My Rating: 5/5 Stars 

My Thoughts: 

Let’s be honest: I knew I was going to love Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation before I even picked it up. Beach Read was one of my favorite books of 2020, and it’s among my all-time favorite contemporary romances. I just click with Emily Henry’s writing style so much, with People We Meet on Vacation as no exception. I feel kind’ve intimidated writing this review because I know you’ve likely seen so many reviews (deservedly) filled with love and praise already, but I hope I can add something unique to my review and encourage you to pick up this summer must-read if you haven’t already! You might be wondering why I didn’t pick up People We Meet on Vacation closer to release date, but I wanted to save reading it so I could really enjoy it, which happened to land on back-to-back beach and pool days for me (aka the perfect settings to read any summery/vacation book). 

People We Meet on Vacation follows best friends Poppy and Alex, who have gone on summer vacations every single summer for the past 10 years… up until two years ago when something happened while they were in Croatia that caused Poppy and Alex to stop talking for those two years. When travel magazine writer Poppy finds herself in a work rut, she reaches out to Alex to give their vacation tradition another go and head to Palm Springs.

People We Meet on Vacation was a wonderful read for literally all of its elements. I just click so much with Emily Henry’s sense of humor, which always shines through especially in the dialogue. Poppy is just so strange and funny, and I just loved how she owned her quirkiness. I loved her from the moment she pretends to hit-on Alex in BAR in the very first chapter. I got her jokes so much and I loved Alex’s wit and sarcasm right back. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book that made me grab my page tabs, but I bookmarked so much of Alex and Poppy’s conversations. I also predict Alex is going to be everyone’s new favorite fictional boyfriend (I know he’s mine) because he’s just so wholesome and sweet.

I loved how the book switched between Alex and Poppy’s current trip and their previous vacations over the past ten years – their trips also made me realize how much I miss traveling and basically want to book a trip[p to all of the places they visited. I thought this was such a great way for us to understand how their relationship had begun and evolved over the past ten years, and I did like how Emily Henry kept us in semi-suspense in trying to figure out what went wrong with Poppy and Alex’s relationship. The book felt so mature yet light because of Poppy and Alex’s dynamic and how well they understand each other. While Poppy and Alex’s relationship is at the book’s forefront, the story also delves into Poppy and Alex’s family lives, their careers, and personal growth. This book is really about what it means to be someone’s person and how that affects your friendship, other relationships, and what happens when that friendship turns into something more. 

Overall, please, READ THIS BOOK! I definitely see myself rereading Beach Read at some point this summer (or maybe as soon as I’m done writing this review). I don’t want to compare Beach Read and People We Meet On Vacation at all because they are both such amazing books and I love them both in their own way. I highly recommend checking out Bad on Paper Podcast’s PWMOV Book Club episode with Emily Henry.

Have you read People We Meet On Vacation? What did you think? Have you read Beach Read or any of Emily Henry’s YA books? Share in the comments!