Y'all, I love wine. Like really love wine. And Eight Hundred Grapes seemed like the perfect book for a girl like me. But despite how much I wanted to like this book, I really just couldn't give it more than 3 stars. 
 I liked the story enough, and I do think this would be a good book for many people, especially those who are just wanting something enjoyable to read. It's easy enough to get through, and there is plenty of drama. But for people who look a little deeper at writing quality and believability, Laura Dave kinda missed the mark. 
 (view spoiler)[As for writing quality, Dave tries wayyyy too hard to make the story dramatic and heart wrenching. It's a classic case of telling rather than showing. There's a melodramatic tone to every single sentence and a repetition that doesn't enhance the emotion but instead just makes it annoying. There are enough dynamic relationships and characters within the story, and Dave should have trusted the readers to feel emotion on their own. She didn't need to force it, but unfortunately that's what happened. 
 I also took issue with several characters. Suzannah and Lee are just completely unnecessary. Suzannah is only there to be a "good girlfriend to the MC," but this story and MC didn't call for something like that; Suzannah only appeared maybe four times. Lee is only there to create yet another tense relationship. There are other much more interesting relationships being explored, and Lee could have easily been left out. Nothing about Jacob seems real. Everything he does...it's not how a person in real life would act in any scenario in which Jacob finds himself. (Like seriously, who calls out a stranger for wearing her wedding dress to a bar at a first introduction? Who probes for personal and private information regarding someone's engagement when he's only involved in a business transaction?) Dave wanted him to be a bigger part of the story, but he would have been a much stronger character had he just played the classic corporate villain. Dave forced him to be redeemable, but it just came across as slimy and fake. I also wasn't wild about Henry; I didn't mind his role, but I feel like he could have been better developed. Maybe if there wasn't so much else going on, he could have been more rounded out. (hide spoiler)] 
 Force is a big word for me throughout this book. Dave forced this story and these characters to be something they weren't meant to be. The story wanted to go in one direction, but Dave forced it to go somewhere else. These characters wanted to play certain roles, but Dave forced them to be what she wanted. It's unfortunate Dave couldn't let the story guide her writing. Instead she insisted on her own thoughts and ideas, and it sadly left the story feeling phony and flat to me.