Absolutely loved everything about this book!

Poppy & Alex are best friends, who take a trip every year in summer... until they don’t! Poppy takes Alex on one last trip that will make or break their friendship!

This book is about reconnecting, love and life! It was utterly adorable and I can’t wait to read more of the authors books!

First of, I adored Emily Henry’s Beach Read last spring. In fact, that book started me on a whole romance-fiction discovery journey, a genre that previously I’d pretty much never read.

This is a sweet book, a friends to lover story. Poppy and Alex meet during orientation of their freshman year in college. What follows are 12 summers of trips together while for the rest of the year their lives go on in separate states — Alex back in their Ohio hometown that Poppy was so desperate to escape, while she builds a dream-life and career in NYC.

I hate to say it but for me this one just didn’t live up to its predecessor. I wasn’t a fan of the very slow build up, and I constantly found myself comparing this book to Beach Read, which probably isn’t fair. I also missed the good supporting characters we met in the previous book. And as sweet as Poppy and Alex are, I never quite warmed to them as they read more like millennial archetypes than fully developed characters.

But please, please don’t let me put you off reading this book. I’m sure that any romance buff will love following these two on their adventures around the globe.

Wow. Stunning and gorgeous. 5 Stars to this one! Easily my favourite romance of the year.

This was such a beautiful but heartbreaking friends-to-lovers romance. There were points in this where I genuinely cried because I related so much. To anyone who has lost a friend or loved someone without getting anything back, this will hit you in the chest.

Best friends travel journalist Poppy and teacher Alex couldn’t be more different, they really the definition of opposites attract. Poppy is free spirited and spontaneous whereas Alex is straight edge and repressed. Every year up until two years ago they went on a Summer holiday together, but now they don’t even talk after a drunken kiss. Then Poppy decides to try patch things up by going to Palm Springs with Alex for his brothers wedding.

The book flicks between the present day, and the previous holidays that they went on together. Part of what makes this such a heartbreaking read is seeing how such a friendship could have ended leaving nothing behind.

This book is not just a romance novel, it’s a book about learning to love yourself, making sacrifices for the ones you love and learning how to make your own happiness in life.

A nice story but I just didn't connect with the characters. I liked the way it moved back to previous holidays and you could see the development of the relationship but I just didn't warm to it.

I had a feeling about this one as soon as I read the synopsis but I really wasn't prepared for just how much I was going to love it.

Poppy and Alex have been friends for years, ever since that first summer home from college. Every year they take a trip together... it's tradition! This book is written a little differently to others as it switches back and forth between the present day and Poppy and Alex's previous trips. I really loved getting to know their history and the adventures they'd been on together.

I also felt like going back made it possible to get to know both characters really well. You can see how they chance from college students to adults, discover different things that mean something to them and watch their friendship develop over time. The story is quite a slow one in a way, as you don't really get to find out what's actually happened between Poppy and Alex until quite late in the book.

Something I absolutely loved about this book was the adventure and humour. Not only did it make me want to go off on an adventure somewhere but I was laughing out loud so often (or giggling quietly when I was reading in bed). So far, I think this is my favourite book this year.

Another great romance from Emily Henry!

Poppy and Alex are polar opposites but they each find something in the other that makes them feel seen. This is a will they/won't they love story that I fell head over heels for. I adored the banter between the two main characters, it exactly my kind of dry, sarcastic taste and it had me beaming from ear to ear.

It has a dual timeline of the previous summers leading up to the one where the two friends stopped speaking and present day. I thought this worked well as it gave me additional snippets into their shared history and had me falling in love with them along the way.

Emily Henry had set the bar pretty high with Beach Read so i was cautious going in to this book.
Whilst not quite as charming or as enjoyable as Henrys previous works, this was still a pretty good read. The "Best Friends to lovers" trope isn't one that i usually find very captivating which is perhaps why I didn't enjoy this book as much.

I think a lot of people would really enjoy this book it just didn't work quite as well as I wanted it to for me.

I have given it a 4 star review but only because the last quarter of the book saved it from being a 2 star. Poppy was quite a tricky character to connect with and mostly she seemed to treat Alex without much care but also the sexual tension was totally lacking until we got further into their final holiday together when things for more tense and therefore more interesting.

It is a classic will they, won't they but the first third was a slow burn to be honest and I found myself trying to zip through the book just so I could finish it but as I said it definitely redeemed itself in the last quarter when Alex and Poppy became a lot more raw and vulnerable as characters.

