Emily Henry writes the best Friends to lovers I've ever read. This story was beautiful and I'm not sure I'll get over it. Alex will definitely be one of those characters I won't forget easily.

I absolutely loved Emily Henry’s debut ‘Beach Read’ but I actually think ‘You and Me...’ was even better.
It follows Poppy and Alex, who become friends in their first year of college, and reunite for a summer trip every year. As the story begins, Poppy is trying to reconnect with Alex, following an awkward experience between them a couple of summers previously. They end up going on a make or break trip, and we also get to hear about their previous adventures.
The relationship between the 2 is incredibly authentic, and beautifully written. I wasn’t so convinced by the supporting cast, in particular Poppy’s best friend in New York who is a bit formulaic. But Alex and Poppy really are at the heart of the story, so it certainly didn’t spoil anything for me! I am already excited for Emily’s next novel!

Poppy a successful well established travel journalist is feeling a bit low and missing a friend that she was last in touch with two years ago. She now feels that she must try to get in touch to arrange a vacation with him and to make up what had come between them. How she manages to meet again and what transpires is the story interposed with accounts of the preceding ten years, one by one of vacations that they had shared in a platonic relationship up to when they split up. Why, is a mystery that is revealed when she exposed as a complex character burdened with phobias and baggage accumulated from her childhood and school days. A beautifully written, somewhat frustrating story of an unusual relationship with a happy ending.

This is a great fun escape into the characters book which I devoured very quickly. Reminiscent of One Day and Normal People but with a much more upbeat glamorous edge. It''s a typical will they won't they but nonetheless very enjoyable to read and a much needed sense of escape. The book is well written with great characters that you are instantly drawn to with a bit of soul searching along the way. A great holiday read or pandemic escape.

So, it took me a couple of chapters to wrap my head around the timeline and get into the flow of this book. I must admit I didn’t initially warm to Poppy, but I did instantly like Alex - ✨feels✨

I went through the pages shouting ‘YOU LOVE EACH OTHER!’, may have ugly cried a bit and laughed a lot too. I really enjoyed travelling around on the different vacations - especially New Orleans.

It is well written and easy to read. I’d finished it in two days. It was predictable-ish... not such a bad thing though!

This is the first book I have read by Emily Henry. I will now be purchasing Beach Read.

This would be a fantastic book for the summer so make sure you pre-order/add to your wish lists!

Thanks to Viking and Emily Henry for the ARC. I loved Beach Read so much that I just had to get this.

But… excuse me. I knew it was going to be good, but I didn’t expect that. WOW.

I adored this so much, it was everything I love in a romcom – but most of all, the YEARNING, THE ANGST.

I fell for these characters so hard that I really did miss them once I finished. It was also extremely funny. I loved Poppy’s humour, and Alex, oh Alex.

Just remember turning to my boyfriend with tears, and all I said was ‘that was just so nice.’

Definitely what I needed in a book right now - all round loveliness and warmth. Need a physical copy as this will be reread, FOR SURE.

12 years ago Poppy and Alex meet and they don't like each other but they keep on meeting up. Then they agree to go on holiday every summer together

Bookstagram made me do it! After seeing endless praise for Emily Henry online, I knew I had to read this book. It is right up my street with warm fuzzy feelings and wishful thinking for this Summer. Even if we can't be pool side or at the beach in 2021, I will be recommending this book to fans of the genre

Lovely to take a break and go on a vacation (or twelve) with Poppy and Alex. This is a heart-warming story about friendship and love, with a little angst and I couldn't put it down. As I turned the pages, I couldn't wait to figure out what exactly happened to Poppy and Alex and where their story will take me. An incredibly well-written romance novel, it's exactly what the readers need to escape the reality of the current world.

I absolutely loved Beach Read so I was delighted to receive this arc in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed it, but maybe not just as much as Beach Read. It was a great friends to lovers tale, told over multiple holidays. Often funny and full of much-loved romance tropes, it was a really nice distraction from the current world, transporting to lots of destinations we can’t get to at the minute. I did miss Alex’s point of view though.
Emily Henry is definitely one to watch in the romance world and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

Poppy realises that something vital is missing from her life and knows that she shouldn’t have drifted away from her best friend Alex and their glorious summer trips that brought her so much joy. But trying to repair the cracks in her life means that she needs to make an effort to not only fix the relationship that frittered away but make it better.

