Now I’m not one to give all the heart eyes to every bold colored rom-com that flies off the shelves. In fact, I typically stray far, far away from “heartwarming” books with romance as the main event. But you know what? PEOPLE ON VACATION worked for me.

Maybe I’m getting soft in my 30s? (Perhaps.) Maybe this was a perfect palate cleanser in between some heavier reads? (Likely.) Maybe I am desperate for a vacation? (No doubt about it.) Regardless, I enjoyed traveling along with college best friends Alex and Poppy to exotic destinations on their yearly vacations.

I typically give major side eye to witty banter and the friends to lovers trope, but @emilyhenry managed to write these characters in such a relatable and thoughtful way. The dual timelines brought the history of their friendship to life and (dare I say..) I enjoyed watching how their story unfolded?!

People We Meet on Vacation is the perfect book to throw into your beach bag for a getaway. If you’re looking to escape the mountains of unfolded laundry lurking in the corner of your bedroom, it’s great for that too.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After reading "Beach Read" last summer I was so excited when I heard about, and later got an e-ARC of, Emily Henry's latest book, People We Meet on Vacation! I rated this one four stars. I loved the friends to lovers, forced proximity, different timelines, and of course, a happy ending. This one is the perfect summer read to throw in your beach bag!

Emily Henry did it again, I am coining her the goddess of romance. I thought "Beach Read" changed my life but this book gave me a run for my money,

Poppy and her best friend Alex have had their summer trip since they were in college. They go every year to a chosen spot and get as far as they can with as little money as possible. Two years ago though, everything changed and they've barely spoken since. Poppy feeling empty and missing her best friend creates a new plan to re-create the summer trip and mend the friendship. But add a broken air conditioning in the middle of the summer, a muscle spasm, a flat tire, and a lot of unresolved tension; the summer trip recreation brings a lot of a emotions to a head.

Poppy and Alex are FABULOUS characters. I mean can we talk about their hilarious banter? They bring out the sides of each other that everyone wants to have in their best friend and partner. They are so wholeheartedly themselves with their passions and their problems. I loved reading about their spontaneity on their trips and how they pushed themselves to experience all they could. Now I'm going to have to try and not go crazy while I wait for another Emily Henry book to come out.

Thank you Emily Henry, Berkley Publishing Group, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CO0QAjJLAdC/?igshid=1j8uv1o3aii78

3 stars = Fine/solid/good

I liked the characters here, but didn't love any of them. The timeline jumping made the book feel really long. And the author held out on what happened two years ago for a very long time. Sometimes this sort of pacing can be great for building suspense, but for me it just made the story drag. I was engaged enough to stick with it until the end (I enjoyed the college stories for the couple the most) without regret, but when it was over I realized I didn't love it.

(Language, sex, LGBTQ+)

Poppy and Alex met in college and made a pact that they will travel together every summer. It helps
that Poppy gets a job writing travel reviews for a NY magazine, which comes with perks of fabulous trips
that Alex can tag along on. While they both date other people and build their own lives in separate
cities, they remain each other’s ‘person’. However, two years ago they had a falling out and have not
talked since a trip to Croatia. What happens next explores their relationship, falling out and coming
back together.

My Thoughts:
Yes, yes, yes!! Such a cute book following Alex and Poppy over the past 10 years of their friendship and
adventures. The connection to these characters is giving me withdrawals!! This friends to lovers trope
is fun and fresh.

I absolutely adored this book. Poppy and Alex were characters you can't help but love. I feel like Poppy would make the most fun best friend. I loved Poppy as the narrator. I felt like her inner monologue helped round out the story. I loved Beach Read last year, so I knew I would *probably* love this one and I did! Can't recommend it enough!

PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION might be one of my favorite books so far in 2021...and not just because I'm desperate to travel again, and Henry's book totally fed my wanderlust.

Reasons I loved the book:
• it has my favorite "friends to lovers" trope, (and it does it well with an adorable but completely mismatched pair)
• so of course there will be the "only one bed" trope
• slow burn romance
• great dialogue, witty banter - the kind that comes between old friends
• Alex is my favorite romantic interest. Keep your swoony types and give me the awkward introvert who only comes out of his shell around our MC, He is dorky sweet and I love him for it.
• travel based flashbacks, because I NEED this in my life.

The story is told in (mostly) alternating chapters of present action and flashback. The flashbacks start with when Poppy and Alex meet in college and then cover each summer vacation they take until the the fated one that caused the rift. We don't know what happened to cause the rift; as we get closer to that summer, however, we can pretty much guess what happened.

