rate this book 2.5 stars.

This one was a bit of a miss for me. I will say that I found the relationship between J and V pretty realistic even though it was extremely frustrating. I think they were both in the wrong and just weren't for each other. My main complaint with this book is that there are a lot of things that could've been explored more but instead it just ends up being the same thing over and over again. J performing for weddings and trying to talk to V while she is trying to let him down. She should've just been straight forward from the beginning because he obviously wasn't getting the hint. I wasn't a big fan of most of the songs either but I think it's just not my style of music. Also, a lot of the songs didn't seem romantic to me at all. They seemed really awkward and some even seemed like they were more for him than for the couple.

I kept thinking back to when that dog was sniffing J and barking and his owner said he was being trained to sniff out cancer. Why even include that when it ended up having no relevance to the plot? He never told anyone and he never actually gets checked for cancer. I also feel like a relationship between him and Sky could've happened but it never did.

This was a really good book. I enjoyed it. It's about a Swedish man who is a wedding singer. He's more than that, but he goes to weddings and sings songs tailored to the bride and groom. It was a charming book. But I really want to talk about the audio book, because that's how I experienced it and that's how everyone should experience it.

The book was narrated by Jefferson Mays and he was just wonderful. HIs voice was so perfect for this book. It wasn't even that he changed pitch or tone. He just read in such an immersive way, you felt like you were there. He took David Levithan's words and brought the images to life in my mind. It is one of the best audio books I've every listened to.

The other bonus to the audio book is that at the end of each chapter (or sometimes in the middle) the song is actually performed. This added so much to the experience. To hear the music and the words together made the story so much better. I am not sure if I would have liked this book as much as I did if it hadn't been for the spectacular narration and the musical accompaniment.

I really loved the audiobook for this title. I feel like it would be difficult to get the full depth as a physical copy. I found the journey of J and V to be very genuine. Especially since there are times when it's not that anyone does anything wrong but problems still exist. There is seeing couples that should get married or shouldn't but still there is love.

** Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review **
This charming audiobook blends Levithan’s heartfelt storytelling with Lekman’s wistful, melodic songs for a uniquely immersive experience. The plot follows two friends-turned-collaborators as they write music for strangers’ weddings, using each commission as a way to process their own loves, losses, and missed chances. I loved the interplay between narrative and music—each chapter leading into a song that deepens the emotional resonance. The writing is tender without tipping into sentimentality, and the performances feel personal, almost confessional. While the concept is playful, the story holds a surprising emotional weight. Maybe not Levithan's best work but I still enjoyed the audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced listening copy of this book.

Songs For Other People’s Wedding follows J, a wedding singer who writes original songs for couples and sings them at their weddings. Although his songs often focus on love and successful relationships, he struggles to navigate his own relationship.

I enjoyed following J at the different weddings he sang at. It was really sweet learning about each couple and their love story. I also really enjoyed the songs in the story; they were beautifully written, and I recommend listening to the audiobook as there are full performances of the songs, which really added to the experience. I unfortunately had a hard time connecting to this story overall. I found J and V's relationship lacking, and didn't really like either of them as characters. I also found that after a while, the story felt repetitive and long. Overall, I thought this book was fine but forgettable.

First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for the ALC of this book!

Songs For Other People’s Weddings by David Levithan is about J, a wedding singer who writes an original song about the wedding couple. He’s always got the right words for everyone else’s relationship, but not quite when it comes to his own. This book follows both J and his girlfriend V as they try to come to terms with how life changes and so do their relationships. Sometimes love just isn’t enough when life gets in the way.

While I was listening to this, I kept thinking: I’m not the target demographic for this book. While I didn’t NOT like it, I was definitely bored for most of this book. Our main character was kind of annoying and I was actually rooting against his relationship. V deserves better!! I didn’t really care about their relationship or basically any of J’s personal life. I did love the weddings and the couples he sang for, though. The songs actually being performed was such a fun and lovely touch, though! This book was well written and narrated, I was just bored with it and wasn’t ever excited to pick it back up.

3⭐️

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this audiobook! Levithan’s writing paired with Jefferson May’s and Jen’s Lekman’s performance of the audiobook really made me feel for these characters. Definitely recommend the audiobook over the printed text for this one.

Songs for Other People's Weddings by David Levithan was such an enjoyable audiobook. The songs were fantastic and definitely made the entire experience enjoyable. The story itself was okay. I enjoyed it and thought the narration was great.

2.5 stars rounded up

I really wanted to like this book. It's a unique concept wedding singer using other people's wedding to find his own love. And each of those weddings are unique, quirky, some are sweet, but all love in a very different shape.

That said, it's the focal point of J, the wedding singer and the love of his life, V that frustrates the hell of out of me. As V emotionally & physically away, she kept stringing J along and that pisses me off. If you're a skeptical, harsh person, and scream for independence, alone time and all that, then cut ties! Why stringing J along. J kept thinking there's an ounce of hope and kept trying to find love in the weddings he's doing. C'mon man! Have some self-preservation and dignity. You knew in your gut that she's done with you, why kept on trying.

