From the Bookshelf of Shhhh We're Reading! …

People We Meet on Vacation

Emily Henry

Start date: March 1, 2025

Finish date: March 31, 2025

Discussion: BOTM (Book Of The Month)

Why we're reading this: March 2025 BOTM
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BOTM (Book Of The Month)

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What Members Thought

Oct 03, 2025 paula ♡ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-books, 5-stars, book-boyfriend

5 ⭐

🧡 “I love him so much. I love him more than I did yesterday, and I already know tomorrow I'll love him even more, because every piece of him he gives me is another to fall in love with.” 🧡

I'm SO obsessed with these two... Omg I think it's my favorite Emily Henry book so far 🤩

Poppy is so vulnerable and so real... I felt like she was my best friend, plus I loved her humor and how funny she is.

And well... What can I say about this man?! Oh my God, we love an obsessed man, exactly 🙂‍↕️... He's be ...more

61 likes · Like · see review

May 04, 2024 gracie rated it did not like it

I read book lovers a few months prior to this one and I didn't like it so I went into this one with low/no expectations and I still hated it. It's just so boring! There's so many words and descriptions and insignificant details that seemed like they were added to make the book longer and not nearly enough dialogue and it made this book such a struggle to get through.

There was also ZERO chemistry between the mcs, it honestly felt like the romance part was just sprung on me and I'm supposed to bel ...more

34 likes · Like · see review

Jun 11, 2025 Cami✯ (semi-hiatus — school ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ) rated it really liked it

♪ if you could see that I'm the one who understands you
been here all along, so why can't you see
you belong with me
have you ever thought, just maybe
you belong with me ♪

✧ This story was so messy, so raw, so realistic, and I think that's why so many of the readers it reaches fail to comprehend it on a substantial level. You see Poppy and Alex, and even I am guilty of initially wondering “what ARE they?” Are they friends or more? Are they soulmates? If so, platonic or romantic? And that's when you c ♪ if you could see that I'm the one who understands you
been here all along, so why can't you see
you belong with me
have you ever thought, just maybe
you belong with me ♪

✧ This story was so messy, so raw, so realistic, and I think that's why so many of the readers it reaches fail to comprehend it on a substantial level. You see Poppy and Alex, and even I am guilty of initially wondering “what ARE they?” Are they friends or more? Are they soulmates? If so, platonic or romantic? And that's when you come to realize, they're both. They're everything. To each other, and on an all-encompassing level. It can never be just Poppy or just Alex, they'll always be interwoven, intertwined, in love in every conceivable way. 💕
✷ They aren't my favorite Emily Henry couple, but not because they're lacking in any way — I simply normally prefer a ‹hate to love› story more, because they offer angst and knowing the other's worst side and being unperturbed by it, though in this case, Poppy and Alex are truthfully the embodiment of tension, of thoroughly knowing the other, and I can't say that their relationship was ever quite stable. 🫣
✯ The only constant was their friendship, the mutual understanding and silent compassion. And I grasp why even my own best friend told me she didn't really like this book — the other partners. Guillaume and Trey and SARAH, seemingly getting in between PoppyAlex and their potential sparks of love. I view it differently: through the side respective relationships you notice how truly made for each other the MCs are, constantly seeking that ember in others before realizing, to no avail, that it lay in their very best friend, whom they often ghost because the harsh truth is that they believe they can't ever be MORE. 😭
✿ I liked this story, but I think I didn't connect with it as much because there wasn't much sappy, traumatizing family lore accompanying the FMC. How fucking sadistic do I sound, but I don't care. I like seeing those un-hewn versions of emotional baggage, and the way the characters deal with them, and SURE, Alex had plenty of that, but we didn't follow him on the journey of surmounting those struggles, because the book wasn't in his POV. 🧐
❥ So that's my eloquent rant. Thank you and may you have a splendid day. Now I bestow quotes upon you. 🤭

