People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry – 384 pages
Book Blurb:
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. 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?
My Review: 4.5 stars – Guest Review
People We Meet on Vacation is a funny, charming, emotional, romantic, and multi-layered rom/com that I loved! I really enjoyed Emily Henry’s first book Beach Read and I enjoyed this one even more. It definitely lived up to all of the hype for me. The author makes wonderful use of the timeline, which added to the development of the characters and story. The timeline is used in a clever way that shows the past leading up to the present, and then the present day. The story shifts between the current and past summers. The flashbacks to their previous summer trips let the reader know how Poppy and Alex became friends and how their connection grew stronger over the years. The reader gets to intimately know Poppy and Alex both as individuals and as a couple.
I adored Poppy and Alex and their friendship. They are both wonderfully developed characters who are flawed, vulnerable, complex and totally relatable. I can’t imagine any reader not rooting for them. I particularly loved Alex and think a lot of women would love to have an “Alex” in their lives. The themes of opposites attract, and friends to lovers was predictable, yet had a lot of emotional complexity and depth. The romantic tension was palpable, and a slow burn. One of the author’s strengths was the dialogue with the witty, humorous banter between Poppy and Alex that was laugh out loud funny at times. This book has drawn comparisons with the movie “When Harry Met Sally”. After being transported to all of Poppy’s and Alex’s vacation destinations, you will be ready to start planning a trip. I didn’t want this warm, captivating, romantic and thought- provoking book to end. It is one of my favorite contemporary romances of 2021. Emily Henry is quickly establishing herself as a “master of romantic comedy”, and I will read anything that she writes. I highly recommend adding this book to your summer reading list! Guest Fairy Review from Ronna W.
Quotes I liked:
…most of us are too scared to even ask for what we want, in case we can’t have it.”
“It’s not your job to make me happy…You can’t make anyone happy. I’m happy just because you exist, and that’s as much of my happiness as you have control over.”
“Like a good book or an incredible outfit, being on vacation transports you into another version of yourself.”
“It hurts to want it all, so many things that can’t coexist within the same life.”
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