A.will they, won't they romantic drama about a pair of friends over the course of twelve years. Ideal holiday reading but too predictable for me.

I absolutely devoured this book - so SO quickly. And yes, I am very very late coming to this party, but I'm finally here and I'll just share some small thoughts that I had whilst reading this book (taken from my phone notes as I was reading back in June):

~ Who doesn't like the saxophone?!
~ These characters feels so different from Beach Read, but still real. I guess I see some similiarities in the extrovert-girl meets introvert-guy parts, but still feels different.

And that's it! Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.

No, but really. I read and really loved Beach Read at the start of this year, but I somehow loved this one even more. The characters? Amazing. The flaws in those characters? Perfect. The reveals? Often shocking. The SEX? Is chef's kiss still a thing? Either way, just so so good. I can't really find fault with this book because I just loved it so much. I mean, personal preference for me leans away from typical cis-hetero pairings, but that doesn't mean that I didn't still love this to bits.

If you're at all into romance, I do recommend this one whole-heartedly. Great fun. I may just have to read it again soon.

This book grabbed my attention - I’d previously read Beach Read and the cover was fab. So I was very happy to receive a copy.

This was a great book, a bit of a rollercoaster, but enjoyable to read and very engaging.

I really liked the characters and felt they were realistic and well written. The story is paced well, despite covering a large period of time!

I love a good enemies to lovers story, so I wasn’t sure how I’d get on with friends to lovers. But the author wrote this so well that I was praying for the romantic happy ending.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review 📚

Poppy and Alex met at Art College and have been taking holidays together ever since. They just seem to click. Then Croatia happens and it may mean the end of their friendship. Can more more vacation bring them back together?

I had read Emily’s previous novel, Beach Read and loved it so I jumped at the chance to be part of the blog tour for You and Me on Vacation and couldn’t wait to get started.

I loved Poppy and Alex immediately. They are lovely together so obviously, I wanted them to be a couple. If only they could get out of their own way.

The premise of the plot was great. It reminded me of a cross between One Day by David Nicholls and Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern (two books I loved.) It had a similar optimism and warmth to it.

Told from Poppy’s point of view, it goes between flashbacks to the previous summers and present day. It gave me a real chance to get to know these wonderful characters. I would love to read it from Alex’s point of view too. I think that would be as interesting and a totally different perspective on their story. Anything to be able to revisit Poppy and Alex.

I know I always say this but I am not sure what else I can say without giving too much away. What I will say is that I both laughed and cried my way through it. There were also times where I wanted to reach in and either give them both a big hug or a frustrating talking to. Haha.

This novel has a bit of everything. It deals with love, friendships, family, heartbreak and grief and does so with compassion and humour.

You and Me on Vacation is a wonderful novel which I totally enjoyed escaping into and thoroughly recommend. I am off to deal with my book hangover. Emily Henry, in case you’ve not realised already, is becoming one of my favourite authors. Happy publication day to you.

I was a huge fan of Beach Read so I was really excited to pick this one up. Little did I know that I had just discovered my new favourite read of 2021. Emily Henry is a genius; this is the perfect summer read (or autumn or winter or spring…).

You and Me on Vacation follows two close friends Poppy and Alex through twelve years of summers, vacations, heartbreak and friendship. I’m not usually a huge fan of the friends-to-lovers trope but, boy, did this work for me. I flew through this book from basically the first page and loved every moment of their journey.

I have read some criticism of the two timeline criticism not working well in this novel, which, for me, I really enjoyed. The problem with this narrative device, I’ve found, is often one half of the story is more compelling than the other so you spend half the book racing ahead; here, I was equally invested in both halves of the journey and I really felt it added an extra layer to reading about their relationship.

Honestly, 10/10 experience – I would pay to go back and read this book again for the first time. Thank you Emily Henry!

Despite the fact thay this took me a LONG while to read - reading slump, summer holidays - I really enjoyed it. It was a light and airy read, with a somewhat heavier undertone thay really worked well for me.

Loved it even more than Beach Read! Devoured 80% of it on a long train journey.

I was a bit unsure at first as the timeline switches threw me out a little, but I ended up loving the way they slid closer and closer together, connecting and expanding on Poppy and Alex's relationship and history.

Also a huge fan of the focus on travel and travel writing/influencing via Poppy's work as it's something that I would love to do.

I liked Emily Henry's YA novels, but her contemporary adult fiction is fast becoming a favourite.

I was given a copy of you, me on vacation by Emily Henry by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Alex and Poppy have been friends for 12 years and every year go on vacation together. They have always been friends but nothing more. It's easy to work out they both want to be together, you know what will happen but an easy book to read perfect holiday read.

This book was such an enjoyable read. I was fascinated from the beginning over Poppy and Alex’s history. It was such a heartwarming story I didn’t want it to end. A perfect light hearted read, it had me longing to travel to so many places.

