Emily Henry - People We Meet on Vacation

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?

Comment: This is the third book I try by this author, who has gotten a lot of hype over her books in the past years. I have liked one of her books well enough, and then I read one I loved. This one ended up being the one I liked less, out of the three I've tried so far.

Poppy and Alex met while in college, and they find out they are from the same Ohio city, but went to different schools. As grown ups they have different goals in life but their friendship has settled on a common ground: they both like travels and have tried to spend vacations together every year, doing their best to enjoy places with a low budget. In the past years, however, Poppy had gotten her dream job, working for a travel magazine, doing pieces on her adventures and being paid for it. She has always wanted to never go back to her small city, where school memories depress her. Alex, on the other hand, is a teacher back there and he wants to stay and be close to his family. Things have gotten weird between them, though and they haven't spoken for a few years, but now Poppy feels like trying another go at their friendship and she plans a low budget trip to Palm Springs, but will their friendship be renewed again?

If not for my previous experience with the author (positive in average), I might not choose to read this book because it's an obvious friends to lovers trope and right after lovers reunited, one I don't usually enjoy that much. Why? Because usually things are done in such a way that the friendship feels great and a romance would make everything different since there's "history" between the protagonists, or the romance comes out of nowhere and ruins the friendship. In the case of this book, there was a third option which kind of disappointed me: they have in love with each other and never said a thing, making their friendship seem almost a lie.

How often does this happen in real life, but while reading fiction I confess it's not my favorite option. Still, I hoped the author would write things in such a way I'd be immediately converted, and having loved one of her books, I had hopes anyway. I would say that, perhaps, an element that didn't prove me wrong is how the author chose to write this in alternated chapters between the present time, in which Poppy decides to get her friendship with Alex back, and different summers where we get to see the evolution of their friendship, and feelings. I've found this technique to make sense, yes, but it was also frustrating because a big part of the story is about something which could not change anything.

As the little things I was wrinkling my nose at piled up, one more made things even less exciting, which is the fact this is all told from Poppy's POV. I feel like sighing because I sound like a broken record in my complains about this in romance novels, but...it is what it is. poppy is, for the most part, bubbly and funny and when she shares her bullying memories in school - why she was so eager to leave her hometown - I also commiserated with her because I was also bullied (not like what happened in this book) and it's always bittersweet to think about school years when responsibility is certainly not the same as one is an adult, but when things go wrong, those memories never leave us...

Anyway, personality wise, I liked both protagonists and I could see how they became friends and why they would want to have shared experiences, but it was obvious they would be falling in love. That it takes so long for them to act on it is a different issue, but the emotion is there. Of course, for plot purposes this admission is delayed as much as possible and I will confess: there was a point where I thought that if these two are so different, have different goals and ways of seeing life and there are different things they want from life, does it make sense for them to become a couple?

This is why friends to lovers is weird to me in general. These two were friends, had great moments, and they are in love, which I bet happens more often than not in real life. Aren't all couples somehow meant to be friends too? But in this case, the way the plot was developed, it's like Poppy has this afterthought, let's see what happens, and oh by the way I more than like you, but then we have these all other elements that brand them as friends and should/could be enough, but even knowing their feelings are stronger than just friendship are enough to change their status in a happy way? I will say I found that it didn't and the author didn't convince me they were better as a couple than they are as simply friends.

I did like the vacation adventures and the things they do and experience together, Poppy's life does seem great and who doesn't envy a little those who can travel for work and have fun at the same time, but this made Poppy feel like a free spirit and if this is her dream, if never wanted to settle, how would a HEA between them work? I can't say the author's idea was bad, in fact it worked well enough, but I feel it was a compromise and not a real thoughtful decision. Since we only have Alex's opinions and feelings shared through dialogue, I also didn't have such a big impression on him either, which might have helped in making the romance stronger....

The author can make a romance feel perfect or close to it (I loved her Book Lovers where the romance is a perfect mix of sweetness and emotion) and I feel this was a loss here, because to me this wasn't explored as well as it could and perhaps some writing decisions could have changed perspectives. Things are what they are and this one didn't fully conquer me. I'm still hopeful for her other novels I yet have to read, though...

Grade: 6/10