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pbg_reader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The perfect read for a rainy day. I breezed through it in about two. The characters jump of the page in all their complicated glory. By turns funny and sentimental, all together a good time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts
thatswhatshanread's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book reads like several different thoughts and feelings until it doesn’t. Which is to say, at first I felt a little lost in the quick dialogue and characters whose relationships overlapped in too many ways—until, without knowing it, I fell into their world with no effort, surrounded by the complex nature of looking for love and wanting companionship, but never quite in the right way. “The Happy Couple” in question is never very happy, and their exes are never very happy, and the impending wedding seems less and less likely as the story goes on in starts and stops, present day and scenes of the past ten years.
Celine and Luke are relatable in the fact that sometimes they are not relatable at all and yet, you see them in pieces everywhere around you. Their relationship is made up of all of the other relationships they’ve been in and are in, not necessarily on just the two of them, and therein lies the dilemma. Luke and Celine aren’t really meant to be together with such an unsteady foundation, but neither of them wants to disturb the peace, which is really a lack thereof.
Perhaps I don’t really know what I’m talking about, but my main takeaway was that, although the timeline was a little murky at times, and there were probably too many characters that I mixed them up at times, I still felt a part of this story. Like maybe I was one of those other relationships that makes up the one. WHAT I’M SAYING IS… Naoise Dolan has a way of getting into your head. Her characters aren’t exactly lovable or particularly notable, but the ways they act and the things they do read just like everyday life. It’s personal in its ambiguity.
Some favorite quotes:
She said one thing and your job was to contradict. You don't care about me' meant Tell me you care', and 'I put all the work in' meant ‘Tell me you're still committed'.
Loneliness wasn’t having no one. Loneliness was the gap between what you hoped for and what you got.
Jane Austen was Jane Austen, and wrote novels that have elicited centuries of tears and laughter. She had an intellect so huge that millions still long to know it. Countless hours of human life have been spent gratefully enjoying the output of her consciousness. If you measure love by how much time another person can spend in your mind while considering the benefit all theirs, then Jane Austen is possibly the most adored woman of all time. And she still couldn't imagine a happier ending than a man becoming less mean.
Celine and Luke are relatable in the fact that sometimes they are not relatable at all and yet, you see them in pieces everywhere around you. Their relationship is made up of all of the other relationships they’ve been in and are in, not necessarily on just the two of them, and therein lies the dilemma. Luke and Celine aren’t really meant to be together with such an unsteady foundation, but neither of them wants to disturb the peace, which is really a lack thereof.
Perhaps I don’t really know what I’m talking about, but my main takeaway was that, although the timeline was a little murky at times, and there were probably too many characters that I mixed them up at times, I still felt a part of this story. Like maybe I was one of those other relationships that makes up the one. WHAT I’M SAYING IS… Naoise Dolan has a way of getting into your head. Her characters aren’t exactly lovable or particularly notable, but the ways they act and the things they do read just like everyday life. It’s personal in its ambiguity.
Some favorite quotes:
She said one thing and your job was to contradict. You don't care about me' meant Tell me you care', and 'I put all the work in' meant ‘Tell me you're still committed'.
Loneliness wasn’t having no one. Loneliness was the gap between what you hoped for and what you got.
Jane Austen was Jane Austen, and wrote novels that have elicited centuries of tears and laughter. She had an intellect so huge that millions still long to know it. Countless hours of human life have been spent gratefully enjoying the output of her consciousness. If you measure love by how much time another person can spend in your mind while considering the benefit all theirs, then Jane Austen is possibly the most adored woman of all time. And she still couldn't imagine a happier ending than a man becoming less mean.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
annoyedhumanoid's review
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
+3 stars for references to Taylor Swift and Mitski
+2 stars for an enjoyable, genuinely funny cohesive collection of character studies that each serve an overarching plot. (Phoebe is my favorite, she's just like me for real—which is exactly what i said about the narrator of Dolan's first novel, Exciting Times.)
-1 star for the awkward length, about halfway between a novel and a novella. there was very little plot progression compared to character development, which isn't inherently bad, but it felt like the story stood in place while we re-litigated every character's past. if it's between being longer with more plot or shorter with less character development, and as someone storygraph brands as "Typically choos[ing] fast-paced books that are <300 pages long", you can imagine i would advocate for the latter. the obvious one to go is Vivian—i don't really know why she got her own part in the first place, except i suppose that what plot it did have couldn't have been told through Luke's because his took the format of groom speech drafts.* i appreciated her outlook on life but it felt only tangentially connected to the rest of the book. i do recognize, though, that her character is the only woman explicitly said to be a person of color, leaving a hole in her absence. it's a difficult predicament then, for which i don't have a good solution that doesn't completely deviate from the author's intent. obviously none of this matters or will ever happen, i just like thinking about how to create the (probably nonexistent) "perfect story".
