People we meet on vacation by Emily Henry

 

Published by Penguin Random House on May 11, 2021

408 pages

I read the paperback version

Back Cover

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 wroI ang?

My review

This is the first novel I read from this author, and since it’s also a movie on Netflix, I was curious about it. I didn’t watch the film, but I enjoyed reading the story. I liked the friendship between Poppy and Alex, and I wondered most of the book why they didn’t talk for two years because you can see between all the trips, they made together that they care about each other.

I admit it’s hard to choose a favourite character. I voted for Alex since he's a male version of myself. I could connect to him more because he was in love with the wrong woman; he wishes to have a house, to get married and have a family (it was also my case). He's shy, but he acts like himself around people, whom he appreciates.

I liked Poppy as well, but she is more an extrovert and travels a lot. I like to explore the world; however, I would be exhausted if I visited so many locations in so little time. She also has a blog like me, so I could relate to her in that way,and she seems a nice person. She gave Alex a chance when she saw he wasn’t the popular guy in school. Because of these reasons, she deserves second place.

I enjoy stories about travel; it provides me an opportunity to imagine these places without touching my bank account. The author has a gift to create likable characters; I was sad when Alex told Poppy that he lost his dog. I wished he was more present in the book.

Excerpts

On vacation, you strike up conversation with strangers, and forget that there are any stakes. If it turns out impossibly awkward, who cares? You’ll never see them again! (p.1)

I blink out of my daze and skootch forward in my chair, clearing my throat. This has been happening to me a lot lately. When you have a job where you’re required to come into the office once a week, it’s not ideal to zone out like a kid in algebra for fifty percent of that time, even less so to do it in front of your equal parts terrifying and inspiring boss. (p.14)

There is literally no one on earth better equipped to have a magical vacation than a travel journalist with a big-ass media conglomerate’s checkbook. If you can’t have an inspired trip, then how the hell do you expect the rest of the world to? (p.18)

And the more I think about the trips Alex and I used to take together, the more I long for them. But not for the fun, daydreamy, energic way I used to long to see Tokyo in cherry blossom season, or the Fasnacht festivals of Switzerland with their masked parades and whip-wielding jesters dancing down the candy-colored streets. What I’m feeling now is more of an ache, a sadness. It’s worse than the blah-ness of not wanting anything much from life. It’s wanting something I can’t convince myself is even a possibility. (p.25)

When you imagine a new best friend for yourself, you never name him Alex. You also probably don’t imagine him dressing him dressing like some kind of teenage librarian, or barely looking you in the eyes, or always speaking just a little bit under his breath. (p.33)

But that only lasted until I had a sleepover for my birthday, at which point I found out how embarrassing everyone thought my parents were. I quickly realized I didn’t like my friends as much as I’d thought. (p.84)

I could try to score us a room through an advertising trade, but I’ve been slacking on my social media and blogging, and I’m not sure I still have enough clout. Besides, a lot of places won’t do that with influencers. (p.112)

If you marry her, I think, I will lose all of you forever.

And then, Probably no matter who you marry, I will have to lost you forever. (p.167)