While the homage to Harry and Sally was evident, Poppy and Alex are also reminiscent of Gus and January—who I absolutely adore. I was thrilled to have some of what I loved from Beach Read in People We Meet on Vacation. I love Emily Henry’s witty characters, the easy banter, the snarky jabs. It’s easy to fall in love with her playful-serious characters as we watch them fall in love with each other.
...
“My life turned out how I hoped it would, and now I just miss wanting something” (21).
...
Poppy wants a life completely different from the one from which she came: a vanilla suburb where she stands out (and is bullied) as a colorful outsider. So Poppy pursues a life of unique (and worthy) experiences (far away from the Ohio suburban existence she’s fleeing), collecting spontaneous moments, luxurious vacations, but she realizes after a decade of summer vacations with her best friend Alex that it was less about where she was going and more about who she was going to see or meet along the way. And it was even less about leaving normalcy and more about coming home. In the end, she learns that life isn’t about what we want or what we achieve but who we want to be and with whom we want to live it. ( )

I am glad to finally be catching up with books from renowned authors like Emily Henry. When this came out, I was stressing through my university work with a great burnout – much like protagonist the ecstatic, eccentric, unfiltered, and muddled Poppy. You might say that this “speaks to me”! If you know, you know.

People We Meet On Vacation was a sweet read. We have the usual opposites attract, friends-to-lovers trope from extroverted travel blogger Poppy Wright and introverted high school teacher Alex Nilsen. This was a quick read, with a lot of funny moments and hilarious banter. I definitely enjoyed myself! Emily Henry has written this in a very lively, witty way with plenty of great descriptions that were so thorough, I knew exactly what she meant and usually got a chuckle out of.

I like that the spice is soft, but feels as warm as Nikolai’s heating haha – and is only ever rising with the chemistry and tension. I look forward to the film whenever it is meant to come out.

I think for me, there was too much switching between times. Of course, that is the whole point and I understand why: mainly, withholding the information as to why they fell out 2 years before but also to draw nice parallels (for example, Alex helping Poppy through her pneumonia in the past vs Poppy helping Alex with his back spasm, and the fallout 2 years ago vs the fallout in the present time) and it was done effectively. ( )

This is the second book I have read by Emily Henry; she is a very good writer. People We Meet on Vacation is a good read about the comings and goings of two late-twenty year olds who do their best to remain platonic. She, a writer for a Hoity-toity magazine, he a high school teacher, meet up to do a yearly summer trip.

The plot is decent, easy to follow, but predictable, which I believe is likely exactly what this type of book is meant to be. Given that, I believe the book hit the mark.

I have nothing negative to say about the book, the writing or the plot, but I also have nothing exemplary to remark about; it is a fine book, it just feels to me like another in a long line of sameness.

Why then, you might wonder, did I give it a five star rating? Because, again, I can find nothing wrong with the book or its writing; it deserves it.
( )

Favorite Emily Henry so far. A perfect summer treat ( )

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry is a 2021 Berkley publication.

I have had this one on my TBR list for several years, sort of saving it back for when I was hit with a 'beach read' mood. I enjoyed Henry’s other novels and had no doubt I’d enjoy this one too.

Unfortunately, though, the various vignettes that highlighted Alex and Poppy’s relationship and the various vacation spots they enjoyed, the close calls where the friendship came close to crossing a line started out interesting, emotional, funny, and poignant, but slowly began to feel repetitive...

and yes, I've seen' When Harry Met Sally'- and I don't mind homages- or even retellings for that matter- but...

I started to feel impatient with the drama- most of which I was unable to connect or relate to and I started to get a little bored at times, checking to see how many chapters were left.

I ended up asking myself if I even liked these characters, but realized I was more apathetic than anything else. At the 70 percent mark, I decided to just skim through to the end as the banter and drama had truly run out of steam by then.

Even the big emotional moment everyone was waiting for failed to launch- I was completely dry-eyed- not even a little lump in the throat- no big sighs or happy tears....

I hate that I couldn’t get into this one. I see it was well received overall, but it just ‘didn’t speak to me’.

2 stars ( )