Jade
and Gareth are getting married (lucky Jade!) and Sophie has agreed to make the
favours as a favour (genius title for a very funny book). Gareth’s friend
Kenneth, a 911 operator and general doormat (but such a cute one), is
housesitting for Gareth. Sophie does her best to deny the instant attraction
between her and Kenneth, but even her shopping trolley can’t resist him.
Wedding Favors really is a very funny book. Even if you’ve never been to a wedding and have never experienced the chaos, it’s still hilarious, without quite managing to put me off the idea of getting married. One day. If I can find my own Kenneth. I have got my eye on a couple. Unfortunately, one lives in the wrong continent and the other doesn’t seem very interested, but I like them apart from that.
I love that I was able to put Emma, Jade, Kenneth and Gareth in the book. They are all great characters - actually, Stephanie Ard's
characterisation throughout the book is brilliant. There are loads of people
who make an appearance throughout the wedding preparations, all brilliant and
memorable characters, but I think only Aunt Ermintrude has a name, so you can
choose whichever name you want for personalisation without worrying, unless you
have a secret desire to marry your aunt off.
Sophie is like me in some ways and not in
others. The idea of getting up at 3am is as alien to me as it is to Kenneth.
I’m only a morning person if I haven’t gone to bed yet, so I don't really identify with that side of things. But Sophie’s also a bit
of an obsessive, freaky, emotional mess, and I can identify with that side of
her quite well. It’s really clever the way Sophie can be very efficient, but she’s
also capable of messing something up completely. Most people have probably got
into a mess at least once in their lives…and if they haven’t, they’ll identify
with Sophie’s efficient side, won't they?
The main male character is named after
Kenneth, and he’s gorgeous. Just my type. He’s okay talking on the phone, but
he doesn’t like face to face confrontation. He really is perfect for me. He can
take care of answering the phone, and I won’t have to worry about him
confronting me. I especially like the bit about the monster in the refrigerator
(I can imagine the Kenneth he’s named after freaking out about that, which
makes it even funnier) and his helpfulness is also adorable. I don’t agree that
Kenneth (the character) needs to become less helpful, he's lovely as he is, but as he is in a relationship
with a fictional version of me, learning how to say no is probably a good idea.
I really appreciate and approve of the lack
of sex scenes. There isn’t even very much kissing. It’s all
conversation and things happening, which is much more interesting to read about
than all that panting and groaning and bed creaking stuff. There is a bit of
panting and groaning from all the people who are rushing round trying to
organise Jade's wedding, but I'll let them off.
Even though everyone’s very busy all the
time, with a million different things going on, it’s not one of those books
where you have to remember every single in case it’s important,
though lots of random, unimportant moments have stuck in my head just because
they’re so funny. It’s the stuff under the surface that really matters, and Stephanie Ard shows you a lot just by describing the way Sophie is wrapping the fudge.
