i believe in the concept of soulmates.

this may seem at odds with my overall extremely cool, edgy reputation, but let me explain. sure, your soulmate might be Some Guy, but equally it might be the feeling of flipping your pillow over to the cool side, or when the airplane seems to be fully booked but slowly the trickle of people doing that awkward slow-walk to stow their luggage comes to a stop and there's no one sitting in your row, or those authentic actual cream puffs where the puff part is pretty dry and disappointing but the cream is ice cream if ice cream was actually good. (i do not ice cream. this is just one more point in favor of my potentially being an alien.)

you may believe that i have opened this review of a romance novel with a discussion of soulmates in a way to tie in the content of the book, and in a way, you would be right. but not really.

sure, yeah, the alex and poppy contained within these pages are probably soulmates, as is the case with, you know, the genre as a whole.

but I'm here to talk about MY soulmate. and with every passing day I become more convinced that surely, certainly, without a doubt, that that role in my life is filled by emily henry.

okay, no. that's a bridge too far in creepiness levels even for me in my love for her, a love which I have declared in multiple here, on my blog, in my bookstagram in a series of tangential-to-stalking posts, in one of those letter boards i used to have when they were trendy, in her DMs, in her comments, and so on.

but i should clarify that it's her WRITING that is my soulmate.

my favorite super-specific subgenre of all time is magical realism where I can really believe that the magic might just exist in our dumb old boring world, and she is the master of that. plus she includes lovely romances and incredible banter and the best ever friendships and a million other good and perfect things.

i cried on a Greyhound bus rereading a million junes. i, a person who does not cry even in the privacy of my own oblivion AND a person who does everything but cease to exist when on a cross-country bus trip, cried! while REREADING!

i loved when the sky fell on splendor so much that i...also made my review a love letter to its author!

i so adored the love that split the world that i basically almost looked past the insta-love, something that has previously forever been impossible for me to do!

and when i heard about beach read, an adult rom-com interrupting an all-star lineup of YA magical realism, i wrote the email equivalent of getting on my knees and begging to the publisher right away.

and that's not where everything came to a screeching halt.

that, everything else emily henry writes, or i guess wrote to that point, was a mix of fairytale- dreaminess and real-world Harsh Reality. ot had the real characters and the engrossing writer and the dialogue of a champion everything else.

and this...

well, on the first read, i thought this did too. this felt a lot more rushed than some of emily henry's other books. the writing was fun and fresh and flirty when you sped through it, but if you slow down and try to relish it, it fights you on it. sentences get clunky and overloaded.

this book is in many ways my kryptonite (positive): written by emily henry, bantery, angsty. the big three of romances.

and in many ways it's my kryptonite (negative): it's big-man-tiny-woman. it has a happily ever after that is more U(nhappily)EA or O(verly compromised)EA. alex is fairly boring and poppy is not a girls' girl.

on first read, all emily henry romances were simply an emily henry prescription for me, and i used them up immediately and delightedly to feed my addiction. (sorry, that metaphor turned unexpectedly dark.) but upon reread, it became clear that emily henry's characters are so full and have their own lives to such an extent that they sometimes seem ...they should not be together?

a big part of me hopes that someday, emily henry will get back to the young adult magical realism that has made it to my top five favorite books and my top favorites of the year and the hard to reach upper echelons of my grueling rating system several times over.

but if she doesn't, that's okay too. i'd read math textbooks if she wrote them. (but only then and not a moment before!) i just hope that she can figure out how to keep her romances as magical and well-constructed and unique as the first books.

but either way she's got that instant #1 new york times bestseller status, and that, i am willing to admit, is ever so slightly more prestigious (not to mention financially rewarding) than my enduring love and affection.

and she has that anyway.

bottom line: i'm a grump. but it's emily henry forever.

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reread update

binge reading emily henry books just to feel something

(updated review to come)

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pre-review

and the emily henry withdrawal starts...now.

(it actually started last night, when i finished this book, but it hit too hard for me to even mark it as read.)

review to come / 4 stars!

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currently-reading updates

i would die for emily henry, but that wouldn't help me get my hands on this book as soon as possible.

so i subscribed to book of the month instead.

