Review: PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION by Emily Henry https://wp.me/p3d0RZ-bMW
Publication Date: May 11, 2021
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Reviewed by: Reading in Pajamas/ Donna
Rated: 4 Stars

I enjoyed this quirky light romance. The quick and lighthearted banter was a joy to read. I am not a fan of continual time jumps to the past, but in this case, it served to show their deep friendship, camaraderie, and love rather than just tell me about it. I’m glad the author had the time switching clearly indicated and woven into what was currently going on.

Poppy is a quirky and very outgoing woman who admittedly has her flaws. Alex is an uptight, rather boring introvert with flaws of his own. He seems to find freedom to feel when he is with her, while he grounds her. Complete opposites, but somehow it all works. Warning, it is a slow building friends-to-lovers story…so much so, that I thought it would never happen. The ending made it worth the wait.

*Review copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Kindle https://amzn.to/3vYhX5r

What I Liked?
🌻 the dual timeline. I liked the back and forth between the current summer and the 12 summers prior.
🌻 the different locations. I liked that each summer was a different destination. I also loved that the current summer was in Palm Springs. Such a random but fun location.
🌻 Alex. The whole part in New York when he was taking care of Poppy... swoon worthy.

All in all, I had such high hopes for this one. I absolutely loved Beach Read but this one just seemed to drag on for me. I was ready for some action. Honestly though, I just don’t think I was in the mood for a slow burn. I needed something fast paced and extra steamy to hold my attention.

If you liked Beach Read and love a slow burn, you’ll like this one!

This book had me laughing until I cried and crying until I was laughing... and all of the emotions in between! This takes one of the sports for best books of the year, for sure!

Poppy is this wonderfully alive young woman, who is un-apologetically herself. She is a care-free free- spirit with a quit wit all wrapped up in a tiny package. So, when she meets the quiet and closed off Alex in their freshman year of college, there is no reason at all for them to become friends. They have absolutely nothing in common, aside from them coming from basically the same hometown. When they decide to share a ride back home at the end of the school year, the unlikely friendship that forms, creates the most beautiful, unbreakable bond.

Through the years of their lives, they mostly live apart from one another, but always come together for their annual "Summer Trip" where they vacation in some different place every year. And we get to be hand-held along those years as we see the routes their friendship takes. We get to see the ups and the downs, the hilarious banter and the uncomfortable moments. And, all the while we can see what is truly happening between these two friends, waiting with bated breath to see if they will wake up and discover that those insecurities they feel are mirrored in one another and so are those "unrequited" feelings of real, shameless love.

This book was everything I needed it to be. It was one of those rare reading experiences that I just did not want to end. I remember being like 20% into the digital arc, thinking giddily that I still had so much left of the book. I didn't want it to be over. There is so much pure love in these pages and I cherished every moment of this book. Through the countless laughs and the heart wrenching painful moments, this book was absolute perfection!

Poppy and Alex are best friends, but are opposites. Poppy wants to travel the world and Alex is content staying in their home town. Every year for 10 years they go on vacation together and it's the perfect week, until two years ago, everything changed. Poppy realizes that she misses Alex more than she could have ever imagined so she talks him into one last vacation so she can get out all that needs to be said.
I can see why people love this book. Poppy is fun and traveling around for all these vacations seeing the tension between the two is really cute. After Beach Read, I knew that this book would have more to it than just fun and friendship and I was looking forward to the angst.
This book alternates between past vacations and this summer. While I could see the love these two shared, the lack of communication between two best friends is unnerving. There are so many issues that could have been avoided if they would have just talked to each other, and that is sad. I found myself really frustrated with Alex and how scared he was, up until the end he was running away from his feelings. I could have forgiven him a little more if he didn't hurt other people in the process.
The conflict at the end of the book felt a little flat to me, again, basically because Alex runs off scared, using Poppy as an excuse for his fears. I do think it might have been just the time I read this and friends to lovers isn't my favored trope, so I encourage you to read this book if you love a good friends to lovers book. 3.5 stars for me.
Thank you to Emily Henry, Netgalley and Berkley for an early copy of this book.

