People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry | Book Review

I received this book for free from Library, Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by Newsweek ∙ Oprah Magazine ∙ The Skimm ∙ Marie Claire ∙ Parade ∙ The Wall Street Journal ∙ Chicago Tribune ∙ PopSugar ∙ BookPage ∙ BookBub ∙ Betches ∙ SheReads ∙ Good Housekeeping ∙ BuzzFeed ∙ Business Insider ∙ Real Simple ∙ Frolic ∙ and more!
Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read comes a sparkling new novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations.
Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She's a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart--she's in New York City, and he's in their small hometown--but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.
Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven't spoken since.
Poppy has everything she should want, but she's stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together--lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.
Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?

Why Did I Listen To People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry?

Emily Henry’s words plus Julia Whelan’s narration is a perfect combination. I completely enjoyed the audiobook of Beach Read. So, seeing that Whelan was back to narrate People We Meet On Vacation meant that I really wanted to experience this book via audio. Turns out it was a wonderful listen. Also, what a perfect time to listen to this book — during the summer while out of work on maternity leave. FYI, not at all a vacation, but certainly different from being at work.

What’s The Story Here?

People We Meet On Vacation follows Poppy and Alex, best friends who are total opposites. Poppy is short, vivacious, and loves going out and about. Alex is tall, quiet, and would rather stay in with a book. The two meet in college and become best friends during a ride home to Ohio where it turns out that one is from West Winfield and the other is from East Winfield. After that ride, Poppy and Alex go on vacation together annually — even through different relationships that they have with other people. As this book opens, Poppy is working for a magazine and getting her vacations paid for just so she can write about them. She’s had a change in relationship with Alex and things are weird for them. So, she tries to fix the relationship by taking Alex on vacation again — a vacation that is not paid for by the magazine.

As it turns out, this vacation is disastrous. Still, Poppy is going to do her damndest to fix things between her and Alex. Will she realize that she’s caught feelings for Alex and in fact has always had feelings for him? Guess, you’ll have to read People We Meet On Vacation to find out.

What Did I Think Of People We Meet On Vacation?

People We Meet On Vacation was such an engaging read. I think I definitely need to add Emily Henry to my must read/must listen to list of authors. Personally, I enjoyed the different vacations Poppy and Alex took. The settings were interesting. On top of that, the relationship dynamic between Poppy and Alex was so fascinating — especially as it had changed over the years. I loved when they finally had to come down to brass tacks about their feelings for each other. Plus, the way this book resolves is chef’s kiss perfection.

How’s The Narration?

Julia Whelan is perfection in her narration of People We Meet On Vacation. Her voice is melodic and easy to listen to. You can easily differentiate between characters. She never sounds like she’s being a try hard. Instead, it all just flows wonderfully and naturally. I would recommend this book to people trying to get into audiobooks as it is such a good listen. The audiobook. FYI is 10 hours and 46 minutes but it goes quick.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

Latest posts by April (Books&Wine) (see all)

• 5 Contemporary Romances To Read Poolside - May 16, 2025
• The Counselors by Jessica Goodman | Audiobook Review - May 13, 2025
• The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth | Audiobook Review - May 12, 2025