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cassielaj's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The characters. The banter. The slow burn. The depth. I liked Beach Read, but I loved this. The romance was ever-present, but at the same time it took a secondary role to Poppy and Alexβs personal growth. I also loved the countdown of trip flashbacks throughout β they gave the perfect amount of context gradually without detracting from the present timeline.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, and Sexual content
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
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
5.0
... "πͺππ π―π¦π·π¦π³ π£π¦ππ°π―π¨ π’π―πΊπΈπ©π¦π³π¦ ππͺπ¬π¦ πͺ π£π¦ππ°π―π¨ πΈπͺπ΅π© πΊπ°πΆ."
I never expected to like "People We Meet On Vacation," a book that, if you've spent any time at all in the #bookstagram or #booktube community, you know all about. I thought I knew all about it, too, and then I finally read it, and lo and behold, it became a five star read. I loved Alex and Poppy's dynamic; their banter, the tension between them, but also they both were so compelling as characters to me. I thought that their separate stories only strengthened the believability of their relationship. They each had family baggage, but still LOVE their family beyond words, and I love that detail so much. Their banter had me cracking up from the prologue all the way to the epilogue, and if I wasn't laughing, I was crying - and not just a little tear here and there. You know the kind of tears where you're hiccuping and you can't even see? Yeah, those kind. I don't remember the last time a book genuinely had me hugging a pillow and weeping, but somehow Emily Henry got it out of me. This chemistry just made me want to scream my head off and highlight on almost every page. Side note, at one point, Alex is reading a book by one of my favorite authors, Sarah Waters. This was destiny.
What else? Every time Poppy was sad, it felt like I was personally being stabbed and then having the knife twisted, so there's that, too!
I know that there are criticisms around this book because of its lack of diversity, and those are valid concerns, and concerns that I have, as well. I don't want anyone to walk away from this review thinking that I don't care about this issue: I do. Although I did give this book 5 stars for how strongly it effected me, I do think the book could've benefitted from a MAIN character who was queer or a person of color. Or both!
I never expected to like "People We Meet On Vacation," a book that, if you've spent any time at all in the #bookstagram or #booktube community, you know all about. I thought I knew all about it, too, and then I finally read it, and lo and behold, it became a five star read. I loved Alex and Poppy's dynamic; their banter, the tension between them, but also they both were so compelling as characters to me. I thought that their separate stories only strengthened the believability of their relationship. They each had family baggage, but still LOVE their family beyond words, and I love that detail so much. Their banter had me cracking up from the prologue all the way to the epilogue, and if I wasn't laughing, I was crying - and not just a little tear here and there. You know the kind of tears where you're hiccuping and you can't even see? Yeah, those kind. I don't remember the last time a book genuinely had me hugging a pillow and weeping, but somehow Emily Henry got it out of me. This chemistry just made me want to scream my head off and highlight on almost every page. Side note, at one point, Alex is reading a book by one of my favorite authors, Sarah Waters. This was destiny.
What else? Every time Poppy was sad, it felt like I was personally being stabbed and then having the knife twisted, so there's that, too!
I know that there are criticisms around this book because of its lack of diversity, and those are valid concerns, and concerns that I have, as well. I don't want anyone to walk away from this review thinking that I don't care about this issue: I do. Although I did give this book 5 stars for how strongly it effected me, I do think the book could've benefitted from a MAIN character who was queer or a person of color. Or both!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Bullying, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Classism, Pregnancy, and Drug use
Minor: Excrement
the_book_nook's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Bullying
Moderate: Infidelity, Chronic illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death
irene's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent and Animal death
emilysines's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
4.25
Okay, donβt get me wrong, I adored this book! And Emily Henryβs writing style is beautiful, magical, chefβs kiss. I do think the story itself could have been shorter. Loved it overall though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, Abandonment, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death and Drug use
the_disreputable_dog's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
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
One sex scene in the book. It was a great sex scene, too, don't get me wrong, but just the one? Really? The characters were extremely well done, and I loved them a lot. They were sweet, and I found Grumpy Alex very relatable, and it made me enjoy their scene all the more, but only one? I feel like we got short changed. I'm gonna blame the publisher for keeping it down to one, because we did get plenty of time oogling Alex's hot body. I would recommend this book either way, because the actual romance and couple are done really well, and I found myself really rooting for them. I was so into it, I actually fell asleep reading and had to go back to where I remembered stuff the next day. (I read the audiobook of this. If anyone was wondering, based on that audiobook, it appears I slept for roughly half an hour with it going lol.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death and Gaslighting
Minor: Bullying and Child abuse
fromjuliereads's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
To be honest, I'm not really sure what to rate this book. While I enjoyed it quite a bit for some of the characters, there were a couple parts that bugged me. I'm generally not a huge fan of friende-to-lovers - I do think this was done a lot better than most I have read. I loved the character of Alex but I did struggle a bit with Poppy sometimes. And there were some scenes that were infuriating π
and some lines were just so strange!
I did enjoy the snippets of stories about the trips that Alex and Poppy had taken - honestly I would have preferred more of that! I remember watching some booktubes where they said the title of this book doesn't truly reflect what it's about and I kind of agree. I will admit that I adored the fact that one of the trips was in Victoria because I love it there!
Anyways, it was a good read! I think it just didn't totally work for me personally but I did enjoy it mostly!
I did enjoy the snippets of stories about the trips that Alex and Poppy had taken - honestly I would have preferred more of that! I remember watching some booktubes where they said the title of this book doesn't truly reflect what it's about and I kind of agree. I will admit that I adored the fact that one of the trips was in Victoria because I love it there!
Anyways, it was a good read! I think it just didn't totally work for me personally but I did enjoy it mostly!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Bullying, Cursing, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Animal death
riley2005's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
5.0
alex nilsen i'm in love with you
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Death of parent and Animal death
claire_fitzgibbon13's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I LOVED THIS. I love Emily Henry sooo much. I did think what happened in Croatia was a little bit underwhelming but it also made perfect sense . I love Poppy and Alex and i loved the tension between them. <33333
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Death of parent, Death, and Animal death
danajoy's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
5.0
I didnβt know regular life could feel like this, like a vacation you donβt have to go home from.
This book was so sweet.
A fantastic portrayal of what many of us love about friends-to-lovers stories.
Poppy is living the dream, an apartment in New York, working for a travel magazine as a writer and getting to go on expenses paid holidays around the world as a job. However, the appeal has worn thin, the spark and excitement is gone. The last time she was truly happy was 2 years prior, in Croatia, on the last holiday she went on with her best friend Alex before they stopped talking. Maybe one more attempt at their annual summer trip can bring her joy back.
Poppy is an interesting character, very likable and cognisant of her flaws. She hates her home town, loves her family but recognises that they're unusual so she's ver protective.
Alex is a teacher. He is very practical. He hates Saxophone and PDA and is a very safe driver. He was the oldest of 4 boys and lost his mum at a young age. I fell a bit in love with Alex. He is a quiet kind of funny and just such a perfect for for Poppy.
If the cult storyline and daddy issues of Beach Read were too much for you then this may be your perfect Emily Henry romance.
Personally, I loved both her recent releases.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death