Eventually, the Wheels Had to Fall Off

Well, here we are—Thursday. Which, for the record, is not Wednesday. And yet, here I am, finally realising that my weekly Wednesday book review never happened. Did I plan to write it? Of course. Did I remember earlier in the week that I needed to do it? Absolutely. Did I actually do it? Not even a little bit.

I’d love to say this was some kind of deliberate literary experiment—keeping you on the edge of your seats, wondering what book would grace your screens this week. But no. The truth? Work is hectic, my reading capacity is at an all-time low, and I’m at that special level of exhaustion where I’m too tired to function but somehow too wired to sleep. By the time I crawled into bed last night, that nagging "I forgot something" feeling had been drowned out by sheer survival mode.

So, a day late, but here we are. Welcome to my world. Let’s talk books! This week (not on a Wednesday) we are diving into The Wedding People by Alison Espach.

You know that feeling when you pick up a book expecting a light, breezy read, and then—bam—you’re completely hooked? That was me with The Wedding People. I devoured it. Couldn’t put it down.

Some books ease you in gently. This is not one of those books. It grabs you from the first page and doesn’t let go—equal parts dark, funny, and utterly immersive.

At the centre of it all is Phoebe, a woman who checks into a fancy Rhode Island hotel where a wedding is in full swing. The thing is… she doesn’t know anyone there. She’s not a guest. And yet, somehow, the hotel let her book a room at the same hotel completely overrun by “the wedding people”. She definitely hasn’t come to celebrate (I won’t tell you why she is there (no spoilers).

But instead of carrying out her original plan, she gets pulled into the chaotic world of the wedding people. The guests, the drama, the small moments of human connection that start to chip away at her resolve. Over the course of the weekend, Phoebe is forced to engage with life in ways she never expected.

This book is layered, sharp, and deeply character-driven. Espach doesn’t just create interesting characters—she builds people who feel real. The awkward conversations, the social pretences, the unspoken tensions at a wedding where everyone has their own agenda—it’s all there.

Phoebe is complicated, lost, and yet wryly observant. You feel for her, even when she’s resisting connection, and she’s laugh out loud funny. The wedding guests are a fascinating, messy mix of personalities—the kind of people you’ve met before (or maybe the kind of person you’ve been at a wedding).

If you love character-driven fiction that blends emotional depth with dry wit, The Wedding People is for you. It’s gripping, unconventional, and impossible to put down. It perfectly balances the heaviness of its themes with a sense of intrigue and dark humour, making it the kind of book that makes for the perfect summer read. (Hey, it’s still summer in NZ for one more day).

So there you have it—a book review, a day late, fuelled by chaos and caffeine, but here nonetheless. Much like Phoebe at the wedding, I may not have arrived in the most graceful way, but hey, I showed up.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to figure out what else I’ve spectacularly forgotten this week. Emails? Appointments? My own name? Who’s to say. But one thing I do know for sure is that life is too short to read bad books.