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justagirlwithbooks's review against another edition
3.5
“Tomorrow we will love each other a little more, and the next day, and the next day. And even on those days when one or both of us is having a hard time, we’ll be here, where we are completely known, completely accepted, by the person whose every side we love wholeheartedly. I’m here with all the versions of him I’ve met over twelve years of vacations, and even if the point of life isn’t just being happy, right now, I am. Down to the bones.”
This is my third Emily Henry book, and I really don't think that her writing style is for me. I'll still read Happy Place, but that's honestly just to get her off my tbr. I don't know if I should read her pre-romcom books, her YA era. I do enjoy YA more than adult, but I don't know if I will like her old writing style. It could be a hit or a miss for me. Anyways, onto the actual book...
Unlike the previous two books I read, this one is a friends to lovers instead of a rivals to lovers, so it was different! It reminded me of Love and Other Words, because this book also had a past and present timeline. I loved Love and Other Words, it was so close to being a 5 star read, apart from the ending. I enjoyed this book a lot less than Love and Other Words. The writing style was still cringe, but at the same time there were some good lines mixed in. And Emily Henry can write banter. She can write friendships. Where this book falls flat for me is the present timeline, Alex's mixed messages about not remembering the friendship that he once had, the fact that the past timeline only focuses on the trips instead of throughout the whole year (so we can really see their friendship grow outside of a summer trip context), the miscommunication, lack of angst, and the anticlimactic ending. Just like with Love and Other Words, I felt like their issues got resolved too quickly to be realistic. Alex and Poppy still feel like two characters that want completely different things, and they have miscommunication issues that don't bode well for the future. The reason that they had a two year break in their friendship was realistic, albeit anticlimactic compared to Love and Other Words. I was just getting annoyed that they loved each other, and that was so clear, and they both secretly knew and realized that they loved each other, and they weren't telling each other how they feel. It was frustratingly exhausting.
I'm going to read Happy Place next, so we'll see how that goes. Right now, my ranking is:
1. Beach Read
2. People We Meet on Vacation
3. Book Lovers
There's not that much of a difference between PWMOV and Book Lovers, because they're both 3.5 stars, it's just that Book Lovers was more boring than PWMOV in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
jenniee_reads's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Honestly Emily Henry can do no wrong and this was exactly what I needed to get me out of a reading slump that I was so deep in. I love that the story focused on their friendship more than anything. Obviously it’s a friends-to-lovers trope, but their romantic relationship didn’t feel rushed. Definitely a slow burn but the banter between Alex and Poppy was excellent and I found myself laughing out loud so much throughout this entire book. Something about Emily Henry’s writing pulls me in so easily and I cannot wait to read more from her. Definitely an auto-buy author at this point. Overall a fun, easy read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Bullying and Pregnancy
caitlinjadams's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
5.0
Loved loved loved. Love a romance that is as much or more about the friendship as the romantic relationship. And the book truly feels like you get to go on a series of trips. What an enjoyable read!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Grief
amyvl93's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Emily Henry has been my first real adventure in contemporary romance fiction since I read a bunch of Mills & Boon novels in my early teens. I enjoyed Beach Read and found Book Lovers to be genuinely a great time, so was excited to pick up You & Me on Vacation but unfortunately I think this was my least favourite of Henry's novels that I've read so far.
This one follows Poppy and Alex, who met on their first day at university and who become close friends who go on one big summer trip each year, which move from cheap student type trips when they first meet through to much fancier ones as Poppy starts working at a travel magazine. However, a couple of years ago something happened which meant they haven't spoken since. The action of the novel really kicks off when Poppy manages to convince Alex to go on one last trip with her, for old times sake.
One thing I think this novel taught me is that friends-to-lovers, at least over a 12 year period, is perhaps not my favourite trope. Poppy and Alex knew each other for ages, and had so many opportunities to tell the other how they felt about each other but they just...don't. I felt especially bad for Sarah, Alex's on-and-off again girlfriend who Poppy is mean about because she thinks Sarah doesn't like her (um...I'm not surprised?) and who I hope is thriving with an emotionally available man.
Unlike it seems a lot of reviewers, perhaps because I wasn't as invested in the relationship, I quite liked the details about the trips that we get over the years. I also quite liked Henry's portrayal of people who work as influencers for both Poppy and her friend Rachel. I also found that the other relationships around the couple were quite well drawn as well.
All in all, definitely going to continue to read what Henry puts out but this is probably 3 out of 3 for me.
This one follows Poppy and Alex, who met on their first day at university and who become close friends who go on one big summer trip each year, which move from cheap student type trips when they first meet through to much fancier ones as Poppy starts working at a travel magazine. However, a couple of years ago something happened which meant they haven't spoken since. The action of the novel really kicks off when Poppy manages to convince Alex to go on one last trip with her, for old times sake.
One thing I think this novel taught me is that friends-to-lovers, at least over a 12 year period, is perhaps not my favourite trope. Poppy and Alex knew each other for ages, and had so many opportunities to tell the other how they felt about each other but they just...don't. I felt especially bad for Sarah, Alex's on-and-off again girlfriend who Poppy is mean about because she thinks Sarah doesn't like her (um...I'm not surprised?) and who I hope is thriving with an emotionally available man.
Unlike it seems a lot of reviewers, perhaps because I wasn't as invested in the relationship, I quite liked the details about the trips that we get over the years. I also quite liked Henry's portrayal of people who work as influencers for both Poppy and her friend Rachel. I also found that the other relationships around the couple were quite well drawn as well.
All in all, definitely going to continue to read what Henry puts out but this is probably 3 out of 3 for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
witcheslovingwitches's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying and Death of parent
Minor: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Grief, Cancer, and Animal death
bekkaru's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Grief, and Bullying
angelfireeast24's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
5.0
This is my favorite book by Emily Hebry so far. very spicy book. The character's journey is a moving one. You want to scream to get it together but when characters finally go through self reflection and theapy I found myself feeling it was prefect. Poppy needed to confront herself and find herself. Alex needed to confront his fears. I lovethe open future for them. They are together but where they will live is undecided.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Sexual content, Bullying, Grief, and Alcohol
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Medical content, and Drug use
fionamatilda's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Bullying, Sexual content, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol and Drug use
lisavandonselaar's review against another edition
emotional
funny
relaxing
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: Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, Death, and Grief
Minor: Animal death and Pregnancy
2kyr6's review
called quits cause i didnt like the going back and forth to past and present kind of writing. i dont want to read about the mc missing and remembering her past with him. let's carry on with the present cause i already get that they are good friends and they used to spend their summer vacations together. or if the storyline on the past is so important, the story should have started right from the beginning of their memories instead of just thinking about their past memories. its also not really giving me summery vibes(in the 10% that i've read) which is a let down cause i started reading this book cause i wanted to read something summery.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death and Grief