*+0.5 stars for the very fun format at times. the tables? yes please! tabularly-formatted data is so pleasing to me.
and if you haven't been keeping track, that's 3+2-1+0.5, which comes out to 4.5 stars.
+2 stars for an enjoyable, genuinely funny cohesive collection of character studies that each serve an overarching plot. (Phoebe is my favorite, she's just like me for real—which is exactly what i said about the narrator of Dolan's first novel, Exciting Times.)
-1 star for the awkward length, about halfway between a novel and a novella. there was very little plot progression compared to character development, which isn't inherently bad, but it felt like the story stood in place while we re-litigated every character's past. if it's between being longer with more plot or shorter with less character development, and as someone storygraph brands as "Typically choos[ing] fast-paced books that are <300 pages long", you can imagine i would advocate for the latter. the obvious one to go is Vivian—i don't really know why she got her own part in the first place, except i suppose that what plot it did have couldn't have been told through Luke's because his took the format of groom speech drafts.* i appreciated her outlook on life but it felt only tangentially connected to the rest of the book. i do recognize, though, that her character is the only woman explicitly said to be a person of color, leaving a hole in her absence. it's a difficult predicament then, for which i don't have a good solution that doesn't completely deviate from the author's intent. obviously none of this matters or will ever happen, i just like thinking about how to create the (probably nonexistent) "perfect story".
*+0.5 stars for the very fun format at times. the tables? yes please! tabularly-formatted data is so pleasing to me.
and if you haven't been keeping track, that's 3+2-1+0.5, which comes out to 4.5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
Minor: Racism, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Colonisation
marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Naoise Dolan’s sophomore novel has a fun structure that gives it almost a reality TV tell-all feel. Leading up to the day of the wedding, we hear from the bride; her sister, the bridesmaid; the best man; the groom; and one of the guests. Chock-full of queers, this book has the complicated characters and relationships you might expect from the inimitable Sally Rooney, but it’s funnier and much less depressing (no shade!). In essence, it’s the perfect book candy—a beach read with substance; genuinely interesting lit fic with plenty to laugh about. It’s a clever book, and the ending made me smile. Plus, as a musician, I enjoyed reading Celine’s thoughts about music.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment
jeslis's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Notes:
- Really pleasant book to read overall! Didn't get 5 because it didn't steal my breath away with the delivery of its themes or by being something I will remember forever, but it was fast-paced and very enjoyable.
- A succinct and well-contained book which was an incredibly satisfying experience as a reader. Having the story revolve around a wedding helped to anchor its cast of characters and their relationships. Same event, multiple perspectives/interweaving elements: totally up my alley.
- I also kind of enjoyed that it wasn't a happy ending for Celine and Luke and that they didn't get married. For no other reason than it was fascinating to be left hanging with an atmosphere that felt so much like it had just dropped off into empty air right before the book ended. Also, I think it's a good message to not get married to a serial cheater, even if you do love him haha.
- Really pleasant book to read overall! Didn't get 5 because it didn't steal my breath away with the delivery of its themes or by being something I will remember forever, but it was fast-paced and very enjoyable.
- A succinct and well-contained book which was an incredibly satisfying experience as a reader. Having the story revolve around a wedding helped to anchor its cast of characters and their relationships. Same event, multiple perspectives/interweaving elements: totally up my alley.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Drug use
znvisser's review against another edition
funny
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This blurb promised a mess and I was here for it. After I started reading I spotted some Sally Rooney comparisons in other reviews, but I found Dolans characters more interesting and the writing more fun (it's been a while since I tried Rooney tho). I enjoyed the awkwardly human dialogue, observations and reflections from the characters. And even though I couldn't relate to the 'romantic' relationships portrayed, the non-romantic ones and the roles all characters fulfilled in each others lives felt very real. Wasn't fond of how the distracted enabler and the very troubled cause schemed against their mutual interest towards the end - as if their situations weren't a result of all three of them making mistakes again and again - but I guess realistically it is how such situations would unfold. And luckily, I did feel the last chapter cleared it up and made up for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Infidelity and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Religious bigotry
abi2xoxo's review against another edition
fast-paced
3.75
I did enjoy this book. I got confused at times of who was speaking and terminology used also confused me but I enjoyed the characters! I like the ending and it was satisfying!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship