Eight Hundred Grapes

by Laura Dave

[girlinthepages]

Well what do you know, another book I didn't read the synopsis for, lol. I believe this was largely due to me downloading it on a whim nearly immediately after finishing Hello, Sunshine, as this was the book I always saw hyped when it came to Laura Dave. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was set in the North Bay Area (Sonoma County, an absolutely beautiful place, I've spent my fair share of time driving through both Napa and Sonoma County and it's truly breathtaking and unique) and anything set in California automatically peaks my interest. The novel follows a much more likeable protagonist than Sunny in Hello, Sunshine- Georgia, an LA lawyer engaged to be married to her British fiance who returns home to NorCal mere days before her wedding due to the revelation of a relationship-shattering secret. Georgia finds that her own relationship issues are just one of many that her family is currently facing, as each member of her family seems to be going through some sort of existential crisis about where they are in life and/or the decisions they've made in regards to their life partners.

While I appreciated the complex family dynamics and loved the winery setting, I found the drama to be tiring at times, and was especially irritated by Georgia's mom. Many of the characters were deeply unhappy but not fixing or facing the root of their problems, and they often went back and forth with their decisions which became tiresome and rather boring. There's also some decisions Georgia makes at the end, including her choice of romantic partner, that really left me completely baffled and dissatisfied with the story.

Overall: A beautiful Sonoma County setting is the strength of the story, but I found myself tired of the family drama and occasionally bored or frustrated with the characters.This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages