Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

175 reviews

blewballoon's review

adventurous emotional funny reflective tense 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

4.5

I went into this not really being in the mood for another contemporary romance and also having heard nothing good about this book. I picked it up used a couple years ago because I knew Emily Henry was a popular author, but then everyone I talked to who has read her books said this was their least favorite. I put the audiobook on reluctantly in the car, assuming I'd probably DNF at some point, and then I found myself laughing within the first 10 minutes. I get why Emily Henry is so popular, it's deserved. There is so much texture to all of the characters and to the world that make them feel more like real people in a real place. The writing is clear and immersive. I thought the format of having the current events interspersed with the snippets from the vacations Poppy and Alex had taken over the years was done really well. Friends to Lovers is probably my favorite romance trope, and this book nailed it. The audiobook narrator was great. Can't wait to read more Emily Henry now if this is apparently the least good book?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

amberjelfs's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol

spellbindingtomes's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

4.5

 𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝙑𝙖𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙙.

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𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘕𝘪𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘯. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬:
Poppy and Alex are two best friends with contrasting personalities who have vacationed together every summer for a decade. After a falling out two years ago, they haven't spoken. Feeling unfulfilled, Poppy convinces Alex to take one last trip together, hoping to repair their relationship. However, an unspoken truth complicates their connection.
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Something I appreciate about Emily's writing, after reading four of her books, is that she doesn't follow a single formula. The premise of each of her books are so different from the other which is probably why everyone seems to have their own favorite. 

The same goes for all her FMCs. I always end up finding a piece of myself, however small, in each one. Poppy is someone who is flawed yet endearing in her genuineness. She's a vibrant extrovert grappling with a world that often misunderstands her exuberance. This leads to feelings of isolation and loneliness that fuels her personal journey to find the one person who truly appreciates her for who she is and places her at the center of their world, unaware that this perfect match has been by her side all along.

I LOVED Poppy and Alex! The combo of these two's clashing personalities was perfect! The delightful contrast between Poppy's sunny disposition and Alex's grumpiness created such an irresistible chemistry between them which led to witty exchanges and heartwarming moments.

Emily's ingenious storytelling alternates between past and present, weaving a narrative of memorable vacations that shows us the strong friendship Poppy and Alex have and the mounting tension. I wasn't much of a fan of the 3rd act breakup here, which is why this isn't a full 5-star, but the ending was really sweet.

PWMOV is a story that reminds us that sometimes what we're searching for is closer than we think.

Read if you love:
🌴friends to lovers
🧳opposites attract
🌴forced proximity
🧳only one bed
🌴travel romance
🧳dual timelines

EmHen rankings:
1. Funny Story
2. Book Lovers 
3. PWMOV 
4. Beach Read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

emmysforeverbooked's review

adventurous 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? It's complicated

3.75

As always, Miss Henry does it again!

I really wish I had more thoughts to add about this book but I think just because of how long it took me to read it, I've kind of forgotten all my thoughts lol.

What I will say is that, while I'm typically not a fan of slow burn, I did thoroughly enjoy how the slow burn of this one feels like something of a 2000s romcom. I surprisingly did enjoy the "I have to love myself before I can love you" vibes.

Anyway, tldr is that I love Emily Henry and she could publish her to-do list and it would still be in my top reads of the year <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing and Grief

Minor: Drug use, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

takarakei's review

emotional funny 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

5.0

I just read this book in one day and I could seriously immediately start it over again. Alex and Poppy are everything. I laughed. I cried. Truly don’t know how Emily does it - nothing hits like her books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use

pau_line's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

ein sehr sehr cutsie Buch und PERFEKT für den Sommer.

Ich mochte richtig gerne, wie leicht und schnell und flüssig ich das Buch lesen konnte. Die Geschichte ist sehr süß und erheiternd und die Charaktere sind einfach tooll, besonders die Dynamik. Als friends-to-lovers Fan ist es sehr sehr perfeeekt, hihi.
Ich liebe Poppys Familychaos, ihre laute bunte Person. Ich liebe Alex Nachdenklichkeit und Ruhe und ich liebe liebe liebe es, wie die beiden zusammen sind. Die Autorin schafft es soo gut, zu transportieren, wie diese Freundschaft funktioniert, wie gut sich die beiden kennen und wie diese what-if Momente bei so random Sachen aufblitzen. Diese kleinen Gedanken von "ich könnte mich verlieben" und "ich fühle grade so viel".

Ich mochte auch total gerne, dass es in unterschiedlichen Zeiten spielt, auch wenn es immer mini-kurz gedauert hat, such umzustellen. Der Wechsel zwischen jetzt und  den vergangenen Urlauben war supi umgesetzt und spannend zu erleben, wie such die Freundschaft und mehr enwickelt.
Das Ende kam tatsächlich ein bisschen zu schnell und es war ein bisschen schade, dass die Vergangenheits-Kapitel immer kürzer wurden.

the drama, das am Ende ja nie fehlen darf, hätte ich mir anders gewünscht. Es war jetzt nicht aus dem nichts, aber so plötzlich dann doch ein Problem, das so viel Wirbel erzeugt hat und wo die dann AM FLUGHAFEN das anfangen zu diskutieren, 5min bevor Alex in den Flieger steigt!? Häää...das mochte ich nicht, hätte fpr mich anders gelöst werden können.

FAZIT:
Man darf jetzt nichts super tiefgründiges erwarten, aber als Sommerlektüre zum draußen auf dem Balkon oder am Strand (i wish) zu lesen, ist es optimal: hab viel gelacht, gekichert, mich mit gefreut. War sehr sehr fun zu lesen und perfekt zum Kopf-Ausschalten. So stell ich mir ein gutes Sommerbuch vor.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Death of parent, and Alcohol

emfield's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

dilani's review against another edition

emotional 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

5.0

i rarely read this kind of romance, but it’s clear to me that i’ve been missing out. i was expecting not to like this book but i loved it 😭 am i in my romance era??

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Animal death and Pregnancy

heresyourletter's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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

2.5

Easy beach read that uses lots of contemporary romance tropes. I didn’t find it laugh out loud funny and felt some plot aspects could have been fleshed out more, but there were some witty lines that made me smile.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Pregnancy

One of the main character’s mothers passes away in childbirth before the story begins. There is discussion of how the character’s father never recovered from his grief. One main character recounts several instances of bullying from her childhood. One character is made fun of (in an unnecessarily aggressive way) by two other characters for liking reality tv. One character gets pneumonia (there is a detailed account of her illness). One minor character is described smoking marijuana. Another minor character smokes a cigarette. Lots of drinking (including one scene where the two in characters get quite drunk). A few mentions of pets that passed away. Several brief sex scenes. Occasional use of “f*ck” and other swear words.

One character has a pregnancy scare, but the tests come back negative. One character has a vasectomy. Although there is no physical cheating, the two main characters are physically affectionate and emotionally intimate, even when they are in relationships with other people. The two main characters go to therapy (separately) to work out their issues.

callistag1's review

emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Animal death, Grief, and Death of parent