If you are looking for a nice summer read then this one will definitely tick that box. Also I could totally see this book being turned into a movie. In fact I have a feeling that it might have even been written with that hope in mind. Something about the scenes and the ending speech by Poppy that was almost script like.

After seeing so many people raving about Beach Read last year, I really wanted to read a story by Emily Henry. Her new romance book sounded quite interesting and since I usually don’t read many books revolving around the friends-to-lovers trope, I was quite excited about reading You and Me on Vacation. I went into it hoping to find a cute story about friendship and love and, while that is the essence of this book, I found myself quite bored throughout the most part.

You and Me on Vacation is the story of Poppy and Alex, two friends with different personalities who bound together after a road trip to their hometown twelve years ago. They have become best friends ever since and travelled together every summer until two summers ago, when something happened that made them fall apart. Now, Poppy feels that she is not happy and wants Alex back in her life, so she plans a last trip in order to save their friendship.

I really liked the premise and I’m always in for a slow-burn romance but, as I mentioned at the beginning of this review, I was bored for the most part of this book. It took me a while to empathize with Poppy and I only got interested in the romance once the story reaches the flashback of what happened four summers ago. I kind of liked both the chapters that take place through the last four summers and the last chapters set in the present timeline.

Summing up, You and Me on Vacation wasn’t what I was expecting or hoping for, but it was an okay read with some cute scenes. But despite my review of this book, you might want to check out Poppy and Alex’s story if you like friends-to-lovers romances. I just personally hope that I’ll enjoy Beach Read more than I enjoyed this one once I decide to read it.

I really enjoyed this book. The switching of timelines between the current holiday and the holidays of the past worked well to build the relationship between Poppy and Alex and made you root for them throughout.
You could feel there was such good chemistry between the two characters and at no point did it feel like their relationship was rushed.
Overall a really good read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I was a huge fan of Emily Henry’s previous book, Beach Read, it was one of my favourite reads in 2020 so I had seriously high expectations for her latest book, You and Me on Vacation. Poppy and Alex have been friends since university and have spent many a summer holiday together, many of them on a shoe-string budget. When we meet them, we learn that they haven’t spoken for two years and Poppy is desperate to reconcile so they agree to a summer trip but can their friendship be fixed?

This is very much about a friendship developing into a romantic relationship and the obstacles that are often encountered along the way. I liked this aspect of the book and how Henry flitted from the past to the present to show us how Alex and Poppy have got to this point. I have to admit that I liked the characters but I didn’t necessarily love them and there were times when I found Alex a little stand-offish.

You and Me on Vacation was a great read to beat a bit of the lockdown blues though. I think we’re all looking forward to the possibility of summer holidays and it was lovely to escape to that type of environment within these pages. I really enjoyed the author’s descriptions of Poppy and Alex’s different holiday destinations, they were rich in detail and vivid.

You and Me on Vacation was entertaining and enjoyable.

3/5 for this book because I expected a lot from this book but it did not quite reach up to my expectations. Since this is written by Emily Henry, and being that Beach Read was one of my best reads last year I had high hopes for this one. But maybe it's not her writing in this book, maybe it's because I'm not particularly fond of friends to lovers tropes. Upon first reading the premise of this book I was so hyped up to read it, but the hype disappeared upon finishing about 10% of this book. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love pining. However, these two main characters are grown adults who refused to communicate for two years just because of a mild thing that happened. Simple problem that they drifted apart due to miscommunication, and I wasn't exactly a fan of this plot device used for the conflict in the story.

The main characters did not give me the butterflies in the stomach feeling when I was reading their scenes, and that's supposed to be the main emotion that Romance books should let you feel. I did not feel the characters' chemistry. Honestly, the two are better off in a platonic relationship anyway.

Alex, one of the main character in this book, is one of the typical lead guys. I mean his entire personality looks like something patched up from different famous lead guys in romance books and his character did not offer anything new to the table. He's just a nice guy with a conventional pretty face, what is new??

I also could not relate much to Poppy. Her existential crisis was something that sounds like it reeks of privilege. She worked hard, and was able to achieve the somewhat financial stability in her life that she wanted- and yet, she can't be happy because of what? because she needs a partner in life. It's perpetuating the notion that women can't live a happy and satisfied life because they don't have a man.

Although I did not like this book so much, I'd say that I would still be open to read other books that Emily Henry releases in the future. This book felt like a chore to finish but there were few scenes and characters I liked. I particularly liked David and Tham and I wish we had gotten more about them although I know they were just side characters.

Thank you so much to Penguin and Netgalley for providing me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review of this book.

