People We Meet on Vacation

Emily Henry

Poppy and Alex are best friends. Poppy and Alex and complete opposites. Poppy wears neon, vintage clothing and Alex wears white shirts and khakis. But on a car ride home from the University of Chicago to Linfield, Ohio for summer break, Poppy and Alex discover they have more in common than they thought, like they both hate it when people refer to boats as “she.” 

Over the course of the year, Poppy and Alex text and hangout and become friends. Seeing movies together, taking classes together and having sleepovers. So when the next summer break is coming up, they decide to go on a trip together. And they do it all with as little money as possible. And every summer since they’ve taken a summer trip. Regardless of where they are or who they’re with, Alex and Poppy always have their Summer Trip. 

But two summers ago, the pair had a very eventful trip and they have barely spoken since. And Poppy hasn’t felt truly happy in her life since that trip, since she stopped seeing Alex. So, now working at her dream job of traveling and writing articles on travel for the chic magazine R+R, Poppy has decided they need to reconnect. So when Alex’s youngest brother is getting married in Palm Springs, they take a week-long vacation, ending with the wedding.

With extreme heat, janky cars and other ridiculous obstacles in their way, Poppy has one last chance to rekindle their friendship, and maybe spark something else. 

This is what love at first sight must feel like. I instantly loved this book. Page one: bam. I knew I loved Emily Henry when I read Beach Read, but I didn’t know I could possibly love her more. She’s funny and honest and real about feelings and facing those feelings head on and dealing with their outcomes. Poppy was hilarious and ridiculously relatable. I don’t normally laugh out loud while reading, but she had me in stitches. And Alex, he’s so stinkin cute. I need a man, yes a MAN, like Alex. He was sweet and caring and everything a woman wants. And he’s tall. And was funny in ways you wouldn’t expect him to be and just overall a great guy. 

I loved seeing the past summer trips and then seeing how it impacted the present trip. And my favorite part was 100% David, Alex’s brother’s bachelor party. It sounded like so much and I wish I was invited. This read so well and it was easy to follow along, even with the time jumps. This was overall such an amazing story and journey. I had no issues with this story except that it was too short. 361 pages was not enough Poppy and Alex for me. I didn’t want it to end. 

I’m so excited for Emily’s next book. She always leaves me wanting to restart her books right after I finish them. I also want to keep these books hidden and to myself, but also share them with the world so they can all embrace her amazing writing and love. 

So, six stars out of five for this one. Place on my shelf 1000% percent earned. Such a beauty.