As a wannabe author, I like to keep up with #1 New York Times Bestsellers, and this one by Emily Henry was recommended to me by a Goodreads email.

So, follow me on my journey as I read People We Meet on Vacation on winter vacation.

I had no idea how to organize this review that wasn’t a boring block of overly-critical text, so I will keep you guys in the loop with my thoughts as if I’m annotating the book itself.

Page 54: in the movie, Poppy should be played by that hilariously chaotic comedian who wrote Good On Paper on Netflix (highly recommend). Edit: Iliza Shlesinger

Page 64: She is in love with him. Memorized a note he wrote? Only gorgeous gorgeous boy crazy girls do that. (I am gorgeous girls.)

Page 126: I am in love with him. Where is my Alex?

Page 166: O. M. G. Alex is Ted Mosby and Poppy is Robin Scherbatsky.

Page 180: “ I wish I could bottle this moment and wear it as perfume.” Man, I love that line.

Page 196: This is one of the most clever authors I’ve ever read. Every inside joke is as random as real life and as funny as your best friend.

Page 207: Why doesn’t Alex remember their past trips? Am I the only reader who finds this strange?

Page 257: FIREWORKS. Also, what happened in Croatia?!

Page 302: It’s giving me When Harry Met Sally.

Page 304: I knew it! He remembers everything. Tender.

Page 309: Why am I crying?

Page 318: I thought it was plain miscommunication. But it’s deeper. And that hurts.

Page 327: That’s all that happened in Croatia? A decade-long friendship ended by a drunk kiss? (And being secretly in love but never saying it, I get it but come on.)

Page 361: Happy sigh. The end.

8/10

Start for the hype, stay for the heart. If you’re a fan of adventures and happy endings, this one’s for you. The jokes were top-tier, the characters felt like my friends, and the plot felt so real it makes me think I can have a happy ending, too.

It’s certainly a rendition of When Harry Met Sally, but I love that because it’s modern, and it’s messy. I fully believe Alex and Poppy are soulmates, and I adore that their love story began as a quirky friendship.

An 8/10 means I loved it and would recommend it, but there are some things I would change. Some things I didn’t like: Croatia was kept such a secret but felt underwhelming; Alex never had a problem besides being overheated that one time; actually, none of the characters had a problem besides Poppy being bullied as a preteen/teen and being sick one time; Sarah thought Alex was boring but has the same job as him; all of their behaviors traced back to one exact cause they knew about but didn’t fix until toward the end (thank you, therapy!); Jason the high school bully showed up toward the end and Poppy still had a grudge against him (over 10 years later?)

Run to B&N to get this amazing feel-good read! Drop your own ratings in the comments.

xoxo,

kc