⭐️⭐️ this book was ok. The problem is that I’ve read better in the genre.

Nothing wrong with the writing style, I just didn’t gel with any of the characters, the flashback sections were drawn out and I just wanted to read about present day.

I loved Emily Henry’s debut adult fiction book Beach Read last year, so I was delighted when her publishers sent me an advanced Netgalley copy of her new one! You and Me on Vacation (or The People You Meet on Vacation in the US) is another compelling romance novel, this time set over the course of twelve different summer vacations taken by Poppy and Alex.

The novel is narrated by Poppy, who is an absolute delight of a character, witty, silly and full of lovely little human insecurities. She meets Alex at university and, after a dodgy first encounter, they become best friends. When their first joint summer vacation is a resounding success, they commit to taking a trip together each Summer. After they leave college, Poppy skips town as soon as possible to work in New York City as a travel writer while Alex stays in their hometown in Ohio to work as a teacher at their high school. As their lives start to head in different directions, their annual trips become the one consistent opportunity they have to reconnect.

Alex is also a pretty unique character. He’s a bit of a slow burn and it takes a while for his personality to come through. When it does though it’s worth the wait, his backstory arcing out to impact his decisions and actions in clear and believable ways. However it felt like a fairly brave choice for a romance novel where typically the reader wants to also yearn after the romantic interest. In Beach Read for example, Gus is described as handsome from the off, even though he’s unfriendly, so setting up his attraction for both the novel’s female protagonist and the reader. Conversely, in You and Me On Vacation, nothing made Alex stand out to me as a particularly exciting, well-suited or sexy prospect. so there wasn’t that pulsing excitement for me to want the two of them to end up together. It’s testament to Henry’s writing that, by the end of the novel, I was absolutely rooting for the two of them.

The long term friends set-up is not a trope I come across regularly in the romance novels I read (I’m not sure if it is a popular trope at all as I don’t read tons of romance) but it was a refreshing shake up from storylines featuring sickly sweet meet-cutes or instantaneous explosive lust at first sight type things! On a personal level, my husband and I were acquaintances and then friends for many years before we got together, so there’s that little joy of seeing us reflected a little bit in a love story!

I think I can now safely say I’m an Emily Henry fan. Her writing is smart and incisive so her love stories never become cloyingly sweet or overly predictable. There was the odd thing that I found a little distracting in this novel, in particular I thought that at points the characters started to create more difficulties for themselves which I found a little irritating and took away from my enjoyment. Overall though this is another delightful read from Henry and I'll wait as patiently as possible for the next one!

After finishing Beach Read, I was so excited for another Emily Henry book. So naturally, I scoured the internet for all things about her newest book. After getting my hands on an ARC (and jumping up and down and throwing my arms around in excitement), I started reading it and couldn’t stop.

Best friends to lovers happens to be a favourite trope of mine. Especially with all the juicy pining, tingly feels when they brush their hands together and the long stares at each other. Poppy and Alex had a delightful chemistry from Page 1 and it didn’t stop.

The book switches from different time frames, something that can really throw me off a book sometimes, just because it can be so easy to forget when something happened and leave me in utter confusion. But I genuinely enjoyed seeing how Poppy and Alex met, their friendship and eventual romantic feelings towards each other. It definitely added to their dynamic, making it different from other best friends to lovers books I’ve read, where you wouldn’t really see them building the trust and care they have for each other. The characters were delightful, the secondary characters well developed.

I did, however, find that only hearing from Poppy’s perspective felt a little out of place. I was desperate to hear from Alex’s perspective! Maybe it was just the anticipation I felt!

In short, *this book speaks to me*.

Thank you, Penguin General UK and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I am, to begin with, not really someone who reads lots of romance novels. Most of them just don't do it for me at all. But sometimes, a romance novel surprises me - such was the case with Emily Henry's "Beach Read" that I ordered on a whim last year and that I liked so much it made me want to read more in that genre again. So of course I was super excited when I heard about Henry's new romance novel and might or might not have performed a little happy dance when my arc of "You and Me on Vacation" got approved.

This one I love even more. Henry manages to connect fluffy romance with more serious topics, which is probably why I adore her books so much. She does it again with her protagonists in "You and Me on Vacation". There are issues of bullying, of loneliness and restlessness, of home (and not having one), of loss and grief and the hardships of moving on. They way these topics are interwoven with the plot and characters while never taking away from the fluffiness and cuteness of a good romance is just really amazing. The writing as such is gorgeous, fun, perfect for the genre.

