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danileah07's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Infertility, and Antisemitism
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
sfbookgirl's review
emotional
lighthearted
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
4.0
I really enjoyed this fun novel about all things weddings and bridesmaids. The main character, Zoey Marks, has built up a repertoire of bad luck. For every wedding that Zoey has been a bridesmaid, the bride has in some way or another not made it down the aisle. Zoey has convinced herself that she is the bad luck and resolves that maybe love just isn’t on her side. But when Zoey receives word that her best friend is getting married and wants Zoey to be her bridesmaid, Zoey is hesitant.
While I don’t possess Zoey’s perspective on life or her decision to give up on love, I still liked Badluck Bridesmaid for its quick pacing and realistic ending. I also appreciated the fact that Zoey isn’t quick to hide her flaws and that the author doesn’t attempt to wrap Zoey’s story up in a cute little bow at the end. If you’re looking for something fun and quick, I recommend this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Moderate: Antisemitism
onmalsshelf's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility
Moderate: Antisemitism
llamareads's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
First off, I’ve seen several places billing this as a second-chance romance. It’s most decidedly not; while Zoey’s romantic arc is a major feature of the book, it’s secondary to her own growth as a person.
Zoey is a self-proclaimed free spirit, perfectly content to be by herself. Her version of happiness is not having plans, not being tied down to anything, and the worst thing she can imagine is being permanently stuck with someone forever. But while she loves rom-coms, she’s never been in love herself – until Rylan. But when he wants what she can’t give him, they disastrously break up. Heartbroken and lost, she agrees to be the bridesmaid at her best friend’s wedding in Ireland, a wedding which her ex will also attend. But after watching three brides fail to make it down the aisle, Zoey’s decided that she’s the problem (oy, self-centered much?). Somehow, her fear of tying the knot is somehow subconsciously influencing her friends to have doubts. If she can get just one of her friends married, surely that will fix whatever’s wrong with her and she can say yes to Rylan happily. Fourth time’s the charm?
Zoey is a self-proclaimed free spirit, perfectly content to be by herself. Her version of happiness is not having plans, not being tied down to anything, and the worst thing she can imagine is being permanently stuck with someone forever. But while she loves rom-coms, she’s never been in love herself – until Rylan. But when he wants what she can’t give him, they disastrously break up. Heartbroken and lost, she agrees to be the bridesmaid at her best friend’s wedding in Ireland, a wedding which her ex will also attend. But after watching three brides fail to make it down the aisle, Zoey’s decided that she’s the problem (oy, self-centered much?). Somehow, her fear of tying the knot is somehow subconsciously influencing her friends to have doubts. If she can get just one of her friends married, surely that will fix whatever’s wrong with her and she can say yes to Rylan happily. Fourth time’s the charm?
“I liked maps that didn’t lead to destinations. I was all about the journey, refusing to give intense thought as to where it would trap me.”
Zoey’s a complicated character. By that, I mean she’s a complete and utter mess (except for her career, of course, where’s she’s complete #bossbitch material). I vacillated between dislike and apathy for a good chunk of the book. She’s frequently self-centered, judgmental and rather shallow. So when she falls – hard – for her best friend’s cousin? Schadenfreude. Rylan may wear boat shoes, but he also owns an apartment in a brownstone that could frankly be featured in a Room and Board catalog and he seems to truly see and appreciate all of Zoey. While she’s prided herself on the fact that she’s always been upfront about her commitment to no commitments, with Rylan, she can’t quite get the words out. So when he proposes after over a year of dating? It’s a shock, but she should be able to finally say “yes” – if only for her curse. Frankly, I didn’t care much for Rylan, as he seemed fine with Zoey’s “quirkiness” until it clashed with his own expectations. Plus, his actions at the wedding – including showing up with a date who, it turns out, is clueless about his past relationship with Zoey – were so jerkish as to make him unredeemable to me.
There’s a lot of backstory that clogs up the pacing. The first 10% of the book covers Zoey’s first three attempts at being a bridesmaid, followed by the saga of her romance with Rylan. That part of the book was, well, aggressively fine. Sure, it was cute and everything, but as a romance reader, it just felt like it was missing something. It’s only during he second half of the book – once Zoey arrives in Ireland – that the pace picks up and I finally got engaged. There’s some truly funny bits (the Loch Ness monster had me laughing like a maniac) but what really kept me going was the train wreck-quality of watching all the messy characters interact. Because, while Zoey may be the messiest character in the book, the rest of the characters are all vying for second place. Hannah, a pinnacle of WASP perfection, has been Zoey’s best friend since they were tiny, and their friendship survived all of Zoey’s moves throughout childhood, despite their very different outlooks on life. They’ve been there through each other, thick and thin, but after a couple of truth bombs that could lead to marital issues down the line, Zoey’s determination to see Hannah walk down the aisle might not be the best thing for her best friend. Hannah’s future BIL, Ezra, who’s fresh off a divorce and deadset on convincing his brother that the marriage is a bad idea, is possibly the least messy, though he also gets points for being hilariously sarcastic.