The present day chapters are hilarious and disastrous and (for me, at times,) a little sad, because poor Poppy is trying so hard to rebuild the friendship that was shattered a few years earlier. She's also dealing with career burnout, something entirely relatable.

For a writer, she's kind of terrible at communication, and most of the confusion in the relationship lands sorely on her. There are times I wanted to reach into the pages and shake her (kindly) - and that kind of all-in investment in a timeline makes me happy.

Are Poppy and Alex right for each other? Well, you WANT to see them together. The story gets its happily ever after, and the author's book discussion questions at the end made me contemplate if they would (it means change for Poppy - will she be happy?)

I'd honestly love to see a follow up on these two five years down the road! The story and their relationship has a fun Bridget Jones or Shopaholic vibe, and I can see Poppy getting itchy from staying in one place for too long.

Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for gifting me an ARC of this book!

This might be one of my favorite romcoms of all time! I usually stay pretty far away from this genre, but I decided to give this one a chance considering how much I loved Beach Read. I usually find romcoms to be too predictable, cheesy, and slow moving. I never felt that way through the entirety of People We Meet on Vacation.

Alex and Poppy were instantly captivating as characters. I loved that their banter was quirky without being too cringey, and the unpredictability of their situations made the story so fun to read. I think the format the book was written in (jumping timelines) really helped me to connect with them and see how they developed as people and within their relationship.

Was the ending a little predictable? Yeah, but I'd argue most romcoms are. But the story of their journey kept me invested and dying to see what happened next. Henry's writing style is creative and intoxicating. I can't get enough of her characters and end up rooting for them throughout the book.

I rarely give romcoms five stars, so this book was really impressive to me. It's definitely a fun summer read and I'd highly recommend you pick this one up. I can't wait to see what Henry writes next!

Poppy Wright has always been a restless soul. She wanted to experience everything the world had to offer. As long as it was far, far away from her hometown of Linfield, Ohio.

So as fate would have it, on her very first day of college, she meets the boy who is not only going to show her what the word “home” really means – he’s also going to redefine everything she knows about love.

"“You know, my therapist says—”
“Your mom,” I say.
“She was being a therapist when she said this,” Rachel argues, by which I know she means, Sandra Krohn was being decidedly Dr. Sandra Krohn, in the same way that Rachel is sometimes decidedly Art School Rachel, not that Rachel was actually in a therapy session. Beg as Rachel might, her mother refuses to treat Rachel as a patient. Rachel, however, refuses to see anyone else, and so they remain at an impasse.
“Anyway,” Rachel continues, “she told me that sometimes, when you lose your happiness, it’s best to look for it the same way you’d look for anything else.”
“By groaning and hurling couch cushions around?” I guess.
“By retracing your steps,” Rachel says. “So, Poppy, all you have to do is think back and ask yourself, when was the last time you were truly happy?”
The problem is, I don’t have to think back. Not at all.
I know right away when I was last truly happy.
Two years ago, in Croatia, with Alex Nilsen."

Alex Nilsen has been painfully responsible from a very young age. After losing his mother, he stepped in as the caregiver for both his distraught father and his younger siblings.

His life is planned. Go to college. Come back to Linfield. Get a job. Have a family. Live happily ever after. He never counted on a best friend like Poppy - with her outlandish clothes and ceaseless wanderlust – to wedge herself so deep in his heart that he can’t imagine his life without her.

When the line of friendship crosses into something much more, will they risk everything to make love last long after vacation is over?

“And here it comes, the moment that keeps slipping through my fingers, like it’s the game-changing detail in an instant replay I can’t seem to pause or slow down.
We are just looking at each other. There are no hard edges to grab hold of, no distinct markers on this moment’s beginning or end, nothing to separate it from the millions just like it.
But this, this is the moment I first think it.
I am in love with you.
The thought is terrifying, probably not even true. A dangerous idea to entertain. I release my hold on it, watch it slip away.
But there are points in the center of my palms that burn, scorched, proof I once held it there.”

I’ve been a fan of Emily Henry ever since being swept away by A Million Junes. With each subsequent new release, I was left thinking that there was no way that she could top it. Well, with People We Meet on Vacation, she has proved me wrong in the very best way!

Her characters are uniquely complex. Poppy shines with her wicked sense of humor and heartbreaking insecurity. While Alex smolders with his quiet strength and longing. They made me giggle, made me swoon and made me never want to visit Palm Springs in the summer.

It’s the vacation that I never wanted to end because I loved every moment of it...

