You and Me on Vacation

I loved this book so much, the characters the story and the narration by Julia Whelan, it was perfect! I got caught up in the story right from the beginning and didn’t want it to end. I loved both Poppy and Alex, and I loved their friendship and I loved their summer breaks together. They felt so real and I can easily see this as a Netflix film. I’ve no idea who’d play the characters but I can definitely see some of the big scenes on the small screen. It’s such a feel good story and with Julia Whelan’s perfect narration, it’s one of my favourite listens this year. I could listen to this again and will probably end up spending an audible credit and get my own copy.

How can two people who are so obviously right for each other take so long to find each other. Poppy and Alex met over 12 years ago. Each year they vacation together. Often with various humorous events thrown in which will have you laughing along with them.
A couple of years ago they had a disastrous trip. Now this new trip is a little strained. Will Poppy and Alex find each other and finally admit the feeling that the reads can so obviously see.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to receive this ARC .

Thank you to NetGalley, Emily Henry and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

WOW. What a beautiful book. This is a wonderful story about friendship and love. I found myself completely and utterly invested in this friendship and the characters. I was routing for them the whole way through. I will be recommending this to all my friends. I hope there will be a second instalment.

Amazing, phenomenal, fantastic and pure bliss!
This deserves 6 stars and is my favourite read of the year so far.

A story following the friendship of Alex and Poppy during their summer vacations together. You honestly don't need to know more than that. If you're a fan of friends-to-lovers then you will love this book.

Firstly, Emily's writing is beautiful. It's melodic and poetic and I can't get enough of it. The way the story is written is genius with the back and forth in their history and honestly gives a fresh twist to this romance.

Secondly, this couple!! Oh my word - Alex ❤️❤️. I love how dry, pragmatic and sarcastic he is and they, as a couple, are just the They are cutest! I love the wit, the dear friendship, their banter and the love between these two - I cannot stop gushing. 😻😻😻

I started out not loving this book. I thought it was a bit of a One Day rip off, but not as good, and the fact that every female American narrator gives the exact same voice to every man was really grating on me. But. Like Poppy and Alex’s relationship, my liking this book was a slow and steady burn. I found myself laughing at their in-jokes and rooting for the pair of them to pull their fingers out and see what was right in front of them. I even welled up a few times, which I was very much not expecting. The snobbier part of me thinks that this is something Heat magazine would probably give 10 stars to, and the more rational part of me is questioning why that’s such a bad thing? Sure, it wasn’t Wuthering Heights, but.. I haven’t read Wuthering Heights anyway, and I had a really nice time with this.

This was a wonderful book. I requested the audiobook, as I've been a bit of a reading slump. And listening to romance and contemporary audiobooks has been helping me get through it. Seeing as this is one of my most anticipated releases of the year, I'm so happy that I got a chance to read this early.

You and Me on Vacation is a fun read following two best friends on their various summer trips. The last one they went on, something happened, and now our protagonist, Poppy, wants to plan the perfect trip. This book is a single POV with lots of flashbacks. But it's not at all confusing. I loved seeing the different trips they went on and their relationship as it changed.

I am glad I got to listen to the audiobook. The narrator had an easy to listen to voice, and even at 2.5 speed, I didn't struggle. She did alter her voice slightly for different characters, but never in a way that they sounded ridiculous or annoying. It was super easy to listen to, and I was able to multitask whilst doing so.

Overall one of my favourite reads of the year.

While it isn't my usual go to genre, I do enjoy a lighthearted romcom every once in a while, usually after reading something quite intense or demanding. You and Me on Vacation is the perfect book to get anyone out of a reading slump.

Detailing their summer trips spanning twelve years, it follows Poppy and Alex, two polar opposite best friends. It's a delightful, funny and warm story of friends to lovers. The narrator is great and does a fantastic job of portraying multiple characters, but by the end of the book Alexs' voice was really starting to grate on me. However it didn't detect from my overall enjoyment. If you're looking for a great beach read, this should definitely feature on your list.

The story of a lovely friendship revolving around the annual friends vacation on a budget. No matter how confident we are, when it comes to our hearts we are so guarded. I really loved the way the author describes the angst and hesitation in relationships and how a wrong signal can send someone into total confusion. Narrator managed the emotional parts really well. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook.

