People We Meet on Vacation

People We Meet on Vacation is a romance novel by Emily Henry, published May 11, 2021 by Berkley Books. The book is a New York Times best seller.

Overview
People We Meet on Vacation follows Poppy Wright and Alex Nilsen, two best friends who are opposites in every way. She is a wild child with insatiable wanderlust while he is laidback and would rather stay home with a book. Every summer they come together for a week long vacation; until one trip where everything is ruined and they stop speaking for two years.

While Poppy is living her dream of being a travel writer of a popular magazine, she finds herself stuck and unhappy. She recalled the moments where she was truly happy was when she and Alex were travelling. Attempting to rekindle this lost bond, she contacts him again for one last trip to Palm Springs.

This eventually leads them to uncover their history together as platonic friends, including memories from previous trips and their respective relationships, family struggles, and most especially: what happened to the trip to Croatia two years ago.

Poppy Wright
The main character of the Novel, Poppy is a 30 something travel blogger and writer for a magazine. She was described as being out-going and wild, always looking for new adventures. She wanted to move away from her hometown in Linfield, Ohio due to bullying

Alex Nilsen
Poppy's 30 something bestfriend who is quite her opposite. He prefers staying in his hometown to build a family and settling down. He works as an English High School teacher in Indiana.

Rachel Krohn
Poppy's bestfriend in New York who is a social media influencer and an artist. Rachel was the one who advised Poppy to rekindle her bond with Alex in order to find out what would make her happy.

Sarah Torval
Alex's on-and-off girlfriend throughout the story. Alex first meets her at the library and she also teaches at the same school as Alex.

Swapna Bakshi-Highsmith
Poppy's boss at her magazine company who encourages her to travel. She was described to be stylish and meticulous, serving as a role model for Poppy.

Reception
People We Meet on Vacation is a New York Times and IndieBound best seller.

The book received starred reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus, as well as positive reviews from The Washington Post, the Associated Press, and Publishers Weekly.

In a starred review, Kirkus describes the novel as a "warm and winning When Harry Met Sally… update that hits all the perfect notes." Library Journal explains in its starred review that Henry’s book is a story that will appeal to those who "are drawn to stories with emotion, poetic language, and a strong sense of place" and compares it to Kate Clayborn’s Love Lettering. Alicia Rancilio of the Associated Press praises Henry’s writing, even highlighting that she is "especially skilled at is writing dialogue." From The Washington Post, Angela Hurt applauds Henry, saying she "masterfully depicts early-30s uncertainty and angst, adding an interesting personal-growth dimension to the story." Hurt, however, also claims that it still fails to live up to Henry’s previous novel stating, "People lacks the pizazz — the special spark — that helped Beach Read shine." Publishers Weekly concurred, saying that "Henry’s latest rom-com lacks the spark of 2020’s Beach Read, but still offers plenty of lighthearted summertime fun."