May 11, 2021

People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry

Genre/Categories: Contemporary Fiction, Women’s Fiction, RomCom, Romance

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

My Summary:

Thanks #NetGalley @BerkleyPub #BerkleyWritesStrongWomen #BerkleyBuddyReads for a complimentary eARC of #PeopleWeMeetOnVacation upon my request. All opinions are my own.

Do you have a best friend of the opposite sex? Would you take an annual vacation with this best friend? Would you include spouses in the relationship?

Thirty something and opposite in almost every way, Poppy and Alex have been best friends since college when they shared a ride home from college for summer break. They decided then that they should vacation together every summer. Even though they don’t live in the same town, this annual vacation has been a tradition and a highlight of the last decade. Until the year that something happened and now they have missed their vacation for two years. Poppy is miserable without her best friend fix and realizes that these times with Alex have been her happiest memories, so she decides to plan a vacation this year to fix what’s broken between them. He agrees to the vacation but Poppy is desperate and nervous that they won’t be able to restore their friendship.

My Thoughts:

Slow, slow burn romance + friends to lovers trope + entertaining and unputdownable

Writing: I’m not a huge chick-lit fan, so the writing can really redeem a predictable story for me. The People We Meet On Vacation unfolds from Poppy’s perspective through a past and present timeline. I love the quick pace and witty banter. Vivid details and descriptions transport me to each location with Poppy and Alex. No one in my buddy read shared my view on this, but I think I would have preferred one chronological timeline. The story is an incredibly slow burn romance and my interest was with the present timeline because we already know nothing happens in the past….except for the year that things got broken. The past timeline was interesting as we are brought up to speed on their history and connection, but I constantly felt pulled away from the present to learn about the past. As I said, no one in my group seemed to mind and were happy with the structure.

Characters: I liked that Poppy and Alex are opposites….always a fun trope.  Poppy is free spirited and Alex is conservative (and a perfect book boyfriend). They are both likable, reflective, and have good intentions, but they each are dealing with issues from the past. For the most part, their communication is good (always annoying when lack of communication is the plot device). I do have a question about one decision that Alex made that seemed extreme and didn’t make sense for his character (but otherwise didn’t affect the story).

Themes: The People We Meet On Vacation has thoughtful themes including trust, grief, finding “home,” friendship, taking risks, and second chances.

Recommended: I recommend The People We Meet On Vacation for fans of chick-lit, for readers looking for a light vacation or weekend read, and for book clubs looking for well-written RomCom. Everyone in my buddy read loved it!

Content Considerations: high school bullying, death of a parent, grief, some casual drug use, some steam

My Rating:  3.5 Stars (rounded to 4)

People We Meet On Vacation Information Here

Meet the Author, Emily Henry

Emily Henry writes stories about love and family for both teens and adults. She studied creative writing at Hope College and the now-defunct New York Center for Art & Media Studies, and now spends most of her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the part of Kentucky just beneath it. Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.

 

 

 

---

---

QOTD:

Is The People We Meet On Vacation on your TBR or have you read it?

---

---

Happy Reading Book Buddies!

“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke

“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text

---

---

Let’s Get Social!

Thank you for visiting and reading today! I’d be honored and thrilled if you choose to enjoy and follow along (see subscribe or follow option), promote, and/or share my blog. Every share helps us grow.

Find me at:
Twitter
Instagram
Goodreads
Pinterest

---

---

***Blogs posts may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I can earn a small percentage of your purchase price.

Unless explicitly stated that they are free, all books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library.

Book Cover and author photos are credited to Amazon or an author’s (or publisher’s) website.

© ReadingLadies.com