Beach Read was probably my favorite book of 2020 -- and this one is just as juicy! With all my favorite romance tropes and two great characters, I couldn't put this book down. I can't wait to buy this book for all my friends.

When I received the email notification that I was approved to read People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry I threw all of my books on my ever growing TBR pile to the side because this instantly became my number one priority. PWMOV is not only focused on the strong connection between Alex and Poppy, but also the smaller, less important characters that show up briefly during each of their vacations. Those characters helped plant the seed that guided the story along and it makes me think back to my own vacations before the pandemic where I met people in line for roller coasters or walking along the beach... while not extremely important in my overall life it still was special in that moment in time to meet someone new.

I think this story dethrones Beach Read as my favorite romantic comedy by Emily Henry. I laughed so much more from the fun banter of the characters, I didn't even think that could be possible after reading Beach Read! I think I also loved that the main characters in this story had a deeper connection to one another that spanned over 10 years. I think the way the author separates the present day with the different summer vacations Alex and Poppy took too was a great way to propel the overall story forward and helped the reader see the events that transpired to Poppy's secret love for her best friend and what it did to her during the brief falling out. I was sort of scared to read the last quarter of the book because I was so happy with the story at that point and knew some sort of conflict had to be thrown their way, but in the end this was a fantastic "friends to lovers, enemies to lovers" novel. I loved the small tie in to Beach Read, it makes me happy to know that Alex and Poppy live in the same universe as January and Gus. I also highly suggest reading the "Behind the Book" blurb Emily includes to explain her reasoning behind writing PWMOV, it was absolutely perfect!

This is the book that finally broke my reading slump. It’s not short, but I read it in a single day because I was so wrapped up in the characters. The novel is about two long-time friends, Poppy and Alex, who have take yearly summer vacations together for the last decade—that is until something happens on their most recent trip that leads to them not speaking for nearly two years. When Poppy decides she needs Alex back in her life, she plans a spontaneous summer trip with the intention of restoring their friendship to its former state. The book alternates between this summer’s vacation in Palm Springs and previous trips. I loved the way this kept me turning the pages and the way it revealed how Poppy and Alex’s relationship changed and evolved over the years. I just really enjoyed this! I think if you liked Henry’s last romance Beach Read you’re going to want to preorder this one so you can devour it as soon as it comes out!

Yes. So much yes.

Beach Read was a quick fav for me last year. When I saw this one coming out it was a no brainer. Happy to say, this did not disappoint.

You will enjoy this because:
🌺 Friends to lovers
🌺 Witty, funny and fresh writing/dialogue
🌺 Alternating timelines
🌺 LIKETHEBESTCHARACTERSEVER
🌺 Lots of travel references

So basically...if you liked Beach Read, you’ll most likely enjoy this as well.

As soon as I read the synopsis for Emily Henry’s follow up to her wonderful adult romance bestseller Beach Read, I had the certain premonition I would fall in love with it. And call me psychic, because I was absolutely right.

The beauty of Beach Read lay in large part with Henry’s writing voice. There was a real warmth undercut with bittersweetness that made the characters and their central love story come to life in a deeply intimate and immersive way. People We Meet on Vacation takes that narrative voice and applies it to a story that I felt so deeply connected to, it was the bookish equivalent of love at first sight.

A romance of friends turned lovers with their own doses of heartbreak and changing feelings on the way isn’t a new invention by any stretch, but Alex and Poppy’s story is so beautifully and carefully wrought that it feels utterly unique. Emily Henry has an ability to flesh out her characters, their relationships and their vulnerabilities so intimately that they feel like real people. It’s not dramatic set pieces or wild plot points that make her stories so unique, it’s this quiet, tender realism that makes you believe this story could only have happened with these characters. We believe Alex and Poppy’s love story, their years of unspoken longing or just-missed chances, because their friendship is so convincing. Henry knows her characters so well, and is masterful in her ability to make sure we know them too. The love story at the heart of this novel is one that celebrates the beauty and intimacy that comes with knowing and relearning someone inside-and-out. It’s a tricky thing to pull off organically, but Henry excels at this, and there’s a deep generosity running through the heart of her writing that brings the reader easily along with the ebbing and flowing currents of Alex and Poppy’s relationship and let’s us fall in love right alongside them.

