My Spoiler Review of The Unwedding and the ending explained! The Unwedding is a wedding mystery of sorts. It was written by Ally Condie, a YA author from the 2010s, and I thought it had definite pros plus a couple of cons. Check out my Review of The Unwedding with spoilers and the Unwedding ending explained. As best as I can!
The Unwedding by Ally Condie: Overview
- Published on June 4, 2023 by Grand Central Publishing
- 320 pages
- Thanks to the publisher for the advance review copy
- Also by this author: the Matched YA series (2010-12) and many other YA books
The Unwedding: Jen’s Quick Summary
- NOT a thriller! I’d call The Unwedding a classic locked room (or closed circle) mystery
- It was also an amateur detective story, so it had a cozy feel
- There was a “trapped by a storm element”
- And yes, it had some wedding mystery themes
The Unwedding: Jen’s Review and Analysis
Having read Ally Condie’s YA books since the 2010s, it was interesting for me to read this adult mystery.
I think she nailed many of the elements of a classic locked room mystery and the overall vibe of an amateur detective story.
For me the strongest part of the book was the world building.
Not surprising, considering that most of Condie’s books have been fantasy/dystopian lane, where world building is crucial.
Her descriptions of the book’s setting, The Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, were so detailed and well-thought out that I felt as if I were there.
I also love a thematic book and The Unwedding delivered.
In the book, Ellery, the main character, is taking a celebratory anniversary trip … alone. The resort at which she’s staying is also hosting a wedding. Then Ellery discovers the body of one of the members of the wedding party. Two weddings, both with unhappy endings.
After that, a storm cuts off access to the resort. With nothing to do but obsess about her gruesome discovery Ellery, assisted by two other guests, starts nosing around, talking to people and taking notes. (This part of the book gave me vibes of this Reese Witherspoon book club pick, which also featured a group of people stuck at a lavish resort with a murderer.)
This point is where I think The Unwedding also fell a little flat.
It can be hard to keep the momentum in a mystery. Ellery and her sidekicks seemed to stall and I read too many scenes of the group getting weather updates and eating boxed lunches.
In addition, Condie decided to give her main character a tragic backstory.
Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE a tragic backstory. But I think they work better in a police procedural (the whole detective with demons) OR a suspense novel (when you want to suggest a fragile or unreliable narrator).
Putting Ellery a little off-center by having her alone on her anniversary trip worked very well. But for me, the tragedy in her past muddied the (mystery) waters in a way that didn’t really add to the story. In a cozy, we WANT a level-headed schoolteacher, not a fragile person about to have a breakdown.
The ending of The Unwedding was also a bit of a let-down.
Not in the whom, but in the how it was explained. In classic mysteries there’s a popular convention in which the detective gathers all the suspects and explains his or her theory of the crime, pointing an accusing finger at the guilty party. It’s dramatic and fun.
But in this kind of scene, the reader should be able to easily follow along, and, when the killer is unmasked, they should wonder how they could have missed that crucial clue. Instead, I was pretty confused. (More below on that.)
But I do think this book had its strengths and fun elements and hope Condie writes another mystery!
Spoilers for The Unwedding and The Unwedding Ending Explained
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If you have questions or comments please leave them below. I answer them all!
Need spoilers for The Unwedding because it’s too slow for me. Thanks!
Hi – were you able to access them? You can log in with either Facebook or Google. And yes, it does have the slower pace of a mystery with a lot of revelations at the end!
I agree… it was too slow. Thanks for the spoilers
Happy to help! Hope you enjoy your next book more 🙂
Great overview and completely agree with everything you said! I found it too slow for me and very confusing in the end.
I was really into it for a while but it did sort of stall and fizzle 🙁
Was Ravi’s job ever revealed?
I don’t think so! I went back and looked and will add everyone’s secrets to the post, but I think he might be the only one whose secret wasn’t revealed. But if anyone saw Ravi’s job revealed, please tell us!!
Thank you for the spoilers, because I could not listen to four more fours of people sitting around discussing basically nothing. This book was terrible!
Happy to help! I think it had a lot of promise but it REALLY bogged down in the middle. I think she’s a good writer but this is her first mystery and the pacing felt really off to me. You’re right – it was just a lot of talking and the main character thinking about past trauma that had no bearing on the story.