Reviews with content warning for Bullying - People We Meet on Vacation

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

336 reviews

nickoliver's review

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

This was so cute! I haven’t really been into the friends to lovers trope since I was a teenager, but Henry made me like it again a lot. Poppy and Alex’s friendship was so wonderful – they had the same humour and the way they cared for each other just warmed my heart.

I do have to admit I liked the first half a bit more than the second half. I didn’t really like the reason for their big fallout – it didn’t really seem big enough for me to explain two years of subsequent silence –, and the third act in general was kind of annoying. Personally, I’m also never quite sure how to feel about two people who’ve been in love with each other for years but never act on it and instead date other people. It never seems very fair to the people they date.

Plus, the story was told alternating between past and present, and the past chapters basically showed the development of the friendship through all of the vacations they took together. I’m not quite sure how I feel about those, because on the one hand, they perfectly illustrated how Poppy and Alex became friends and how their dynamic truly looked like, and the shenanigans they got into were absolutely entertaining. On the other hand, though, they got a bit repetitive after a while, and I found myself a bit bored.

Overall, though, I had a lot of fun with this book! My favourite thing was definitely the humour; it was just so funny and put a smile on my face a lot.

Content Warnings

oceanwriter's review

Go to review page

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

Cute and fun! I’m a sucker for the tropes here. Naturally, it made a perfect vacation read. I’m not so big on romance books but I enjoyed Emily Henry’s style a lot.

Content Warnings

sbkennedy's review

Go to review page

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I love Emily Henry's writing style and this book only strengthened that love. Her ability to write banter between love interests is fantastic and I absolutely adored the two main characters. This is both an ideal book to read on vacation, or to read in the middle of winter (like me) and live vicariously through the characters on their many trips. I did feel like there was a lot of buildup to a certain point in this story, that ended up being completely underwhelming in my opinion. I think this book would actually have been stronger if it hadn't constantly referenced 'The Croatia Trip' and just let us see Poppy and Alex build their friendship again.

Content Warnings

massivepizzacrust's review

Go to review page

emotional funny reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I've heard multiple times that the second half of this book is where it's at and I fully agree. The parts about being *known* and *accepted*, my god, so relatable.

Content Warnings

katsbooks's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

“Maybe things can always get better between people who want to do a good job loving each other. Maybe that’s all it takes.”

“Like a good book or an incredible outfit, being on vacation transports you into another version of yourself.”

“You can’t outrun yourself. Not your history, not your fears, not the parts of yourself you’re worried are wrong.”

Poppy and Alex officially live rent-free in my head. I love how deep the author went with the characters back stories. Usually, I prefer enemies to lovers but this friends to lovers story really showed me the beauty in this trope. I loved how well they knew each other and their chemistry was absolutely off the charts. The banter between the main characters was genuinely funny. I actually found myself staying up until after midnight on a school night to finish this which is saying something. I love how Henry was able to make me feel everything the characters felt. The yearning was painful!! But, oh, so lovely. There was a spot or two near the end that slowed down but by then I was too far in and just wanted to know how it ended.I will definitely be looking more from Emily Henry.

Content Warnings

kyrstin_p1989's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This book was cute and at times made me laugh but I didn’t love it like I thought I would. I can’t imagine spending 12 years suppressing your feelings about someone. That seems like such a waste of time & I think that’s what bothered me most about this book. The characters were likeable if a bit flat. Usually when I’m reading a book, I prefer reading to any other activity and with this book, I wasn’t as motivated to read and was drawn in by other distractions.

Content Warnings

elthechameleon's review against another edition

Go to review page

tense fast-paced

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

2.75

The mood of this book is frustration. I hate when there’s miscommunication in a romance novel - especially if someone spends time thinking about how much better the other person deserves. I also despise the trope of the weird, lovely girl and the “boring guy.” The problem with this dynamic is that the girl often needs the blandness of the guy in order to make her own personality. On her own, she's interesting and spunky, but often bullied or misunderstood (this storyline really bugged me as it felt insincere). She needs the bland love interest who turns out to be deep and artsy in a way in order to have a personality. It makes her personality dependent on his.

It also rubs me the wrong way how Alex is the disciplined man and Poppy is the restless, irresponsible woman. She’s not irresponsible. She is a successful writer! How does that moniker still apply in her later life? It makes it seem as if she truly does need Alex to help her. And that’s a codependent relationship, not love.

I do think these characters were interesting enough to rise above this oil and water trope. And the writing quality is good. There are just so many things in this plot that, upon reflection, portray romance as a gut-wrenching and inevitable force. Maybe this is just how romance novels have to be, but I’d be happy if this book were shorter and found other obstacles for the couple to overcome.

Content Warnings