That story line just frustrates me as we went on. This really should not be categorized as Romance, just leave it in Fiction and call it a day. Needless to say, it's super frustrating to read/listen. Now, that said, I really liked the narrator, Jefferson Mays, the voices he did and the emotions delivers well. Of course, I really stayed on to finish because of the songs. They are different and tailored to each wedding it's endearing in some ways.

Thanks to NetGalley & RBmedia for the audio ARC

I requested this ARC without knowing too much about it. The title caught my eye, and I was also intrigued by the audiobook format—it includes music, which adds a beautiful and emotional layer to the story, especially considering how important music is to the narrative itself.

The main character, J, is inspired by Jens Lekman, a singer-songwriter who became known for performing at weddings after writing a song that casually suggested people could hire him for that. J does the same—he meets couples and writes personalized songs for their weddings, songs that capture the love and emotion between them.

Ironically, while J sings about love, he struggles with it in his own life. He’s been in a relationship with V for two years, but when she moves to New York for work, things become distant—literally and emotionally. V doesn’t seem interested in maintaining the relationship, nor does she want J to move to New York. She avoids conversations about where they stand, and J spends most of the book trying to figure it out.

I honestly felt a bit sorry for him. V never really communicates her feelings, and while I understand wanting to chase your own dreams, stringing someone along isn’t fair. J deserves clarity, but never really gets it.

This book didn’t necessarily wow me, but I did enjoy the experience of listening to the audiobook. The songs are beautiful and heartfelt, and I appreciated the contrast between the love J captures in his music and the confusion in his personal life. It’s not a romcom, it’s not a memoir—it’s simply a human story. A reflection on love, longing, and the question we all ask ourselves at some point: why?

I love the songs in this book. I think if anyone has a chance to listen to this book, I would highly recommend it. The narrator sings the songs in the book and it makes the whole experience so much better. I enjoyed the book just fine, but it was the songs for each of the weddings that really made the book what it was.

Thanks NetGalley for the advanced audio copy of this book.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC audiobook.
This was my first book by this author.
I wasn't a fan of the writing style.
The story was interesting and narration was really good.
The song were entertaining.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗦
J is a Swedish man who makes a living as a wedding singer, but with a twist: he will interview you and your partner and write an original as a surprise on the big day.

Woven amongst the stories about the couples and the wedding songs is J’s own love story.

J is in love with V but things are slowly falling apart. When her job takes her across the ocean to NYC, she begins to flex her wings, to find a bigger life than she’d had with J.

And so, between gigs that take him all over the world, the two trade text messages, phone calls, and occasional in person conversations, taking their relationship apart, piece by piece.

After such difficult honesty, will the two find a way to repair the growing cracks, or will they fall apart?

𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦
Complicated.

This is not a romance; it’s a close examination of a relationship.

J is not particularly likable, but that’s a choice made with intention. He’s self absorbed and prioritizes his own feelings over V’s.

But V isn’t much better. She strings J along when it is quite clear that she is finished with him.

There is a terrific examination of the human condition, many funny lines, and the individual weddings are interesting. The songs are clever and a unique addition.

𝗩𝗜𝗕𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗖𝗞
Normal People with a little bit of Adam Sandler in Wedding Singer

𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗗
This is tough. I found the premise fascinating and enjoyed a romance that was devolving; it’s something not often portrayed. But it felt too long and the characters wore me out.

I’m not mad that I listened, but I’m not sure you should.

𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗔𝗨𝗗𝗜𝗢
Jefferson Mays is terrific doing solo narration, but of course, I think you’d miss the main point of the book if you didn’t hear the songs. If you decide to read this, audio is the way to go.

𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗦
@netgalley and @rbmedia provided the ALC. Available 8/5/25.

Songs for Other People’s Weddings was my first novel by David Levithan, and it was such a unique, thoughtful read. The story follows J, a wedding singer who writes an original song for each couple’s special day. Told through a series of weddings, the book showcases a wide variety of relationships and love stories diverse in every sense and I really enjoyed seeing each one unfold.

At its heart, though, this story centers on J and his partner V, and the evolution of their relationship. This isn’t a romance in the traditional sense it’s more a reflection on love itself, the stages a relationship goes through, and what it means to stay, to grow, or to change.

There were moments that felt deeply philosophical and others that were more playful or lighthearted. I especially loved the insights on love it made me reflect and feel in equal measure.

I listened to the ALC while reading along, and I highly recommend that experience. The audiobook brings the songs to life with full performances, which adds so much emotional weight to the story. Reading the lyrics is one thing, but hearing them sung in the context of each wedding made it feel complete.

This was a beautifully crafted look at love in all its forms. Honest, lyrical, and at times bittersweet definitely a story that will stay with me thanks to RB media for the ALC and Abrams Press for the ARC.