Wedding Season

by Darcy Cosper

"Getting married these days is like, I don't know- using leeches or bloodletting to correct an imbalance of humours, instead of taking a rational twenty-first-century antibiotic."

Joy is a twenty-nine year old ghost-writer, New Yorker, and girlfriend to a gorgeous photographer named Gabe.  Joy is both committed to Gabe and to her strong anti-marriage stance.  The good thing is, Gabe never wants to get married, either. Everything looks for good for Joy, at the onset of this novel.

By the unlucky hand of fate, Joy is forced to attend seventeen weddings in six months.  Among those seventeen, Joy dons a bridesmaid dress to just under half of the ceremonies.  Joy goes to dozens of parties, showers, dress-fittings, and weddings.  She gets in arguments with her friends because of her views on marriage; she is even kicked out of one bridal party because of her ideas. She fields questions time after time as to when she and Gabe will finally tie the knot.  

I liked Joy at the beginning of the novel.  She seemed like a strong woman, who stuck to her convictions.  Throughout the novel, I felt tired for Joy.  I mean, she is wholly against marriage, and she has to attend so many weddings and wedding-related occasions. In the end though, I was confused and a little disappointed by Joy. She loses so much by the end of the novel and I'm not sure for what ends.  I like the fact that she is able to stick to what she believes in, but it's not clear to me at all why she believes in it so strongly in the first place.

I loved the idea of Joy, as a concept.  She reminded me of one of Austen's heroines: strong, determined, and ahead of her time.  Sadly though, as a character, Joy seemed selfish and childish at times instead of strong-willed and passionate.  

Have you read this book? Let me know what you thought of it.
♥ Meg xoxo