I found that it took a long time to warm to Poppy and her lack of contentment with her lifestyle, it actually made me think that Alex was better off without having her in his life. But slowly I softened towards Poppy and her feelings, and so I enjoyed the last third of the book more. Having the shifting time periods of the different holidays was a good way to drip feed the reader with the ebbs & flows of the friendship. The friendship of Poppy & Alex really shouldn’t have worked, but it evolved despite their differences. Overall I was a bit disappointed with this book, maybe I was expecting too much and my lack of connection with Poppy was a drawback however I liked the character of Alex. Maybe I can relate more to his personality more, so I was more drawn to him.

'You And Me On Vacation' follows Poppy and Alex who have been friends since college and every year go on vacation together. Until one year something happens on their vacation and they stop being friends. A few years later, Poppy realises she's not as happy as she was before and decides to try to get Alex to go on vacation with her and to renew their friendship.

I loved this book so much. I knew I would because I loved 'Beach Read' so much and I just love Emily Henry's writing and characters. This book felt completely different to 'Beach Read' but also similar which is why I don't think you can compare the two and I would not be able to pick which one is my favourite.

From the first chapter, I was completely hooked into this story and the characters and wanted to stay up all night to read it because I couldn't put it down. I fell in love with both Poppy and Alex so quickly and I loved seeing them rekindle their friendship and battle with their romantic feelings for each other.

I loved how this book is told in alternate chapters. One chapter would be set in the present day with Poppy and Alex rekindling their friendship and going on their vacation, and the alternate chapters would tell the story of how Poppy and Alex met and their previous ten vacations, leading to the reason why they eventually stopped being friends.

I loved the different settings that this book is set in and Emily Henry's writing makes you feel like you're really there on these adventures with Poppy and Alex.

Also I might definitely be a little in love with Alex, he's just such a soft human and I love him.

The ending had me crying. I knew this book would make me cry, I read 'Beach Read' and cried, but this one broke my heart and then mended it in.

If you loved 'Beach Read' you should definitely read this book. If you want to read an incredible book that takes you on adventure whilst seeing two people fall in love, you should read this book. Or if you just want an amazing book, then you should read this book. Just read 'You and Me On Vacation'. Please. It's so good.

Thank you to Penguin for providing me with an advance copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

If I could give this ten stars I would.
Most of the time when I really enjoy a book I wish I could read slower - but I was utterly addicted to Alex & Poppy’s story, I was wishing the minutes would fly faster so could find how how things unfold, I spent all day with my kindle in hand, unable to stop reading. I could feel the sweaty tension of This Summer with no air con!

I loved this book. I just loved it completely. Every part was perfect (though orange nylon bell bottoms pushed my limit of clothing tolerance).

I loved ‘One Day’ - it’s been a favourite of mine for a long time, when I started this book I thought it was a similar premise, but I think I love it even more, it was raw and beautiful and stunningly well written.

In case you’re not sure, I really really really liked it.

I felt the story was rather predictable. A book about two friends who become lovers. It just didn't grab me in the way I hope it would.

Such a lovely page-turner! Extremely binge-able and highly recommended if you're looking for a well-timed escapism read in the midst of lockdown #15783.

The throwbacks between this summer and previous holidays help create a more layered understandings of the relationship between the two key characters, Poppy and Alex. Having said that, it would be better if the author had focused on this instead of tormenting us with casual references to Croatia (spoiler alert, the summer break where all went South).

The cinematic references to When Harry met Sally, One Day and The Notebook - the outdoor make out scene in the rain felt very familiar, hopefully I am not the only one who was reminded of this movie? - are very vivid and add to the build-up of the story. As a rom com enthusiast, I enjoyed them thoroughly, potentially because my brain could not but feel fuzzy and comforted by imagery and storytelling that I am familiar with. However, it left me thinking if it was just a wee lazy from the author's side to rely so much to existing tropes?

Somewhere between 3 - 3.5

Having really enjoyed Beach Read, Henry's first foray into comtemporary romance I was really excited to get a copy of her new novel.

In a similar vein to it's predecessor, You and Me on Vacation follows a young woman, Poppy, who works for a travel lifestyle magazine R&R, writing aspirational articles about vacations. As such she gets to travel a lot for work, something she has long dreamed of doing since she dropped out of college and started her travel blog. The blog which kicked off her career saw her seeking out fun, budget trips - many of which she went on with her close friend, Alex, who happens to come from her hometown in Ohio and who she met at college.

The story is told across two split timelines: one tells the present day story of Poppy trying to reconcile with Alex through a trip to Palm Springs; the other tells of their previous trips over the last 10 years in reverse chronological order to recount why they lost touch for a couple of years.

Whilst I found this to be an enjoyable and fast-paced read it didn't grab me quite as much as Beach Read did - the conclusion felt inevitable from the get-go, and I didn't wholly buy Poppy and Alex's compatibility. That, and the romance element didn't really kick in until 60-something percent in (beyond some mild flirting). I guess it wasn't quite as fun as I was expecting, which is a shame. That said, if you enjoyed BR I'd still recommend checking this out if you want a light summery read!