The romance itself is swoonworthy. It's an opposites attract kind of love story while also being a friendship to lovers romance that takes literally years to finally culminate in a relationship so sweet and healthy it still makes my heart flutter just thinking about it. Poppy is an amazing, deeply flawed, 100% relatable protagonist and Alex is just as amazing as both a character and a love interest. He might be one of my favorite love interests in any romance novel, quite frankly. Henry really knows how to write 'em like this.

There are some side characters that, to be honest, are more or less forgettable. And at some points during the story I did have to suspend my disbelief a liiiiittle too much because a single honest conversation could have basically solved everything. Sometimes it didn't make much sense to me as a reader that this conversation didn't take place - especially because the very essence of their friendship is how open and honest and true to themselves they are able to be around and with each other.

I still thoroughly enjoyed my time with "You and Me on Vacation" and definitely recommend it to both avid romance readers and people like me who do sometimes enjoy a good fluffy romantic afternoon.

You and Me on Vacation is such a heart fluttering and will hit you right to the feels of two best friends from college who make it their tradition to go on vacations every summer. This book is honestly such a fun, emotional and the kind of read that will make you believe in love as well as finding the one who will always make you feel like home.

I absolutely couldn't stop reading this book. The best friends to lovers is always one of my favourite tropes but this story takes it to a whole other level. Their relationship is easy and they always make sure to be true. They love each other unconditionally and it is absolutely heartwarming. This is exactly the kind of romance that is seriously to die for and I'm sure you can agree with me too.

The story goes back from the past and then to the present. So, it will make you feel suspense to figure out what actually happened to the two of them that made their friendship grow apart. You will then have no choice but to continue reading through all the mushy and soft moments between the main characters, Alex and Poppy.

This isn't just a book about romance but it was also about seeking for more to life and reaching out for help when you feel like drowning in one's own struggles and fear. It was also about finally finding home in the one you love most while spending time during vacations that some sounds dreamy and while some sounds a bit dreadful but it doesn't really matter. Especially if you have the best company right by your side.

I really enjoyed reading this book so much and I would seriously recommend you to read this book if you're looking to pick up a romance book filled with different vacation destinations around the world along with important life lessons.

You and Me on Vacation is the best friends-to-lovers romance I have ever read.

While I enjoyed Beach Read last year, You and Me on Vacation was everything to me, and solidified Emily Henry as an auto-buy romance author for me.

This book follows Poppy and Alex, who have been best friends for twelve years, taking summer trips together every year, until two years ago, when they ruined everything, and have barely spoken to each other since. Now Poppy wants to give them a last chance, one last summer trip, where anything could happen.

I loved Poppy and Alex so much. All my favourite romance novels are the ones where I’m equally invested in both protagonists’ emotional journeys, and Emily Henry managed to do that even though she was only writing from Poppy’s point of view, which is quite a feat. This book was full of raw emotion, and she captured beautifully the feeling of loneliness we all feel at some point. I related to Poppy through how lost she was in her life and her loneliness, while I related to Alex because he’s the eldest child in his family, always puts everyone else’s needs first, and is scared to be happy.

One of my favourite things about You and Me on Vacation> was that it had flashbacks to all the summers Poppy and Alex spent together: you get to see them becoming friends, all their little moments of being comfortable and the happiest around each other, you get to see them falling for each other, even though they don’t quite realise it. Because you have all those little moments of them together, you can definitely see the connection between them, and how, despite all their differences, they’re perfect together.

Seeing all the build-up of Poppy and Alex’s relationship was amazing, because it made their relationship all the more believable, and it could make sense that most of the present timeline mostly happened in a week. All the mutual pining was incredible, it really was a masterclass in friends-to-lovers romance. I got so invested in their personal journeys and their romance that I found myself ugly-crying during the scene where it all comes together, and they give in to their mutual attraction, and it hadn’t happened to me in a very long time.

Overall, You and Me on Vacation is my favourite romance of 2021 so far, this book made me so emotionally invested in both protagonists’ personal growths and their romance. It was such a beautiful story, and I can’t wait to reread it again and again.

This book focuses On the friendship of Alex and Poppy, both from a small town in Ohio and both very different. It focuses on the vacations that they take each summer and how they have grown together and apart. I read “beach read” by the author last year and didn’t really gel with the story or characters at all, but I loved this book and could relate to it and to the characters, particularly as I had come from a small Ohio Town myself and now live in a city.

I loved this book - the way the story is told with the timelines mixed together was such a brilliant device to get to know Poppy and Alex. I could happily read a book about each individual summer trip!
Can't wait to see what Emily Henry does next!