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People We Meet on Vacation
欧宝娱乐 Choice Award
Winner for Readers' Favorite Romance (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鈥檚 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鈥攕he鈥檚 in New York City, and he鈥檚 in their small hometown鈥攂ut every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.
Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven鈥檛 spoken since.
Poppy has everything she should want, but she鈥檚 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鈥攍ay 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?
Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She鈥檚 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鈥攕he鈥檚 in New York City, and he鈥檚 in their small hometown鈥攂ut every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.
Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven鈥檛 spoken since.
Poppy has everything she should want, but she鈥檚 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鈥攍ay 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?
400 pages, Paperback
First published May 11, 2021
55.4k people are currently reading
1m people want to read
About the author
Emily Henry
19听books167k听followersEmily Henry is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, and Beach Read, as well as the forthcoming Happy Place. She lives and writes in Cincinnati and the part of Kentucky just beneath it.
Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.
Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 134,713 reviews
April 23, 2024
i believe in the concept of soulmates.
this may seem at odds with my overall extremely cool, edgy reputation, but let me explain. sure, your soulmate might be Some Guy, but equally it might be the feeling of flipping your pillow over to the cool side, or when the airplane seems to be fully booked but slowly the trickle of people doing that awkward slow-walk to stow their luggage comes to a stop and there's no one sitting in your row, or those authentic actual cream puffs where the puff part is pretty dry and disappointing but the cream is like ice cream if ice cream was actually good. (i do not like ice cream. this is just one more point in favor of my potentially being an alien.)
you may believe that i have opened this review of a romance novel with a discussion of soulmates in a way to tie in the content of the book, and in a way, you would be right. but not really.
sure, yeah, the alex and poppy contained within these pages are probably soulmates, as is the case with, you know, the genre as a whole.
but I'm here to talk about MY soulmate. and with every passing day I become more convinced that surely, certainly, without a doubt, that that role in my life is filled by emily henry.
okay, no. that's a bridge too far in creepiness levels even for me in my love for her, a love which I have declared in multiple reviews here, on my blog, in my in a series of tangential-to-stalking posts, in one of those letter boards i used to have when they were trendy, in her DMs, in her comments, and so on.
but i should clarify that it's her WRITING that is my soulmate.
my favorite super-specific subgenre of all time is magical realism where I can really believe that the magic might just exist in our dumb old boring world, and she is the master of that. plus she includes lovely romances and incredible banter and the best ever friendships and a million other good and perfect things.
i cried on a Greyhound bus rereading a million junes. i, a person who does not cry even in the privacy of my own oblivion AND a person who does everything but cease to exist when on a cross-country bus trip, cried! while REREADING!
i loved when the sky fell on splendor so much that i...also made my review a love letter to its author!
i so adored the love that split the world that i basically almost looked past the insta-love, something that has previously forever been impossible for me to do!
and when i heard about beach read, an adult rom-com interrupting an all-star lineup of YA magical realism, i wrote the email equivalent of getting on my knees and begging to the publisher right away.
and that's not where everything came to a screeching halt.
that, like everything else emily henry writes, or i guess wrote to that point, was a mix of fairytale-like dreaminess and real-world Harsh Reality. ot had the real characters and the engrossing writer and the dialogue of a champion like everything else.
and this...
well, on the first read, i thought this did too. this felt a lot more rushed than some of emily henry's other books. the writing was fun and fresh and flirty when you sped through it, but if you slow down and try to relish it, it fights you on it. sentences get clunky and overloaded.
this book is in many ways my kryptonite (positive): written by emily henry, bantery, angsty. the big three of romances.
and in many ways it's my kryptonite (negative): it's big-man-tiny-woman. it has a happily ever after that is more like U(nhappily)EA or O(verly compromised)EA. alex is fairly boring and poppy is not a girls' girl.
on first read, all emily henry romances were simply an emily henry prescription for me, and i used them up immediately and delightedly to feed my addiction. (sorry, that metaphor turned unexpectedly dark.) but upon reread, it became clear that emily henry's characters are so full and have their own lives to such an extent that they sometimes seem like...they should not be together?
a big part of me hopes that someday, emily henry will get back to the young adult magical realism that has made it to my top five favorite books and my top favorites of the year and the hard to reach upper echelons of my grueling rating system several times over.
but if she doesn't, that's okay too. i'd read math textbooks if she wrote them. (but only then and not a moment before!) i just hope that she can figure out how to keep her romances as magical and well-constructed and unique as the first books.
but either way she's got that instant #1 new york times bestseller status, and that, i am willing to admit, is ever so slightly more prestigious (not to mention financially rewarding) than my enduring love and affection.
and she has that anyway.
bottom line: i'm a grump. but it's emily henry forever.
-----------------
reread update
binge reading emily henry books just to feel something
(updated review to come)
-------------
pre-review
and the emily henry withdrawal starts...now.
(it actually started last night, when i finished this book, but it hit too hard for me to even mark it as read.)
review to come / 4 stars!
-------------
currently-reading updates
i would die for emily henry, but that wouldn't help me get my hands on this book as soon as possible.
so i subscribed to book of the month instead.
-------------
tbr review
some people write enemies to lovers romance. some people write friends to lovers romance.
emily henry said why not BOTH...
nobody is doing it like her!!!
-------------
announcement review
who do i have to bribe to get my hands on this book?
i am willing to offer anything. (and by anything i mean A Large Amount of Cookies and/or My Undying Love and Devotion.)
this may seem at odds with my overall extremely cool, edgy reputation, but let me explain. sure, your soulmate might be Some Guy, but equally it might be the feeling of flipping your pillow over to the cool side, or when the airplane seems to be fully booked but slowly the trickle of people doing that awkward slow-walk to stow their luggage comes to a stop and there's no one sitting in your row, or those authentic actual cream puffs where the puff part is pretty dry and disappointing but the cream is like ice cream if ice cream was actually good. (i do not like ice cream. this is just one more point in favor of my potentially being an alien.)
you may believe that i have opened this review of a romance novel with a discussion of soulmates in a way to tie in the content of the book, and in a way, you would be right. but not really.
sure, yeah, the alex and poppy contained within these pages are probably soulmates, as is the case with, you know, the genre as a whole.
but I'm here to talk about MY soulmate. and with every passing day I become more convinced that surely, certainly, without a doubt, that that role in my life is filled by emily henry.
okay, no. that's a bridge too far in creepiness levels even for me in my love for her, a love which I have declared in multiple reviews here, on my blog, in my in a series of tangential-to-stalking posts, in one of those letter boards i used to have when they were trendy, in her DMs, in her comments, and so on.
but i should clarify that it's her WRITING that is my soulmate.
my favorite super-specific subgenre of all time is magical realism where I can really believe that the magic might just exist in our dumb old boring world, and she is the master of that. plus she includes lovely romances and incredible banter and the best ever friendships and a million other good and perfect things.
i cried on a Greyhound bus rereading a million junes. i, a person who does not cry even in the privacy of my own oblivion AND a person who does everything but cease to exist when on a cross-country bus trip, cried! while REREADING!
i loved when the sky fell on splendor so much that i...also made my review a love letter to its author!
i so adored the love that split the world that i basically almost looked past the insta-love, something that has previously forever been impossible for me to do!
and when i heard about beach read, an adult rom-com interrupting an all-star lineup of YA magical realism, i wrote the email equivalent of getting on my knees and begging to the publisher right away.
and that's not where everything came to a screeching halt.
that, like everything else emily henry writes, or i guess wrote to that point, was a mix of fairytale-like dreaminess and real-world Harsh Reality. ot had the real characters and the engrossing writer and the dialogue of a champion like everything else.
and this...
well, on the first read, i thought this did too. this felt a lot more rushed than some of emily henry's other books. the writing was fun and fresh and flirty when you sped through it, but if you slow down and try to relish it, it fights you on it. sentences get clunky and overloaded.
this book is in many ways my kryptonite (positive): written by emily henry, bantery, angsty. the big three of romances.
and in many ways it's my kryptonite (negative): it's big-man-tiny-woman. it has a happily ever after that is more like U(nhappily)EA or O(verly compromised)EA. alex is fairly boring and poppy is not a girls' girl.
on first read, all emily henry romances were simply an emily henry prescription for me, and i used them up immediately and delightedly to feed my addiction. (sorry, that metaphor turned unexpectedly dark.) but upon reread, it became clear that emily henry's characters are so full and have their own lives to such an extent that they sometimes seem like...they should not be together?
a big part of me hopes that someday, emily henry will get back to the young adult magical realism that has made it to my top five favorite books and my top favorites of the year and the hard to reach upper echelons of my grueling rating system several times over.
but if she doesn't, that's okay too. i'd read math textbooks if she wrote them. (but only then and not a moment before!) i just hope that she can figure out how to keep her romances as magical and well-constructed and unique as the first books.
but either way she's got that instant #1 new york times bestseller status, and that, i am willing to admit, is ever so slightly more prestigious (not to mention financially rewarding) than my enduring love and affection.
and she has that anyway.
bottom line: i'm a grump. but it's emily henry forever.
-----------------
reread update
binge reading emily henry books just to feel something
(updated review to come)
-------------
pre-review
and the emily henry withdrawal starts...now.
(it actually started last night, when i finished this book, but it hit too hard for me to even mark it as read.)
review to come / 4 stars!
-------------
currently-reading updates
i would die for emily henry, but that wouldn't help me get my hands on this book as soon as possible.
so i subscribed to book of the month instead.
-------------
tbr review
some people write enemies to lovers romance. some people write friends to lovers romance.
emily henry said why not BOTH...
nobody is doing it like her!!!
-------------
announcement review
who do i have to bribe to get my hands on this book?
i am willing to offer anything. (and by anything i mean A Large Amount of Cookies and/or My Undying Love and Devotion.)
August 13, 2024
A light-heartened and quick read that is totally predictable, entirely forgettable, and unoriginal.
Poppy and Alex go on a vacation together every year. But will Poppy and Alex ever get together?
This was just like The Bachelor, You've Got Mail, and a touch of The Notebook. Usually, I don't read romance but this one had some high reviews on GoodReads, and I wasn't so sure on the thriller I had selected.
This book had a very light hearted feel which was nice after the last book that I read that literally was so dark that I was having nightmares. However, it was entirely predictable. After about halfway through, I was wondering OK can we just get there already? These romance type books really bother me because they are so unrealistic. Poppy lives in New York and has a jet-set lifestyle while Alex still lives in their small Mid-West town in Ohio, working as a teacher at the public high school. The characters are so quick to give up everything in their lives. In the real world, some things can't be changed so easily. Some people are not compatible no matter how much they love each other. It is a big deal for one person to want to get married, have children, own their own house, and the other person never wants to get married, never wants to have children, and wants to live with a bunch of people in a commune. Some people need a quiet calm place to feel safe. They need to have a job so that they feel financially safe especially when the other party doesn't want to get married. Just agreeing to "everything" will not work out long term.
This book could have been so much better. In fact, it could have shown that there are some people who are wonderful to be around and go on vacation with, but they are not good at sharing your life with. For example, you might be madly in love with someone with a gambling/drug addiction. That person might make you feel like you are the most important person in the world, make you laugh and smile, and your eyes alight every time you think of that person. But you can't live with that person. You can't depend on that person to make sure that the rent will be paid or that they can show up to take you to your doctor's appointment. This book totally glossed over the fact that you can have deep, intense, magnetic, earth-shattering feelings for someone, but the relationship will not work out. It would have been so much better if Sara actually said, "I know he loves you Poppy, but he gets you one week out of the year and he's mine the other 51. I want him to travel the world, and that's love, not standing in his way."