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tbr review

some people write enemies to lovers romance. some people write friends to lovers romance.

emily henry said why not BOTH...

nobody is doing it her!!!

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announcement review

who do i have to bribe to get my hands on this book?

i am willing to offer anything. (and by anything i mean A Large Amount of Cookies and/or My Undying Love and Devotion.)3-stars eh non-ya ...more1,273 s9 comments Lisa of Troy634 5,770

A light-heartened and quick read that is totally predictable, entirely forgettable, and unoriginal.

Poppy and Alex go on a vacation together every year. But will Poppy and Alex ever get together?

This was just The Bachelor, You've Got Mail, and a touch of The Notebook. Usually, I don't read romance but this one had some high on GoodReads, and I wasn't so sure on the thriller I had selected.

This book had a very light hearted feel which was nice after the last book that I read that literally was so dark that I was having nightmares. However, it was entirely predictable. After about halfway through, I was wondering OK can we just get there already? These romance type books really bother me because they are so unrealistic. Poppy lives in New York and has a jet-set lifestyle while Alex still lives in their small Mid-West town in Ohio, working as a teacher at the public high school. The characters are so quick to give up everything in their lives. In the real world, some things can't be changed so easily. Some people are not compatible no matter how much they love each other. It is a big deal for one person to want to get married, have children, own their own house, and the other person never wants to get married, never wants to have children, and wants to live with a bunch of people in a commune. Some people need a quiet calm place to feel safe. They need to have a job so that they feel financially safe especially when the other party doesn't want to get married. Just agreeing to "everything" will not work out long term.

This book could have been so much better. In fact, it could have shown that there are some people who are wonderful to be around and go on vacation with, but they are not good at sharing your life with. For example, you might be madly in love with someone with a gambling/drug addiction. That person might make you feel you are the most important person in the world, make you laugh and smile, and your eyes alight every time you think of that person. But you can't live with that person. You can't depend on that person to make sure that the rent will be paid or that they can show up to take you to your doctor's appointment. This book totally glossed over the fact that you can have deep, intense, magnetic, earth-shattering feelings for someone, but the relationship will not work out. It would have been so much better if Sara actually said, "I know he loves you Poppy, but he gets you one week out of the year and he's mine the other 51. I want him to travel the world, and that's love, not standing in his way."

That my friends is the difference between memorable and forgettable. That's why we remember Casablanca, because the ending isn't predictable, and Rick was honest, realistic.

The author also could have done a better job with the romance. Poppy and Alex have been doing this tango for 12 years. Yet we are supposed to believe that they just spontaneously happened to have these encounters? It rained so they decided to take their friendship to the next level? That is so lame. Alex couldn't think of anything more thoughtful (even though he is supposed to be this incredibly thoughtful guy)? He didn't buy all of the flowers in the flower shop? He didn't tell Poppy that she looked beautiful in the light? He didn't save up all of his credit card points to try to take her to a nice vacation, something that would really "speak to her" as a traveling guru? He didn't try to show off his muscles to try to catch her eye? I mean I have been out of the dating game for awhile, but I remember it being more exciting than this book......

Emily Henry has a new book coming out April 25, 2023, Happy Place.

2024 Reading Schedule
Jan Middlemarch
Feb The Grapes of Wrath
Mar Oliver Twist
Apr Madame Bovary
May A Clockwork Orange
Jun Possession
Jul The Folk of the Faraway Tree Collection
Aug Crime and Punishment
Sep Heart of Darkness
Oct Moby-Dick
Nov Far From the Madding Crowd
Dec A Tale of Two Cities

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Blog Twitter BookTube Facebook InstaThis entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review707 s4 comments Nilufer Ozmekik2,545 51.9k

I think I want to give million hugs to author right now! I fell so hard for her latest book Beach Read which is still my favorite romance book of last year!

I thought nothing she may write could be better than this lyrical/ dreamy/ feel good- tear jerker love story . But after reading this freaking heartbreaking amazing book I’m taking all back: this book is the best thing I’ve read for so long! And I can honestly say this is is going to be not this year’s best romance read for me but it also will take its space at my all time favorite and at least three times must read list! It’s freaking good!