Alex and Poppy met in college and struck up a unique friendship. Nothing alike, they balanced each other out and became a support system that they each needed. As they grew older and life moved them further apart they kept up the tradition they started in college of taking a summer vacation together. Summer’s that were the bright spot of their year until something happened two years ago and they haven’t spoken since. Until one night when Poppy texted a message, “Hey”.

Last year’s Beach Read was in my Top 5 best books of the year so I had really high expectations for People We Meet on Vacation. While it didn’t touch the right note that Beach Read hit (right time to read, right mood, etc.) it was still an outstandingly good book and will again be placed in my Top 10 at least so far this year. The awkward nerdy-hot Alex, and the retro-dressed outgoing yet insecure Poppy were both from the same home town and although they didn’t know each other growing up immediately clicked on a long drive home for winter break. Their friendship came fast and solid. Alex was non judgmental about her unique family and she jokingly picked and prodded Alex out of his multiple comfort zones. They had different goals in life and supported each others dreams, to the detriment of their own feelings. When their summer vacation went awry two years ago causing a rift the reader see’s through Poppy’s perspective and feels how deeply disturbed she’s been despite not knowing exactly what happened. By the time she typed ‘Hey’ I was all in on their relationship becoming something more secure and felt the desperation Poppy was feeling that kept me on the emotional edge of my seat wishing for their happiness.

The clever use of flashbacks of Poppy and Alex’s vacations means that we knew Alex just as well by the time that fateful text was made. I was caught hook, line, and sinker and there was no way I wasn’t going to finish this story, needing to know where Poppy and Alex stood at the end. As we lived through what might be their last summer vacation together (after all life moves forward despite our relationships and feelings) I teetered between tears and laughter, caught in their emotional drama. Emily Henry really knows how to craft friendship novels fraught with emotional crisis.

People We Meet on Vacation was just as good as last year’s Beach Read so why did I score it a half rating less? I really think it was the fact that in Beach Read the characters lives before their story started together had the drama whereas in this novel the drama was created by these two characters. It’s a very small detail and truthfully it was used very effectively. I just liked how I felt while reading Beach Read much better than I did while reading People We Meet on Vacation. Reading is all about your own perspective being stamped upon the story you are reading. I was a half rating short of being in the perfect mood to read this book. That’s it. No other reason, it was really just as good. In fact, I’ll probably pick it up in audio to live through their relationship again. If my feelings change about the rating, I’ll let you know!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received a copy of this ARC through NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review and it was honest!

This delightful rom-com may seem like a typical friends-to-lovers story but it is author Emily Henry’s clever and insightful writing that makes this book so good. The dialogue is often very funny and the people Poppy and Alex meet during their vacations are very entertaining. The story will also tug at your heart as Poppy and Alex come to terms with their own pains and struggles.

If this sounds a bit like the movie When Harry Met Sally, the author notes that People We Meet on Vacation is an homage to one of her favorite romantic comedies.

People We Meet On Vacation was the perfect book for me to read right now, because I am stressed and cold and I could really use a vacation. Who's with me?

I liked the story right off the bat because of how it is told. Part of the story takes place in the past and explains how Poppy and Alex met, as well as how their friendship great over the years as they take their annual vacation every time Summer rolls around.

The other part is in the present. There was a rift between the two friends when they were in Croatia (two years ago) and they've barely spoken to each other since. Poppy thinks that if they reunite for another vacation, they'll be able to work things out and get back to their normal friendship.

But what exactly happened in Croatia? And why has their friendship been pretty much nonexistent since?

I loved reading about Poppy and Alex's past trips. Whether they're in Colorado or California, or a country halfway across the world, the two of them have an awesome time and memorable adventures. They have the kind of trips that I dream of going on, where they do whatever they want to do and meet interesting people and make memories.