Aside from Alex, the other great relationship in Poppy’s life is travel. The vacations they shared together are the most tangible checkpoints in the history of their friendship, different destinations intrinsically linked with different memories and phases of their lives. As with Beach Read, there’s a definite appeal to the wanderlust that has surely only grown more and more acute over the last year, and on a simple level, there’s a wistful escapism to reading about all the different places they’ve gone. The novel does more than stringing a line of exotic locations together, however -- Emily Henry evokes not just traveling, but the joy and the human appeal of it. The book explores the joy of travel and of vacations that comes from human connection, from learning new people and forging new connections. It’s a simple but wonderfully effective backdrop to Alex and Poppy’s love story which is in itself an extended kind of travel. They explore and learn each other over and over again with the same joy that they do new places, although of course their journey to -- and with -- each other is ultimately not a vacation, but rather a search for home.

I could wax poetic about this book in greater detail for hours, but I wouldn’t want to do anything that could delay you from pre ordering your copy right now. It’s a book that sinks right into your bones as you read it. From the first page, it makes itself right at home in your heart, and it’s there to stay. It’s another resounding victory from Emily Henry, and this book has immediately cemented itself on my ‘favourites’ shelf -- and the only time it’s coming down is when I pull it out to reread again and again and again.

LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. Picked this one up and couldn’t put it down. Finished in two days. Henry is a genius!!! The chemistry between Alex and Poppy is everything. Friends to lovers trope is amazing. I’m praying they work out the whole entire time while reading. So, so good!

I loved everything about this book.

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED.

This is one of those stories that I just wanted to crawl inside the pages and live there forever because it was that good.

The story is engrossing. The writing is rich and immersive. The characters feel real. Story lines were relatable. Everything is well paced.

This is going to be a book I compare other books for quite some time.

This is also a book I will be recommending to everyone and anyone.

I cannot thank the publisher enough for my advanced copy. All gushing is my own.

I enjoyed this one, but I do think I liked Beach Read more. Poppy and Alex were friends to lovers, and it was clear that the two had chemistry from the very beginning. The pair take a summer vacation each year, no matter who they are dating or what their budget is (yes, this is odd and if I were dating someone that insisted they go away each year with someone of the opposite gender, I would be a little wary of it as well).

The story starts with a summer vacation five years prior and sets the tone for the book. The book continues between present day and going through their vacations for the past decade plus. The one thing that really bothered me that brought the book down a star is that we were constanly told of something that happened two years ago that changed everything. It took until about 75% of the way through the book to find out what that was (and the payoff wasn't worth it). By the end, I understand why the author held out so long, but it's frustrating as a reader to constanly hear about "that vacation two years ago" or "that time in Croatia" without knowing what happened or what they are referring to.

Other than that, I did like Poppy, although she seemed a bit immature. Alex was a tad one-dimensional for me, but I did like his character enough. He seemed to put up with Poppy rather than swoon over her, which made the eventual friends-to-lovers a little off, but overall it was a nice summer read (especially because of the places mentioned... for those that aren't traveling right now, it's nice to read about other places!).

Poppy and Alex have been best friends and travel companions for over a decade. They spend most of their year apart - Poppy in NYC and Alex in Ohio, but they spend that time looking forward to their annual Summer Trip. Or at least they did, until two years ago, when things die not go as planned. Their relationship has been strained ever since but Poppy is determined to get them back on track.

I really loved this book! After reading Beach Read last summer I knew I wanted to try another book by @emilyhenry and this one was even better! I absolutely loved how the book was set up jumping back and forth between prior trips and the present, working it’s way forward. I also loved living vicariously through their trips since travel isn’t really a thing at the moment.

I fell in love with both Poppy and Alex - I definitely developed a major crush on Alex while reading this one and I really just want to hang out with them in real life. They’re both hilarious and had me laughing out loud!

