People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Title: People We Meet on Vacation

Author: Emily Henry

Publisher: Berkley Books

Release Date: May 11, 2021 

Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.

Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.

Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.

Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.

Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

As a lover of Beach Read, I could not stop myself from requesting this book. 

Meet Poppy, the protagonist. When she was a teenager she was bullied and when she was old enough she never stopped running. She left Ohio not wanting to ever return except to see her parents. As an adult, she is daring, adventurous, humorous, and with a desire to travel all over the world. At first, during her college years at the cheapest way she could afford it and currently in a much more plush way thanks to her current job.

In college, she meets Alex. At first glance, they had nothing in common and they disregard each other without a backward glance.

The second time they meet, they are forced to take a car ride together and during their time alone they share many pieces of themselves and a friendship ensues.

Poppy has always wanted to travel the world and having a friend like Alex is a blessing. They start taking trips together every year. They call it their Summer Trip.

Their friendship is a good one despite the people who come into their lives. For Alex there is Sarah. A woman who is in and out of his life. While for Poppy, she has a few serious male candidates.

Then the Croatia trip happens. After it, they won't really see each other for two years until Poppy realizes she wants to fix things with Alex. A trip to Palm Springs might be the antidote she is looking for their dying friendship.

I like Poppy she was full of life but she also had her pretty big insecurities. Alex was the serious one. A book-lover (yay), khaki-wearing guy. He was ready to settle down in a small town and have a family.

There were some parts of this book that tugged at my heartstrings. During those, I found myself smiling or crying depending on the scenario.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Berkely via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.