That my friends is the difference between memorable and forgettable. That's why we remember Casablanca, because the ending isn't predictable, and Rick was honest, realistic.
The author also could have done a better job with the romance. Poppy and Alex have been doing this tango for 12 years. Yet we are supposed to believe that they just spontaneously happened to have these encounters? It rained so they decided to take their friendship to the next level? That is so lame. Alex couldn't think of anything more thoughtful (even though he is supposed to be this incredibly thoughtful guy)? He didn't buy all of the flowers in the flower shop? He didn't tell Poppy that she looked beautiful in the light? He didn't save up all of his credit card points to try to take her to a nice vacation, something that would really "speak to her" as a traveling guru? He didn't try to show off his muscles to try to catch her eye? I mean I have been out of the dating game for awhile, but I remember it being more exciting than this book......
Emily Henry has a new book coming out April 25, 2023, Happy Place.
2025 Reading Schedule
Jan A Town Like Alice
Feb Birdsong
Mar Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
Apr War and Peace
May The Woman in White
Jun Atonement
Jul The Shadow of the Wind
Aug Jude the Obscure
Sep Ulysses
Oct Vanity Fair
Nov A Fine Balance
Dec Germinal
Connect With Me!
Poppy and Alex go on a vacation together every year. But will Poppy and Alex ever get together?
This was just like The Bachelor, You've Got Mail, and a touch of The Notebook. Usually, I don't read romance but this one had some high reviews on GoodReads, and I wasn't so sure on the thriller I had selected.
This book had a very light hearted feel which was nice after the last book that I read that literally was so dark that I was having nightmares. However, it was entirely predictable. After about halfway through, I was wondering OK can we just get there already? These romance type books really bother me because they are so unrealistic. Poppy lives in New York and has a jet-set lifestyle while Alex still lives in their small Mid-West town in Ohio, working as a teacher at the public high school. The characters are so quick to give up everything in their lives. In the real world, some things can't be changed so easily. Some people are not compatible no matter how much they love each other. It is a big deal for one person to want to get married, have children, own their own house, and the other person never wants to get married, never wants to have children, and wants to live with a bunch of people in a commune. Some people need a quiet calm place to feel safe. They need to have a job so that they feel financially safe especially when the other party doesn't want to get married. Just agreeing to "everything" will not work out long term.
This book could have been so much better. In fact, it could have shown that there are some people who are wonderful to be around and go on vacation with, but they are not good at sharing your life with. For example, you might be madly in love with someone with a gambling/drug addiction. That person might make you feel like you are the most important person in the world, make you laugh and smile, and your eyes alight every time you think of that person. But you can't live with that person. You can't depend on that person to make sure that the rent will be paid or that they can show up to take you to your doctor's appointment. This book totally glossed over the fact that you can have deep, intense, magnetic, earth-shattering feelings for someone, but the relationship will not work out. It would have been so much better if Sara actually said, "I know he loves you Poppy, but he gets you one week out of the year and he's mine the other 51. I want him to travel the world, and that's love, not standing in his way."
That my friends is the difference between memorable and forgettable. That's why we remember Casablanca, because the ending isn't predictable, and Rick was honest, realistic.
The author also could have done a better job with the romance. Poppy and Alex have been doing this tango for 12 years. Yet we are supposed to believe that they just spontaneously happened to have these encounters? It rained so they decided to take their friendship to the next level? That is so lame. Alex couldn't think of anything more thoughtful (even though he is supposed to be this incredibly thoughtful guy)? He didn't buy all of the flowers in the flower shop? He didn't tell Poppy that she looked beautiful in the light? He didn't save up all of his credit card points to try to take her to a nice vacation, something that would really "speak to her" as a traveling guru? He didn't try to show off his muscles to try to catch her eye? I mean I have been out of the dating game for awhile, but I remember it being more exciting than this book......
Emily Henry has a new book coming out April 25, 2023, Happy Place.
2025 Reading Schedule
Jan A Town Like Alice
Feb Birdsong
Mar Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
Apr War and Peace
May The Woman in White
Jun Atonement
Jul The Shadow of the Wind
Aug Jude the Obscure
Sep Ulysses
Oct Vanity Fair
Nov A Fine Balance
Dec Germinal
Connect With Me!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2025
I think I want to give a million hugs to the author right now! I fell so hard for her latest book Beach Read, which is still my favorite romance book of last year!
I thought nothing she could write would be better than this lyrical, dreamy, feel-good tearjerker love story. But after reading this heartbreakingly amazing book, I鈥檓 taking it all back: this book is the best thing I鈥檝e read in so long! I can honestly say this is not only going to be this year鈥檚 best romance read for me, but it will also take its place among my all-time favorites and on my must-read list of at least three times! It鈥檚 freaking good!
It is an unbelievably amazing mashup of When Harry Met Sally, Love, Rosie, and One Day, with the vibes of the best 鈥�90s Meg Ryan romcoms!
The couple鈥檚 first meeting and their road trip are truly inspired by When Harry Met Sally, as the author mentioned at the end of the book. However, their 12 hilarious, inspirational, adventurous, and exciting trips, and the way the story unfolds, make you gather the clues to find the missing pieces and complete the puzzle to understand their 12-year-long friendship. It鈥檚 outstandingly smart.
Poppy and Alex were so real, so powerful, so genuine! I feel like I鈥檝e known them for a long time. They鈥檙e polar opposites, wanting different things from life. Poppy hates Linfield and khakis, while those two things are Alex鈥檚 favorites. Poppy is vivid, energetic, hyperactive, adventurous, and a risk-taker, whereas Alex is more serene, picky, bookish, calm, and controlling. Poppy never wants to settle down, desiring to experience different things in life, while Alex sticks to his routine, living in the same neighborhood, and dreaming of being a happy family man.
But could wanting different things from life stop them from yearning for each other?
Two years ago, something happened on their Croatia trip. Now Poppy misses her friend like crazy; she鈥檚 not happy with her life and cannot concentrate on her job. She decides to take a leap and asks her best friend for one last trip to Palm Springs to fix their relationship. What could go wrong when you鈥檙e having an adventurous holiday with your favorite person?
Right!?
I don鈥檛 want to give any spoilers, but I can only say one thing: there鈥檚 a part in the last third where Poppy gives a powerful and bold speech at the bar. The speech made me cry for at least three hours! My husband finally lost control and put duct tape over my mouth to make me shut up. I think I鈥檓 also suffering from dry eye syndrome. I may have shed at least five gallons of tears, and I think I鈥檓 out of tears for a long time! But that emotional speech and the entire book made my entire year!
I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I LOVED IT SO MUCH!
Okay, I鈥檓 stopping now! I鈥檓 giving five gazillion stars to this amazing book, and I鈥檓 specifically giving the last third the entire galaxy!
I鈥檓 a million times thankful to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this fantastic reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.
I thought nothing she could write would be better than this lyrical, dreamy, feel-good tearjerker love story. But after reading this heartbreakingly amazing book, I鈥檓 taking it all back: this book is the best thing I鈥檝e read in so long! I can honestly say this is not only going to be this year鈥檚 best romance read for me, but it will also take its place among my all-time favorites and on my must-read list of at least three times! It鈥檚 freaking good!
It is an unbelievably amazing mashup of When Harry Met Sally, Love, Rosie, and One Day, with the vibes of the best 鈥�90s Meg Ryan romcoms!
The couple鈥檚 first meeting and their road trip are truly inspired by When Harry Met Sally, as the author mentioned at the end of the book. However, their 12 hilarious, inspirational, adventurous, and exciting trips, and the way the story unfolds, make you gather the clues to find the missing pieces and complete the puzzle to understand their 12-year-long friendship. It鈥檚 outstandingly smart.
Poppy and Alex were so real, so powerful, so genuine! I feel like I鈥檝e known them for a long time. They鈥檙e polar opposites, wanting different things from life. Poppy hates Linfield and khakis, while those two things are Alex鈥檚 favorites. Poppy is vivid, energetic, hyperactive, adventurous, and a risk-taker, whereas Alex is more serene, picky, bookish, calm, and controlling. Poppy never wants to settle down, desiring to experience different things in life, while Alex sticks to his routine, living in the same neighborhood, and dreaming of being a happy family man.
But could wanting different things from life stop them from yearning for each other?
Two years ago, something happened on their Croatia trip. Now Poppy misses her friend like crazy; she鈥檚 not happy with her life and cannot concentrate on her job. She decides to take a leap and asks her best friend for one last trip to Palm Springs to fix their relationship. What could go wrong when you鈥檙e having an adventurous holiday with your favorite person?
Right!?
I don鈥檛 want to give any spoilers, but I can only say one thing: there鈥檚 a part in the last third where Poppy gives a powerful and bold speech at the bar. The speech made me cry for at least three hours! My husband finally lost control and put duct tape over my mouth to make me shut up. I think I鈥檓 also suffering from dry eye syndrome. I may have shed at least five gallons of tears, and I think I鈥檓 out of tears for a long time! But that emotional speech and the entire book made my entire year!
I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I LOVED IT SO MUCH!
Okay, I鈥檓 stopping now! I鈥檓 giving five gazillion stars to this amazing book, and I鈥檓 specifically giving the last third the entire galaxy!
I鈥檓 a million times thankful to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this fantastic reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.
May 12, 2024
People We Meet on Vacation is a sweet, fluffy, beachy read that gets a little long in the tooth towards the end.
Poppy and Alex have been best friends since college. Even though they are as different as two people can be, they just get each other. As life keeps them apart geographically, their only chance to catch up in person is to take an epic summer trip together every year. But two years ago, they had a falling out and haven't spoken since. Now Poppy wants one more trip to fix everything.
The trope of friends to lovers has been done so many times, yet this book finds a way to give it a fresh take. Poppy and Alex are fun and hilarious together, and I found myself smiling through all their banter and interactions. Poppy is the zany one while Alex is the straight lace, but both are equally loveable in their own way.
Where this story fell a bit short is towards the end. I started to find Poppy's antics too over-the-top. Often, instead of just saying what she's feeling, she'll go and do crazy things to avoid talking. She starts coming across as needy and high-maintenance, sending mixed signals and jerking Alex around. And poor Alex just had to take it.
I also found their inability to admit how they feel about each other getting old. It was cute and endearing earlier in the book because they didn't know. But once they figured it out and acted on it, I don't understand why they continued to deny their feelings. It reminds me of Chinese gift-giving culture, where the receiver of the gift (of love, in this case) has to refuse many times before finally accepting in order to avoid appearing greedy or eager. They'll say things like "I can't possibly accept! This is too much! I don't deserve it!" Meanwhile I'm like, please just accept this love for goodness' sake, so I can move on with my life.
Romance books are so personal. What works for one person doesn't always work for another. Usually we are drawn to the stories that remind us of ourselves and our love language. And this is a case where the longer the book went on, the less I could see myself in Poppy.
Still, other than the drawn out ending, I very much enjoyed this story. It was such a fun and funny romance, with its jet-setting and vacation-y scenes. It makes me want to pack a bag, fly somewhere tropical, and sit on a beach with one those little drinks with an umbrella in it. And in that respect, this book hits the perfect spot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
See also, my thoughts on:
Beach Read
Funny Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~
鉁� Connect with me 鉁� 鉁�
This was a pick for my Book of the Month box. Get your first book for $5 .
Poppy and Alex have been best friends since college. Even though they are as different as two people can be, they just get each other. As life keeps them apart geographically, their only chance to catch up in person is to take an epic summer trip together every year. But two years ago, they had a falling out and haven't spoken since. Now Poppy wants one more trip to fix everything.