My opinion of You and Me on Vacation will be a little bit unpopular.

I don’t think the ‘friends to lovers’ trope worked. I’m yet to be convinced that single hetrosexuals can just be friends. Sex is always going to come into the equation somewhere along the line. Poppy and Alex are so compatible that they go on holidays together (alone, not in a group with other people) for over 10 years and that whole time they’re lusting for each other. Seriously, how is this friends to lovers? This is basically just two available people crushing on each other with a couple of [weak] stumbling blocks to overcome before they reach their HEA.

Poppy and Alex are not the most likeable characters overall. They’re both judgemental. Alex is uptight and borderline OCD. Poppy is whiney and immature. She also seems to be severely ashamed of her parents even while insisting on how much she isn’t ashamed of them, and her attitude towards her hometown is over the top.

The vacation timelines jumped around far too much. I think I would have preferred if they were simply presented in chronological order. It often felt like a random cutting and pasting of holiday anecdotes with no real theme or forward momentum of the plot. Their destinations were not memorable (in fact, as I sit here a couple of days after finishing I honestly can say I don’t remember exactly where the couple went). As usual these days, the book needed an edit; it should have been much shorter and lots of the boring holiday scenes which went absolutely nowhere should have been cut.

I kept reading only because Henry kept hinting about a ‘big bad thing’ that occurred which caused the pair to stop speaking and again, right now, I can’t remember what it was so it was obviously nothing too momentous.

I did enjoy the last 100 pages or so. Henry kept mostly to the present time setting and ramped up the action and this section pretty much dragged this book up from a two star rating to something more respectable. I’ll even give Henry a bit of a shoutout for having some really sensual and well written sex/kissing scenes. (I’ve read some really bad ones of late!)

I was shocked in the author notes to find out that Henry wrote this as a homage to When Harry Met Sally. Really? I’m not sure she got the point of that movie.

This was called People You Meet on Vacation originally. Not sure what the title change was all about but I should have probably realised that was a sign.

3 out of 5

This was a sweet summer read and the characters were likeable. However, the actual story wasn't anything ground-breaking for me, it felt quite average. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, because I did, but no t as much as beach read and it didn't live up to it's online hype. It was still a nice read and I will definitely still be reading Emily Henry's future novels.

This was the perfect book to read on holiday ☀️ I highly recommend this sweet, romantic book with deep elements to it that will have you laughing and wanting to cry.

I absolutely adored Alex and poppy.
I enjoyed reading about all their summer holidays over the years.
They had such a lovely, funny, endearing friendship but what I loved most was the little bits of chemistry unraveling. Friendship and chemistry what more can you want. But for Alex and Poppy it wasn’t that easy.

The story had such a good build up. Just the right pace but I was so eager to know what happened 2 summers ago. Which was where it all went wrong. This literally kept me hooked!

I love will they won’t they storylines.

Poppy has the best job too! Getting paid to go travel the world and write about it. Literally living my dream.

This was a cute romance, but it felt like I read or watched it many times before. Still, I believe it could make a good beach read, uplifting and forgettable enough.

4.5

“Even if we never kissed, never said the words outright, we were keeping whole parts of our hearts for each other only.”

This was just what I needed! A sweet friends-to-lovers romance with the grumpy and sunshine trope, which is honestly my life. You and Me on Vacation left in a spiral of emotions. I adored it. Also, given we are mid pandemic, and I am currently in another lockdown – a special shout out to the Victorian Government– this book gave me to vacation vibes I have been sorely needing.

Poppy has lost that spark in her work and, well, her life. And she knows exactly when she lost it; two summers ago, when her relationship with her best friend, Alex, went horribly wrong. They’ve stopped talking. She’s pretty sure he hates her. Poppy decides to take a risk and reach out to Alex for one last holiday.

Poppy is our sunshine-y character. She has landed her dream job as a travel writer and has escaped her small family town. I’m not going to lie; Poppy did come off a little too manic pixie dream girl for my liking, so I was worried she was going to get on my nerves. However, as the story unfolds, we get to know Poppy better. She’s insecure and not the best at asking for help or talking about her feelings. She’s quick to put up this causal, cheery façade of everything will be okay. She is trying her hardest to make this holiday be like their old ones because she needs Alex in her life. She’s lonely and she misses him. I am thankful that Emily Henry wrote Poppy because I find her fear and action relatable.

On the flip side to our sunshine-y Poppy, we have Alex. He is strait-laced, revered and grumpy. And – no surprises – I adored him. Alex is such a sweetheart! Family is the most important thing to him, especially given that he helped raise his younger siblings. You can definitely see that Alex had to grow up too fast. Poppy and these holidays bring out his playful side.

Their relationship is built on the whole opposite attract — Alex grounds Poppy while she adds spontaneity to his strict schedule. I adore how we see the shift in their friendship after they graduate. They no longer live close together or are on the same schedule. Their contact becomes more infrequent, which is a harsh reality of any relationship. After their first holiday, they set aside a few weeks every summer to see each other. Honestly, this caused my heart to just about exploded with joy.

