Title- People We Meet on Vacation
Author- Emily Henry
Rating– 4.5/5
Genre- contemporary romance
POV- first person, present tense from heroine’s POV only
Trope- friends to lovers
Similar Books/Comps- Unhoneymooners
Cover– (this is one of the first books for a while that I wish had a different title. It was somewhat relevant at the end, but didn’t feel to capture to entire essence of the novel’s purpose)
My emotions- a bit frustrated with how long it took, but that’s probably the point.
Discussion question I was contemplating:
Is it ever possible for two hetereosexual friends to remain friends or is lust/sex/love always a 5% option or more?
Comments-
I love the quirky and unique tidbits they learned about each other early on in their relationship, those small details make them feel very real. The fact that they’re opposites makes everything feel cuddly endearing. I was invested to learn why she hates Linfield but later on didn’t feel like the reason was strong enough for detesting that city.
Anywho, books about traveling and different destinations always make me happy. The social media part felt yucky, but that’s just my technology phobia speaking.
Okay, so time switched back and forth between the past and current. So I don’t like when the current has “flashbacks” because those parts feel like info dumps. I’d rather experience then myself if they were put into one of the chapters from the past and show me instead of tell me what once happened.
Thoughts while reading:
Page 86- I can’t wait to find out what the heck happened two years ago to make their friendship fall apart. They seem too strong to be separated.
Page 105- I haven’t read many “friends to lovers” trope, so this has been fun so far. They just need to kiss already.
Page 169- I wish Alex had just a bit more personality so I could Love him entirely.
Page 315- frustrated
Satisfied at ending
Characters–
I wish Alex had a bit more “personality”
Plot/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?
Best part- the laugh out loud moments. As I’ve said in previous romcom reviews, I rarely actually laugh out loud while reading, but this had me about 4x.
What I’d change- See above. I wanted Alex to be a little more “interesting,” though I understand that was a huge character arc for him, yet accurate. He was a bit boring. I didn’t see him as a book boyfriend and wouldn’t have dated him. I didn’t fall in love with Alex as Poppy did, but still rooted for them.
Quote-
“Reading his story makes me feel for the first time that I’m not in my body. Like there’s some bubble that stretched around me and [him] and makes it so we’re just two different globs in a lava lamp, mixing freely, dancing around each other, unhindered.
Pacing- fast. Read this in 24 hours
Cassie Swindon 