The People We Hate at the Wedding

By: Grant Ginder

Narrated by: Dan Bittner, Khristine Hvam

Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

The People We Hate at the Wedding is now a major motion picture starring Kristen Bell, Allison Janney and Ben Platt!

"It’s for the same audience that flocked to The Nest, Where’d You Go, Bernadette? or dare I say a little book you might be a fan of, Crazy Rich Asians."
— Kevin Kwan, New York Times bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians

Relationships are awful. They'll kill you, right up to the point where they start saving your life.

Paul and Alice’s half-sister Eloise is getting married! In London! There will be fancy hotels, dinners at “it” restaurants and a reception at a country estate complete with tea lights and embroidered cloth napkins.

They couldn’t hate it more.

The People We Hate at the Wedding is the story of a less than perfect family. Donna, the clan’s mother, is now a widow living in the Chicago suburbs with a penchant for the occasional joint and more than one glass of wine with her best friend while watching House Hunters International. Alice is in her thirties, single, smart, beautiful, stuck in a dead-end job where she is mired in a rather predictable, though enjoyable, affair with her married boss. Her brother Paul lives in Philadelphia with his older, handsomer, tenured track professor boyfriend who’s recently been saying things like “monogamy is an oppressive heteronormative construct,” while eyeing undergrads. And then there’s Eloise. Perfect, gorgeous, cultured Eloise. The product of Donna’s first marriage to a dashing Frenchman, Eloise has spent her school years at the best private boarding schools, her winter holidays in St. John and a post-college life cushioned by a fat, endless trust fund. To top it off, she’s infuriatingly kind and decent.

As this estranged clan gathers together, and Eloise's walk down the aisle approaches, Grant Ginder brings to vivid, hilarious life the power of family, and the complicated ways we hate the ones we love the most in the most bitingly funny, slyly witty and surprisingly tender novel you’ll read this year.

"Sinfully good."
— Elin Hilderbrand

Entertainment Weekly's Summer Must-Read
A Publishers Weekly BEST SUMMER BOOKS, 2017
New York Post Best Books of Summer
Redbook's 10 Books You Have To Read This Summer

©2017 Grant Ginder (P)2017 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Narrator Dan Bittner and Khristine Hvam team up for an impressive performance" —AudioFile

"Witty and completely absorbing, The People We Hate at the Wedding is family dysfunction at its best —full of heart, humor, and jealous siblings. This novel is addicting and entertaining and I couldn't put it down!" —Jennifer Close, New York Times bestselling author of GIRLS IN WHITE DRESSES and THE HOPEFULS

"Not only does it have the best title in the universe, The People We Hate At The Wedding is wickedly smart and shamelessly funny. Grant Ginder brilliantly captures privileged Brits clashing against semi-privileged Americans in the most hilariously cringeworthy ways. Cluelessly self-absorbed, appallingly outrageous, and so very endearing, these are characters I hope to be seated with at the next wedding I attend." —Kevin Kwan, New York Times bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians and China Rich Girlfriend

Unsatisfying

Good concept for a book, but it missed the mark for me. Instead of being funny and amused by the family dysfunction, it really just made me sad. The majority of the characters are almost too fucked up. It was like they hit a tipping point for me that just made it sad. And the ending was really dissatisfying. It didn’t feel like a genuine moment because of all the fucked-upness previously mentioned. I actually scoffed and rolled my eyes.

I will say, my favorite parts were when Eloise was narrating and getting glimpses in to what’s going on in her head. She was the most interesting because she wasn’t what I expected.

Plot was kind of boring

The plot was not super interesting and the characters, although pretty relatable, were not very likeable in my opinion. The 2 narrators did the best with what they had, but the female's voice sounded bored half the time.

Such a great book

I know that a lot of the reviews express disappointment that the characters aren't likable, it's not a fun little beach read, etc. etc. Whatever. The characters in this book are complicated and real, and the family dynamics are refreshingly raw without being tragic or overwrought. If you want the audiobook version of a Hallmark movie, you won't like this book. I am averse to saccharine, and I loved it.

Couldn't Listen

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The female narrator is irritating. I couldn't listen past a few minutes. She seemed to want to be an actress but not understand how to portray what she was reading.

Would you recommend The People We Hate at the Wedding to your friends? Why or why not?

no-couldn't even listen to the whole thing

How could the performance have been better?

see above

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

possibly, I don't know what the story was because the voice was too irritating

Had To Force Myself to Finish Listening

Unsympathetic and poorly developed characters with a weak plot line, I would have abandoned this story but was curious as to how the author would redeem them. Not well as it turned out.

Annoying characters

It’s difficult to read a book when you don’t much like anyone in it. Everyone was so annoying; I try to avoid annoying people not spend hours with them!

Confused

The plot never showed itself here. I felt like I was watching squirrels run from traffic, just not what I thought.

Performance ruined the audible experience

Longtime listener and big fan of Audible but the narration on this was so bad -- distracting, affected, annoying -- I had to ditch it for the kindle version.

wouldn't have made it if was not read for bookclub

really the first time I struggled with both narrators.

story was shallow and oblverly sensationalized for effect

No one is likeable

My biggest problem with this book was that there was not one likeable character! It is very hard to enjoy a book when not only do you not care about what happens to the characters, but you kind of wish something bad would happen to them. I really just wanted this book to end. The performance of the narrator was excellent. It was just a bad story.