Part of what made this story so enjoyable is the writing! Emily Henry has a great way of writing dialogue and the jokes between Poppy and Alex flowed so well. I loved their conversations and it especially made me smile when they first started texting again after their long dry spell. It was sweet reading about the two of them feeling each other out and trying to figure out what was what, or if the other one was mad.

Poppy and Alex's trip in current day (Palm Springs for a couple of days before his brother's wedding) made me cringe so bad. I could practically feel the heat as they suffered through their terrible stay at a man named Nikolai's apartment building (lol). But the thing about Alex and Poppy is that they really are true friends. Because while they had a few small fights (who wouldn't in such miserable, hot weather?) they never gave up an each other.

And I think that is the sign of a real, true friend.

This book… speaks to me.

I mean, just WOW. Emily Henry is my favorite romance author and after discovering and loving her first book last year, my expectations for People We Meet on Vacation were HIGH.

I laughed and cried happy tears, and fell in love with this complicated, messy, laugh until you pee, real-life When Harry Met Sally kind-of-love story about soulmates.

This book spans 12 years of friendship and although I flew through this book, I feel like I experienced a lifetime’s worth of Alex and Poppy’s inside jokes, sticky situations, embarrassments, loving glances, tender embraces, and moments that say, “I’ve always been your person.”

This book captured the euphoria of traveling with friends when you experience a moment that shouldn’t be funny, beautiful, or momentous but somehow it still is. Maybe your motel AC doesn’t work, or you’re stuck in the pouring rain and you start to dance, or you find yourself meeting the oddest strangers on the road who you end up sharing a ride, a meal or a bonfire with later—this book is about the people in our lives that make those otherwise inconsequential moments so wonderful, carefree and happy.

I loved that Poppy is the sole POV. I loved the buildup of tension, the cat-and-mouse highs and lows of relationship building and the hilarious humor throughout the storyline.

This could be my favorite book of the year. All I can say is, it's the one to beat.

My Rating: 5 Stars!
Thank you, Berkley Publishing Group, and NetGalley for my #gifted ARC!

*My reviews on Instagram ( @EdibleReads ), Goodreads, Amazon and B&N will be posted tomorrow (May 11 - PUB Day). I'll include links to those reviews once they go live.

Poppy and Alex have been best friends since college. They’re such different people, living very different lives, but they’re drawn together like magnets. For years they scrape together enough cash to go on one summer trip together each year, even when they live in different cities.

Two years ago, in Croatia, everything changed and they haven’t spoken since. Poppy feels Alex’s absence like a missing limb and ends up reaching out to him and going with him to Palm Springs for his brother’s wedding. At first, things are strained and weird between them after such a long time apart, but as we dip into chapters set in previous years’ trips we get to know the two of them better and it feels like they get to know each other again too.

I related to this story in so many ways—for starters the last trip I took (before Covid shut the world down) was to Palm Springs. I stayed in a little Air BnB apartment that was decorated in an over-the-top tiki theme and the air conditioning didn’t work. I’ve been to all the places Poppy and Alex visited, or tried to visit, and thanks to Emily’s fantastic writing I felt like I was there all over again. And while I visited in late February, it felt hotter than hell in that apartment come mid-afternoon, so I was sweating along with the two of them while I read the book.

That’s all my long-winded way of telling you that this book had me laughing, crying, and turning the pages with fervor. It’s one you’ll definitely want to pick up this summer.

I am not exaggerating when I say that this is my love story. I wondered if I met Emily somewhere and told her my story because, OMG, this book is how I want my love story to be told.⁣
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Two completely different people met and clicked as best friends; Poppy is free-spirited, adventurous, and loves to have fun, while Alex is laid back and contented in reading a book everywhere (not a big deal, I’m the same lol). They do not have anything in common, but hey, it’s that one person you never thought you would get along with who will become your best friend in the long run. I am fascinated by their “platonic” friendship and the week-long vacation they have every year for like a decade. Both characters are so charming and lovely written. The story goes between past and present, and I fall in love repeatedly with Poppy and Alex. I adore the quirkiness, the flirty conversations, the cute and romantic moments, the friendship, the love, and everything else in between. The friends-to-lovers trope is very relatable to me as I literally went through the same thing. I love everything about this book, the way the story was told, the emotions, feelings, laughter-out-loud moments and the it’s now or never attitude. Seriously EVERYTHING is so perfect! I super recommend this book!!!!!!⁣
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Thank you so much, @berkleypub, for my e-arc!!!!⁣

