BLOG TOUR: People We Meet On Vacation Review

People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry
Publication Date: May 11, 2021
TW: anxiety, slut shaming, forced kissing

Last year I read and reviewed Emily Henry’s Beach Reach (see my review here)and I loved it so much! I basically have been anticipating her next book since I read (and reread) that one so when I got a chance to be on the blog tour I hoped on that. 

PLOT: Poppy and Alex have been best friends since college. Life has taken them to different places, but every summer they take a trip together and it is the highlight of their year. However, two years ago something happened on their trip to Croatia and they have barely spoken since. After facing some burnout at work and remembering the nostalgic for the Poppy and Alex they used to be, Poppy suggests they take another trip. Alex agrees and suddenly they are going to Palm Springs together.

I was hesitant about this one. I knew I loved Beach Read, but I went into that with super low expectations and then it became one of my top reads of 2020. I also knew this had flashbacks to their past vacations and was a friends to lovers romance, both of which are not my jam. But, I should’ve had more faith in Ms. Emily Henry because I READ THIS IN ONE SITTING AND LOVED IT SO MUCH.

I’ll be honest I’m not sure how I can put into words how much I loved this book. It spoke to me on so many levels. From the inability you have to controlling the future to how I see traveling and experiencing other places, it just hit me right in the feels. Tears were shed. 

WHAT I LOVED

• First of all this book is FUNNY
  • Poppy is hilarious and some of the dialogue had me literally cackling
    • Her sense of humor doesn’t work for everyone in the book and I don’t think it will work for all readers, but I loved it so much. 
• They go to Palm Springs and I was there like two years ago so a lot of the places they go I’ve been or I’ve heard about
  • The way that Palm Springs just makes me think of La Quinta (Bachelorette Fans you know what’s up)
• All the side characters totally stand out and on their own. Sometimes characters blend together, but not here!!
  • I loved Rachel and Poppy’s mom
• The Midwest vibes though!!
• How the flashbacks only showed us what we needed to see. I am not a fan when flashbacks are super long and unnecessary, but here they are mostly short and only show the important parts.
  • I really liked the road trip part in the one of the flashbacks where they met. It was adorable and you can see the roots forming of who Poppy and Alex are going to be as friends. 
• Alex!! I could relate to him so much and I just loved seeing an anxious person who wants to be in control of everything try to control his life.
• Poppy! What a fun narrator! She is chaotic and a mess at times, but gosh I loved her humor and seeing the story through her eyes.
• This novel made me want to travel again.
• I will admit I am not the biggest fan of friends to lovers, but I really loved it here. For their journey to work and be as impactful as it was they had to be friends first and it really worked for me here. 
• All the random people they meet. I mean it is called “People We Meet on Vacation” but this novel really focuses on that and I loved the common thread. 

WHAT I DID NOT LOVE

• Their car doesn’t have AC and legit you will die if this is the case. My mom’s garage door remote MELTED once when we went to Palm Springs. Not that they drive a lot and this is a super petty thing, but STILL. 
• Their reason for not getting together earlier seems dumb, but whatever I will let it slide. 
• Also, this is not the book’s fault, but on the cover Poppy is like a twig and in the book she is curvier. 

5/5 stars

*thanks to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review*

xoxo, Tree 

p.s. if you like those Out of Context posts check out my tweet lol