The trope of friends to lovers has been done so many times, yet this book finds a way to give it a fresh take. Poppy and Alex are fun and hilarious together, and I found myself smiling through all their banter and interactions. Poppy is the zany one while Alex is the straight lace, but both are equally loveable in their own way.
Where this story fell a bit short is towards the end. I started to find Poppy's antics too over-the-top. Often, instead of just saying what she's feeling, she'll go and do crazy things to avoid talking. She starts coming across as needy and high-maintenance, sending mixed signals and jerking Alex around. And poor Alex just had to take it.
I also found their inability to admit how they feel about each other getting old. It was cute and endearing earlier in the book because they didn't know. But once they figured it out and acted on it, I don't understand why they continued to deny their feelings. It reminds me of Chinese gift-giving culture, where the receiver of the gift (of love, in this case) has to refuse many times before finally accepting in order to avoid appearing greedy or eager. They'll say things like "I can't possibly accept! This is too much! I don't deserve it!" Meanwhile I'm like, please just accept this love for goodness' sake, so I can move on with my life.
Romance books are so personal. What works for one person doesn't always work for another. Usually we are drawn to the stories that remind us of ourselves and our love language. And this is a case where the longer the book went on, the less I could see myself in Poppy.
Still, other than the drawn out ending, I very much enjoyed this story. It was such a fun and funny romance, with its jet-setting and vacation-y scenes. It makes me want to pack a bag, fly somewhere tropical, and sit on a beach with one those little drinks with an umbrella in it. And in that respect, this book hits the perfect spot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
See also, my thoughts on:
Beach Read
Funny Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~
鉁� Connect with me 鉁� 鉁�
This was a pick for my Book of the Month box. Get your first book for $5 .
May 16, 2023
Hello, unpopular opinion. You were not invited. Like, at all, yet you had the nerve to show up anyway. I was looking forward to being part of the crowd but you had to ruin it.
Incoming a slight rant review.
Quite frankly, I was in denial about the fact that this book wasn鈥檛 working for me. Especially since Emily Henry has worked for me. Ridiculously well, I might add.
But the self-inflicted denial didn鈥檛 allow me to see past the rose-tinted glasses I had on and come to terms with the fact that the story was boring me.
It was boring.
I get that Poppy and Alex were on vacation, the noun is in the damn title and it鈥檚 essential to the story.
I think.
But the holiday settings were so boring to read about. The constant flashbacks were giving me confusion and I LOVE books that include the past and present timeline. They usually add depth and clarity to the story. But these flashbacks seemed to be about everything but them. There was too much vacationing and not enough Poppy and Alex moments. Bar the cute little dialogues and banter we would get in between.
Where was the emotion at? The angst that is supposed to come alongside the fact that you are not seeing your friend as a friend any longer? Was that present? Because I must鈥檝e missed the build-up.
Now, imagine if the holiday settings were reduced 鈥� or better yet replaced 鈥� and we got to see more of Alex and Poppy鈥檚 friendship building and seeing that dynamic change throughout those 鈥榩ast鈥� summers. Seeing their families and their insecurities about taking on life. Their damn childhoods. I would鈥檝e latched on more, but the emotions and development were missing, because they were on fuckin鈥� vacation. 馃槕
So, I checked out.
I partially skim-read. Did I really care about how hot the weather was and the side characters that were passing along? No. Did I care about the sightseeing elements? That鈥檚 another no. And I definitely did not care for their useless exes.
I was desperate for more of them together, in whatever capacity and we only got that towards the end. And those moments were so fuckin鈥� adorable and disgustingly sweet that I鈥檓 mad that we didn鈥檛 get more.
It was too little, too late and not enough to save this book for me by that point. There was so much of that that could鈥檝e been sprinkled throughout the story and I don鈥檛 get why that wasn鈥檛 done.
And do not get me started on the conflict. Ludacris!
And thus, here I stand, empty and annoyed. And I feel fuckin鈥� played.
Incoming a slight rant review.
Quite frankly, I was in denial about the fact that this book wasn鈥檛 working for me. Especially since Emily Henry has worked for me. Ridiculously well, I might add.
But the self-inflicted denial didn鈥檛 allow me to see past the rose-tinted glasses I had on and come to terms with the fact that the story was boring me.
It was boring.
I get that Poppy and Alex were on vacation, the noun is in the damn title and it鈥檚 essential to the story.
I think.
But the holiday settings were so boring to read about. The constant flashbacks were giving me confusion and I LOVE books that include the past and present timeline. They usually add depth and clarity to the story. But these flashbacks seemed to be about everything but them. There was too much vacationing and not enough Poppy and Alex moments. Bar the cute little dialogues and banter we would get in between.
Where was the emotion at? The angst that is supposed to come alongside the fact that you are not seeing your friend as a friend any longer? Was that present? Because I must鈥檝e missed the build-up.
Now, imagine if the holiday settings were reduced 鈥� or better yet replaced 鈥� and we got to see more of Alex and Poppy鈥檚 friendship building and seeing that dynamic change throughout those 鈥榩ast鈥� summers. Seeing their families and their insecurities about taking on life. Their damn childhoods. I would鈥檝e latched on more, but the emotions and development were missing, because they were on fuckin鈥� vacation. 馃槕
So, I checked out.
I partially skim-read. Did I really care about how hot the weather was and the side characters that were passing along? No. Did I care about the sightseeing elements? That鈥檚 another no. And I definitely did not care for their useless exes.
I was desperate for more of them together, in whatever capacity and we only got that towards the end. And those moments were so fuckin鈥� adorable and disgustingly sweet that I鈥檓 mad that we didn鈥檛 get more.
It was too little, too late and not enough to save this book for me by that point. There was so much of that that could鈥檝e been sprinkled throughout the story and I don鈥檛 get why that wasn鈥檛 done.
And do not get me started on the conflict. Ludacris!
And thus, here I stand, empty and annoyed. And I feel fuckin鈥� played.
Read
September 3, 2022Yikes, how can I go from giving 5 stars to this author for Beach Read to 1 star.
This book was the biggest disappointment of this year so far. I was so excited to read it and it didn鈥檛 deliver for me 馃様馃槶
It鈥檚 a friends to lovers, which is not my fave trope.
Apparently Alex and Poppy loved each other for 12 YEARS, and didn鈥檛 make a single move in those years to form a relationship, but they had bf and gf when their feelings were so strong.
The reason of their fallout was childish, a conversation would have solved it.
I didn鈥檛 feel any chemistry between them. They were better off as platonic friends.
I think Poppy liked him because he didn鈥檛 have him, that鈥檚 it. She had a co-dependency on him to not feel alone.
We only get the heroine鈥檚 POV and at some point it got suffocating. I wanted to see what the hero was thinking because for 80% percent of the book I felt like he only liked her as a sister not a lover, and when the declaration of love happened it seemed like they paid him to say all those things. I did not believe him.
He also had more chemistry with his ex than with Poppy.
Her obsession with his ex girlfriend was weird. Even having dreams about her and bringing her name up on conversations making things awkward.
The writing was all over the place suddenly we were in the present and then in the same sentence she is reminiscing about the furniture she had to buy 4 months ago.
There were so many insignificant details, like describing the life of her many boyfriends or even rambling for 5 paragraphs on how Alex鈥檚 parents named their children in alphabetical order.
Those were just added words to make the book longer because it鈥檚 not relevant to the plot; I don鈥檛 care what the h ate 4 years ago on the rooftop of a NY hotel on a summer night.
I鈥檓 not very fond of this new trend where lots of pages are spent talking, with fine details, of the hundreds of activities you can do in a city. This happened in this book way too often, adding nothing to the story, making it boring.
But at least they should pitch those chapters to travel agencies though, it can make cute brochures.
Anyway, I know I am going to be kind of alone with this opinion because everybody is loving it, but I just wanted to rant a bit because I waited for this book a long time to end up hating it...
This book was the biggest disappointment of this year so far. I was so excited to read it and it didn鈥檛 deliver for me 馃様馃槶
It鈥檚 a friends to lovers, which is not my fave trope.
Apparently Alex and Poppy loved each other for 12 YEARS, and didn鈥檛 make a single move in those years to form a relationship, but they had bf and gf when their feelings were so strong.
The reason of their fallout was childish, a conversation would have solved it.
I didn鈥檛 feel any chemistry between them. They were better off as platonic friends.
I think Poppy liked him because he didn鈥檛 have him, that鈥檚 it. She had a co-dependency on him to not feel alone.
We only get the heroine鈥檚 POV and at some point it got suffocating. I wanted to see what the hero was thinking because for 80% percent of the book I felt like he only liked her as a sister not a lover, and when the declaration of love happened it seemed like they paid him to say all those things. I did not believe him.
He also had more chemistry with his ex than with Poppy.
Her obsession with his ex girlfriend was weird. Even having dreams about her and bringing her name up on conversations making things awkward.
The writing was all over the place suddenly we were in the present and then in the same sentence she is reminiscing about the furniture she had to buy 4 months ago.
There were so many insignificant details, like describing the life of her many boyfriends or even rambling for 5 paragraphs on how Alex鈥檚 parents named their children in alphabetical order.
Those were just added words to make the book longer because it鈥檚 not relevant to the plot; I don鈥檛 care what the h ate 4 years ago on the rooftop of a NY hotel on a summer night.
I鈥檓 not very fond of this new trend where lots of pages are spent talking, with fine details, of the hundreds of activities you can do in a city. This happened in this book way too often, adding nothing to the story, making it boring.
But at least they should pitch those chapters to travel agencies though, it can make cute brochures.
Anyway, I know I am going to be kind of alone with this opinion because everybody is loving it, but I just wanted to rant a bit because I waited for this book a long time to end up hating it...
July 24, 2023
Unpopular opinion: This book was 50% boring and 50% annoying.
Alex and Poppy are complete opposites who become friends who both want to become lovers but are too stubborn to try and figure out how to make it work or do that thing best friends usually do called communicate.
My biggest issue is there seemed to be zero chemistry between the two. None. I'm a fan of opposites attract but these two were at such opposite ends of the spectrum it didn't seem to work at all. Alex was very anal - in a condescending, uptight way - and Poppy was forever doing her best to be as quirky as possible - in an extremely annoying way that usually included repeating dumb phrases non-stop like saying "this speaks to me" to literally everything.
I'm also not the biggest fan of flashbacks and this book goes back and forth just about every other chapter, flashing back to vacations they've taken over the past ten or so years before bumping back to the present where they're vacationing together again after a two year hiatus because they're stubborn fools.
The problem with this? It's incredibly boring. The dialogue and action is so very minimal and its 90% talking about the towns they're in, describing the hotels they stay at, and the tourist attractions they visit. It was a major snoozefest.
In the end, these are just two annoying and absolutely ridiculous characters that have both been extremely selfish and idiotic in their relationship as well as their relationships with others and it's hard to even like them. It's more like a you two deserve each other and shame on your for wasting others time instead of a yay they're finally together!
The title's a bit wonky in my opinion as well because one, they didn't meet on vacation and two, they didn't meet any story changing people on vacation so the title doesn't make much sense to me.
It should have been Very Detailed Vacations We Took While Being Complete Bozos and Refusing To Admit We Want To Be More Than Best Friends.
This honestly pains me because this was one of the few books I preordered this year (Beach Read was amazing so this author was a no brainer buy) and I was so excited to read it but this book just did not do it for me.
Alex and Poppy are complete opposites who become friends who both want to become lovers but are too stubborn to try and figure out how to make it work or do that thing best friends usually do called communicate.
