The People We Hate at the Wedding The People We Hate at the Wedding

The People We Hate at the Wedding

A Novel

    • 3.4 • 211 Ratings
    • $11.99
    • $11.99

Publisher Description

The People We Hate at the Wedding is now a major motion picture starring Kristen Bell, Allison Janney and Ben Platt!

"It’s for the same audience that flocked to The Nest, Where’d You Go, Bernadette? or dare I say a little book you might be a fan of, Crazy Rich Asians."

Kevin Kwan, New York Times bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians

Relationships are awful. They'll kill you, right up to the point where they start saving your life.

Paul and Alice’s half-sister Eloise is getting married! In London! There will be fancy hotels, dinners at “it” restaurants and a reception at a country estate complete with tea lights and embroidered cloth napkins.

They couldn’t hate it more.

The People We Hate at the Wedding is the story of a less than perfect family. Donna, the clan’s mother, is now a widow living in the Chicago suburbs with a penchant for the occasional joint and more than one glass of wine with her best friend while watching House Hunters International. Alice is in her thirties, single, smart, beautiful, stuck in a dead-end job where she is mired in a rather predictable, though enjoyable, affair with her married boss. Her brother Paul lives in Philadelphia with his older, handsomer, tenured track professor boyfriend who’s recently been saying things like “monogamy is an oppressive heteronormative construct,” while eyeing undergrads. And then there’s Eloise. Perfect, gorgeous, cultured Eloise. The product of Donna’s first marriage to a dashing Frenchman, Eloise has spent her school years at the best private boarding schools, her winter holidays in St. John and a post-college life cushioned by a fat, endless trust fund. To top it off, she’s infuriatingly kind and decent.

As this estranged clan gathers together, and Eloise's walk down the aisle approaches, Grant Ginder brings to vivid, hilarious life the power of family, and the complicated ways we hate the ones we love the most in the most bitingly funny, slyly witty and surprisingly tender novel you’ll read this year.

"Sinfully good."
— Elin Hilderbrand

Entertainment Weekly's Summer Must-Read
A Publishers Weekly BEST SUMMER BOOKS, 2017
New York Post Best Books of Summer
Redbook's 10 Books You Have To Read This Summer

GENRE
Fiction & Literature
RELEASED
2017
June 6
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
355
Pages
PUBLISHER
Flatiron Books
SELLER
Macmillan
SIZE
2.7
MB

Customer Reviews

glhince ,

All of this presents a wonderful character study that reveals as much about the speakers as those th

If someone could take the worst moments from your life, those missteps, mistakes and bad endings and then use those as your ‘headlines’ as they precede you through every interaction with family, that would just start to explain this book. Three characters are the foundation for this book about family, dysfunction, expectations and appearances as an invitation to a wedding is received. From the mother who doesn’t speak to her son, to her daughter and his sister who has always maintained a level of animosity, the three voices tell their stories in distinct and clearly presented voices. While some family stories are funny, these are the stories that cling to the worst moments for each person described: messy, often mean and unapologetically amusing, if dark – as long as it isn’t your family or your story.

There are old wounds and resentments, finding life in the facades that everyone puts up, many simply for the interactions with (and because of) family. While we never actually get to the wedding, about half-way in these alternating viewpoints of the upcoming wedding and family dynamics, we see the partners of each person chiming in….

All of this presents a wonderful character study that reveals as much about the speakers as those they are speaking on: the thinly veiled insults, the pleasure in discomfiture of others, and the ability of each character to be completely blind to their own part in each dysfunctional moment. I thought that so much of the mean-spirited humor may be wearing: but sometimes the perfectly formed phrase is JUST what is needed, providing an instant (if more than slightly jaded) image of the person, moment or scene unfolding before us. Satire is meant to convey a touch of over-the-top actions and reactions, and most readers will be thankful that their own family and relations aren’t quite to this level, but there are bits that are sure to be familiar to many. Far different from what I expected, the story was quick reading, cleverly phrased and hard to put down. A favorite for those who like their wit to contain a bite, and are happy to see tumult and dysfunction that is (hopefully) far worse than that around their own gatherings.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

megscka ,

If you're a total snob you might enjoy reading this book

Otherwise it is just depressing and cynical and I recommend you pick something that doesn't make you want to smash your head against something sharp. Totally not worth $12.99.

Carolyn0859 ,

Don’t Bother!

I think this is the first time I read a book where all of the characters are unlikeable. I only finished it because I was hoping that at least one character would change and show redeeming qualities. This did not happen and the book was a waste of my time.

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