The Wedding Date (The Wedding Date, #1) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Jul 07, 2018 Holly rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2018

A very mild 3 stars for me (maybe 2.5). I had heard nothing but good things about this book and it's been on some people's Top Books of the Year So Far lists. After reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for the first time, I was ready for something lighthearted and fast-paced, so I decided to read The Wedding Guest.
Ultimately I was left disappointed for the following reasons:
1) I didn't feel that the characters were that well drawn. Apart from the romantic nature of the relationship (and the charact A very mild 3 stars for me (maybe 2.5). I had heard nothing but good things about this book and it's been on some people's Top Books of the Year So Far lists. After reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for the first time, I was ready for something lighthearted and fast-paced, so I decided to read The Wedding Guest.
Ultimately I was left disappointed for the following reasons:
1) I didn't feel that the characters were that well drawn. Apart from the romantic nature of the relationship (and the characters have a LOT of sex, which is fine--I get it--they are at the very beginning of a relationship where they can't keep their hands of each other), I didn't get why they liked each other so much. I truly don't mind reading about sex in novels--I'm fully aware that I was reading a romance after all--most of the sex is fade to black and not graphic. Most of the supporting characters were not well drawn either--I would have liked to have known more about Alexa's friends and sister and Drew's friend Carlos.
2) Much of the time Drew (and occasionally Alexa) act really jealous and possessive of each other. To me that's not romance, that's toxic. Anytime a guy talks to Alexa, Drew comes right over to put his hands on her because he senses the need to "rescue her" from a couple of jerks. He's also suspicious of her friend Theo and of his own friend Carlos. To me, that's not romance or any foundation of a relationship. Being jealous and suspicious of her friends and his own really isn't romantic to me in any way, shape, or form or the basis for a romantic relationship that I can get behind.
3) Like many/most rom-coms, much of the "drama" could just be avoided if they talked to each other like grownups. Seriously! Each of these people just assume what the other thinks and feels without actually having a conversation with each other. It would be one thing if these people were in their late teens or early twenties, but these people are in their thirties and ostensibly "grown up".
4) The interracial nature of the relationships felt like it could have been explored much more and given more weight. White privilege is mentioned, but not explored much and most of that seemed very surface to me. I wanted there to be more, I wanted to learn more.
5) Drew is an arsehole to his friend Carlos most of the time. I wanted to yell at Carlos to get out of that friendship because Drew is constantly yelling at him, being suspicious and jealous of his friendship with Alexa, and essentially brings nothing to the relationship/friendship. I get that on some levels Drew is a *guy* and it's hard for guys to talk about their feelings, but Drew is a straight up jerk to Carlos ALL THE TIME when Carlos is just trying to be a good friend.
6) This book would not pass the Bechdel test. A lot of the time two women talk it's to talk about guys--specifically Drew. There might have been one or two times when the ladies in the book don't talk about guys, but not that many.
7) Ugh, don't even get me started on the Epilogue. Most of the time I hate epilogues and this one was no different.
8) The writing mechanics were sometimes clunky (for me). I wish there was more varied word choice.
I felt like there was a great opportunity for a really good book that explored some deeper themes, but unfortunately it just didn't deliver that for me. I wanted to like it more, I really did. ...more

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Dec 04, 2018 CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph rated it liked it

Shelves: diversity, black, erotic, romance, ownvoices, 2019-reading-challenge

This was a pleasant and diverse romantic read that unfortunately didn't blow me away like I thought it would. Perhaps some of it was because I got distracted mid book and took several months to get back and finish more than half the book. Then again, perhaps I got distracted because the mid section of the book just seems to involve a lot of the same: food. alcohol. over the top amounts of perfect sex. Alexa feeling insecure. Drew being in denial. Trips back and forth from the airport. Meeting mo This was a pleasant and diverse romantic read that unfortunately didn't blow me away like I thought it would. Perhaps some of it was because I got distracted mid book and took several months to get back and finish more than half the book. Then again, perhaps I got distracted because the mid section of the book just seems to involve a lot of the same: food. alcohol. over the top amounts of perfect sex. Alexa feeling insecure. Drew being in denial. Trips back and forth from the airport. Meeting more new people. I pushed through half the book in one sitting last night because it was overdue to the library, and I'll say that the book does pick up towards the end, and that I was happy with the ending, even though I wasn't extremely invested. But it was a little too late for me.
I think my favorite part of the story was what a pain Carlos was to Drew. he was the friend Drew deserved, although I'm not sure Drew was the friend Carlos deserved, especially after some of his accusations. I saw that the second book is about Carlos, which is what tempts me to pick it up, despite being underwhelmed by the first book. I might just wait awhile before trying it, to give me time to reset and make sure it's not just me being a crank.
Drew in general was hit or miss for me. I loved that Alexa (and Carlos?) had him check his privilege so often. I loved that he wasn't threatened by Alexa's high powered and demanding job. and (view spoiler)but I found his annoyance at Alexa's friendship with Theo to be petty and insecure. Just ask her, you dummy. Same as when he flipped out at Carlos and Alexa and threw around stupid accusations. or how he freaked out and cursed out Alexa over a tough conversation. What a child. Frankly, communication between Drew and Alexa is probably the weakest part of their relationship. Good sex and similar taste in food is not enough of a thing in common to build a strong relationship, IMO.
Overall, the story is sweet, and not bad. some of the sex scenes are pretty smoking, and their relationship is cute. I really appreciated the depiction of Alexa's strong relationships, with both males and females, independent of her relationship, and the depiction of Alexa as a strong, emotionally and financially independent woman who just so happened to find a relationship that suited her. also, there's food talked about all the time, if you're into that. burgers, tacos, donuts, pizza, dumplings, cheese and crackers. (I can think of what food was mentioned more easily than most of what the plot involved.). I know a lot of people loved this book, which makes me think it's my fault somehow. Hopefully you'll love it more than I did. ...more

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Feb 07, 2018 Jana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018, fiction

Delightfully perfect romance, very real mixed-race couple stuff, I loved every page.

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Mar 22, 2018 Elizabeth rated it it was ok

It's sweet, but it's also mostly the story of how two people mysteriously refuse to ever drive on the 5 when they need to get from LA to the Bay. So many airplane tickets rebooked! So stressful the amount of rebooking fees that they probably incurred! ...more

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