It is unbelievably amazing mash up of When Harry Met Sally- Love, Rosie- One Day with combinations of 90’s best Meg Ryan romcoms vibes!

The couple’s first meeting and their road trip is truly inspired by When Harry Met Sally as the author mentioned at the end of the book but their 12 hilarious, inspirational, adventurous, exciting trips and the way of storytelling makes you gather the clues to find the missing matches to complete the puzzle to understand their 12 years long friendship zone relationship is outstandingly smart.

Poppy and Alex were so so real, so powerful, so genuine! I feel I have been knowing them for a long time. They’re polar opposites, wanting different things from life. As Poppy hates Linfield and khakis, those two things are Alex’s favorite things. As Poppy is vivid, energetic, hyperactive, adventurer, risk taker, Alex is more serene, picky, bookish, calm, controlling. Poppy never wants to settle down, desiring to experience different things from the life as Alex sticks to his routine, living at the same neighborhood, dreaming of being a happy family man.

But could wanting to different things from life stop them to yearn for each other?

Two years ago something happened in their Croatia trip. Now Poppy misses her friend crazy, she’s not happy with her life and she cannot concentrate on her job! She decides to dodge a bullet, asking her best friend for one last trip to Palm Springs to fix their relationship. What could go wrong when you’re having an adventurous holiday with your favorite person?
Right!???

I don’t want to give any spoilers but I can only say one thing. There’s a part at the last third: Poppy gives a powerful and bold speech at the bar: the speech made me cried for at least three hours! My husband finally lost control and put duct tapes to my mouth to make me shut up. I think I’m also suffering from dried eye syndrome. I may have dropped at least five gallons of tears and I think I’m out of tears for a long time! But that emotional speech and entire book made my entire year!

I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I LOVED IT SO MUCH!

Okay, I’m stopping right now! I’m giving five gazillion stars to this amazing book and I’m specifically giving the last third: entire galaxy!

I’m million times thankful to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this fantastic reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

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People We Meet on Vacation is a sweet, fluffy, beachy read that gets a little long in the tooth towards the end.

Poppy and Alex have been best friends since college. Even though they are as different as two people can be, they just get each other. As life keeps them apart geographically, their only chance to catch up in person is to take an epic summer trip together every year. But two years ago, they had a falling out and haven't spoken since. Now Poppy wants one more trip to fix everything.

The trope of friends to lovers has been done so many times, yet this book finds a way to give it a fresh take. Poppy and Alex are fun and hilarious together, and I found myself smiling through all their banter and interactions. Poppy is the zany one while Alex is the straight lace, but both are equally loveable in their own way.

Where this story fell a bit short is towards the end. I started to find Poppy's antics too over-the-top. Often, instead of just saying what she's feeling, she'll go and do crazy things to avoid talking. She starts coming across as needy and high-maintenance, sending mixed signals and jerking Alex around. And poor Alex just had to take it.

I also found their inability to admit how they feel about each other getting old. It was cute and endearing earlier in the book because they didn't know. But once they figured it out and acted on it, I don't understand why they continued to deny their feelings. It reminds me of Chinese gift-giving culture, where the receiver of the gift (of love, in this case) has to refuse many times before finally accepting in order to avoid appearing greedy or eager. They'll say things "I can't possibly accept! This is too much! I don't deserve it!" Meanwhile I'm , please just accept this love for goodness' sake, so I can move on with my life.

Romance books are so personal. What works for one person doesn't always work for another. Usually we are drawn to the stories that remind us of ourselves and our love language. And this is a case where the longer the book went on, the less I could see myself in Poppy.

Still, other than the drawn out ending, I very much enjoyed this story. It was such a fun and funny romance, with its jet-setting and vacation-y scenes. It makes me want to pack a bag, fly somewhere tropical, and sit on a beach with one those little drinks with an umbrella in it. And in that respect, this book hits the perfect spot.

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See also, my thoughts on:
Beach Read
Funny Story
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This was a pick for my Book of the Month box. Get your first book for $5 here.1,930 s15 comments Lucía179 238 Read

Yikes, how can I go from giving 5 stars to this author for Beach Read to 1 star.
This book was the biggest disappointment of this year so far. I was so excited to read it and it didn’t deliver for me
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