Fans of Henry's novel Beach Read will enjoy this one, too. The characters are funny, engaging, and human. I was rooting for the pair of obvious soulmates from the beginning, and I enjoyed the way the story played out.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy! People We Meet On Vacation is a friendship story between Poppy and Alex who promise each other a vacation once a year during Alex's summer break. Chapters jump back and forth from their previous vacations and past memories to the vacation they are currently on. I love their friendship above anything else - it's very sweet and personable and I was smiling all the way through! If you enjoyed her latest novel, Beach Read, I definitely recommend this one!

After reading and loving Beach Read, I knew I had to get my hands on Emily Henry’s next book! This book is just as entertaining to read. Poppy and Alex are relatable, fun, and made me wish I’d been on those trips too! I’ve been to a few of those destinations, and have to give the author kudos for getting the details and nuances of those places just right. Emily Henry has become one of my new favourite writers.

I really liked Emily Henry's "Beach Read" and was excited to receive an ARC of her latest. Henry is great at creating lovably flawed characters with depth; I especially love that both romantic leads are equally developed. I prefer a romance with real character development and plot - Emily Henry delivers that again with "People We Meet On Vacation".

The vacation romance trope is sort of flipped on its head in this one since the romantic leads are already friends and frequent travel companions. An attempt to repair the friendship after a trip gone awry also adds some friends to lovers/enemies to lovers elements as well. Both the female lead, Poppy, and male lead, Alex, have insecurity issues that frequently get in the way of clear chemistry. It is interesting to see these insecurities play out in such a way that doesn't make either person an innately bad or selfish character. That doesn't mean people don't get hurt along the way, but the intentions are kinder than they would usually be in a scenario like this one, I think.

Another strength of Henry's evident in this novel is the way she writes two people who know each other very well. As great as she is at writing romantic tension, I think she is even better at writing friendship.

Ultimately, the book is funny and refreshing and has a lot of heart. Emily Henry has definitely become one of my favorite contemporary romance authors.

Probably more like a 4.5 star book, but I have no qualms about rounding up. I find Emily Henry's writing style so tremendously engaging. I love how she writes yearning! She writes so much in so few words! I particularly enjoyed this because of what a slog my last read was, but I think I just really love her writing! The characters were fun and I think she writes a bottled up midwestern man really well. As with Beach Read, the last chapter felt a little on the nose, but I liked that it was a little less perfect and a little more real (while also remaining very idealized). Her dialogue is so sharp and the internal life of the main character feels very real and relatable. Definitely for fans of yearning! I love yearning!!!

I loved how Emily Henry told this story of Poppy and Alex and their friendship over the years. Romance stories typically follow a familiar structure so I was pleased that this story still had a lot of surprises and drama. Henry is a master at writing emotions. She captures and puts into words feelings that so many have. I really enjoyed this book!

People We Meet on Vacation was perfection. As a travel enthusiast myself, the whole concept of this book just really resonated with me.

The main characters, Poppy and Alex, read like very real and flawed people. They were both very likable people with distinct personalities. And they had off the charts chemistry. Since they’re longtime friends, their relationship never had that instalove quality or seemed to come out of nowhere. The dual timelines of present day and past vacations really worked. It really showed how their relationship developed overtime into something more, and I found myself racing to find out what happened on that unspeakable Croatia trip that was mentioned so often.

Overall, I loved this book. And I highly recommend this one. Emily Henry has cemented her place as an auto buy for me.

I finished this one a week ago, and for the life of me, I'm having trouble recalling enough of it to give a thorough review. Though, I suppose that that is telling in and of itself. This story spanned the space of 12 years with a present timeline, and it looked back at each preceding year that led to where the two characters are now. I think that Beach Read was one of the best books I'd read last year, so I was really surprised when this one just didn't land for me. It spent too much time focusing on the minutiae of the passing of time on the many travels of the main characters and not nearly enough time on the present timeline. At best, I would say it was 50/50, though that's generous. Halfway through I went back to make sure that it was a "romance" and not travel fiction. I felt like this book didn't really know what it wanted to be, or it wanted to be too many things in too small of a space. Either way, it wasn't the best I've seem from this author, but I'm holding out for more from her because again, Beach Read was incredible.

I read this book in 5 hours. I thought I'd pick it up for a bit of light reading for an hour or so and had to finish it before I went to bed. It was so delightful - I related to both main characters and the whole concept of "millenial ennui" - this was just a great read that I will recommend to anyone who wants a book to distract from anything political or virus related.

I'm not usually a fan of friends-to-lovers romances, but once again, Emily Henry writes a female protagonist so relatable that it almost pained me to continue reading. Readers who know what it's like to want to leave home and never turn back, but still never feel satisfied no matter where you go will feel for Poppy.

This story felt like the perfect vacation in this year of no vacations. As with all of Henry’s other books, her characters feel so textured and real that it’s impossible not to love them and feel completely entangled in their lives. And the BANTER 😍 I laughed out loud many times, and the dialogue really made Poppy and Alex come to life for me.

In conclusion (and to the surprise of absolutely no one who has heard me sing Henry’s praises before) I adored this book, and recommend it to absolutely everyone.