Overall, 3.5 stars, rounded down to three, since it’s just aggressively fine. If you can get past the beginning, it’s a fun read, though most decidedly not a romance. Recommended if you like messy characters being their messiest at a destination wedding.
I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Antisemitism
foreverinastory's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This one was something...not sure what kind of something though.
Zoey Marks is a cursed bridesmaids. Every time she's been someone's bridesmaid, they end up not going through with the wedding. After the third strike, Zoey is starting to wonder if her ambivalence towards marriage has began to rub off on her loved ones. Then her perfect boyfriend proposes and Zoey says no. The two are heartbroken and left wondering what went wrong. Months later, Hannah, Zoey's best friend, is getting married in Ireland and she's asked Zoey to be her bridesmaid. Zoey is determined to get her best friend down the aisle to prove to herself that she's not cursed and then she'll be able to accept Rylan's proposal. Nothing can go wrong, right?
This was such a strange story, but I did generally like it. A lot of my ambivalence towards this book is to do with the writing style and pacing. The first 20% we get like a crash course of Zoey and Rylan meeting, their first date and then they've been dating for a year. It was a lot to happen in the first chunk and we didn't even really experience all of it. Zoey tells us like a brief summary of her relationship. It felt so odd to have this super whiplash dating and then after that everything slows down and revolves around Hannah's wedding which is like a week long vacation to it.
Zoey has a very big hangup about marriage, but even I still struggle to understand why she has this hangup by the end. She could never really explain it to Rylan or herself. I don't truly care about marriage hangups, but it was made into such a central point of tension, that I felt like we should've gotten a clearer answer. Which also leads me to my headcanon that Zoey is aromantic. Her ambivalence towards marriage and generally romantic coded things really resonated with me and I think had Zoey heard that term it might help her understand some of her own feelings. Also when she was saying how important her friendship with Hannah was, that really got me. I need more platonic soulmates between women in my books.
Rep: Jewish aro-coded female MC, white cishet male love interest, white Irish cishet male love interest, white lesbian female side character, sapphic female side character.
CWs: Alcohol consumption, infidelity, infertility, injury/injury detail. Moderate: antisemitism.
This one was something...not sure what kind of something though.
Zoey Marks is a cursed bridesmaids. Every time she's been someone's bridesmaid, they end up not going through with the wedding. After the third strike, Zoey is starting to wonder if her ambivalence towards marriage has began to rub off on her loved ones. Then her perfect boyfriend proposes and Zoey says no. The two are heartbroken and left wondering what went wrong. Months later, Hannah, Zoey's best friend, is getting married in Ireland and she's asked Zoey to be her bridesmaid. Zoey is determined to get her best friend down the aisle to prove to herself that she's not cursed and then she'll be able to accept Rylan's proposal. Nothing can go wrong, right?
This was such a strange story, but I did generally like it. A lot of my ambivalence towards this book is to do with the writing style and pacing. The first 20% we get like a crash course of Zoey and Rylan meeting, their first date and then they've been dating for a year. It was a lot to happen in the first chunk and we didn't even really experience all of it. Zoey tells us like a brief summary of her relationship. It felt so odd to have this super whiplash dating and then after that everything slows down and revolves around Hannah's wedding which is like a week long vacation to it.
Zoey has a very big hangup about marriage, but even I still struggle to understand why she has this hangup by the end. She could never really explain it to Rylan or herself. I don't truly care about marriage hangups, but it was made into such a central point of tension, that I felt like we should've gotten a clearer answer. Which also leads me to my headcanon that Zoey is aromantic. Her ambivalence towards marriage and generally romantic coded things really resonated with me and I think had Zoey heard that term it might help her understand some of her own feelings. Also when she was saying how important her friendship with Hannah was, that really got me. I need more platonic soulmates between women in my books.
Rep: Jewish aro-coded female MC, white cishet male love interest, white Irish cishet male love interest, white lesbian female side character, sapphic female side character.
CWs: Alcohol consumption, infidelity, infertility, injury/injury detail. Moderate: antisemitism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Antisemitism
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