People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (Twitter, Goodreads)Also by this author: A Million Junes, Beach Read
Published by Penguin on May 11, 2021
Genres: Fiction, Romance, Romantic Comedy
Pages: 384
Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read, a sparkling new novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations.
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?
I loved everything about this book and this is the second time I’ve picked up a book by Emily Henry and haven’t wanted to put it down until I finished.
Not only are the characters in this story real and likable, but their story is one that had me turning the pages to see what was going to happen for them. I’m probably going to be purposely vague only because you shouldn’t read it all here – you should definitely go grab the book!
Poppy and Alex met their freshman year of college and despite a bumpy start, their friendship became something they both depended on. It’s clear they are very much opposites of each other but that’s what makes things work and I loved their banter and the way their relationship evolved.
Every year they plan a week long summer trip and they had a really good run no matter where they were in their lives but when something happens during their trip to Croatia 2 years ago, things change for both Alex and Poppy and they don’t really have a plan for coming back together. Until…Poppy reaches out again to reconnect and plan a getaway.
It is such a relatable story – everyone has that friend (or friends) that could be something more but the question on the table is what are you willing to risk to find out? It was clear to me that both Poppy and Alex had feelings for each other but they always seemed to be too afraid to take a chance. When Poppy finally realizes that the last time she was really happy was when they were last together, she takes a chance to reconnect and although they don’t pick up exactly where they left off, there is still some of that old relationship there. Add to this the fact that they are in a rough situation travel wise (crappy car, horrible apartment, Alex’s back) and they finally push each other and confront what has been in front of them the whole time. Let’s just say…the last day in Nikolai’s apartment was fantastic!
As their vacation wraps up, they both have to face some truths and really truly figure out what they want/need. It’s not all perfect but I’m happy to say I loved the ending and how they were both able to realize not only what they needed for themselves but also what that meant to the other.
I highly recommend picking this one up. The characters are great and the story is engaging and realistic. I can’t ask for anything more for a contemporary romance. Emily Henry has officially made it onto my auto-buy list and I can’t wait to read what she writes next!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy in exchange for an honest review!
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