I'm in the minority here, but I realised that Emily Henry's writing doesn't do anything for me. It's the second time that I tried to connect with her writing, her characters, and I felt them thoroughly lacking. I DNFed this book when my mind started to wander and skipping and skimming became the norm. I'm finally at the point where I can say that although I might feel like I'm missing out on the hype, I'm clearly the wrong person for her books

Review link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CL-ZO_uArpB/?igshid=121uavi6huqo4

PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION ☆☆☆☆☆⁣⁣
Thank you to @netgalley + @berkleypub for the e-ARC. It’s out May 11th!⁣⁣
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I’m going to paste the synopsis in the comments below, only because I don’t trust myself to do the *perfect* storyline justice in a only few sentences.⁣⁣
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As most of you know, I’m very picky about romance novels. I only really like them if they’re unique and real. This one DOES IT ALL and then some. Alex and Poppy have taken their place as my two favorite romance characters ever. They were both equally memorable and great; her with her relatable quirks & anxieties and him with his “lovable grandpa” ways. And their relationship... 👏🏼👏🏼 Emily Henry wrote them to be best friends above all and it was such a refreshing and realistic story that was so easy to love. They enjoyed each other’s company above anyone else’s and their rapport was ridiculously charming. The vacations were immersive, the humor was laugh-out-loud funny, and I loved how the ending spoke so highly of therapy. I also shed a tear reading the author’s note, no big deal. 😂😅 My favorite part: “This is, ultimately, a book about home. About finding it, about staying in it, about wrapping your arms tightly around it and breathing it in until it fills up your lungs.” Thanks for writing my new favorite book, Emily Henry! ⁣
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Okay, I’m done gushing now. Hopefully that convinced you to grab it on May 11th!! 🧡

Beach Read was one of my favorite reads of 2020 and I didn't know if People We Meet on Vacation could top it, but I'm so happy to say that it did and I can read this book over and over again! Emily Henry writes books that make you feel every emotion and I was laughing throughout the book and also wiping away a lot of tears towards the end.

I loved Poppy and Alex so much and wish I could be a third wheel on their vacations. Their friendship was so genuine, I loved that no matter where they were for most of their friendship, they were always there for each other no questions asked. There were a few points where I actually got mad at Alex's character because I wish he would've expressed things to Poppy. But at the same time, I also liked who he was around Poppy, instead of being the quiet and reserved man that he usually is, he would match her personality or do things he normally would not do. Poppy's personal and professional journey throughout the book was so powerful and at times relatable.

After reading two books by Henry, I love that while they are romance books, there is also so much more depth to them. Her books make you think and even after finishing People We Meet on Vacation, I'm still thinking about it and I know I will be for a long time.

Absolutely enjoyed People We Meet on Vacation! It was so refreshing! I didn't enjoy Emily Henry's last book so I was very skeptical going into this one. I loved the characters and the story development. My only critique is I think it would have been a tad bit stronger if there was a dash of alternating POV with Alex, but that's just my preference! I would absolutely recommend.

This was a fun, funny, sweet, and at times heartbreaking friends-to-lovers story. It's about Poppy, a woman who loves to travel the world, and Alex, her best friend who is a school teacher still living in the same hometown that hurt Poppy so deeply as a child. Every summer the two take a vacation together, and the story goes back and forth between past trips and the present as their adventures unfold. Highly recommend this book!

𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: ⁣

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: ⁣Emily Henry
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: People We Meet On Vacation
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⁣4 ⭐️
⁣
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬: ⁣
•The humor!! It’s absolutely flawless. I was struggling not to burst into laughter every few pages both from the banter, the sarcasm, the outright weirdness. Ugh, it is so good. I also love Poppy and the weird things she says so much. I would be friends with Poppy in real life 100% and I just really related to her (specifically past traumas)
•This was half open door, half closed door smut but I found I didn’t necessarily *need* the smut to get me through this book. I thought it was written well and had the perfect amount for this storyline.
•Despite this also being part of my con, I really did love the chapters of the past and it leading up to present day.
•I appreciated that while this was a cute, lighthearted romance, it did bring up some heavier topics and I loved how Emily Henry handled it!

