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A review by michellesugen
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
After finishing Beach Read, I had high expectations for People We Meet on Vacation. Alas, it was a good book, but I didn’t love it. I liked it, just no love present for me.
What worked for me:
What worked for me:
- Comedy - so funny!
- What we see of Alex is so sweet
- Poppy’s enjoyment of travel sucked me in and made me feel like I was there
- David’s wedding was *chef’s kiss*
I was NOT a fan of the gimmick of every other chapter being a flashback—I felt like I was constantly getting yanked out of the present AND the past, and I could never settle into a groove.
This wasn’t actually a romance—it was a story about an arguably toxic “platonic” friendship and a woman with millennial ennui.
All in all, I didn’t hate it, but I feel pretty neutral about it. I feel like Poppy and Alex made things pretty torturous for themselves when a simple “I like you” conversation would’ve eliminated the need for this story to be told. With them both going to therapy, I’m surprised neither of their therapists addressed their need to develop healthy communication skills.
There were a couple of plot points that didn’t really land right: SO much build up to Croatia and it hardly seemed like a reason to stop speaking for two years; it seemed like the company card lie was going to be the trigger for the blowup near the end, but the trigger was actually her offhand escapism comment, etc.
Beach Read was really excellent, People We Meet on Vacation was just okay, and now I’m off to read Book Lovers.
Content Warnings
Hoarding