This book won’t be out until May 2021 but it’ll be worth the wait! Emily Henry is becoming a romance favorite. This book was sweet and tells the story of two friends who meet freshman year of college and stay best friends for the next decade despite living thousands of miles apart. Of course there is a missed connection for love somewhere in there. The story was told in alternating timelines, which was really well done.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟⁣
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“𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.” ⁣
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Overview: Best friends Poppy and Alex have taken a summer trip together every year for the last decade, until a trip two years ago changed everything. Poppy plans one last summer trip to try and save their friendship.⁣
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I can already tell this is going to be a book that earns a coveted spot on my book cart. Poppy and Alex’s relationship is the best friends-to-lovers/opposites attract romance I’ve ever read. I loved the evolution of their inside jokes, the banter and meaningful conversations. I especially adored Poppy’s messy, weird, and lovable family. Both Alex and Poppy felt like real people with real problems and real love. They actually had to work through their baggage in believable ways and confront what is keeping them apart. ⁣
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𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵. 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺. 𝘛𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳. 𝘔𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘎𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯.⁣
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A Few Favorite things:⁣
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🌴”Too many wine!"⁣
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🌴Millenial Ennui⁣
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🌴Poppy was quirky, but not in a “not like other girls” way⁣
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🌴Great portrayal of therapy⁣
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🌴 Flawed but lovable families⁣
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🌴 That knee touch under the table!⁣
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🌴 Positive portrayal of the midwest⁣
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🌴 No demonization of exes or other women⁣
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🌴 Saxophones and serial killers⁣
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🌴 Subversion of rom-com airport trope⁣
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🏝Pre-Order from your favorite indie bookstore! I’m ordering mine from @quailridgebooks
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Thanks to @berkleyromance , @emilyhenrywrites , and @netgalley for this ARC!⁣
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Emily Henry just keeps nailing it with her contemporary novels! I adored BEACH READ, and was super excited about PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION, but also a little nervous because I just wasn’t sure if anything could be as gut-wrenching and swoony as BEACH READ? Nevertheless, PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION is every bit as beautiful.

PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION is told in vignettes of Poppy and Alex’s 12 year friendship. It’s a little WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, but so much better. Poppy and Alex take annual vacations, but something went wrong on a trip, and they haven’t talked for two years. Poppy is determined to make their one last trip special, but can anything help these two reconcile?

Henry masterfully includes so much pitch-perfect millennial angst and hope. I’m here for every page of this book, and I suspect you will be too!

After ten years of vacations together, best friends Poppy and Alex, haven't spoken in two years. Can they find their way back to each other and through the unspoken truths hanging between them.

I loved Henry's first book, so I was so excited when I saw this on NetGalley. It did not disappoint! Poppy and Alex and best friends that reconnect after a couple years apart doing what they do best- vacations! They have such amazing banter (my favorite part of romance books) and you can really feel the tension build between them. It's a bit of a slow burn with chapters alternating between previous vacations and the present, but it is well worth it in the end and helps you really get to know the characters

Opposites attract best friends to lovers with the best banter chemistry of all time. I adored Poppy and Alex, their travels and hang ups, and of course Flannery O’Connor as a pet name. You had me at tiny fighter, Henry. So good that I stayed up stupidly late to finish it.

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry has the delightful banter and wit of her first book, Beach Read. The conversations between Poppy and Alex in the flashback chapters of their past vacations show they are completely in sync besides being opposites in every way.

This book has an understanding of millennial ennui that makes it relatable and universal to all age groups.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What are we seeking when we travel? Are we looking to escape, explore, try on different experiences? As we take a break from the day to day, what is it that we hope to find? Outgoing and adventurous Poppy, a travel writer and blogger, and influencer has a wanderlust that has lead her to New York where she works at a magazine, traveling the world and documenting her experiences. And it is what she thought she wanted, but why is she feeling unfulfilled? Well, that thing that happened on vacation two years ago destroyed her relationship with her best friend and summer travel partner, Alex. Ahhh, Alex, Mr. Dependable - Poppy's exact opposite in every way. But Poppy needs to recover what she lost, so she gets the courage to ask him on one more trip.
While there might be a lot of "when millennials grow up" in this story, there's also a devastating truth that we are all seeking something. Fulfillment, love, people like us . . . and we feel lost without those experiences. There's a love story here, but there's also a quest to locate the missing pieces that we need to feel whole. People We Meet on Vacation is an amazingly relatable book - aren't we all looking for the place where we belong?

I will probably recommend this to romance readers, especially those who loved Beach Read, because I'm certain this book will be a huge success and plenty of people will devour it; however, I did not like it. I was very disappointed after loving Beach Read, but this book was honestly just boring. Poppy was over-the-top annoying. There seems to be a trend in writing main female characters in this over-the-top, quirky, loud way and I just find it irritating. Alex was the total opposite and he was really just completely dull with no personality. I also felt like the two main characters had NO chemistry and didn't care for all the flashbacks to their many trips, which were also boring and where half the time they were dating other people. This one just didn't do it for me, but I'm clearly in the minority.