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬: ⁣
•I really like when stories go between the past and present so while I enjoyed parts of it, other parts were confusing. This broke out the past in one chapter and then present in the next chapter but sometimes past was mixed into the present chapter which ended up being confusing at times.
•This book made me realize I’m not a huge fan of the friends to lovers trope.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend this to all my contemporary romance lovers! While I can’t say I loved it more ⁣than Beach Read, it was still a really great second novel and I can’t wait to read any and all future works by Emily Henry.


𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰.

Emily Henry is an amazing writer. Her prose brings me into a story. Right from the first page, I know I will enjoy the book and want to get to know the characters.

I always love friends to lovers romances, and this is a unique take on that. Poppy and Alex have been close friends for more than a decade, but something tore them apart two years ago. The timeline varies as we weave between the current summer and previous annual Summer Trips, piecing together their relationship and history. At times, I was frustrated by the discontinuous timeline, but it served to make me unable to put the book down, as I wanted to know what happened next in each time.

I love Alex and Poppy's shared history and deep trust and understanding and yet the layers of misunderstanding. Both characters were so complex and real. Their banter and teasing was fun, and the way they slipped into characters or themes for each different Summer Trip was endearing. I really want to join them on their annual vacations, as they wander through their travels, learning and exploring each new destination.

This is a wonderful character-driven romance with beautiful description and amazing destinations. I will eagerly anticipate Emily Henry's next book.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this eARC.

I loved every single thing about this book and about Alex and Poppy. It’s wanderlust meets When Harry Met Sally and I never wanted it to end.

As someone who adored Beach Read, I was nervous that I had hyped up this book too much and that it couldn’t possibly live up to what I anticipated it to be. That fear was in the back of my head for about 20% of the book, affecting how I consumed it however, those fears were quickly dispelled.

I quickly found that Poppy and Alex were occupying a cozy place in my heart and I was fully invested in them both. I’m not typically a *huge* friends to lovers fan but this book was a rare exception. It was delightful, heartbreaking, and laugh out loud funny all at the same time.

Emily Henry’s "Beach Read" was one of my favorite books of 2020, so I was very excited to get my hands on the follow-up, "People We Meet On Vacation." It is a super-slow-burn romance about Poppy and Alex, two platonic friends who meet in college and go on vacation together every year. Poppy is a New York-based travel writer who writes about glamorous destinations for a living, while Alex teaches high school in the southern Ohio town where they both grew up (and which Poppy couldn’t wait to leave).

The obvious question is why Poppy and Alex aren’t a couple, since they love spending time together and, except for the whole long distance thing, seem so perfectly suited to one another. I need to throw in a bit of personal history here: I have had very close platonic friendships with guys since I was in high school—I’ve even vacationed with them—and Poppy and Alex’s relationship just didn’t ring true to me. As she proved in "Beach Read," however, Henry is very good at presenting fully realized back stories for her characters; you get the sense that she really knows and understands them. Rationalizing why Poppy and Alex aren’t a romantic couple sometimes requires her to work pretty hard: Alex’s mother died when he was young, and he simultaneously wants to find someone “who can help him build the life that he lost when he was six years old” and is afraid of getting too close because if he allows himself to love someone, he might lose them. Poppy is ambitious and competent, but she was bullied throughout her childhood and always felt like the odd one out in her family (“I was something of a loose part, that baffling extra bolt IKEA packs with your bookcase, just to make you sweat”).

Both Alex and Poppy are very likable and I really appreciated the fact that they both wound up going to therapy to deal with their respective childhood traumas. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if it was the first Emily Henry book I had read; my expectations were probably too high after "Beach Read," and the follow-up is good-but-not-great, in my opinion.

This book is everything I needed. I'm not usually a fan of friends to more, but this books is perfect. I loved that it was set in many different countries (my travel heart was very excited for this). It also changed from present to past very easily. It was great getting to know their background as friends as you learned more about each character and how they now interact with one another. It was a fun and light read, exactly what you need when on vacation, or if you're like me at home wanting a vacation super bad!
I don't have anything bad to say, I loved it. It was just the book I needed. I am surprised by how much I loved it considering I'm not always a huge fan of contemporary romance, but maybe I need to read more of them.