“Yeah, I mean, for all you know she might be working against a lifetime of postgum bowl cuts. It’s nice of you to give her a chance.” “You were never a Jessica,” he says confidently. I arch an eyebrow. “How do you know?” “Because.” His eyes hold fast to the sun-bleached road. “You’ve always been Poppy.”
“I can just tell he doesn’t get it,” Alex said. “Get what?” I asked. “You,” he said. “He has no idea how lucky he is.”
“I love you,” he said, and kissed my head. “And if you want, we can die alone together.”
“Just so you know,” I said, “I would marry you all over again, Alex Nilsen.” His head tipped sideways. He affected the Sad Puppy Face. “Is that just because you want more free wine?”
“Alex, has it ever occurred to you that I might like taking care of you?” I say. “I mean, obviously I don’t love that you’re in pain, and I hate that I let you sleep in that abominable chair, but if someone’s going to have to be your nurse, I’m honored it’s me.”
“I love when you get weird,” I tell him. He squints tipsily at me as we walk. “You make me weird. I’m not like this with anyone else.” “You make me weird too,” I say.
“Alex . . .” It takes me a few seconds to go on: “I’ve never really felt alone since I met you. I don’t think I’ll ever feel truly alone in this world again as long as you’re in it.” His gaze softens, holds steady for a beat. “Can I tell you something embarrassing?” For once, it doesn’t occur to me to joke, to be sarcastic. “Anything.” He runs his hand over the steering wheel in a slow back-and-forth. “I don’t think I knew I was lonely until I met you.”
“On that first drive back to Linfield, you asked me all these questions about what I liked and what I hated, and I don’t know. It just felt like you really wanted to know.” “Of course I did,” I say. He nods. “I know. You asked me who I was, and—it was like the answer came out of nowhere. Sometimes it feels like I didn’t even exist before that. Like you invented me.”
“My point is, no one really knew me before you, Poppy. And even if . . . things change between us, you’ll never be alone, okay? I’ll always love you.”
“You’re not a vacation, and you’re not the answer to my career crisis, but when I’m in a crisis or I’m sick or I’m sad, you’re the only thing I want. And when I’m happy, you make me so much happier. I still have a lot to figure out, but the one thing I know is, wherever you are, that’s where I belong. I’ll never belong anywhere like I belong with you. No matter what I’m feeling, I want you next to me. You’re home to me, Alex. And I think I’m that for you too.”
“You are, you know.” “A fighter?” I say. “My home,” he says, and kisses me. We are, I think. We’re home.
We’re happy, and even when we’re not, it’s so much better than it was without him.
“What?” he asks, the start of a smile tugging at his lips. “Why are you staring?” “You’re just . . .” I shake my head, searching for any word that could possibly encompass what I’m feeling. “So tall.” His smile is wide, unfettered, Naked Alex just for me. “I love you too, Poppy Wright.” Tomorrow we will love each other a little more, and the next day, and the next day. ...more

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Aug 10, 2024 Ella rated it really liked it

So cute 💖

8 likes · Like · see review

Mar 28, 2024 📖Moon Book Eater🍽️ rated it liked it

Shelves: adventure, sweet-romance

Cute but predictable

4 likes · Like · see review

Mar 28, 2024 Val rated it really liked it

This book had a few predictable parts but overall a great read. The love that was shared between the two main characters was unbelievable. Having someone love you this hard, is something out of this world. I hope everyone would get to experience that feeling.

3 likes · Like · see review

May 28, 2024 Annalise Jennings rated it liked it · review of another edition

Emily Henry's "You and Me on Vacation" is a charming and witty tale that explores the complexities of friendship and love. The story follows Poppy and Alex, two best friends who couldn't be more different but share an annual tradition of vacationing together. Over the course of ten years, their relationship evolves, leading to moments of hilarity, tenderness, and introspection.

Henry's writing shines with her trademark humor and engaging dialogue, making Poppy and Alex's banter delightful to read ...more

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Jun 10, 2024 Elisabeth Canum rated it it was amazing

This was my first Emily Henry book, and I loved it. Poppy and Alex’s journey was amazing to read and be apart of. The two are so perfect but opposites at the same time. Definitely the definition of opposites attract.
This Friends to Lovers romance was a beautiful one. I loved it.

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Nov 12, 2024 Julianne Bédard rated it really liked it

LOVED IT!

I'm pretty sure I fell in love with Alex Nelson too..

The story is so good and so well written! I juste couldn't put it down! I would recommend it again and again! ...more

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