People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry | A Loveable Romp

 

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Published by Berkley, May 11, 2021

Genre: Beach Read

Format: I audiobooked this one via Libby

A loveable romp.

What would happen if you flipped When Harry Met Sally so that the guy wore khakis and was more uptight while the girl wore vintage floral jumpsuits? Poppy and Alex meet in college and connect over a carpool trip home to Ohio. Every summer for years, they go on at least one annual cheap trip, remaining best friends while they date other people. Then, it gets weird. Poppy invites Alex on one last summer trip for old time's sake.

What I liked about this book was that Poppy and Alex struggle to define boundaries. They love each other. Can the love stay platonic? Their relationship seems realistic, but the way they give each other a hard time was entertaining enough to hold my attention. In interviews, Henry alludes to having been inspired by the dialogue in When Harry Met Sally. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan carry so much of the nuance of those characters that any book would struggle to match it, and I think this novel misses the high mark of When Harry Met Sally, but the dialogue is still pretty darn cute and worth a read.

Critics of this book seemed to have unmet expectations based on Henry's other books or other literature they've read. This is not classic literature. This is not modern literature. This is a beach read. Understanding this, you'll be entertained.

The narration time hops from then to now, which made the chronology difficult for me to follow at times. 

Overall, I found Poppy and Alex loveable, relatable, and entertaining. 

LOVELY BIT

“I'm on vacation. Vacations always end. It's the very fact that it's finite that makes traveling special. You could move to any one of those destinations you loved in small doses, and it wouldn't be the spellbinding, life-altering seven days you spend there as a guest, letting a place into your heart fully, letting it change you.”

RATING