The Wedding People - Alison Espach

I recently finished The Wedding People by Alison Espach, which was my number one fiction read of 2024. I enjoyed the flow of the book a lot, but in the end, I felt it was somewhat lukewarm, it lacked a closing with greater impact.

This was the first non-technical book I read entirely in English. In Portuguese, it’s called Como Arruinar Um Casamento. It’s a novel that starts from an apparently banal event, a wedding, to talk about loneliness, social expectations, and what it really means to connect with someone. The book has sharp moments, smart observations, and dialogues that sometimes feel so real they pull you into the story.

What worked for me was this mix of subtle humor with melancholy. The author manages to show how a social moment can reveal insecurities and vulnerabilities in each character. In some sections, I felt the narrative could speed up, but perhaps that slowness is part of the style.

In the end, I felt I had read something sincere and honest about ordinary people and their contradictions. It’s not jaw-dropping with a shocking finale, but it’s engaging and reflective.