BOOK REVIEW: My Ex-Best Friend’s Wedding by Wendy Wax @Wendy_Wax @BerkleyPub #myexbestfriendswedding #bookreview

A novel about the fall out of things left far too long unsaid, and about letting go of our hurt and letting forgiveness heal us. I had never read anything by Wendy Wax before this book and I feel that I picked up this one at the exact right moment. It was a story that I was able to fall into completely, and filled with characters I loved and cared about. The themes of friendship, family, and forgiveness really resonated through the story and made me so happy! My Ex-Best Friend’s Wedding is a beautiful novel, perfect for a vacation read or for relaxing after a long day!

About the Book

A wedding dress passed down through generations unravels the tangled threads of three women’s lives in a novel of friendship, family, and forgiveness from the USA Today bestselling author of Ten Beach Road.

Prized and stored away for safekeeping, the timeless ivory wedding dress, with its scooped neck and cleverly fitted bodice, sits gently folded in its box, whispering of Happily Ever Afters. To Kendra, Brianna, and Lauren it’s a reminder of what could have been, the promise of a fairy tale, and a friendship torn apart. But as Kendra knows firsthand: it wasn’t the dress’s fault.

Once closer than sisters, Lauren and Bree have grown up and grown apart, allowing broken promises and unfulfilled dreams to destroy their friendship. A successful author, Lauren returns home to the Outer Banks, fiancé in tow, to claim the dress she never thought she’d wear. While Bree, a bookstore owner, grapples with the realities of life after you marry the handsome prince. As the former best friends wrestle with their uncertain futures, they are both certain of one thing: some betrayals can never be forgiven.

Now on the eve of her daughter Lauren’s wedding, Kendra struggles with a secret she’s kept for far too long. And vows to make sure the dress will finally bring Lauren and Bree back together–knowing they’ll need each other to survive the coming storm.

Reflection

When I picked up My Ex-Best Friend’s Wedding, it was the perfect book for me at that time. I wanted something emotional, funny, and with great characters and a meaningful story, and that is exactly what this book brings. It seems reductive to say this is a book about friendship, family, and forgiveness, though it is about those things. It is also about dreams fulfilled and unfulfilled, and about the blocks we put up in our lives due to fear. It is about regret, growth, learning, and finding the right path in our lives. It is also about the lesson that it is truly never too late to be happy.

The story is about two former best friends who were almost more like sisters. Bree’s parents were absent, leaving her to fend for herself in her teenage years. But her best friend Lauren and her mother Kendra took Bree in. They refused to let Bree feel abandoned. And in that way, a single mom, her daughter, and her daughter’s best friend formed their own family.

But then all of the things that can destroy a friendship seem to occur at once. Bree backs out on Lauren right before their big move to New York City to become writers. Lauren turns away from Bree out of hurt. Bree dates and eventually marries Lauren’s ex-boyfriend from high school. Lauren doesn’t have faith that he truly loves Bree. Lauren eventually publishes her first novel, one that she and Bree plotted together many years earlier. And slowly, these fights that seemed surmountable at first, become hardened. And the connection between the two best friends breaks.

I loved both Lauren and Bree in their own ways, though they are incredibly flawed characters. Lauren is stubborn, too quick to push those away that hurt her. She struggles to open her heart to forgiveness. And Bree is a shadow of herself, forgoing her dreams because she fears failure. It was interesting starting the book at the peak of their distance from one another, on the eve of their fortieth birthdays. What was wonderful is that the novel focused on their healing. They started broken and slowly they come back together. I found the story of their friendship to be so moving.

There’s also the story of Kendra, Lauren’s mother. I won’t spoil what it is, but Kendra has a secret. And the arrival of Lauren and her fiancé in Nags Head happens at a time when the secret may just threaten to be revealed. Kendra was also such a wonderful character. She’s so strong and loving—the ultimate nurturer. That is why the secret is so shocking. As with many things in this novel, the reasons behind the secret get buried in hurt feelings, betrayal, fear, and sadness. But all hope is not lost, and I won’t say any more about it!

This book was so captivating! Wendy Wax is truly a beautiful writer, and I found this one transported me to the Outer Banks every time I picked it up. I think readers will enjoy this one as much as I did!

Thank you to Berkley for my copy. Opinions are my own. This was a book besties read, and we loved it!