“I'm on vacation. Vacations always end. It's the very fact that it's finite that makes traveling special. You could move to any one of those destinations you loved in small doses, and it wouldn't be the spellbinding, life-altering seven days you spend there as a guest, letting a place into your heart fully, letting it change you.”

When I read Beach Read by Emily Henry last year, I knew I would read anything written by this author! True enough, I enjoyed every page of People We Meet on Vacation! I just love Poppy and Alex — their personalities are so opposing but they fit so perfectly! Their sense of humor and overall chemistry made me fall in love with them. With the pandemic and travel restrictions, I miss exploring new places but reading about their summer vacations sure helped me travel albeit virtually in my imagination. I also enjoyed getting to know their respective families. Poppy’s family reminded me of Louisa Clark’s in Me Before You. Alex on the other hand is the ideal partner! Swooooon!!!!! This lovely book will make you laugh and cry and appreciate the people around you. Ultimately, this is not only a love story, but a story about finally coming home and finding where you truly belong. 💖

I loved Beach Read when I read it last year so People We Meet On Vacation was an anticipated release for me! I’m happy to say that I LOVED it! Poppy and Alex were so well written and I truly believed in their relationship from the beginning. I loved their friendship dynamic and it was great seeing that blossom into something more by the end. I haven’t always loved the friends to lovers trope but this book made me rethink that. Also the Ohio references in this book were 10/10 (they even mentioned my college a few times) but like Poppy I aspire to get out of my hometown and move to a big city far away.

I also loved all the traveling! Something about reading a book that involves traveling during a time when most people can’t travel really worked for me. I think everyone could find something about this book that they love even if you’re not big on romance! This is one of my favorite books of the year so far and I’m definitely interested to see what Emily Henry writes next!

Thanks Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for the opportunity to review early in exchange for an honest review!

College best friends (and complete opposites) Poppy and Alex have spent the past 10 years reuniting for a week-long vacation together every summer … until two years ago when something major happened and they no longer speak. Unhappy with her life and missing her former travel partner in crime, Poppy convinces Alex to take one last vacation together to reconcile their friendship and finally address what went wrong.

Like Emily Henry’s most recent book Beach Reach, this is another perfect summer story, as it jumps between present day and former vacations while we watch Poppy and Alex grow from friends to something more. Emily Henry has such a unique and enjoyable style of writing, and aside from the sweet (and believable!) relationship between the main characters, the best part of this story is the reminder that even the most chaotic trips can be made better when you’re with the right people.

People We Meet on Vacation follows Alex and Poppy, best friends from college who traditionally take a trip every summer with each other - except the last two years when something horrible happened, and they haven't spoken since. Poppy is feeling stagnant in life without Alex, so she wants to restart the trips but isn't sure if Alex will want to hear from her. Told in alternating time lines, we read past vacations Poppy & Alex took along with how the present day trip goes.

What I really liked about this book was the characters, especially Alex. In terms of trope, this definitely fits the grumpy/sunshine trope for characters, which is a favorite of mine. I liked reading about the start of their friendship in college and how different they were, but how they built the long lasting friendship. Even their families were complete opposites but in a fun way.

However, I had a hard time with the pacing of the book with the alternating timeline. I kept getting disconnected from the story and pulled away from it. I also wasn't a huge fan of the ending, though I respect why it was chosen to end that way. It just doesn't fit the mold of a romance book that I prefer, and that's okay! It's not a reason not to read this book by any means.

If you read Beach Read, definitely check out this next one from Emily Henry.

**Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

This was a charming, funny rom-com inspired by the "When Harry Met Sally" premise that you don't always fall in love with the one you plan to fall in love with. Sometimes it's the last person you ever expect. Not that we readers didn't see the fall coming from page 1. But that was the fun of the novel. I laughed out loud several times. These characters were not hopeless messes, but they did take their sweet time and considerable spans of the book coming to realize who they were and who they most wanted to share themselves with.

[Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my opinion.]

PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION
BY: EMILY HENRY
PUB DATE: MAY 11TH

Synopsis: People We Meet on Vacation is an adorable friend to lover’s romance. It follows two main characters, Alex and Poppy, who could not be more opposite from each other upon meeting. Poppy a quirky vibrant heroine, constantly on the go, and Alex a wholesome realist, who prefers to stay home with his head in a book. After a fateful car share home during college, the two develop a friendship, leading to a decade long history of annual summer vacations. That is, until one summer vacation changes everything. Two years later, Alex and Poppy agree to one more summer vacation together in hopes to rekindle their friendship, but this vacation does not go as planned, and years of hidden truths and feelings are revealed.

Thank you to @netgalley and @berkleyromance for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

This romance was so cute! It was fun, flirty, and the dialogue between the characters made me smile and often laugh out loud. I loved the character's quirky and silly interactions. They were able to be so unapologetically themselves with each other, and their comfort and fondness for each other realistically progressed over the course of their summer vacations. I also really appreciated the descriptions of each vacation, every city and experience felt very immersive, which further added to my enjoyment of this novel.

People We Meet on Vacation is told in a dual timeline from Poppy's perspective, showcasing both the past and present moments of their friendship across each vacation. Over the course of this novel, we can really appreciate the emotional growth of Poppy as her feelings for Alex develop from year to year, but I did find myself wondering how the addition of Alex's perspective could have contributed to this novel.

Something I really loved amidst the dialogue of this novel was the incorporated concept of how Poppy was able to see "Naked Alex", meaning his purest self and truest personality. Although he would hide parts of himself from others, he was able to be open with Poppy and simply enjoy himself, and I loved how this connection between the love interests was displayed.

This novel highlights how a strong friendship can develop into romantic feelings. It can certainly be challenging to find the courage to tell another person how you feel, in fear of rejection and ruining an important friendship in your life. This is a strong theme in this novel, and it added character building and depth to this love story.

Friend to lover's romances have a special place in my heart, as it's how my relationship developed, so I really enjoyed reading this story and smiled at many aspects I could relate to my own experiences and love story.❤

Do consider picking this book up! It is a fun summer read that I think many readers will enjoy!

I adored Emily Henry's Beach Read, and had high hopes for People We Meet on Vacation. I enjoyed it but wasn't frantically drawn into it.

This isn't a cutesy rom-com, but a bittersweet story of two people unlikely to fall in love. It's kind of a "Harry Met Sally" opposites-attract friends-to-lovers...then estrangement for a second-chance friends-romance! Even more than a romance, though, it's a story of friendship. family, purpose, and love.

I did enjoy the destinations to where they travelled (allowing me to visit from my home) and the alternating timeline (although I do feel that a few years could have been condensed). The chemistry was great - sweet at times (the sick scene!) and snarky often. Great dialogue - I definitely cracked up at how Poppy could get under Alex's skin. The characters were pretty well written, although Poppy came across more strongly.

I didn't care for "the big secret" that we had to wait until 90% (not exaggerating) of the book until the big reveal. And then it wasn't even a big deal, IMO. It just felt a bit anti-climatic, and drawn out.

While this one fell a little short of my expectations, but I'd still give it 4 stars and would recommend it!

Thanks to Berkley Romance and Netgalley for a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

With a tag line like ~ Two best friends. Ten summer trips. Once last chance to fall in love ~, I was expecting a cutesy rom-com full of vacation cliches and summer romance. What I got was a bittersweet tale of two people who have absolutely nothing in common, but still make you fall in love with them; a story about friendship, family and love that makes you laugh, and cry, and get that feeling in your chest where you just *feel*. And I loved it.

