No spoiler overview

While this has many of the elements that typically make up a good romance, this was not my favorite. I’ve read most Emily Henry books, and I love most of them. People We Meet on Vacation is toward the bottom of the list, though (nothing will top Book Lovers when it comes to Emily Henry for me). I found that there were too many loose ends for a romance, when I want things wrapped up nicely at the end.

Full review

Call me old fashioned, but I like for my romance to have a good ol’ external factor keeping the love interests apart. Not sheer stupidity. The miscommunication trope is my least favorite on the face of the earth, and that’s pretty much all this book is. So many of their issues (with each other and themselves) could’ve been resolved by good discussion with friends, family, or therapist. 

Rachel as a character confused me. At first I was happy we had a friend who was outside of things, who could hopefully help Poppy find clarity. But she didn’t help with anything, other than being a connection to her therapist mother. 

So what did I like. I will say that Henry built suspense around “the incident” pretty well with the flashbacks. It kept me curious about what had happened, and what was going to happen with our idiots. I also liked that the guy from her high school apologized, helping her realize the story she built up might not be real. And I was glad Poppy apologized to Alex’s ex for all of the stringing along, because that was messed up. I really appreciated the boss recognizing that she needed something different, and helping her find a next step.

I often read romance as a reminder of joyful things, to get a sense that everything will turn out ok in the end. Unfortunately, People We Meet On Vacation ended unresolved and unsatisfying.