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

hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Where to begin?

It was bland. 

The idea of pivoting between past and present may sound good theoretically, but this execution made it a struggle to enjoy this book. Imagine you're finally getting to the good stuff, and then you flip a page, and bam! "10 summers ago." It lost so much momentum. 

 All their summer vacations were boring that I started to skim the pages. They held nothing valuable. 

When I discovered what transpired between them in Croatia, leading to their radio silence for two years, I said to myself, "You've got to be kidding me.'" If Alex and Poppy had communicated right after Croatia, and we didn't dive into all ten+ summers in the past, it probably would have been a better story. 

The constant: I say, he says, I say, he says, was a bit frustrating. 

They had VERY FEW cute moments (+.5), but overall, their chemistry could have needed much more work in the latter part of the book. It felt like a waste of time that they "got together" in the end. I felt as though they could have gotten together before and improved their relationship. 

Honestly, I understand the concept of the story, but somehow it didn't work for me.