Poppy and Alex are the best of friends. They met at Uni and bonded on a trip home - they both live in the same small town. Poppy's job involves a lot of travel. Each year the duo go on a summer trip, purely plutonic, and have a fantastic time. Then something happens and they don't speak for two years until Poppy, who really misses her buddy, gets in touch. They try another trip which ends in Alex's brother Davis's wedding. Will it all go smoothly, can they gain back their close bond??

Emily's latest offering after the outstanding Beach Read was well worth the wait.

Poppy and Alex met at orientation for college, had one very awkward conversation, then didn't speak until their first year ended; when they ended up inadvertently ended up sharing a car journey across state to return home, they discovered that maybe they had more in common than they once thought. They show each other their real selves, and become fast friends, eventually promising each other that they'll see each other for a summer holiday every year, but then two years ago, something changed on the final nights of their holiday to Croatia and the pair haven't spoken since...

It was a really enjoyable and fun read, I loved the flashbacks to previous holidays and the current time too. The characters' interactions were well plotted and complimented each other two. It was great to read abut two characters who weren't perfect as sometimes that's how people can be portrayed and that is super frustrating - but not with Poppy and Alex. I loved the setting and inclusion of the family wedding, and all the baggage that came with that.

All in all, a fantastic summer read that made me grin like a loon!

As a full disclosure from the off-set - I did not finish this book. That's not because of the book itself, it's because this is not the usual amount of romance I like to read. I had a friend read this also, and they told me the romance was more of a subplot, so I would enjoy it, but the romance is very much a main plot point, which whilst I can see why other readers enjoy, it is not my cup of tea. That is not to say I could not appreciate this book though!

I can easily see this book as being a fun, easy read - and perfect for the summer months! I loved hearing about Poppy's life as a travel 'influencer', and what I did like is hearing her internal monologue as she battles with herself, seeming to be battling of both the positives and negatives of her life, as well as her mentioning how important it is to her to keep some boundaries and distance from keeping her personal life offline. In a world so consumed by social media, I think these were really nice details to add in, and it definitely made me like Poppy more as a character because of it.

I also loved the time-hopping in the book, and how we learn more slowly and gradually as the book progresses. The book goes between the present-day Poppy and Alex and the holiday they are currently on, and previous holidays they have been on together, one holiday per year, slowly bringing us closer to the present. We know Alex and Poppy were best friends, we know something big happened that caused them to stop speaking for 2 years...and as the book progresses, through the recounts of past holidays and Poppy's internal monologue of the current holiday, as a reader you can slowly piece together an idea of what happened. I love this slow build as opposed to just being told everything up front; learning slowly for me builds a lot of character development, so I did enjoy that in this book too.

Finally, whilst there is romance as a large plot point within the book, I loved how even more than that, Poppy just wants her best friend back in her life. Hearing how she talks about Alex, hearing about their relationship as friends and hearing her discuss what it's like having a friendship break up is something that I think is so important. There are so many books that cover romantic breakups, but much less that cover platonic and friendship ones, but I think those relationships are arguably worse and leave even more of a sting. I love reading about strong friendships in books and I adored reading about Poppy and Alex's - especially reading how they went from 2 strangers who were not too keen on each other, to being each other's best friends that they can't imagine living without,

Overall, a really sweet read. Yes it was predictable and no it won't change history...but I don't think you always need that in a book. Sometimes you need likeable characters and a story just to read and enjoy - which I think this book delivers. This is a perfect summer read I would say - if this is your genre you enjoy reading. If this type of genre was my usual reading, I am sure I would have loved it even more!

I had high hopes for this book after really enjoying Emily Henry's debut novel and I must say I was not disappointed. I absolutely loved this story, which had me hooked from the first few pages. I adore her style of writing and the way you effortlessly really care about the characters you encounter within the story.

This is so funny; everyday occurrences which resonate in a familiar way and gave me the same feeling as enjoying a comedian's stand-up routine which pokes fun at the 'ordinary' situations we all encounter. Equally, there are moments where you feel your heart contract with feeling.

I loved the story of Poppy and Alex and there easy friendship and how this grows over the course of 12 years. The character descriptions were spot on and I feel like I know these two people. We are also treated to some great locations, thanks to various travels taken by Poppy and Alex, which is a real treat in these times of coronavirus where we all need a bit of escapism.

I read this book quickly, finding myself thinking about what was going to happen next and enjoyed it immensely.

Can't wait to see what Emily will come up with for her third book!