Rating: Summary: Stay Away!! Review: I could barely stomach getting through this book. The author is so worried about sounding intellectual that she made a barely readable book. Of course, the ending was unexpected, and would have been an interesting ending if there was really any revelation behind it. Okay, I get it, Joy doesn't like marriage, but they never really give any substantial or understandable reason for her belief. The characters were either over the top or had no personality, not to mention there were about a hundred too many with about seventeen different unresolved subplots. Stay away from this book- unless you want a headache.
Rating: Summary: A sparkling and astringent social comedy Review: I feel like some of the reviewers on this board, misled by the book's cotton-candy packaging, might have bought Wedding Season expecting the typical chick-lit froth. In fact, Darcy Cosper's book is a far more sophisticated enterprise. I'd describe it as great, pointed social satire, with more than a splash of wit and verve. There's a lot of fine New York social portraiture, and vivid character sketches: one pal is described as "part hip-hip tomboy and part Hello Kitty kitch princess....She has a dozen little rhinestone barrettes holding her hair so that it sticks out in little tufts, and when she speaks, the tufts quiver like antennae." It's true that Joy, the narrator, obviously thinks of herself as a bit cérèbrale; but so what? I got a kick out of all of her little bon mots and mordant asides. Besides, Cosper doesn't seem to be holding Joy up as any sort of role model. She is obviously a flawed character, given to occasional bouts of stridency and self-centeredness. That's what makes her interesting. This sounds like an English-teachery point, but Joy really does go through an (ahem) evolution over the course of the novel - from a pretention-prone flibbertigibbet, to an actual grownup, who is trying to move beyond her specious theorizing and live a purposeful life that actually means something. I liked this book very much. I'm going to be recommending it to my book group, as I think it will spark some interesting debates on the social politics of marriage, the true nature of female friendship, etc.
Rating: Summary: Crapola Review: I gave this book every chance to interest me, but gave up by page 100. What a pretentious load of junk. I must be getting old...who are these characters the author writes about? Probably the artsy crowd I avoid at all costs. I hated this drivel.
Rating: Summary: The Season's Over Review: I love books about weddings, considering I'm not a newlywed but still new at marriage. So when I saw The Wedding Season by an author I never read before, I decided to give it a shot.
Why oh why did I give it a shot.
The story itself was fine, a few surprises here and there, but I generally was not a fan. What kind of world is it when EVERYTHING works out for the best and characters simply learn a valuable lesson here and there? No large embarrassing scenes that make a reader cringe, no arguments...everything was just done so neatly, I was kind of repulsed by the easiness of the characters life (albeit one or two, but you get my drift).
The book was okay, and I stress just O-K. Not great, just a quick read that is somewhat entertaining. I think I'll give Ms. Cosper the benefit of the doubt and try another book for now.
Rating: Summary: Wedding Season Review: I love it! How much fun. I wish I could attend all dreadful weddings with Joy Silverman on my arm. I loved the ending, what a pleasant non-Hollywood surprise. Way to go Ms. Cosper!
Rating: Summary: hilarious, intelligent and insightful Review: I love this book so much I couldn't wait to finish it before I sent this review. This book is funny and clever, but it also addresses several interesting and thoughtful issues about marraige that women in this day are confronted with... it is an honest look into the complexities of relationships between men and women, but also, and maybe more importantly, between women and women. I can't wait to see how it ends. And I hope that the author writes another book soon.
Rating: Summary: smart, funny & utterly human Review: I LOVED this book. It's one of those that recognizes smart women for what they are--intelligent, vulnerable, complex and able to recognize that the absurd and the meaningful are not always mutually exclusive. This is a refreshing change of pace from all the trashy, mindless "chick lit" out there. The book is entertaining, yes, but in a way that makes you feel the richer for it. The experience is not unlike getting stuck in an elevator for a few hours with a few of your most insightful and witty friends. After reading Wedding Season, you'll feel like you just made a couple new ones... A highly recommended read.
Rating: Summary: Disappointing Review: I read this book for a book club. Although it is outside my usual areas of interest, I was ready to be entertained and/or enlightened.
I did not really enjoy this book. I found the main character unsympathetic, and there were too many peripheral characters. The plethora of peripheral characters made it hard to keep them all straight and also prevented the author from fully developing them, so they all ended up seeming very two-dimensional.
Also, I disliked the ending. I felt that the author lost interest in her book just prior to the last two chapters (as had I) and made a desperate attempt to wrap things up.
Rating: Summary: There needs to be a sequel Review: I really enjoyed this book, but it really needs a sequel. It was very easy and enjoyable book to read, but I think everyone must know what happened to Joy and Gabe, and if Christopher ever gets another true love. Could that true love be Joy? Stay tuned to see what happens next.
