Alison Espach's The Wedding People was released in the summer of 2024 and immediately struck a chord with readers with its dark humor, romance, and examination of female friendship. I loved The Wedding People and have been recommending it ever since, but now many people I talk to have already read it! If you want to read a novel similar to The Wedding People, check out the list below!
If you appreciated The Wedding People's ability to tackle tough subjects with a lot of humor and a beach resort backdrop, The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella should be your next read. The novel opens with Sasha having the type of breakdown at work that you only imagine having on your worst days. But every day feels like it's been Sasha's worst day, and today she couldn't do it anymore. She ran - straight to the beach resort she used to love visiting while growing up but is shocked to find that the beach resort is now deserted. The only other person staying at the resort is Finn, and his brooding is getting in the way of her rejuvenation journey and manifestation exercises. She's forced to talk to him when random messages start appearing on the beach and is surprised to find herself drawn to him. The Burnout is funny, touching, and perfectly evocative of a moody British seaside vacation.
I was reminded of Phoebe and Lila's friendship while reading Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors, a story of fierce sisterhood as the remaining Blue sisters try to learn their new normal after the death of their sister Nicky a year prior. Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky are all handling the death of their sister in their own destructive way and steadfastly refusing to acknowledge one another when they receive an email from their mother letting them know that she's selling the family NYC apartment where Nicky was found dead. Told from each sister's perspective over the course of their lives, Blue Sisters is an incredible novel about sisterhood, family, addiction, and the pressure that you'll never live up to your fullest.
Phoebe's career as an academic made me feel like I was getting a peek behind the scenes of a university academic department, similar to how I felt reading about Millie's life as a residential assistant at the University of Arkansas in Kiley Reid's Come and Get It. As the school year begins, Millie finds herself involved with a visiting professor named Angela who's come to the university to write a book about weddings. Millie sets Angela up with three of her corner suite residents so she can interview them. Come and Get It isn't just a story of Millie's year at the University of Arkansas but also Angela's and the three college students' choices that have all led them to this tumultuous year. Sometimes funny, sometimes tense, Come and Get It is an enjoyable and provocative read.
If you like your books on the more thriller side of things, check out One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke. You'll have the wedding subplot (a bachelorette party!), a beachside location (Greece!), and fraught female relationships (will they make it out alive?!). One of the Girls follows six different women during their trip to Greece to celebrate their friend Lexi's bachelorette party but it quickly becomes clear that all of the women are hiding secrets and that someone is set on making sure Lexi's wedding does not happen - and that someone doesn't leave the party alive. The alternating chapters are fast-paced, the setting of Greece is beautifully described, and the novel features a twisty, scary approach to a story of female friendship.
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