Book Review: People We Meet On Vacation – Emily Henry

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

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?

Another book by Emily Henry that I enjoy is “People We Meet On Vacation” or “You and Me on Vacation”. After reading Beach Read, I knew that I had to read more by Emily Henry, I just loved her writing style so much! It is a friends-to-lovers trope that is full of emotions. The witty dialogue, relatable characters, immersing storytelling, and interesting plot make the book receive positive reviews.

The heartfelt contemporary romance book is about Poppy and Alex, two estranged best friends who manage a way back to each other. Poppy and Alex take a yearly vacation together until an altercation causes an end to this tradition. Two years later, Poppy convinces Alex to go on another trip together, hoping to mend their friendship by laying everything out and talking about the conflict. The whole holiday is filled with awkward shoulder and elbow bumps, arguments, and compromises. The story unfolds with two timelines. One flashes back to their prior vacations, creating a collage of their vicarious summer trips. From, adventures from San Francisco all the way to New Orleans. The flashbacks show how true Alex and Poppy’s friendship used to be, and how their friendship started evolving into something more. The other timeline is in present-day. The two in Palm Springs awkwardly try to make a small hotel space work without coming too close, even though deep down that’s what they want. The two polar opposites struggle to adjust to each other after so long, but as the vacation takes its twists and turns, they start growing closers, finding comfort in each other’s capacity. Emily Henry skillfully portrays the uncertainty that can arise during this stage of life, as Poppy’s personal life, career, and future plans act as a counterbalance to her romantic interest.

“I wish I could bottle this moment and wear it as a perfume. It would always be with me. Everywhere I went, he’d be there too, and so I’d always feel like myself.” ~ Emily Henry, People We Meet on Vacation

What made the book really stand out was the sassy wordplay and how relatable the romance was. The connection and chemistry between Poppy and Alex seem authentic and pure. Poppy is a typical girl next door personality. She is relatable, dependable, and seems familiar. It was very easy to put yourself in her bubbly head. Alex was also a funny and approachable character. His thought process was straightforward, and I found it simple to imagine myself in his boring khakis.

A few problems that I found in this book was the book being formulaic, following a familiar storyline of friends-turned-lovers that may feel clichéd to some readers. The book’s ending may be unsatisfying, leaving some readers with unanswered questions or unresolved plot points. I also felt that the characters were somewhat stereotypical and lacking in depth, making it hard to fully connect with them. The book’s pacing was also slow at times, with some scenes that could have been trimmed or edited for length.

Overall, “People We Meet On Vacation” is a great, fun-loving book that anybody will enjoy. It’s a great story about second chances and friends that turn into lovers.