Reviews tagging 'Grief'

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

180 reviews

pantslint's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is by far the funniest fucking book by Emily Henry, and ultimately my favorite. The friendship between Poppy and Alex is so well-written; their dialogue reads so authentically as people who've known each other for over a decade. They feel so real, with real problems and real insecurities. The sarcastic, teasing banter between them is hilarious—from callbacks of inside-joke phrases peppered throughout the book, to reminiscing about events that happened only between them. And then, the beautiful friends-to-lovers transition. Of course they should shut up and just be together already, but executing the built tension and pining is so well-done. The way the chapters alternate between past and present to build up to their romance was such a good way to drive me crazy. Like, thank you Emily Henry, but also what the fuck.

Don't get me wrong... this book made me fucking cry, too. The following is a list of quotes/moments from the book where I sobbed:
  • During David and Tham's wedding, after Mr. Nilsen's speech, where Poppy narrates, "Maybe things can always get better between people who want to do a good job loving each other. Maybe that's all it takes."
  • When Alex and Poppy part at the airport, and she tells him she loves him, and he says, "I love you too, Poppy... That's never been our problem." And they just have to fucking LEAVE?
  • And then after that, Poppy sits alone and narrates, "For the first time in my life, the airport strikes me as the loneliest place in the world."
  • When Poppy meets Sarah at the high school and apologizes to her, "I'm sorry. I wish I'd understood what I was feeling before it had a chance to hurt anyone."
  • And a bunch of shit Alex said, but particularly when he tells Poppy during his big come-to-Jesus confession, "I'm afraid I won't be able to keep getting out of bed if you're gone, and if we had kids, they'd have these horrible lives where their amazing mom is gone, and their dad can't look at them."

Anyway, I can't wait to make the phrase,
"too many wine"
my entire personality for the next few weeks.
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daenerystargaryen's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

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mandycantsleep's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted 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

4.0

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transcendent's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

emily henry the woman that you are! 
loved poppy and alex's dynamic so much, like yes besties be in denial FOR 12 YEARS (
totally not reminding me of my current irl situation in any way shape or form. moving on
)
i too would love a friend who invites me over to their annual trip and falls in love with me eventually and also has a
size kink
Hello who was that????? anyway. 4 stars banger book thank you for mothering
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amberg25's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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arthurjentges04's review against another edition

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

2.0

i just don‘t like rom-coms all that much. i know, that is a very generalised statement, but in all of the rom-com books/movies/tv shows i have consumed so far, there hasn’t been anything that has felt “new” to me. it just the same thing every damn time and the concept as a whole feels incredibly underwhelming and familiar every. fucking. time. 
i didn’t like most of the characters (except for alex), the story didn’t catch me, i wasn’t emotionally involved or felt challenged in any way (i didn’t learn anything new!!!) and everything was just sooo predictable. i honestly would’ve liked the book ten times more if they hadn’t ended up in the end, because that would’ve been something new and fresh, but it’s rom-com, so of course they did. 
also, this book very much gave white feminism and the “diversity” felt extremely forced and at times uncomfortable. maybe that’s just me and i’m overthinking/overanalyzing/overinterpreting this🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️
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robin_reads's review against another edition

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

4.5

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abby_can_read's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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

4.0

📖
I liked this "friends to lovers" situation -- college friends with a slow burn. I enjoyed this book. I struggled to get into, but once I got in, I was hooked. I liked the two timelines -- one with the flashbacks and one in the present day -- and I liked seeing how their feelings and relationships changed over the years. I liked the pacing. The characters were alright and their relationships were interesting with how they changed over the years. The plot was decent despite being predictable.
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rchulin1's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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gracescanlon's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What in the contrived-barely-a-reason-not-to-be-together…?

Still, adorable, and I’m a little mad about it. How can the thing keeping these two apart be so DUMB, but the book be enjoyable enough to earn 4 stars? Ugh. I’m annoyed at myself for seeing this book’s glaring flaw and liking it anyway, and I’m annoyed with Ms. Henry for charming me enough to do so.

4 stars — begrudgingly. 
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