Ponder: The Unwedding

The Unwedding ©2024 by Ally Condie is a murder mystery. In a plot not uncommon to whodunit book settings, The Unwedding has a finite captive list of murder suspects isolated at a luxury resort near Big Sur, CA due to a mudslide. The Unwedding is Ally Condie's first book that is intended for an adult audience. Per Wikipedia

Allyson Braithwaite Condie (born November 2, 1978) is an author of young adult and middle grade fiction. Her novel Matched was a #1 New York Times and international bestseller, and spent over a year on the New York Times Bestseller List. The sequels (Crossed and Reached) are also New York Times bestsellers.

The main character Ellery, had planned to go to this fancy resort with her husband to celebrate their 20 year anniversary. Instead the couple got divorced a few months prior. Ellery goes by herself, after all, it was paid for and she did not want her ex to take his girlfriend. To add insult to injury, the resort is hosting a wedding and the grounds are heavily populated by the bridal party and guests. Ellery feels even more alone. 

The resort setting appealed to me. It is nestled on the coastline of Big Sur, CA.  Per the description in
visitcalifornia.com

With cliffs plunging hundreds of feet down to rocky coves churning with foamy surf, it’s no wonder that many people consider Big Sur the most dramatic stretch of coastline anywhere in the world.

Mudslides are a not an uncommon occurrence and fit in well with the isolation theme. Per a story in the LA Times in spring of 2024

The March 30 slip-out that occurred just south of Rocky Creek Bridge — in which a chunk of the southbound lane fell into the ocean during a rainy weekend — left much of the famous Big Sur coast cut off from the rest of the state, with only limited convoys allowed through the damaged stretch.

The Unwedding has many characters to keep track of — the bride and groom with their wedding party, wedding guests, resort staff and other resort guests. The murder victim is a surprise — as is the second murder victim, too. Typically with murder mysteries, there are several options for suspects and that is also true in The Unwedding. The fun in reading a murder mystery is figuring out who the murderer is or at least having a strong suspicion. The unspoken challenge is to figure out the guilty party before the big reveal. The novel dragged a bit and then end of the novel seemed rushed. Insufficient clues were provided, or clues were not revealed soon enough, for reader to figure it out. The flow was a bit awkward and the closing slightly disappointing.

 

The Unwedding was the Reese's Book Club selection for June 2024. Usually this book club is a good source for my reading material selections, but to me the The Unwedding fell short and was just mediocre; Amazon was aligned with my opinion, readers giving it 3.6 stars out of 5.

I will add a few of Ally Condie's young adult books to my reading list because I am curious about this genre of the author and also to give her another chance. The reading age for the Matched trilogy is 11-13, 11+, and 12-17 years for Matched, Crossed, and Reached respectively. I want to see if the trilogy is worth suggesting to my bookworm granddaughters. But I am not giving those books a high priority in my to read list. 

I half-heartedly give The Unwedding three stars. 

★★★☆☆ Better than average; not a waste of time