My biggest issue is there seemed to be zero chemistry between the two. None. I'm a fan of opposites attract but these two were at such opposite ends of the spectrum it didn't seem to work at all. Alex was very anal - in a condescending, uptight way - and Poppy was forever doing her best to be as quirky as possible - in an extremely annoying way that usually included repeating dumb phrases non-stop like saying "this speaks to me" to literally everything.
I'm also not the biggest fan of flashbacks and this book goes back and forth just about every other chapter, flashing back to vacations they've taken over the past ten or so years before bumping back to the present where they're vacationing together again after a two year hiatus because they're stubborn fools.
The problem with this? It's incredibly boring. The dialogue and action is so very minimal and its 90% talking about the towns they're in, describing the hotels they stay at, and the tourist attractions they visit. It was a major snoozefest.
In the end, these are just two annoying and absolutely ridiculous characters that have both been extremely selfish and idiotic in their relationship as well as their relationships with others and it's hard to even like them. It's more like a you two deserve each other and shame on your for wasting others time instead of a yay they're finally together!
The title's a bit wonky in my opinion as well because one, they didn't meet on vacation and two, they didn't meet any story changing people on vacation so the title doesn't make much sense to me.
It should have been Very Detailed Vacations We Took While Being Complete Bozos and Refusing To Admit We Want To Be More Than Best Friends.
This honestly pains me because this was one of the few books I preordered this year (Beach Read was amazing so this author was a no brainer buy) and I was so excited to read it but this book just did not do it for me.
August 3, 2021
鈥淚鈥檒l never belong anywhere like I belong with you鈥�
4.5 stars
This book was phenomenal, friends to lovers excellence if you will. In this story we follow two best friends, Alex and Poppy, who always take an annual summer vacation together. After a mysterious incident two years ago the two have drifted apart but Poppy proposes one last trip to save their friendship.
This book was full of mutual pining, inside jokes and amazing chemistry. The romantic tension between Alex and Poppy was just so well done I was sold on them as a couple almost immediately. I felt like they knew and understood each other so intimately and it honestly was so swoon worthy. The mortifying ordeal of being known is so worth it! This was really gripping, loved the writing, the humor, the banter, the angst! It was just so great 馃グ I read it in under 24hrs because I couldn鈥檛 put it down. Highly recommend!!
Also I totally made a playlist for this book so if anyone鈥檚 interested 馃憖
4.5 stars
This book was phenomenal, friends to lovers excellence if you will. In this story we follow two best friends, Alex and Poppy, who always take an annual summer vacation together. After a mysterious incident two years ago the two have drifted apart but Poppy proposes one last trip to save their friendship.
This book was full of mutual pining, inside jokes and amazing chemistry. The romantic tension between Alex and Poppy was just so well done I was sold on them as a couple almost immediately. I felt like they knew and understood each other so intimately and it honestly was so swoon worthy. The mortifying ordeal of being known is so worth it! This was really gripping, loved the writing, the humor, the banter, the angst! It was just so great 馃グ I read it in under 24hrs because I couldn鈥檛 put it down. Highly recommend!!
Also I totally made a playlist for this book so if anyone鈥檚 interested 馃憖
Read
May 31, 2021The fact that I loved this isn't surprising at all. It's second chance romance, opposites attract, and friends to lovers, three of my favourite tropes! It definitely didn't disappoint. The chemistry between Alex and Poppy was amazing. Poppy as a character was so much fun to read about. I loved the then and now, how you got to follow all the summer vacations they had taken over the years while following the present day too. It made for a well rounded story and look at the characters and their relationship. It's definitely a slow burn but the pay off is worth it. The characters are really what drives the story. But the settings provided a nice back drop for everything to play out. I felt like I was vacationing alongside them and with Poppy's whimsical way of living, it was refreshing to just roll with the punches. Emily Henry's books are definitely becoming favourites of mine. I love how they're romances, but with a little something more too. I'm not sure if I liked Beach Read or this one more, but I do know I'll be looking out for anything new by her!
May 28, 2022
a much needed palate cleanser. <3
_________________
gahhhh. i would die to have a connection/bond with someone as cute, wholesome, hilarious, and passionate as poppy and alex have with each other. better yet, just give me alex. hes what i really want. lol.
even though i love romance books, i wouldnt consider myself an especially romantic or sentimental person. but wow, EH has made me once again wish that her stories were my reality. i mean, the humour. the chemistry. the tender way heavy topics are discussed. the realness of it all. the easy-breezy writing that makes me tear up at times. everything about this is so easy to love and want.
its pretty much perfection on paper.
鈫� 5 stars
_________________
gahhhh. i would die to have a connection/bond with someone as cute, wholesome, hilarious, and passionate as poppy and alex have with each other. better yet, just give me alex. hes what i really want. lol.
even though i love romance books, i wouldnt consider myself an especially romantic or sentimental person. but wow, EH has made me once again wish that her stories were my reality. i mean, the humour. the chemistry. the tender way heavy topics are discussed. the realness of it all. the easy-breezy writing that makes me tear up at times. everything about this is so easy to love and want.
its pretty much perfection on paper.
鈫� 5 stars
July 29, 2021
4.5 猸愶笍 fuck i loved this book! i ate this shit up! i鈥檓 a mother at this point because i would use my entire body, mind, and soul to protect these characters. this shit was so wholesome but so fucking real. like it wasn鈥檛 all hearts and butterflies, it was raw emotions which i enjoyed reading.
poppy is so relatable, it kinda hurts. really loved reading this through her pov. she gets me ya know?
alex鈥his man鈥e鈥檚 the fucking blueprint at this point. my standards are so beyond high now..i have lost what little faith i had in real life men. i just know this man would slap a racist motherfucker for me and defend my rights
poppy is so relatable, it kinda hurts. really loved reading this through her pov. she gets me ya know?
alex鈥his man鈥e鈥檚 the fucking blueprint at this point. my standards are so beyond high now..i have lost what little faith i had in real life men. i just know this man would slap a racist motherfucker for me and defend my rights
Read
September 28, 2021You can preorder my next book, Book Lovers (coming May 3, 2022 in the U.S.) here:
April 30, 2024
take my hater card away because this just turned from a one-star to a three-point-five! though, i still think if a guy pulls a 鈥渟ad puppy face鈥�, even when it鈥檚 ironic, you should still run.
[reread]
[reread]
April 19, 2023
love an anxious lil stoic man
July 15, 2024
Another Emily Henry re-read completed 鉁�
November 10, 2021
THIS is how you do friends-to-lovers.
December 8, 2021
booooooooorrrrring no offence
February 22, 2022
closer to 3.75 stars but I really enjoyed this!
this book is just 鈥測ou are in love鈥� by taylor swift in novel form 鈾ワ笍
this book is just 鈥測ou are in love鈥� by taylor swift in novel form 鈾ワ笍
December 15, 2022
There's more chemistry between me and a block of cheese... and I'm lactose intolerant.
February 7, 2023
this was so beautiful i鈥檓 so single and SO glad tomorrow isn鈥檛 promised 馃槏
September 11, 2024
I have been in desperate need of this exact combination of opposites attract and Emily Henry has served us!!!听
Poppy and Alex have an unlikely friendship. Poppy is free spirited, quirky and outgoing. Alex is quiet and prefers to stay indoors with a book.
They meet during orientation week in college and become friends after an awkward car ride home.
After college they mostly live far apart however every summer they take a trip together and go on exciting adventures.
Until one summer, everything falls apart.
Now, after two years of not talking, Poppy is determined to fix things with Alex. She manages to persuade him to go on one last vacation where she has one week to convince Alex to give their friendship another go.
Beach Read was one of my absolute favourite reads of 2020. So i went into this one with my fingers crossed, peaking through one eye, just in case it didnt live up to Beach Read.
I cannot put into words how ECSTATIC i was to find that it surpassed my hopes.
Its scary how perfect this book was (for me). I feel like the author stole my dreams (like the giant in the bfg hehehheheh) of the 馃挄perfect romance book馃挄 and picked every single trope that i loved and mashed it into one book.
听
Here are the tropes this book included: best friends to lovers (the superior trope). Grumpy/sunshine. witty banter. there's only one bed. opposites attract. slow burn. lots of yearning and pining. TENSION FOR DAYS.
The writing was like a bowl of chocolate mousse. Smooth, lovely and addictive.
After the first spoonful (or in this case: page) i could not put it down!
We follow their friendship from the day they met with chapters alternating between past and present.
At the time i read this (January 2021) i had been in lockdown for almost 10 months.
And when i tell you i was living vicariously through Alex and Poppy 馃槈馃殻鈥嶁檧锔�. I felt like i was there with them visiting these beautiful places. ((Lowkey jealous of them tbh 馃拝馃徑 ))
Poppy was so cute and i loved her so much. I found some parts of her so relatable and i just wanted her to be happy.
Alex was.... *whispers*.... everythingggggggg.
My sweet cinnamon roll introvert. *weeps* i want him 馃槶.
Y'all can thirst all you want over your smirking badboys. Just leave Alex with me mmkay?
I really enjoyed the chapters set in the Past. We get to see Poppy and Alexs' friendship grow and it was beautiful to see how much they cared for each other before romantic feelings came into play.
And then the Present chapters were filled with tension and yearning. *dies*
听
You and Me on Vacation/People We Meet on Vacation made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me 馃グ'aawwwwwwww'馃グ - just,, ALL THE FEELS
In conclusion, this book was *chefs kiss* from beginning to end and i wish i had a physical copy so i can highlight all my favourite parts and stain the pages with my tears of happiness.
(If you are Emily Henry and youre, by some wild chance, reading this: hi i love you so much can i be your best friend? Pls tell everyone alex is mine)
芦 e-arc kindly sent to me by Penguin Random House and Berkley in exchange for an honest review 禄
鈥� Release Date: 11 May 2021 鈥�
Read my review of Beach Read by Emily Henry
___
2nd read - September 2024
I was terrified that this wouldn鈥檛 hold up and that after almost 4 years since I read it I would somehow change mind about this book. I am glad that wasn鈥檛 the case. Poppy and Alex are still one of my faves and I am so excited for the adaptation. Don鈥檛 disappoint us Netflix.
Poppy and Alex have an unlikely friendship. Poppy is free spirited, quirky and outgoing. Alex is quiet and prefers to stay indoors with a book.
They meet during orientation week in college and become friends after an awkward car ride home.
After college they mostly live far apart however every summer they take a trip together and go on exciting adventures.
Until one summer, everything falls apart.
Now, after two years of not talking, Poppy is determined to fix things with Alex. She manages to persuade him to go on one last vacation where she has one week to convince Alex to give their friendship another go.
Beach Read was one of my absolute favourite reads of 2020. So i went into this one with my fingers crossed, peaking through one eye, just in case it didnt live up to Beach Read.
I cannot put into words how ECSTATIC i was to find that it surpassed my hopes.
Its scary how perfect this book was (for me). I feel like the author stole my dreams (like the giant in the bfg hehehheheh) of the 馃挄perfect romance book馃挄 and picked every single trope that i loved and mashed it into one book.
听
Here are the tropes this book included: best friends to lovers (the superior trope). Grumpy/sunshine. witty banter. there's only one bed. opposites attract. slow burn. lots of yearning and pining. TENSION FOR DAYS.
The writing was like a bowl of chocolate mousse. Smooth, lovely and addictive.
After the first spoonful (or in this case: page) i could not put it down!
We follow their friendship from the day they met with chapters alternating between past and present.
At the time i read this (January 2021) i had been in lockdown for almost 10 months.