I've got to admit I have been so excited for this since it was announced however when it came round to reading I was a bit nervous because I wasn't sure how it could possibly fare compared to Beach Read (one of my favourite reads of 2020 / all time). But I would now like to formally apologise for ever questioning Emily Henry because she seems to just get better!

The story follows Poppy and Alex. At their first meeting they were convinced they would never speak again, however, a year later during a shared ride home they form a friendship that would last another 11 years. Despite living far apart they reunite at least once a year for The Summer Trip, until two years ago when it all went wrong. Now they have one week, one final trip, to fix everything.

We follow them in the present as well as in flashbacks to previous Summer Trips. We watch their friendship gradually develop, grow and evolve as well as getting to delve into the struggles faced by most in their 20s, and even early 30s, through them. The uncertainty. Constantly striving for more, for what? What is it we actually want? Emily Henry is able to extract from us a multitude of emotions while making us feel understood and accepted.

Friends to lovers is my favourite trope however in my opinion their actual romance was not my favourite aspect of the story. It had a few of my least favourite things (i mean it took them a looong time) but somehow, the way it was written, with these characters, I still managed to enjoy it.

I found the narrator really fit with the book and brought the story to life without detracting attention from the actual plot.

Overall a fantastic book for fans of a super slow burn friends to lovers or just wonderfully crafted characters who make us believe in them and love them. And yet we still want to shake them for being so unbelievably annoying at times, just like you would a best friend.

**Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin Random House UK Audio for providing this arc in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions are subjective but my own.**

4.5 stars

Headlines:
Roller coaster friendship/love
Holiday vibes
Chem-is-try

There was nothing that I didn't enjoy about Emily Henry's upcoming release. The fact that she delivers on summery read to remember (again) and that I was lucky to read and listen in tandem to this book. Both formats were as good as one another.

You and Me on Vacation was told over a number of summers, charting the most lovely friendship; in the main this was platonic...until it wasn't. Then, oh boy, the chemistry set fire to the pages, slowly.

In all the ways, both Poppy and Alex were opposite in personality and goals. They worked so well as friends and their summer trips were fun expeditions and something they both lived for. I loved seeing these trips unfurl as the years were recounted. I loved the people they met, the places they went but nothing was more interesting than THIS SUMMER. I loved getting back to that narrative.

The pages of this book, the minutes of the audio just turned themselves and I was sad to get to the end. Emily Henry knows how to inject just a little drama and tension with a great contemporary story. I'm here for next summer's installment!

Narration-wise, this was single POV and single narration and it was excellent. I got all the sense of characterisation and the emotional feels from the listen. It's such a perfect format to absorb the story while on literal vacation!

Thank you to Penguin for the gorgeous book and audio early copies.

3.25 Stars Let's just address the elephant in the room. This is NOT Beach Read. While I personally feel like it's a similar premise (switching the tropes from enemies/lovers to friends/lovers and the setting from one place to many, the BR magic just wasn't there for me. I think it has something to do with the same problem I had with this authors last work. I didn't like the female main character. And since the story is told entirely in her POV, it makes it a bit hard to root for a couple when you find one half a little bit insufferable. I will continue to look out for work from this author, but this was just fine for me.

I am usually not a fan of friends to lovers trope because they just give me heartburn and not in a good way. This book was no different. It did give me the typical friends to lover trope with plenty of miscommunications, absent communications, missed oppurtunities, lots and lots of angst and let’s not forget, the heartburn but in the bestest possible way. Emily Henry does some kind of magic with her writings and makes even a trope I hate feel good. I loved Alex and Poppy so soooo much. It was intense, they were intense but also sweet and with witty banter but also the angst, oh the angst.... I realise I am rambling and that’s because my brain has decided it loves this book too much to form coherent sentences but anyway, I definitely recommend you checking it out if you enjoyed Beach Read and/or if you love friends to lovers. Even of you don’t like that trope, I would still recommend you to check it out because, it’s just too good 😌 The audiobook was narrated perfectly and made the listening experience truly amazing