The Wedding Season by Katy Birchall
Published: May 3, 2022
St. Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 390
Genre: Romance
KKECReads Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.
Katy Birchall is the author of several young adult novels, including The It Girl series, the Hotel Royale series, and Morgan Charmley: Teen Witch. She is the co-author of the middle-grade Lightning Girl series and Star Switch with Alesha Dixon and the Find the Girl teen series with YouTube stars Lucy and Lydia Connell. Katy was proud to be the author of a retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma for the Awesomely Austen series, a collection of Austen’s novels retold for younger readers. She has also written a non-fiction book, How to Be a Princess: Real-Life Fairy Tales for Modern Heroines. Katy lives in London with her partner, Ben, and her rescue dog, Bono.
But when Matthew calls things off hours before they walk down the aisle, Freya’s entire life plan goes up in smoke. Humiliated and heartbroken, the last thing she wants is to attend a summer of other peoples’ nuptials on her own.
Fortunately, her friends have an idea: together they devise a series of outrageous challenges for Freya to complete at each event, designed to distract her from Matthew and what might have been. From getting stuck in an old church bathroom and needing to be rescued by the vicar to making out with a barman at a French chateau, Freya realizes that despite herself, she might just be having fun.
By the time the final wedding arrives, she will discover that the road to a happy ending sometimes has unexpected detours, that “I do” is only the beginning––and that perhaps her own love story isn’t over just yet.
“When you get dumped the day before your wedding in a broom cupboard, suddenly everything seems a bit shit.”
Freya had spent a year planning what she thought would be her dream wedding. But the day before, her fiancé drops a bomb- he isn’t in love with her and can’t go through with it. Most people would crumble at this point. But not Freya. She’s fine, it’s fine. Everything is just fine. Until she realizes he has seven weddings to attend this summer. Hers should have been the start time of wedding season. Now, she has to figure out life as a single woman at her friend’s weddings and try to process what life looks like now.
This was such a beautiful story of loss, love, and forgiveness. I loved the themes in this book. And I love that so much of the plot revolves around Freya’s love for her best friends.
This was such a sweet story, and the characters were perfect. I loved Freya’s development throughout the novel. Watching her come to terms with herself and figure out that she is who she is, and that is okay.
There were a lot of powerful, beautiful themes running in this novel, and it was so well executed. This story would make the best series if done correctly.
The growth that was written was so realistic. It was so easy to imagine myself in Freya’s position. I enjoyed witnessing her come to grips with her situation.
This is one of those stories where you find yourself smiling at the book like a fool, but it was so heartfelt and genuinely caring that there was no other way to continue.
This was an excellent novel by an author I had never read before. The writing was easy to read, and the emotions were genuine. This is an absolute smash hit, and I loved every second.