The Wedding Season

I just finished reading the book titled, “The Wedding Season” by Katy Birchall and found it delightful and a feel-good novel for readers who love rom coms. Freya was the main character in the novel, whose fiancé dumped her on the eve of her wedding because she was too prim and proper for his liking, and she is forced to confront her own insecurities as a result. The story takes off in a setting reminiscent of Four Weddings and a Funeral with a delightful cast of characters (her brother, Adrian, her father, her best friend Ruby and her fiancé, and her long-lost mother) who impart their pearls of wisdom as Freya journeys onwards in rediscovering who she is and what she wants out of life. Her adventures and mishaps make for a very entertaining read and while she is in the process of figuring out her goals and dreams, she learns to let go of her inhibitions and sheds her fears on the notion that she is a mediocre individual and a failure in her personal and professional life. Although at the beginning, she is seen as someone who never steps up to the plate career-wise (i.e., presenting new ideas for marketing beverages), by the time the reader gets to the end of the novel, Freya is observed as someone “coming out of her shell” and consequently, we, as readers, applaud her for her improvements; at the same time, while dealing with her family and her ongoing issues with her mother, Freya encounters a man who works in a company rivaling her own, and inextricably, becomes enamored of him even while they battle out their ongoing issues on who has the better job, who has the better beverage company-wide, and ultimately, they agree to disagree. Their friendship evolves as the storyline continues and the reader gets immersed into their dynamic interactions but it isn't until Freya finally gets up the courage to resolve the pending issues from her relationship with Matthew, that she moves on with her life and finds romance with her nemesis/friend. I loved this book for its comical description of true-to-life wedding mishaps as experienced by the beguiling Freya, our heroine, and the all-around dramedies surrounding her wacky family. For me, I can attest that the book bespoke a certain delightful charm that I couldn't resist and long after the book was put down, I still found it resonated with me. Thank you for this well-written and joyful read and I hope to read more from this author who also wrote a novel titled, “The Secret Bridesmaid,” another feel-good novel of proportionate comedic wit. 

The Wedding Season is about Freya whose fiance breaks up with her hours before their wedding. Facing a whole summer of weddings that she now has to face as recently single. To get her mind off of the breakup and to help her put down her walls, her friends set up a challenge for her at each wedding.

This one read more like a women's fiction rather than romance. I do also love women's fiction so this wasn't a problem for me, but it would probably be good to know before you dive into the book.

One of the reasons I wish the book was more of a romance was because I absolutely loved the love interest, Jamie. I liked that they challenged each other, and I especially loved their banter. Which made me wish Jamie was featured a lot more in the book. We just needed more scenes with him in it.

Freya is surrounded by some great family. Both of regular and found kind. Her friends are so funny and supportive. Plus, I loved how the strained relationships in the family were handled. It felt very healing.

The overall premise was great too. The challenges that Freya's friends set on her are fun and they really work, both in terms of getting Freya more out of her shell, but also in terms of keeping the book interesting throughout. You never know how Freya is going to tackle one of the challenges, and it's really enjoyable to see her growth throughout.

I did appreciate that this book tackled the feelings of going through a breakup. While I did think that it was a little one note, I found the feelings Freya went through quite authentic. However, I do wish there was more variety in her feelings, breakup can feel like other kinds of grief. So I was hoping she would go through similar stages like anger. Especially considering she seems to have flashbacks to instances where her ex is being very unsupportive. Mainly I wanted her to slowly see that she might be better off, instead of all at once.

I also found the timing to be a little odd. There were many scenes I was really interested in, but the book actually glossed over them, giving us only a few details over bullet points or just a summary. Inversely, there scenes that seemed to not have any bearing on the overall story but they took up a lot of time.

Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐.8

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC!