I’ve been hearing Emily Henry’s name all over the internet for a while now. I don’t normally go for romance novels, as any of you who have been around here for a while know, but every once in a while I decide to dip a toe in. Normally it gets nibbled by a hungry aquatic creature and I hastily pull it back out, but you never know. I might one day discover a book that makes me want to dive right in. This book wasn’t quite that book, but it did make me feel like the water was on the warm side, at least.
This is the story of Poppy and Alex, two long-term friends who are completely different. Poppy lives in the city and has made a career out of travel, Alex prefers the slow life and lives in their hometown. The two make no sense on paper, and yet their friendship has lasted. Each year they meet up and take a trip together. That’s their tradition, and it’s something that both of them have looked forward to. Until one trip changes everything. We meet them after that trip, and learn some of what led to their rift and follow through to the present day when Poppy asks Alex to go on one final trip with her and he agrees.
This book is not what I expected it to be based on the title, which is the first thing that bugged me a bit about it. From the title I thought it would be centered around what happened while they were on vacation and the people they met in various parts of the world, maybe a complicated relationship or some kind of event that happened with other travelers. It’s not really so much about that though, it’s really about the two main characters and their relationships with one another and with others in their lives. Which is fine, but I just don’t really get the title.
It’s not bad in terms of character development. I felt more attached to Poppy and Alex than I normally do to romance protagonists. Their relationship is similarly well fleshed out. There’s some suspense pulled through the book as we go into it not knowing what happened between them, and it takes some time for that information to be shared. I liked that they’re different and yet get along well, I liked their friendship and independence. So I did feel more invested in this than I normally do in romance novels. They have a lot of history, they care deeply about one another, and their relationship has layers. All good stuff.
The story itself is a bit thin – but it’s good enough to work. I like the premise of their yearly holidays together, and I like the distance in between. The story has decent flow and works pretty well. I liked how we’re drawn through time with them and how we get to feel their emotions. That part worked better in this book than in some of the other romance novels I’ve read in the past.
The only real down side for me was that some of the plot was a bit too thin, some of the character’s reactions felt forced, others unbelievably over the top (there’s one part in particular I can’t share because of spoilers but it felt so dramatically out of proportion that it really didn’t ring true for me at all, but that could be just me). I have come to expect a certain transparency in plot and over-dramatizing of characters in romance though, so I feel like to a certain extent this is just part of the genre, and perhaps why I have a harder time with it. I value realism in characters I read and consistency in plot, so it’s hard for me to suspend my disbelief to the level required to really lose myself in romance.
I’d be interested to hear from any of you who have read this. What did you think of the plot and character reactions? Did it work for you? Why or why not? I’d also be really interested to hear from those of you who read a lot more romance than I do. Is it typical of the genre to have at least somewhat unbelievable character traits and reactions? For the plot to be a little forced and thin in places? Or is it just the ones I’ve picked up?
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?
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. – Goodreads
Book Title: People We Meet On Vacation
Author: Emily Henry
Series: No
Edition: Audiobook
Published By: Libby/Berkley Books
Released: May 11, 2021
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Friendship, Travel
Pages: 364
Date Read: September 10-11, 2022
Rating: 5/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.94/5 (746,782 ratings)
This book was a perfect get away from actuality. I loved getting lost in the storyplot and the world
the writer created. The Summer I Turned Pretty Book Series: A Season of Romance
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it so much! I’m not usually a huge romance person, but Emily Henry’s books so far have done a much better job than some at creating characters and back story and feasible plots!