And when i tell you i was living vicariously through Alex and Poppy 馃槈馃殻鈥嶁檧锔�. I felt like i was there with them visiting these beautiful places. ((Lowkey jealous of them tbh 馃拝馃徑 ))
Poppy was so cute and i loved her so much. I found some parts of her so relatable and i just wanted her to be happy.
Alex was.... *whispers*.... everythingggggggg.
My sweet cinnamon roll introvert. *weeps* i want him 馃槶.
Y'all can thirst all you want over your smirking badboys. Just leave Alex with me mmkay?
I really enjoyed the chapters set in the Past. We get to see Poppy and Alexs' friendship grow and it was beautiful to see how much they cared for each other before romantic feelings came into play.
And then the Present chapters were filled with tension and yearning. *dies*
听
You and Me on Vacation/People We Meet on Vacation made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me 馃グ'aawwwwwwww'馃グ - just,, ALL THE FEELS
In conclusion, this book was *chefs kiss* from beginning to end and i wish i had a physical copy so i can highlight all my favourite parts and stain the pages with my tears of happiness.
(If you are Emily Henry and youre, by some wild chance, reading this: hi i love you so much can i be your best friend? Pls tell everyone alex is mine)
芦 e-arc kindly sent to me by Penguin Random House and Berkley in exchange for an honest review 禄
鈥� Release Date: 11 May 2021 鈥�
Read my review of Beach Read by Emily Henry
___
2nd read - September 2024
I was terrified that this wouldn鈥檛 hold up and that after almost 4 years since I read it I would somehow change mind about this book. I am glad that wasn鈥檛 the case. Poppy and Alex are still one of my faves and I am so excited for the adaptation. Don鈥檛 disappoint us Netflix.
September 19, 2020
Have you ever read a book that makes you wish you could unread it, forget everything, and read it again for the first time? My book hangover from this one is going to kill me. I'm so sad it's over. I loved it SO much. I want to listen to the audiobook and find a signed copy and watch every Zoom appearance the author goes on to talk about the book because it made my heart soooooooo ridiculously happy.
The story is told in Poppy's POV and it bounces from present day to flashbacks of her yearly summer vacations with her best friend Alex, starting twelve years ago. Each flashback brings you closer to present day, building the friendship in a delicious, almost maddening slow burn, opposites attract, friends to lovers romance. I wasn't even 1/3rd of the way through and I already wanted to smash their faces together like KISS YOU FOOLS! YOU'RE MADE FOR EACH OTHER!!! GAAAAHHHHH!!!!
Let's talk about the main character, Poppy. I love her. I love her in a I-could-keep-reading-books-about-you-for-the-rest-of-your-fictional-life kind of way. There could be a series that just follows Poppy as she grows old and I'd buy every single one and save them in my memory shoebox. She's got this sharp, unapologetic wit to her that's the perfect juxtaposition to the reserved, almost demur Alex. Don't get me wrong, Alex is hilarious in his own right, matching her tit for tat. But it's a humor that he withholds only for his back and forth with Poppy, so you really do feel like you're getting the true "naked" (as Poppy would say) Alex, in her company. They have this unmistakable, unique chemistry and their dialogue is FIRE. Honestly, this book had some of the best dialogue I've read in a looooong time. I was cracking up at some of the stuff these two said and thought.
The angst is just *chef's kiss*. And also, one bed. One friggin bed. Witty banter, sexual tension, one bed鈥攁ll my favorite things in the same book???
Emily Henry must keep writing. We must protect her at all costs so she can keep giving us new books. This was absolutely my favorite read of the year, and probably one of my favorite books of all time.
The story is told in Poppy's POV and it bounces from present day to flashbacks of her yearly summer vacations with her best friend Alex, starting twelve years ago. Each flashback brings you closer to present day, building the friendship in a delicious, almost maddening slow burn, opposites attract, friends to lovers romance. I wasn't even 1/3rd of the way through and I already wanted to smash their faces together like KISS YOU FOOLS! YOU'RE MADE FOR EACH OTHER!!! GAAAAHHHHH!!!!
Let's talk about the main character, Poppy. I love her. I love her in a I-could-keep-reading-books-about-you-for-the-rest-of-your-fictional-life kind of way. There could be a series that just follows Poppy as she grows old and I'd buy every single one and save them in my memory shoebox. She's got this sharp, unapologetic wit to her that's the perfect juxtaposition to the reserved, almost demur Alex. Don't get me wrong, Alex is hilarious in his own right, matching her tit for tat. But it's a humor that he withholds only for his back and forth with Poppy, so you really do feel like you're getting the true "naked" (as Poppy would say) Alex, in her company. They have this unmistakable, unique chemistry and their dialogue is FIRE. Honestly, this book had some of the best dialogue I've read in a looooong time. I was cracking up at some of the stuff these two said and thought.
The angst is just *chef's kiss*. And also, one bed. One friggin bed. Witty banter, sexual tension, one bed鈥攁ll my favorite things in the same book???
Emily Henry must keep writing. We must protect her at all costs so she can keep giving us new books. This was absolutely my favorite read of the year, and probably one of my favorite books of all time.
April 30, 2021
4.5 stars
Shit, this was so cute 馃槶馃グ I wasn鈥檛 sure if this book would be my thing because I was HYPED for Beach Read and it ended up being pretty disappointing, and I鈥檓 really not a big fan of the friends to lovers trope, it鈥檚 one of my least favorites but I ADORE THIS BOOK. Alex is one of the softest love interests ever and I thought him and Poppy were so cute. Their friendship was so genuine and their banter was so great.
I think why this book works for me so much is because we get to see in flashbacks how they met, and all the vacations they have taken together each year in the last ten years. I think so often with friends to lovers the characters have this whole history we don鈥檛 get to see as readers and that usually bothers me because I like to see all the things of how their friendship began because it helps me root for them as a couple, so I鈥檓 so glad this book included all those flashbacks of them. I also liked how this book had this mystery to it about what happened between them and why they were no longer on speaking terms, it kept me flipping pages wanting to know what happened between them.
I love that this book talks about how completing your long term goals can lead to depression, because it鈥檚 about the journey, not the destination and how the best way to find your happiness when you lose it is to retrace your steps and think about when was the last time you were truly happy. I thought all of it was great advice and really thought provoking cause I never really thought of it that way, but that鈥檚 so true how you can be desperately trying to achieve your goals for months or years and when you finally get there, it can be rewarding but also kind of depressing because you don鈥檛 have anything more to look forward to.. and the way this book talks about loneliness and never really feeling like you belong really touched me.
Anyways, that was a tangent but I ADORED THIS BOOK. I highlighted and underlined so many parts that made me smile and made me giddy. This was also the perfect escapism I needed because I haven鈥檛 been on a vacation in over a year thanks to ms. corona so I was living vicariously through them going on all these vacations 馃槏 it really was a much needed escape from reality.
I鈥檓 just so stoked to have enjoyed a romance from Emily Henry! 馃槏馃ぉ I can鈥檛 wait to see what she writes in the future!
Shit, this was so cute 馃槶馃グ I wasn鈥檛 sure if this book would be my thing because I was HYPED for Beach Read and it ended up being pretty disappointing, and I鈥檓 really not a big fan of the friends to lovers trope, it鈥檚 one of my least favorites but I ADORE THIS BOOK. Alex is one of the softest love interests ever and I thought him and Poppy were so cute. Their friendship was so genuine and their banter was so great.
I think why this book works for me so much is because we get to see in flashbacks how they met, and all the vacations they have taken together each year in the last ten years. I think so often with friends to lovers the characters have this whole history we don鈥檛 get to see as readers and that usually bothers me because I like to see all the things of how their friendship began because it helps me root for them as a couple, so I鈥檓 so glad this book included all those flashbacks of them. I also liked how this book had this mystery to it about what happened between them and why they were no longer on speaking terms, it kept me flipping pages wanting to know what happened between them.
I love that this book talks about how completing your long term goals can lead to depression, because it鈥檚 about the journey, not the destination and how the best way to find your happiness when you lose it is to retrace your steps and think about when was the last time you were truly happy. I thought all of it was great advice and really thought provoking cause I never really thought of it that way, but that鈥檚 so true how you can be desperately trying to achieve your goals for months or years and when you finally get there, it can be rewarding but also kind of depressing because you don鈥檛 have anything more to look forward to.. and the way this book talks about loneliness and never really feeling like you belong really touched me.
Anyways, that was a tangent but I ADORED THIS BOOK. I highlighted and underlined so many parts that made me smile and made me giddy. This was also the perfect escapism I needed because I haven鈥檛 been on a vacation in over a year thanks to ms. corona so I was living vicariously through them going on all these vacations 馃槏 it really was a much needed escape from reality.
I鈥檓 just so stoked to have enjoyed a romance from Emily Henry! 馃槏馃ぉ I can鈥檛 wait to see what she writes in the future!
October 19, 2021
Re-read 10/19/21: Still such an absolute delight. So excited to read books from Emily Henry for the rest of my life.
Original read 5/11/21: 2021 may only be halfway done, but I can already guarantee that this will remain at the top as my favorite book of the year. I've never been the hugest friends-to-lovers fan, but Alex and Poppy's chemistry leapt off of every single page and I have been completely converted and will never be the same. That, on top of the fact that Emily Henry has such a perfect knack for writing realistic characters with real flaws and traits made this a perfect 6-star book for me and I am just absolutely obsessed and cannot wait to read everything she will ever publish. My heart is so full!!!!!!
CW: death of a parent
Original read 5/11/21: 2021 may only be halfway done, but I can already guarantee that this will remain at the top as my favorite book of the year. I've never been the hugest friends-to-lovers fan, but Alex and Poppy's chemistry leapt off of every single page and I have been completely converted and will never be the same. That, on top of the fact that Emily Henry has such a perfect knack for writing realistic characters with real flaws and traits made this a perfect 6-star book for me and I am just absolutely obsessed and cannot wait to read everything she will ever publish. My heart is so full!!!!!!
CW: death of a parent
April 18, 2024
鈥� 4.5 stars 鈽�
Friends to lovers has always been my comfort trope but friends to secret lovers where they've always loved each other just hits different. The yearning, undying love, jealousy moments, all the quiet and loud ways they know each other, the comfort of always having your person by your side. It's everything.
No words will be enough to describe my love for Poppy and Alex. Why I loved this book this much? It's because it's more than just a romantic story about two people. It's about Poppy's journey of self-discovery and her finding the love, passion, friendship again while also trying to salvage her decade long friendship with Alex. It's about friendships that means the world and everything to you. It's about finding yourself in someone else. It's about living and fulfilling all your dreams and connecting with different peoples and places. It's about pursuing different things and careers in your life at some point because you always want more and you can never want same things in your life and it's just the way life is. It's about finding love and friendship again.
Emily did an astounding job with writing the dialogues in this book and how she navigated Alex and Poppy's friendship with the trips they took together and final trip they took to salvage whatever was left of their friendship. The chapters go back and forth between the present trip to the past trips and it was endearing to watch Poppy and Alex evolve into different someone with each trip, how their friendship developed over the years they were together and how even though they are complete opposites of each other, they can be whoever they want to be with each other. The vacations they took added refreshing and comforting vibe to the book.
This was my first book by Emily Henry and there's something about her writing that makes me feel nostalgia about everything there is in world. She also dealt the heavy topics in this book with so much precision and grace. Her writing is simple and captivating and there are no flowery euphemisms and still it made me feel every emotion. It's way I was able to put myself in these characters' shoes and live the lives they have lived, feel what they have felt. She's truly a wonderful and incredible writer and a fun-fact, she was already my auto-buy author even before I read her books.