There is a lot of underlining angst in this story, and their relationship, which I think bubbles away as we only get Poppy’s point of view. We are told her side of events and are trying to piece together what Alex is thinking based on his action and Poppy’s interpterion of these actions. I loved this because it felt realistic. Also, at this stage, a dual point of view in romances is the norm so this feels refreshing.

The narrative unfolds in two timelines. The first timeline is after that fateful summer where Poppy and Alex are piecing together their fractured relationship, and the second is highlights from their past trips. I love love love that we get to see Poppy and Alex’s past holidays and their friendship blossom. Knowing just how important these holidays are to the pair’s relationship, it’s wonderful to see it all unfold rather than being told what happened.

The big reveal was the only thing I didn’t like about having the dual timeline. I feel like it was, honestly, anticlimactic especially given what had unfolded in the present timeline. Ultimately it came down to miscommunication which is a pet peeve of mine that is why I couldn’t give a full five stars.

You and Me on Vacation is a fun read with a surprisingly emotional hit from Emily Henry. I will be picking up whatever she releases next because I love her writing style and the way she develops her characters. At this point, I don’t even need to read the blurb before buying. If you love a sweet, slightly angsty friends-to-lovers romance, this is the one for you! I also recommend if you are in desperate need of a holiday but must stay put, this is the perfect escape for you.

This was such a fantastic will they won't they romance that I had been longing for. I couldn't put it down and it had me longing for a holiday.
I gave it 4/5 stars as I found the time hopping a tiny bit confusing at a couple of points but was still just a great feel good summer book.

As a 'quick few pages before I sleep' kind of reader, it's rare that a book tempts me to stay in bed all morning because I'm so keen to see where this story takes me. But that's exactly what I found myself doing on Saturday because I was much more intrigued by Poppy and Alex's world than my own.

It's been a while since I've bothered to read an MF romance but I think I was drawn towards this book because a) it's about travel and b) the set-up has a bit of a When Harry Met Sally vibe to it.

What kept me reading was Poppy's humour, Alex's insecurity and their bouncing off the page chemistry. I properly chortled in a few places, Emily Henry's writing was that funny, which doesn't always happen for me. [Also, can we talk about the sex scene? HOT DAMN! (hide spoiler)]

If you're even remotely tempted by the idea of this book, I HIGHLY recommend giving it a try.

Poppy and Alex have been friends since forever. And every year, they go on holidays together. But it's been two years since they've talked to each other and Poppy is not happy about it. Contacting him again, she hopes for the best.

The story is told through Poppy's pov and we see all the holidays they've been on. The book is basically set through 12 summers and only summers.

I liked this book, it was interesting, frustrating (but in a good way) and I was pretty into it overall. I just wasn't enthralled or anything. I didn't care as much as I could have. Maybe it was just a little too straight for my liking. I don't know, I kinda felt like something was missing but I could not tell you what. I'll probably still read the next book Emily Henry writes, but I know I won't be rereading this one. I had a pretty good time overall though. I don't know.
This is most useless review ever, I'm sorry.
Anyway, I hope you like it more than I did...

I really loved Beach Read but I think I love this even more. You and Me on Vacation is the story of Poppy and Alex. Poppy and Alex have a random netting 12 years ago whilst at college and realise they are from neighbouring towns. They don't see each other again until the end of the school year when a friend organises them to car pool home together. A beautiful friendship is born between these two opposites who decide that no matter what happens in life they will go on a yearly vacation together. Until something happens on that vacation that stops them from talking to each other. A late night text to Alex sees them on a trip again. Can their friendship be repaired and can it turn into the romance everyone always expected them to have.
This book has everything I love in a romance. It's friends to lovers and its told from a timeline that jumps back and forth but very easy to follow. It also happens a lot whilst travelling which always sucks me in. I really loved the friendship they have as they balance each other out so well.
A beautifully written romance that sucked me in straight away.

I read Emily Henry's debut and absolutely loved it - it was one of my favourite books of last year - so I'd given myself high expectations for this!

I loved the concept of jumping between the ten summer vacations that the mc's Poppy & Alex took; it definitely gave me some for the bucket list as Henry has such an enticing way of drawing you in to the locations!

I didn't feel it had the chemistry that the previous one did though so possibly fell short on that aspect for me. I didn't find myself as gripped, but that could also have been my reading "mojo" which has been lacking a little the last few months.

Nonetheless, it's a book I'd definitely recommend reading and I will be reading future books by the author as the ones I've read so far do have that feel good factor!

I did enjoy meeting Poppy & Alex, I liked that the book reverted to the past so the reader had a better understanding of their relationship. However I would have liked more time at the end to see how things developed, I felt it was cut a little short.

This wouldn't stop me reading more from this author though 😊