Big Gay Wedding is sparkly and funny, with a winning narrative voice. I did wince a little, though, as our main PoV character struggles awkwardly through acclimating herself to her son’s life. But at least she does come around.
Barnett Durang comes from a warm, though conservative, Louisiana family, and things got difficult for him when he came out to them. His parents now simply ignore his orientation and Barnett has moved away from his rural roots to LA.
One day he arrives at his mother Chrissy’s farm and tells her that he’s engaged to a man named Ezra and planning on using the place for his wedding ceremony. Things soon go into overdrive and wild plans go into effect – everything from Celine Dion in a dunk tank to animal buffets. And then Ezra’s very boldly liberal New York family arrives to grab a slice of the wedding planning pie. Since Chrissy teaches manners and politeness through her animals and practices the same in her life, that means a lot of bitten lips and awkward statements as she tries to come to accept the fact that her son is marrying another man. Devout Chrissy must realize that Ezra and Barnett are meant to be before she truly breaks her own rules, and as the town around her reacts and overreacts to her son’s upcoming nuptials.
Big Gay Wedding has a lot of spirit and a very charming narrative voice, but perhaps if it had not been stuck in Chrissy’s PoV for so long, I would have warmed to it more readily. My absolute favorite character is Barnett’s Paw-Paw, who is gloriously open-minded and willing to accept Ezra into the family.
There are a lot of shenanigans to be had, between the wedding planning, Chrissy’s self-soothing journaling, and the antics of the people in their small Louisiana neighborhood. The name of the game is fun, but the book is overall bittersweet, and definitely takes its time to bring about Chrissy’s reunification with Barnett and her acceptance of his love life and new husband.
I did feel as though Ezra was a little underwritten thanks to the book’s boldface focus on Chrissy and the switch to her value system. But overall the humor and the liveliness of the characters ended up shining through for me, making Big Gay Wedding worthy of a minor recommendation.
Grade: B-
Book Type: Fiction
Sensuality: N/A
Publication Date: 05/2023
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