鉃� Poppy Wright
She's not a perfect character but to me she's perfect. Poppy is the type of girl who wants an untethered life and spontaneous trips, new peoples and new seasons. I deeply resonated with her character minus the trips part. She is always searching and wanting more from her life and she had a hard time coming to terms with her extroverted, free spirited and loud personality because people around her never appreciated her for who she was. What I really loved about her is that she was honest about her feelings and even though everything was uncertain in her life including her current future and dreams, she was always certain about her friendship with Alex and how much she loved him. It was her fear of losing her only constant in her life who made her feel normal and loved for who she is. I don't blame Poppy for pushing away Alex because there was so much at stake and they both wanted different things from life and I liked how Poppy came to terms with her new reality and her feelings for Alex in the end. Her character evolution throughout this book was real and amazing.
鉃� Alex Nilsen
鈥淚n a world of boys, he's a gentleman.鈥�
I don't think there are enough words to describe how precious Alex is. He is beyond perfection and the kind of man鈥� you can't help but fall for him at first sight. He's a literal soft-hearted goofball like Poppy says and the most thoughtful, respectful, courteous person. He reads books and he is a cat lover and he is also an introvert who doesn't talk much until he finds his people. But with Poppy, it's like she turn on this switch in him that make him do all the things he never imagined himself he will do. Maybe it's because he grew up too soon because as the oldest child in his family, he had to take care of his father and his younger siblings after they lost their mother and that says so much about his lone character and his need to settle down and have his own family. I don't think he ever had a chance to reconcile with his own grief of losing his mother and and to thought about his own life until he met Poppy. She changed him and made him see his life and his wants in a different way. He is ready to do everything she wants him to do and that's the most selfless thing ever. Also, this man took care of her when she was sick for days and I was literally crying reading that. I don't think I have read anything so emotional yet so beautiful.
鈺扳攬鉃� Poppy & Alex
How is it that two people who are so intricately woven into each other's life for over a decade and they yet not realised how much they love each other besides just being their best bestfriend in the world. There's so much love, attraction and history between these two. Poppy and Alex are each other's comfort person and the only person they love more than anything in this world. They never acted upon their feelings because of the fear of losing their friendship.
Their friendship is the heart of this book because of how well they understood each other even though they were polar opposites. Poopy is all bubbly and fun and Alex is steadfast and responsible and it's the dynamic they understand. She teases him and he makes her feel safe. Their banter is everything and the way they has this easy-going between them where no matter how Poppy and Alex will be the first person in each other's life. It's the way Alex cares for Poppy and her feelings and the way he is so soft and gentle with her. Their first kiss had me melting on the floor. It was just so beautifully written, maybe one of my favourite scenes of this book!
There was some awkwardness between them in the present trip after what happened two years ago. But I liked how slowly and steadily they started trusting each other with their hearts. There were a lot of unspoken feelings and words that would've made everything easier had they not misinterpreted whatever happened between them two years ago. I also liked that they went into therapy to deal with their personal issues and fears before starting anything new and it helped them a lot in making the final decision. I also liked that Poppy followed her heart and did what she wanted to do with her career. The love they have for each other is admirable and it's way the way they support each other and encourage each other to grow individually.
The ending was perfect. I didn't mind the third-act breakup and it was needed for both of them to realise their true feelings and that helped them to sign up for therapy sessions, so it was a win-win situation. And the heartfelt love confession in the end was everything. It was just beautiful, emotional and endearing. I just need of more of Poppy and Alex!
So why not 5 stars? My only problem with this book was that I needed Alex's pov. I needed to know the story from his perspective and also I needed to know more about his backstory and how much it impacted his real life.
Overall, this book was such an amazing read and I can finally see the hype about Emily Henry.
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌�
Finally entering in my Emily Henry era 馃拝馃徏
鈥淪ometimes it feels like I didn鈥檛 even exist before that. Like you invented me.鈥�
Friends to lovers has always been my comfort trope but friends to secret lovers where they've always loved each other just hits different. The yearning, undying love, jealousy moments, all the quiet and loud ways they know each other, the comfort of always having your person by your side. It's everything.
鈥淚 would rather have one tiny sliver of him forever than have all of him for just a moment and know I鈥檇 have to relinquish all of it when we were through.鈥�
No words will be enough to describe my love for Poppy and Alex. Why I loved this book this much? It's because it's more than just a romantic story about two people. It's about Poppy's journey of self-discovery and her finding the love, passion, friendship again while also trying to salvage her decade long friendship with Alex. It's about friendships that means the world and everything to you. It's about finding yourself in someone else. It's about living and fulfilling all your dreams and connecting with different peoples and places. It's about pursuing different things and careers in your life at some point because you always want more and you can never want same things in your life and it's just the way life is. It's about finding love and friendship again.
Emily did an astounding job with writing the dialogues in this book and how she navigated Alex and Poppy's friendship with the trips they took together and final trip they took to salvage whatever was left of their friendship. The chapters go back and forth between the present trip to the past trips and it was endearing to watch Poppy and Alex evolve into different someone with each trip, how their friendship developed over the years they were together and how even though they are complete opposites of each other, they can be whoever they want to be with each other. The vacations they took added refreshing and comforting vibe to the book.
鈥淲herever you are, that鈥檚 where I belong. I鈥檒l never belong anywhere like I belong with you.鈥�
This was my first book by Emily Henry and there's something about her writing that makes me feel nostalgia about everything there is in world. She also dealt the heavy topics in this book with so much precision and grace. Her writing is simple and captivating and there are no flowery euphemisms and still it made me feel every emotion. It's way I was able to put myself in these characters' shoes and live the lives they have lived, feel what they have felt. She's truly a wonderful and incredible writer and a fun-fact, she was already my auto-buy author even before I read her books.
鉃� Poppy Wright
She's not a perfect character but to me she's perfect. Poppy is the type of girl who wants an untethered life and spontaneous trips, new peoples and new seasons. I deeply resonated with her character minus the trips part. She is always searching and wanting more from her life and she had a hard time coming to terms with her extroverted, free spirited and loud personality because people around her never appreciated her for who she was. What I really loved about her is that she was honest about her feelings and even though everything was uncertain in her life including her current future and dreams, she was always certain about her friendship with Alex and how much she loved him. It was her fear of losing her only constant in her life who made her feel normal and loved for who she is. I don't blame Poppy for pushing away Alex because there was so much at stake and they both wanted different things from life and I liked how Poppy came to terms with her new reality and her feelings for Alex in the end. Her character evolution throughout this book was real and amazing.
鈥淟ike I鈥檇 never been that girl who鈥檇 felt entirely alone, misunderstood, and I鈥檇 always been this one: known, loved, wholly accepted by Alex Nilsen.鈥�
鉃� Alex Nilsen
鈥淚n a world of boys, he's a gentleman.鈥�
I don't think there are enough words to describe how precious Alex is. He is beyond perfection and the kind of man鈥� you can't help but fall for him at first sight. He's a literal soft-hearted goofball like Poppy says and the most thoughtful, respectful, courteous person. He reads books and he is a cat lover and he is also an introvert who doesn't talk much until he finds his people. But with Poppy, it's like she turn on this switch in him that make him do all the things he never imagined himself he will do. Maybe it's because he grew up too soon because as the oldest child in his family, he had to take care of his father and his younger siblings after they lost their mother and that says so much about his lone character and his need to settle down and have his own family. I don't think he ever had a chance to reconcile with his own grief of losing his mother and and to thought about his own life until he met Poppy. She changed him and made him see his life and his wants in a different way. He is ready to do everything she wants him to do and that's the most selfless thing ever. Also, this man took care of her when she was sick for days and I was literally crying reading that. I don't think I have read anything so emotional yet so beautiful.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I knew I was lonely until I met you.鈥�
鈺扳攬鉃� Poppy & Alex
How is it that two people who are so intricately woven into each other's life for over a decade and they yet not realised how much they love each other besides just being their best bestfriend in the world. There's so much love, attraction and history between these two. Poppy and Alex are each other's comfort person and the only person they love more than anything in this world. They never acted upon their feelings because of the fear of losing their friendship.
鈥淚鈥檝e never really felt alone since I met you. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檒l ever feel truly alone in this world again as long as you鈥檙e in it.鈥�
Their friendship is the heart of this book because of how well they understood each other even though they were polar opposites. Poopy is all bubbly and fun and Alex is steadfast and responsible and it's the dynamic they understand. She teases him and he makes her feel safe. Their banter is everything and the way they has this easy-going between them where no matter how Poppy and Alex will be the first person in each other's life. It's the way Alex cares for Poppy and her feelings and the way he is so soft and gentle with her. Their first kiss had me melting on the floor. It was just so beautifully written, maybe one of my favourite scenes of this book!
鈥淲hat if I want you to have what you want?鈥� He arches an eyebrow. 鈥淎re you just saying that because you know what I鈥檓 going to say, and you want to make fun of me for it?鈥� 鈥淣o?鈥� I say.
鈥淲hy? What are you going to say?鈥�
Our hands go still between us. 鈥淚 have what I want, Poppy.鈥�
There was some awkwardness between them in the present trip after what happened two years ago. But I liked how slowly and steadily they started trusting each other with their hearts. There were a lot of unspoken feelings and words that would've made everything easier had they not misinterpreted whatever happened between them two years ago. I also liked that they went into therapy to deal with their personal issues and fears before starting anything new and it helped them a lot in making the final decision. I also liked that Poppy followed her heart and did what she wanted to do with her career. The love they have for each other is admirable and it's way the way they support each other and encourage each other to grow individually.
鈥淚 love him so much. I love him more than I did yesterday, and I already know tomorrow I鈥檒l love him even more, because every piece of him he gives me is another to fall in love with.鈥�
The ending was perfect. I didn't mind the third-act breakup and it was needed for both of them to realise their true feelings and that helped them to sign up for therapy sessions, so it was a win-win situation. And the heartfelt love confession in the end was everything. It was just beautiful, emotional and endearing. I just need of more of Poppy and Alex!
So why not 5 stars? My only problem with this book was that I needed Alex's pov. I needed to know the story from his perspective and also I needed to know more about his backstory and how much it impacted his real life.
Overall, this book was such an amazing read and I can finally see the hype about Emily Henry.
鈥淵ou are, you know.鈥�
鈥淎 fighter?鈥� I say.
鈥淢y home,鈥� he says, and kisses me. We are, I think. We鈥檙e home.
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌�
Finally entering in my Emily Henry era 馃拝馃徏
February 7, 2024
People We Meet on Vacation
by Emily Henry (Author), Julia Whelan (Narrator)
I always say I'm not good at Rom/Com because I'm not. I can't identify with the formula (as my friend Jayme mentioned) of most Rom/Coms. It's as if two people who might be right for each other, despite how different they might be, have to manufacture over the top drama to keep them apart. We have a lot of that in this story. I did enjoy it but, at the same time, the drama is too silly for words yet these too people allow it to keep them apart for over ten years. This is where I roll my eyes, again.
What I liked about the story:
Alex, yes yes, he is supposed to be so boring that his boring (according to Poppy) yoga loving on and offish girlfriend thinks he's boring, but I thought he was funny and interesting.
The friendship between Alex and Poppy, which seems real.
One of my favorite narrators.
What I didn't like:
Poppy seems very immature and indecisive and I doubt she ever changes.
Alex needed to develop a backbone. (I can't believe something that he does that may not be able to be reversed).
That the resolution really is ignoring some big problems that have not changed.
In the end, these two people deserve all the misery they they create for themselves. The journey was enjoyable to a certain extent but I can only take such a journey a few times a year. So 3.5 stars rounded to a Rom/Com 4 stars.