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION by Emily Henry. I loved BEACH READ last year, and honestly I might have loved this one even more. Henry just does a fantastic job of building believable, genuine character growth and bringing so much sexual and emotional tension into every moment of her romances. At some point, I just could not stop reading this book until Poppy and Alex finally freaking kissed. One of the best things is how Henry makes kissing/sex scenes not just sexy but emotional. I literally cried when Poppy and Alex got together for the first time, because it was such a beautiful moment for the two of them. She just makes you believe in and want happiness for her characters so much. You really get behind them and understand them and it's amazing. I highly recommend this book.

People We Meet on Vacation is probably my favorite read of 2021 so far and I’ve read some really great books. Emily Henry’s writing in this book is amazing. There are so many funny one liners and I loved all the inside jokes Poppy and Alex share. I was laughing the entire time I was reading. There are also some really sweet and tender conversations. The story is written in dual timelines, with the second timeline moving from 12 years ago forward. Every time the story went back to a previous summer, I was wanting more, anticipating the timelines connecting.
Before I read the book and had only read the summary, I felt like the the UK title (You and Me on Vacation) made more sense. Now that I’ve read it, I get the US title. The story isn’t just about summer trips. The very first line of the prologue is “on vacation, you can be anyone you want.” This line has significant meaning as you read the book and peel back the layers of Alex and Poppy and their friendship. PWMOV is about who we are when we’re carefree and not worrying about being judged. It’s so much deeper than just a fun summer beach read, although it’s that too. What can I say, this book speaks to me. 🐻😉

Thanks to @netgalley and @berkleyromance @berkleypub for the digital arc. All thoughts expressed are my own.

The emotions I felt reading this book... I can’t even explain it. Emily Henry does it again for me! Beach Read was one of my favorite reads last year, and People We Meet On Vacation will most for sure be making it to my favorites list of 2021! There were so many things I loved about this book: the best friends to lovers trope, which is one of my all time favorites, both Poppy and Alex as separate characters as well as the charming and funny side characters we meet along their journeys. I love that we got chapters of the present but we also got stories of their past travels and how they meet, because their relationship felt so much more special that way. I’m simply obsessed with everything about this book! I could not recommend it enough!!

This is the best friends to lovers romance I have ever read. "People We Meet on Vacation" jumps between Poppy and Alex's past vacations and current vacation. They met in college and have been each others favorite person ever since. Something happens on one of their vacations and they stop talking for 2 years. Poppy has reached her career goals, but feels unhappy. She realizes the last time she was truly happy was on her vacations with Alex. She comes up with a plan to convince him to take a trip like old times to save their friendship. It was so cute watching them interact with each other especially because they are such polar opposites. Poppy has a big personality and Alex is the quiet homebody. The friendship between these two had you rooting for them all the way to the end. I loved the vacations destinations, Poppy's NY friend Rachel, and obviously everything else!

And she does it again!

Emily Henry has this incredible ability to write characters and love stories that are so real and relatable, silly and smart-assed, and just plain LOVABLE that you can’t help but have a stupid grin on your face the entire time you are reading her books.

Poppy and Alex form an unexpected friendship after they meet at college, and are forced to bond during a shared car ride home where Poppy learns all of the things Alex hates (saxophones and themed parties, as examples), and Alex learns just how quirky and ready-for-anything Poppy is. AKA polar opposites.

Somehow this friendship blossoms into annual summer trips together, supporting Poppy’s career as a travel journalist, and pushing Alex outside of his comfort zone.

The book hops from current day - where Poppy has thrown together a last minute summer trip to try and repair her relationship with Alex and to figure out her own life aspirations - to different summer trips from the past that Alex and Poppy have taken together. Using this unique timeline, and a whole lot of fun banter and sarcasm, Henry unfolds the truth about Alex and Poppy’s relationship, and the secrets they’ve held in for a decade.

Again, this is such a fun read. Recommended for those times when you need a feel-good, smiling-the-whole-time, heartwarming story laden with inside jokes, heartfelt gestures, and that feeling of HOME.

Loved it. I was pretty confident that I would adore this book because I really loved Beach Reads. I am also not usually one for friends to lovers but she did such a good job with that trope! The differences between the two characters made for an even more interesting read. The story was told in a really unique way that I loved. The balance between the emotional parts and the laugh out loud moments was really well done and made me not want to put it down. I definitely recommend adding this one to your TBR!

“Wherever you are, that’s where I belong. I’ll never belong anywhere like I belong with you. No matter what I’m feeling, I want you next to me. You’re home to me.”

