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

Emily Henry - Book Lovers

Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.

Comment: Two years ago I've read a book by this author which many readers liked but that to me was a little underwhelming. Nevertheless, the author's themes (books mainly) are very appealing and I've decided to try another one, and this time I was amazed by this story...

In this book dedicated to book lovers, as the title so conveniently alludes to, an editor and an agent must unite efforts to help an author have the best professional advice she can to publish her book. Nora is an agent whose personality and life is very similar to the dumped women in romances, always put aside when their intended finds true love. Charlie is an editor who wants to help his family even if that means working in a cliched bookshop, famous after a successful book made readers curious about its location, and by the same author he is now responsible for editing. Nora and her sister Libby are just in their holidays, for Libby wanted to relax before she's due to have her third baby, but the more the small town resembles the cozy romance setting everyone expected, the more Nora runs into Charlie and the more they interact in weirdly fun ways. Could it be that romance cliches are much more obvious than they ever imagined after all?

As a romance, this fit all the boxes for me and I had a great time spending time with these characters and following their thoughts. In this aspect, I must say I liked this book a lot more than the other, where there times when things felt very boring or not very interesting. Here, the characters' interactions and the situations they put themselves in always felt cute or captivating.

Nora is actually a fascinating character, a mix of vulnerability and strength often hidden under the guise of apparent indifference. I liked how the author characterized her and it was quite an idea, to compare her with those characters in books and in movies that so often are seen as villains or even redundant, only there to present an obstacle to the main characters' romance. Nora has had more than one experience being dumped by guys who found "true love" and this, along with her absent father and disillusioned mother - even though she kept an upbeat persona while alive - probably caused her to feel she was not meant for an everlasting love.

Of course, part of the fun is to watch precisely this happening and Charlie, who also seemed at first a bit standoffish, is the perfect partner for her. The setting is truly a cliché but I had so much fun following Nora and Charlie, and even sister Libby, while they did silly things, sometimes connected to the scenes int he book that made the place known among romance readers. This was even better when we find out Charlie is the son of the bookshop's owners, a must in any cozy romance. I also liked learning how being their child affected Charlie's perception on this, especially once he shares with Nora certain things about hos parent's past.

In a way, I'm surprised the author used so many expected tropes/situations often found in romances and included them in very clever ways, almost as if they were truly part of the natural lives of the cast of characters, instead of being just something handy to use. Even things not directly meant to interfere with the plot were fun things to find like small town vibe being perfect for a HEA against all odds, or the quirky restaurant being a spot for a failed date.... things we take for granted in romances but that here, somehow, were made to look easy, almost organic to this world.

I also liked all the conversations about agents and editors and the work entailed and how some things are processed. Any reader probably has some clue on this or that but it's always nice to me to read things that make the characters look more professional or knowledgeable about what they do. The plenty references to books or anything book related were also a big plus!

Also, when the story gets to a certain point, the options the characters have to do also start to fit in with what we came to expect after a few comments the characters say but I was still a little surprised by one small twist, which is not that impossible to guess, but that I feel was still clever of the author to have done it. It made me think ti was another plot trope added...

When I finished the book, I felt very happy, this really made me imagine myself along with the characters seeing and hoping for the same things they wanted. I think the author balanced very well all the details she used and the characters might become just another couple in romance, but I really believed them and hoped they would find their way. It was very satisfying when they did precisely that.

Grade: 9/10

Emily Henry - Beach Read

TWO WRITERS, ONE HOLIDAY. A ROMCOM WAITING TO HAPPEN...
January is a hopeless romantic who narrates her life like she's the lead in a blockbuster movie.
Gus is a serious literary type who thinks true love is a fairy-tale.
But January and Gus have more in common than you'd think:
They're both broke.
They've got crippling writer's block.
And they need to write bestsellers before summer ends.
The result? A bet to swap genres and see who gets published first.
The risk? In telling each other's stories, their worlds might be changed entirely...

Comment: This book has been liked by many people, was a bit hyped for a while and was in many readers' "best of" lists last year. I felt curious but only now found the possibility to read it and I have to say, after so much hype, I imagined it would be an even better book (if not better romance).

In this novel we meet writers January and Augustus, whose respective careers seem to have stalled. They see each other again, years after college, when both are in a low point in their personal lives as well and on a dare, they challenge each other to try to write the other person's genre and thus, January will write literary fiction and Augustus will write a romance. As they exchange ideas, inspiration and whatever they can think of, will they also realize the connection they had when they were college students can now become something so much more important and stronger?

Perhaps I wasn't as able to focus as in other times, the last month was a little disappointing to me and my usual average, in part because of how easily distracted I had been by other things. Still, I kept hoping the books I picked would be so great I wouldn't have other option but to leave my lack of motivation behind. Perhaps I was too naive but between that and the overall impression I had of this book, I liked it but my final opinion wasn't as great after all.

The two protagonists met while they were in the university and apparently, they shared a moment at some point but never really admitted anything. Now, all this time later they meet again by chance after the heroine January discovers her late father left her a beach house and that he had shared it with another woman, not her mother. She feels betrayed and unable to cope, since he is gone...then there's also the fact her job isn't easy lately and her boyfriend left her, so she goes to the house to see it and try to find inspiration. She finds weird coincidences and Augustus. I found the premise to be an interesting one and I was curious to see how the love for writing would unite them but I also hoped this was more on the fun side. The covers used certainly seem to convey that message...

January is a romance writer and I liked how she and Augustus would discuss the theme and other writing issues in their conversations. I liked her as a female romance writer and her reasons for why she chose that path, I liked how emotional she was and I liked her interactions with Augustus. He is a literary fiction writer so their share of opinions was interesting, especially for those who like books. However, I also struggled to keep my interest in the scenes they had together, in how they told each other about their problems and how that affected them. Something about the writing wasn't as easy as I imagined and I was a little bored here and there.

As a whole, I liked the story, the book, but I thought it would have an even better balance between the difficult things the protagonists lived through and the place where they are when the story begins. I still had a complicated time finding motivation to be interested in their life stories and why they were acting towards each other like that or why were they presenting themselves to the world like that...there were parts which didn't feel very romantic and while this usually doesn't bother me, the other elements that could have done that didn't really wow me here.

For me, the writing style was good enough but the tone and theme of the book wasn't as sweet as the blurb seems to suggest. Nothing wrong with it, but it did confuse me in some moments, which was another little thing I kept noticing and which caused me to not be as entertained. It actually got to a point I was counting the pages left to see if there was yet a lot...

Still, the story as a whole, the connection of the parts makes for a good enough read, that's a given. I liked the end despite being a little unrealistic for the kind of things which happened before (I was not sold on the couple's everlasting love...) and I liked all the book talk, even when it was done by secondary characters. But yes, the tone mostly, made me a little melancholic reading this and even recognizing it, I still wished the book was different.

Grade: 7/10