Pub: May 11, 2021 by Penguin Audio
by Emily Henry (Author), Julia Whelan (Narrator)
I always say I'm not good at Rom/Com because I'm not. I can't identify with the formula (as my friend Jayme mentioned) of most Rom/Coms. It's as if two people who might be right for each other, despite how different they might be, have to manufacture over the top drama to keep them apart. We have a lot of that in this story. I did enjoy it but, at the same time, the drama is too silly for words yet these too people allow it to keep them apart for over ten years. This is where I roll my eyes, again.
What I liked about the story:
Alex, yes yes, he is supposed to be so boring that his boring (according to Poppy) yoga loving on and offish girlfriend thinks he's boring, but I thought he was funny and interesting.
The friendship between Alex and Poppy, which seems real.
One of my favorite narrators.
What I didn't like:
Poppy seems very immature and indecisive and I doubt she ever changes.
Alex needed to develop a backbone. (I can't believe something that he does that may not be able to be reversed).
That the resolution really is ignoring some big problems that have not changed.
In the end, these two people deserve all the misery they they create for themselves. The journey was enjoyable to a certain extent but I can only take such a journey a few times a year. So 3.5 stars rounded to a Rom/Com 4 stars.
Pub: May 11, 2021 by Penguin Audio
December 13, 2021
very concerned about poppy鈥檚 hygiene habits鈥�
Read
July 7, 2021On Hold @ 47%
I don't care if this is hype af but I have to stop for now. I was literally forcing myself to continue because of the hype, but now I just can't do it anymore. I am already reaching halfway mark but I could not care with the main characters at all. I am disappointed of this outcome because friends to lovers is my favourite trope and I really loved Beach Read. I try to finish this one someday.
I don't care if this is hype af but I have to stop for now. I was literally forcing myself to continue because of the hype, but now I just can't do it anymore. I am already reaching halfway mark but I could not care with the main characters at all. I am disappointed of this outcome because friends to lovers is my favourite trope and I really loved Beach Read. I try to finish this one someday.
December 1, 2024
"You can love someone and still know the future you鈥檇 have with them wouldn鈥檛 work for you, or for them, or maybe even for both of you."
Maybe things can always get better between people who want to do a good job loving each other. Maybe that鈥檚 all it takes.
this book is my comfort book. everything about it is so beautiful, from the characters to the setting. if you were to ever ask me what my all time favorite book is, i would say this one with no doubt. but if u knew me, you鈥檇 already know this. and i鈥檓 so glad that hasn鈥檛 changed in any way. i have tried writing this review so many times and every single time i鈥檝e been at a loss for words. there鈥檚 simply no way to perfectly convey my love for both this book and alexpoppy. i am 100% convinced i sound super cheesy when i鈥檓 writing this so i鈥檓 warning u rn.
I wrote the last one mostly for me. This one鈥檚 for you.
emily henry really did write this book for me!! in the words of alex and poppy, this book speaks to me (iykyk). i鈥檓 sure everyone has one book that they resonate with so deeply, and this book is it for me. it鈥檚 always hard for me to express my love for a book. i feel like this book was made just for me, and while this book isn鈥檛 for everyone, it鈥檚 definitely for me. poppyalex are so flawed and those flaws helped create the person that they are. i wouldn鈥檛 change them in any way.
鈥淭hat crush of happiness, that feeling that this is what life鈥檚 about: being somewhere beautiful, with someone you love.鈥�
鈥淚 love you all the way, Alex,鈥� I say. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have lived with myself if I hadn鈥檛 at least told you.鈥�
i think the past perfectly showcases how deep their friendship went and it was all the more realistic. i loved the way they bonded in the past, from slow dancing in the streets to having late talks into the night. these chapters talking about the summers they shared were so enjoyable bc it made me love them all the more. god i am so in love with this book. they got off on a rough start, but once they got to know each other and see how different they were, i loved how their friendship blossomed. the way they were willing to be open about the others鈥� interests and give it a try simply because they were intrigued literally means so much to me. they accepted each other and never once tried to change one another. the love they had for each other was just true unconditional love. (yes that is another reference)
鈥榦pposites attract鈥� is one of my favorite concepts, and this doesn鈥檛 just apply to books. the overall idea of being accepted as who you are and learning to love someone even more for their differences is so beautiful. they were two independent people who couldn鈥檛 bear to live their lives without one another. it was like they knew they鈥檇 be happy as long as they were together. without one another, their world shone a little less bright compared to how they were with each other. living their very best life without a care in the world bc the person they truly loved was there, and it鈥檇 be all okay. this is how friends to lovers should be done. the slow progress as they build this deep connection and bond through experiences and memories that they share. the tension between them was just another added factor that i loved. i think that鈥檚 why this book resonates so much with me. i don鈥檛 want to go into full detail but this book makes me feel understood.
reading this book the second time around really opens your eyes. i was able to see the parallels within this book that were reflected in the end which i found to be so adorable. the nickname 鈥榯iny fighter鈥� was just so cute and the idea that they knew each other so well was just everything. they are the definition of perfectly flawed characters and i have a soft spot in my heart for them. they really took the idea of home being a person and just ran with it. you can鈥檛 tell me they don鈥檛 exist because i will simply deny this fact. they exist in my mind which is good enough for me.
鈥淚 loved being in the city, surrounded by art and food and noise and new people, enough that the school part of it was bearable鈥�
鈥淏ecause no matter what makes all those people different, they鈥檙e all just trying to get somewhere, waiting to reach someone.鈥�
Because I will never again feel as alone as I did during those long nights as a kid. As long as I have him, I will never be alone again.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e always been Poppy.鈥�
slight spoiler warning.
poppy. where do i start with her? she鈥檚 absolutely amazing. she鈥檚 like this ball of energy that had me laughing from the very beginning. she was the definition of lovely (in my completely humble opinion) and she was never afraid to express herself through her eccentric style which i found to be so cute. after going through and putting up with the bullying she suffered in her high school years, i鈥檓 so glad she never lost herself. her past was something that she never let define her and it鈥檚 clear that she loves her rowdy family despite wanting to 鈥渆scape鈥� it. however, she was running away from the feeling of being alone rather than the people that she loved. despite her efforts, she was never able to truly run away from it and had to accept that the past was a part of her life to move on. this was character development on both poppy and alex鈥檚 part. she had this running fear that she鈥檇 never fit in, and that fear was placed onto alex bc of their opposite personalities. i love the idea that he loved her even after seeing all of her. making her feel accepted and loved throughout the years she felt she wasn鈥檛. he鈥檚 that person for her. the way she鈥檚 unapologetically herself and how alex loves her for it makes my heart warm. i can鈥檛 live with myself knowing poppyalex aren鈥檛 real.
watching poppy fall in love with alex throughout their friendship was honestly so cute. it felt as though i was being taken along on this journey with poppy and i鈥檝e never been so grateful. it鈥檚 like being merely a spectator in the world that poppy and alex have created just for themselves. i鈥檝e never wanted to watch anything more in my life. no one and no moment exists other than the one they live in. they only need each other, simply because they see that they are perfect the way they are.
i was worried the second time around that i wouldn鈥檛 end up liking one pov but it never became a problem. rather, the past made me have a new love for the present bc i understood just how far their bond went. i felt bad bc poppy had this pressure to make this trip seem like the others and how hard it must鈥檝e been for her. the past showed how she felt with alex over all these years they spent but now that she has the chance to fix it, she has this fear that there鈥檚 a chance he will slip away again. the present served as a purpose to understand them even further with their thoughts and understandings. the past highlighted their bond, while the present talks about their feelings and the meaning within their little moments that they were still able to maintain despite not talking for 2 years. even if it was awkward, it would never last and they learned to talk it out. communication was the key in the present.
鈥淚鈥檝e always felt like once someone sees me deep down, that鈥檚 it. There鈥檚 something ugly in there, or unlovable, and you鈥檙e the only person who鈥檚 ever made me feel like I鈥檓 okay.鈥� His hand sweeps gently across my face, and I open my eyes, meet his head-on. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing scarier than the chance that, once you really have all of me, that changes. But I want all of you, so I鈥檓 trying to be brave.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檝e never really felt alone since I met you. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檒l ever feel truly alien in this world again as long as you鈥檙e in it.鈥�
listen to me you guys: alex nilsen. the man who carried poppy down a mountain when she was hurt, waited 12 years for her, held her hand bc she loved holding hands even if he hated it, LEFT HIS PLANE BC SHE WAS SICK, AND GOT A VASECTOMY WHEN SHE HAD A PREGNANCY SCARE UNRELATED TO HIM. the list goes on and on. the love he had for her is absolutely incredible. the little snippets of alex鈥檚 pov based on how he communicated with her made me want to give him a hug. he spent his life acting like the big brother, the one who had to hold it all together and make everything feel better because of the pressure of being there for everyone. no matter how much burden was put onto alex, he always worried about poppy and i love him so much for that. i love the idea that he was so reserved and only showed his personality in front of her, who brought out the best in him and made him let his guard down to just be himself. even if he looked out for her at times, it鈥檚 clear that he knew he could trust her and just have fun in her presence. she has this energy that is just so bright and contagious and perfect. the love he had for poppy was shown in everything he did for her and the way they cared for each other was just beautiful. the thought and ideas put into these characters made them feel so real on another level. they鈥檙e the it couple. i cannot begin to describe how perfect they are together.
鈥淚m sorry for being so tall鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 sorry for being so short鈥�
鈥淚 like you short,鈥� he says. 鈥淣ever apologize for being short.鈥�
鈥淵ou are, you know.鈥�
鈥淎 fighter?鈥� I say.
鈥�My home,鈥� he says, and kisses me.
We are, I think. We鈥檙e home.
Maybe that鈥檚 why he can handle the public affection. Maybe, like me, when we鈥檙e together he feels like no one else is there, like they鈥檙e phantoms we dreamed up as set dressing.