This was a sweet ,emotional,fun and cute read.It's about two friends who every summer go to vacation together. We follow them through present and before 10 years.

Poppy and Alex are so different , yet they were so perfect for each other.Both characters were so well developed.Poppy is funny and Alex is sweet.

This is refreshing and perfect summer read!

<< pub day & review >>

People We Meet On Vacation
Emily Henry

Friends to lovers! Opposites attract! This was a fun and sweet romance, an excellent beach read. I really enjoyed the experience of reading this book. I liked the story, the travels, the characters. So much good stuff.

Poppy was a fun character but not the manic pixie dream girl you might normally see in a book like this. Often times when there’s a character that’s pretty straight laced, Alex, their love interest is like the free spirit, wildhearted, “listen to this song, it will change your life”, type of character. Which, Poppy kind of was, but not to a ridiculous degree. Henry developed both characters with complexity and dynamism. They had backstory that gave reason to why each character had their particular quarks. It was an opposites attract storyline, for sure, but there was complexity there.

This book was fun, heartfelt, and the banter was top shelf. Henry is amazing at dialogue! There were many moments of laugh out loud giggles, especially at Poppy. She had so many moments of hilarity.

My criticism and possibly some spoilers - be warned:
My only criticism is that there was a lot of build up, but not quite the level of payoff I wanted. There was the alluding to “the thing that happened” which ended their friendship... but then I was kind of like, not seeing any huge obstacles to them being together. I think just because there was so much build up, I was expecting the conflict to be bigger - without giving too much away, I think that is all I’ll say about it. I understand the reason they “thought” they couldn’t be together. But I guess I was waiting for a bigger reveal? I don’t know. Maybe I’m being picky.

Even with my criticism, this book was very readable, fun, and a perfect beach read. It was a solid 4 stars for the dialogue alone. Emily Henry is a master at witty banter.

Poppy is energetic, artistic, a risk taker. Alex is calm, picky, bookish, and controlling. Poppy wants to see the world and never settle down and Alex wants to stay in the same neighborhood where he grew up.
They met in college in New York and their first road trip was back to their home town in Ohio. Since then, they became the best of friends, traveling somewhere together every year. But two years ago something happened in Croatia and things fell apart.
I loved this book. I loved this couple and their journey together. It was the perfect vacation read that I didn’t get to while I was on vacation. It’s smart and funny and emotional and I absolutely adored everything about it.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reading Notes:

- EH’s writing feels so natural.
- Cute beginning.
- Excellent portrayal of awkward texting.
- Omgosh, I’m totally like Poppy. I make quippy remarks when meeting people and they never get it.
- “I hate exercise; I love the feeling of having exercised.” I relate so hard.
- Saxophones and song covers 😂.
- “Khakis just make a person look like theyre pantsless and void of a personality.” Dying. These convos are gold.
- Oh, we’re going to Palm Springs. That’s my hood. This can either be really fun for me or I’ll get hyper-critical. Let’s find out which!
- “It’s like I’m on vacation in the 1960s’ image of the future.” … yeah that’s an accurate describing of furniture shopping downtown. 😂
- The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens… I was there this morning! Annual passholder. Don’t know how this is going to play out in the book but I recommend it in real life (but go at the earliest time during the hot months. Plus all the animals are awake early.)
- Okay, let’s get back to talking about the book. I love Poppy and Alex, these characters are fantastically realized. And the way their relationship is revealed/built throughout the book is going to delight readers who like slow build but also won’t alienate readers who like instant satisfaction.
- I do feel like the flashbacks went on a little too long. I wanted to spend more time squarely in the present.
- I love the self-realizations that Poppy comes to in the end. I wanted to spend more time on that. It was so important.
- I know the title is different in the UK (and possibly elsewhere) but late in the book we finally get to understand why it’s titled People We Meet on Vacation, and I do think it’s the superior title. I love the meaning.
- Overall, 4 Stars!

* I received a free copy from the publisher via netgalley.

“Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.
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Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven't spoken since.
⠀⠀⠀
Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.
⠀⠀⠀
Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?”
⠀⠀⠀
Listen, I received a digital ARC of this book, read it, and loved it enough that I immediately pre-ordered myself a hard copy. If that doesn’t tell you how much I enjoyed this book, I’m not sure what will! The content felt a little lighter than “Beach Read” to me, but that doesn’t mean it was fluff—the characters felt well rounded and their relationship felt authentic. As always, I absolutely loved Emily Henry’s storytelling style, and think this is the perfect summer read!