SAVE THE DATE

On the weekend of the wedding, anything that could go wrong does.

For better or worse, the five Grant siblings have grown up in the public eye via their mother’s nationally adored comic strip (occasional examples of the strip are included). Hoping to attend a local university, Charlie, 17, is the youngest and the only child still at home. Now, with her sister Linnie’s wedding imminent, the entire family will be reunited, and Charlie is ecstatic. However, there really isn’t a single thing that runs smoothly the entire weekend. First the house alarm starts loudly and continually glitching, then the wedding planner vanishes, wedding suits and officiants are switched, the cake goes plummeting, and there are inevitable family fights. Meanwhile, Charlie’s longtime crush is also back for the weekend’s celebration (with kisses included), causing no little distraction in Charlie’s already overworked brain. What should have been a jolly beach read is instead a wade through excessive and unnecessary passages, such as numerous references to the characters’ eating doughnuts and a lengthy report on a game of capture the flag. All the author really wants to say is that there’s no such thing as a perfect family and that change, though certain, is unpredictable. The Grant family is white, Linnie’s fiance and his family are black.

This is less Much Ado About Nothing and more just a long-winded comedy of errors.