Even if we never kissed, never said the words outright, we were keeping whole parts of our hearts for each other only
spoilers from this point on
another thing was the character development. poppy and alex wouldn鈥檛 have been the people that they are right now, without learning from their mistakes with their exes. throughout their friendship, they dated other people and it was never as though they waited around for one another. they play it off as this belief that it would never work out. however, finding out that the reason they hesitated to be together for so long stemmed from their own insecurities made me so sad. they couldn鈥檛 deny the love that they had for each other and being with other people helped them realize that they were meant to be. not with anyone else but each other.
alex thought through everything and cared about poppy so much while they were friends. it was heartbreaking to realize that he never felt as though he was enough bc he felt she deserved the absolute world and he thought he couldn鈥檛 give her that. he was so organized and wanted to settle down with his life, in contrast to poppy, who lives her life in a carefree manner and enjoys it in every way she can try. i love that they seemed to be willing to date other people in the span of their friendship, because it allowed them to realize that they really were meant to be and they just had to take that extra step to truly be together happily.
i always get the feeling that emily henry鈥檚 books are so much more than the blurb lets up on and in this case, it鈥檚 true. the croatia trip wasn鈥檛 just a trip, it was clarity for both alex and poppy. it solidified alex鈥檚 beliefs bc he felt as though poppy played down the fact that it happened and he had to live with that knowledge for so long. i never expected much to come out of that trip simply because there was already so much depth to the characters and to add even more would just be overwhelming. i feel content with the fact that poppy was able to look at the croatia trip from another perspective after everything that went down with alex. she got to understand him and everything that he did all for her.
the third act conflict really hits deep in this book! i could physically feel my heart breaking in half for them. i felt like i understood everything within that moment and i鈥檝e never felt so sad. this book isn鈥檛 just about the romance, it鈥檚 a journey of self-realization for poppy as she figures out for herself how she felt for alex. i think that this built up the angst very well. it鈥檚 clear poppy means something to alex and once i understood the miscommunication, it was like i was being betrayed. i felt like i understood where alex stood so well, and i believe that i recognize poppy. everything from her point of view was so confusing because she never really knew how to express her love for him. it was years of pent up love for alex while it took poppy years to fall in love with alex just to realize it would never truly be able to work. to make up for this, she constantly tried dating people that she felt 鈥渇it鈥� with her which is the complete opposite of the dynamic between poppy and alex.
poppy was the one who held the belief that they would never be good together and never really understood why until the end of the book. it鈥檚 the beauty of this book, realizing you have to get over your fears to truly experience life, and love, the way it should be experienced: to the fullest, with the person who is absolutely worth it. in the end, all that mattered was how they felt about one another, and the fact that they held no judgement, only love for each other in the end. they truly deserved their happy ending after being in each others lives for so long and the pain they went through. it just blew my mind how amazing these characters are and how deeply i can relate to each of them. no one will fill they void like they do. i loved that both these characters grew from their past and learned to love each other the way they did. their character development was absolutely beautiful and i am so glad that they got their happily ever after. i am never getting over this book and the pain that comes with the experience. emily henry, i would like to truly thank you for this.
pre-review
this book has changed my brain chemistry in the best way possible and i want to hold on to this feeling forever. rtc <3
pre-read review
idk a better way to prepare myself for happy place other than to reread one of my comfort books 馃鈥嶁檧锔�
September 15, 2024
鉂€ 蕷蔀
鈥р倞藲 鈰呪€滒潗�'饾搨 饾憸饾搩 饾搵饾挾饾捀饾挾饾搲饾捑饾憸饾搩. 饾挶饾挾饾捀饾挾饾搲饾捑饾憸饾搩饾搱 饾挾饾搧饾搶饾挾饾搸饾搱 饾憭饾搩饾捁. 饾惣饾搲'饾搱 饾搲饾捊饾憭 饾搵饾憭饾搰饾搸 饾捇饾挾饾捀饾搲 饾搲饾捊饾挾饾搲 饾捑饾搲'饾搱 饾捇饾捑饾搩饾捑饾搲饾憭 饾搲饾捊饾挾饾搲 饾搨饾挾饾搥饾憭饾搱 饾搲饾搰饾挾饾搵饾憭饾搧饾捑饾搩饾憯 饾搱饾搮饾憭饾捀饾捑饾挾饾搧. 饾挻饾憸饾搳 饾捀饾憸饾搳饾搧饾捁 饾搨饾憸饾搵饾憭 饾搲饾憸 饾挾饾搩饾搸 饾憸饾搩饾憭 饾憸饾捇 饾搲饾捊饾憸饾搱饾憭 饾捁饾憭饾搱饾搲饾捑饾搩饾挾饾搲饾捑饾憸饾搩饾搱 饾搸饾憸饾搳 饾搧饾憸饾搵饾憭饾捁 饾捑饾搩 饾搱饾搨饾挾饾搧饾搧 饾捁饾憸饾搱饾憭饾搱, 饾挾饾搩饾捁 饾捑饾搲 饾搶饾憸饾搳饾搧饾捁饾搩'饾搲 饾挿饾憭 饾搲饾捊饾憭 饾搱饾搮饾憭饾搧饾搧饾挿饾捑饾搩饾捁饾捑饾搩饾憯, 饾搧饾捑饾捇饾憭-饾挾饾搧饾搲饾憭饾搰饾捑饾搩饾憯 饾搱饾憭饾搵饾憭饾搩 饾捁饾挾饾搸饾搱 饾搸饾憸饾搳 饾搱饾搮饾憭饾搩饾捁 饾搲饾捊饾憭饾搰饾憭 饾挾饾搱 饾挾 饾憯饾搳饾憭饾搱饾搲, 饾搧饾憭饾搲饾搲饾捑饾搩饾憯 饾挾 饾搮饾搧饾挾饾捀饾憭 饾捑饾搩饾搲饾憸 饾搸饾憸饾搳饾搰 饾捊饾憭饾挾饾搰饾搲 饾捇饾搳饾搧饾搧饾搸, 饾搧饾憭饾搲饾搲饾捑饾搩饾憯 饾捑饾搲 饾捀饾捊饾挾饾搩饾憯饾憭 饾搸饾憸饾搳.鈥� 鉁┧娝�
藯藦藡 鈽� 藥藠藯 2 饾摙饾摻饾摢饾摶饾摷 藯藦藡 鈽� 藥藠藯
藲鈧娐� 蜔蜔蜑蜑鉃斥潵 嗖�. 鈰喡匪� 嗉� *陼� 饾摖饾摼饾摬饾摤饾摯 饾摙饾摼饾摱饾摱饾摢饾摶饾攤 陼む級鈥р倞藲
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.
Told in alternating timelines, This Summer and x Summers Ago, you get a full look at Poppy and Alex鈥檚 friendship. From meeting each other in university, to saving up for their first vacation, to seeing it turn into an annual thing, to navigating careers and relationships.
Through the years, chapters, and flashbacks, we see how opposite they are, but how great they are together. Respecting their differences, laughing together, spending summers discovering new places and new things about each other.
藲鈧娐� 蜔蜔蜑蜑鉃斥潵 嗖�. 鈰喡匪� 嗉� *陼� 饾摐饾攤 饾摚饾摫饾摳饾摼饾摪饾摫饾摻饾摷 陼む級鈥р倞藲.
I feel like I'm always repeating myself with it comes to Henry's books so I'll just keep this short.
I didn't like any of these characters really.
Poppy is spontaneous and free-spirited, wears colorful clothes, loves to travel, and doesn鈥檛 want to be tied down. Alex is studying literature, he鈥檚 careful and quiet, obsessive about going to the gym but not great with people. This book builds on pretty common romance tropes: friends to lovers and opposites attract.
Which is all fine and dandy but the 'banter' if that's what we're calling it between these two was so annoying. It was like nails on a chalkboard. And I've said it for every single EH book. Her characters read like immature children.
The spice scenes? Ugh. Gag. Puke. No.
The side characters? I don't even remember them.
The storyline just seemed to drag. Like why 12 years? This is sooooo long. Each vacation the tension is the same, the storyline basically repeats just in different locations.
We wait for the reason why Poppy and Alex stopped speaking for the ENTIRE book and then the reason was SOOOO LAME! I mean please. If they are THIS bad at communicating then their relationship is doomed big time.
Actual footage of my face after finishing PWMOV:
鈥р倞藲 鈰呪€滒潗�'饾搨 饾憸饾搩 饾搵饾挾饾捀饾挾饾搲饾捑饾憸饾搩. 饾挶饾挾饾捀饾挾饾搲饾捑饾憸饾搩饾搱 饾挾饾搧饾搶饾挾饾搸饾搱 饾憭饾搩饾捁. 饾惣饾搲'饾搱 饾搲饾捊饾憭 饾搵饾憭饾搰饾搸 饾捇饾挾饾捀饾搲 饾搲饾捊饾挾饾搲 饾捑饾搲'饾搱 饾捇饾捑饾搩饾捑饾搲饾憭 饾搲饾捊饾挾饾搲 饾搨饾挾饾搥饾憭饾搱 饾搲饾搰饾挾饾搵饾憭饾搧饾捑饾搩饾憯 饾搱饾搮饾憭饾捀饾捑饾挾饾搧. 饾挻饾憸饾搳 饾捀饾憸饾搳饾搧饾捁 饾搨饾憸饾搵饾憭 饾搲饾憸 饾挾饾搩饾搸 饾憸饾搩饾憭 饾憸饾捇 饾搲饾捊饾憸饾搱饾憭 饾捁饾憭饾搱饾搲饾捑饾搩饾挾饾搲饾捑饾憸饾搩饾搱 饾搸饾憸饾搳 饾搧饾憸饾搵饾憭饾捁 饾捑饾搩 饾搱饾搨饾挾饾搧饾搧 饾捁饾憸饾搱饾憭饾搱, 饾挾饾搩饾捁 饾捑饾搲 饾搶饾憸饾搳饾搧饾捁饾搩'饾搲 饾挿饾憭 饾搲饾捊饾憭 饾搱饾搮饾憭饾搧饾搧饾挿饾捑饾搩饾捁饾捑饾搩饾憯, 饾搧饾捑饾捇饾憭-饾挾饾搧饾搲饾憭饾搰饾捑饾搩饾憯 饾搱饾憭饾搵饾憭饾搩 饾捁饾挾饾搸饾搱 饾搸饾憸饾搳 饾搱饾搮饾憭饾搩饾捁 饾搲饾捊饾憭饾搰饾憭 饾挾饾搱 饾挾 饾憯饾搳饾憭饾搱饾搲, 饾搧饾憭饾搲饾搲饾捑饾搩饾憯 饾挾 饾搮饾搧饾挾饾捀饾憭 饾捑饾搩饾搲饾憸 饾搸饾憸饾搳饾搰 饾捊饾憭饾挾饾搰饾搲 饾捇饾搳饾搧饾搧饾搸, 饾搧饾憭饾搲饾搲饾捑饾搩饾憯 饾捑饾搲 饾捀饾捊饾挾饾搩饾憯饾憭 饾搸饾憸饾搳.鈥� 鉁┧娝�
藯藦藡 鈽� 藥藠藯 2 饾摙饾摻饾摢饾摶饾摷 藯藦藡 鈽� 藥藠藯
藲鈧娐� 蜔蜔蜑蜑鉃斥潵 嗖�. 鈰喡匪� 嗉� *陼� 饾摖饾摼饾摬饾摤饾摯 饾摙饾摼饾摱饾摱饾摢饾摶饾攤 陼む級鈥р倞藲
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.
Told in alternating timelines, This Summer and x Summers Ago, you get a full look at Poppy and Alex鈥檚 friendship. From meeting each other in university, to saving up for their first vacation, to seeing it turn into an annual thing, to navigating careers and relationships.
Through the years, chapters, and flashbacks, we see how opposite they are, but how great they are together. Respecting their differences, laughing together, spending summers discovering new places and new things about each other.
藲鈧娐� 蜔蜔蜑蜑鉃斥潵 嗖�. 鈰喡匪� 嗉� *陼� 饾摐饾攤 饾摚饾摫饾摳饾摼饾摪饾摫饾摻饾摷 陼む級鈥р倞藲.
I feel like I'm always repeating myself with it comes to Henry's books so I'll just keep this short.
I didn't like any of these characters really.
Poppy is spontaneous and free-spirited, wears colorful clothes, loves to travel, and doesn鈥檛 want to be tied down. Alex is studying literature, he鈥檚 careful and quiet, obsessive about going to the gym but not great with people. This book builds on pretty common romance tropes: friends to lovers and opposites attract.
Which is all fine and dandy but the 'banter' if that's what we're calling it between these two was so annoying. It was like nails on a chalkboard. And I've said it for every single EH book. Her characters read like immature children.
The spice scenes? Ugh. Gag. Puke. No.
The side characters? I don't even remember them.
The storyline just seemed to drag. Like why 12 years? This is sooooo long. Each vacation the tension is the same, the storyline basically repeats just in different locations.
We wait for the reason why Poppy and Alex stopped speaking for the ENTIRE book and then the reason was SOOOO LAME! I mean please. If they are THIS bad at communicating then their relationship is doomed big time.
Actual footage of my face after finishing PWMOV:
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