Poppy is that small town girl who ran as far and as fast she could. Alex is that small town boy who ran straight home as soon as he finished college. They become unlikely friends after a chance meeting when a mutual friend set up a ride share at the end of freshman year of college. This leads leads to their ten years of annual Summer Trips – sometimes they only time they see each other with the long distance between their jobs and adult lives. The story alternates between dual perspectives: present, when Poppy is trying to convince Alex to take one last trip with her, to save their friendship after two years of barely speaking (thanks to a mysterious incident that occurred on their last trip); and past: where the story takes us through each of their past Summer Trips and how they became each other’s best friend.

To me, there were 3 parts to this book:

Part 1: Meeting Poppy and Alex. They’re a bit cliche – total opposites and not to sure how I feel about them being paired up romantically. I’m getting some good laughs, “It aspires to not smell like a butthole that’s smoking a blunt” (cue immature giggle here) and the setting is pleasant. But mostly I’m getting intrigued about what happened in Croatia on their last trip…

Part 2: Ok, I’m starting to like these guys. We’re getting more into their pasts, and pulling out some deep thoughts and experiences that are hitting close to home (uh oh, my feelings are starting to show). And their friendship through the past trips is so sweet. But what the hell happened in Croatia?!

Part 3: I don’t care if I ever find out what happened in Croatia, I just need Alex and Poppy to make up because I just need their friendship in my life. Please. And this part right here, this is where the story really starts to gut punch you. Where the feelings happen. Where you transition from laughing, to wanting to hug the characters and bring them a hot tea and a blanket, to reflecting on your own life.

If you’re a fan of Beach Read, I think you’ll like this one – on the surface, they’re very different. But they both hit that place of feelings that comes from a really good book. A book you’ll think about for days after you’re done; the kind that puts feelings you didn’t even know you had into words, and then it just starts to make sense.

If you could vacation (safely) anywhere in the world right now, where would you go? And who would you take with you?

After more than a year of isolation, lockdowns, and staying at home as much as possible, I know I can’t be the only one craving travel - new sights, new experiences, new people. Reading People We Meet On Vacation isn’t exactly like going on holiday myself, but it’s about as close as a book can get.

At the heart of this swoon-y, escapist romance, are, of course, the characters, and I loved both Poppy and Alex - her, defiantly lively, vibrant and always on the go; him, solidly dependable and reserved, longing for security and steadiness. They’re both so different, but I recognized a lot of myself in each of them. Which might be why I also loved them as a couple, the dynamics of their relationship played out over a decade of complicated BFFship in ways that felt simultaneously relatable and aspirational. And I loved getting to know the handful of places they visit during the story - those I’ve never seen, those close to where I live, and those I’ve only visited as a tourist.

Getting to play at being someone else for a while, living a temporary life that’s a respite from your everyday existence, is at the heart of the kind of vacations Poppy and Alex take together every summer - but while they’re pretending to be someone new, and meet someone new, the someone they should be paying attention to is right in front of them...

I had such a fun time reading this book, enjoying the trips, the banter, the messiness and beauty in a relationship, and just letting it sweep me away - if only in my imagination.


Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the advance review copy!

All the stars!!

I had a feeling that I would love PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION, but I had no idea I would love it this much.

It’s the perfect poolside, vacation, or lounging-in-bed read. I went in thinking it would be just a cutesy rom-com, but once again, Emily Henry packs the emotions and it was so much more than a Friends-To-Lovers trope.

Poppy and Alex meet in college and form an unlikely friendship. Their angsty yet opposites-attract connection, really worked for them and I loved it! I also really enjoyed the fact that the story is told from Poppy’s POV, and she was an just all around fun character to read.

I’ve now put Emily Henry on a must-read/auto-buy author list because her romance writing is to another level, and it was everything I hoped and more.

I think this will be on everyone’s top favorite reads of the year!

*many thanks to Berkley romance for the gifted copy for review. All opinions are my own