A review by thereadinghammock
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

You know when the right book finds you at the right time and it feels like kismet? This was one of those books for me. I felt Poppy's struggle of finding her "home," of finding where she belonged, where she fit in. Feeling like you never quite fit in or not wanting the world to see how much things hurt. And finding her person, but not realizing it until it was almost smacking her in the face--until she almost lost him! Big "Girl, same." energy here.

I both loved and hated the jumps from this summer and summer trips of the past. I loved watching her and Alex's relationship develop, grow, and all the crazy adventures they went on together. But when half the This Summer chapters kept mentioning the Croatia trip, but not giving any hints to what actually happened in Croatia were driving me nuts by the halfway point!! I was DYING to get to the Croatia trip by the time we got there!!
SpoilerAnd it turned out to just be a kiss??? I was expecting it to be so much more. Though when they finally did come together in Palm Springs, it was glorious.


Seeing how much Alex cared for Poppy, but how stifled his emotional upbringing ended up making him was heartbreaking. He was throwing her all the signs he possibly could in the only way he knew how, but they had such wildly different life experiences growing up that it was like they were speaking completely different love languages by the time they met as adults.
SpoilerMy heart literally broke for him in Tuscany with Poppy's pregnancy scare and the panic spiral that sent him into right then and there, let alone the actions he took when he got home--getting a vasectomy without even thinking about it--to have that kind of love is remarkable.
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