Review: Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

by Jewels E 5/09/2017 0 comments

It's been a long time since I read a novel by Sophie Kinsella. And I've always enjoyed her books because I was always able to take something away from them and feel that the novel was deeper than meets the eye. Wedding Night made me laugh and it made me sigh.

My Rating: 3❀'s
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
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I'm not really sure what to say about this book. At first, it was highly entertaining. Lottie, the main character is ecstatic that her boyfriend is going to propose to her. Her excitement leads to a hilarious scene in which Richard, said boyfriend, does not propose to her. Lottie is gobsmacked and publicly humiliated and breaks up with Richard immediately. It seems sensible actually, at first, even if she was being a total girl about getting engaged.

And then you learn more about Lottie through her sister. And you start to wonder if either of these sisters has any sense at all.

You all know I'm a big fan of romance and the whole HEA. But I did kinda find it a little offensive that the women in this series hung the sun and moon on the concept of getting married. Or being divorced. Essentially, on a relationship. It seemed to highlight to me the pressure women are still under to marry, have children and be otherwise traditional. And the pressure women especially feel to get married and have kids in their twenties and early to mid thirties. And I found that sad because it reminded me of how stigmatized single women are, and how others view their lives as somehow alien. As if a woman's entire being is only fully realized when she is married and has given birth to at least two children. So yeah, while the whole plot was hilarious and made for fantastic comedy, I did find the plot ridiculous. The lengths Felicity went to in order to prevent her sister from becoming married in the biblical sense was beyond absurd. And the fact that Lottie threw herself into a marriage with the next available, willing man was funny yes, but also pathetic.

So, while I laughed a lot at first while reading this novel, the more I read, the more lackluster it became for me. It seemed less about a romance or about two sisters than it did about two women being divas because of their significant others. The novel is meant to be light, and funny and is comedy but the chords struck were sour as I felt significant women's issues were touched upon and perhaps, not as seriously as they ought have been.

Happy Listening, 

Jewels