Rating: Summary: What The (Other) Critics Say Review: I thought that perhaps prospective readers might be interested in seeing what professional reviewers thought of the book, in addition to viewing the opinions of the readers here.
Below are excerpts from reviews in magazines and newspapers:
"Sly and sharp."
-- Publishers Weekly
"Crackling banter, vibrant [characters], and pithy observations...A-."
-- Entertainment Weekly
"Cosper...[writes] with the wit of an Evelyn Waugh acolyte and the insight of an anthropologist. Wedding Season is well worth a trip down the (bookstore) aisle."
--Elle
"Sharp cultural commentary...rises above the trappings of the genre...Cosper's a terrific, elegant writer and Wedding Season is bursting with brilliant takes on bourgeois wedding culture."
--Time Out New York
"A charming, satirical look at love, marriage, and what happens to people with less-than-conventional convictions when society challenges them at every turn."
-- Booklist
"A razor-sharp social critique...like a scallop-edged invite that gives you a paper cut, this book goes deeper than its lighthearted, beach-read cover implies...Readers will find Joy to be bracingly modern, with a depth of intellect and emotion that goes far beyond the husband-seeking heroines so pervasive in novels that appeal to young women. Cosper rejects the passé objectives of Jane Austen's protagonists, but retains their sharp wit and stubborn idealism, while her colorful supporting characters are reminiscent of Thackeray's-parodies of themselves, yet ultimately human."
--The Brooklyn Rail
"The best of the [Jane Austen-inspired] bunch."
--Village Voice
"Smart and blithe, with big ideas and a big heart."
-- Daily Candy
"Be ready for a new kind of happy ending."
-- Glamour
"A must-read."
--The Boston Herald
"One of the spring's best."
--People
And here are some responses from other writers:
"Wonderful...Wedding Season is social comedy on a grand scale. A hilarious and urbane primer on getting hitched-or not-in the twenty-first century."
-- Gary Shteyngart, bestselling author of The Russian Debutante's Handbook
"If Jane Austen and Candace Bushnell were to meet for a long drink in a downtown bar, the delightful result might be a contemporary comedy of manners with a decidedly old-fashioned feel. Darcy Cosper has given us just that: a sweet and sharply funny concoction that will have all bridesmaids everywhere nodding their heads in recognition."
-- Dani Shapiro, author of Family History
"Everybody is doing it in this book-getting married, that is. Wedding Season is a glorious depiction of the battle between the sexes (and the same sexes); it is a gem of a novel, sparkling with heart and wit and humor."
-- Jonathan Ames, author of What's Not to Love?
"With Wedding Season, Darcy Cosper takes on the puzzle of love with such sweet, sly, lusty, whole-hearted brilliance, the eternal questions seem newly sprung, and deeply, beautifully answered. Noel Coward would blush with pleasure."
-- Mary-Beth Hughes, author of Wavemaker II
"Long after Darcy Cosper's sure-handed Wedding Season has its irresistible way with you, you remember her people-particularly the cantankerous, vulnerable, hypersmart Joy Silverman. Cosper has a faultless ear for their talk and a sharp comic eye for their vagaries. But what ultimately sets it apart from other contemporary novels of urban manners is her tough-minded affection for [her characters] as they navigate their seductive, scary passages from full-of-beans young adulthood to fully adult life."
-- David Gates, author of Jernigan, Preston Falls, and The Wonders of the Invisible World
"I adored Wedding Season. Not only is it a delight to read, with some of the sweetest, smart-talking characters I've encountered in a long while, it contains wonderful insights about the institution of marriage that are so revelatory I had to read them aloud to my One and Only. It's very alive, very funny, and yet quite serious at its core."
-- Lisa Lerner, author of Just Like Beauty
"Eloquent...refreshing...an engaging meditation on life and love, independence and vulnerability, Wedding Season defies expectations and does so with humor and heart. Darcy Cosper's debut is entertaining and insightful, funny and bittersweet, and best of all, honest."
-- Elizabeth Crane, When The Messenger Is Hot
"Wedding Season is super-funny, with a dizzying confetti-toss of characters. Just when you think you'd heard it all about single girls and their marriage anxiety, Darcy Cosper comes along and, with high-energy humor, intensity, and some serious thinking, reaches deep into the subject of modern love."
-- Mike Albo, author of Hornito: My Lie Life and The Underminer
"Full of crackling dialogue and astute asides, Wedding Season is a witty romp through the Manhattan social maze."
-- Lucinda Rosenfeld, author of What She Saw... and Why She Went Home
Thanks for reading.
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