If you crave a book that deeply explores the friendship of two characters who happen to become madly in love with each other, then People We Meet on Vacation should be up on your list. Emily Henry knows exactly how to write characters and bonds that feel so honest and real, there was no a second I wasn‘t doubting the strong connection Poppy and Alex had made over the course of ten years and ten summer trips.

As I finished reading Hook, Line, and Sinker - which is yet another friends-to-lovers romance - and finally have fallen in love with the trope, I knew Emily Henry‘s book is next, after loving Book Lovers. However, where in Hook, Line, and Sinker the friendship between the protagonist is fresh and fully charged with sexual attraction from the get-go, we experience a slow burn at its finest in People We Meet on Vacation. Poppy and Alex have been best friends for a decade, in which they spent one summer trip a year together. However, two years ago, an incident caused these two to part. Radio Silence being the only thing happening between them. Until Poppy asks for one more trip together. To make things right, to put them back where they used to be.

What I loved about this book were the chapters we got from past vacations. We get bits and pieces from the trips as they‘d happened, and get to see all the insider jokes, the memories, and events that strengthened their friendship. And let me tell you: the friendship between Poppy and Alex is so wholesome, so beautiful, you‘ll find yourself craving a person who gets you the way Poppy and Alex get each other despite being two points on opposite ends of the spectrum. It was easy to believe that these two can find love in the other. However, it took a long time for that spark to ignite on my part.

As invested as I had been in their friendship, I kept waiting for the tension to build up in the romance department, and unfortunately that took quite some time. Considering the fact that I also wasn‘t able to binge through this book in one sitting, I kept asking myself whenever I picked it up „when will it happen?“. One reason why I think the story took its time to explore the romantic feelings of the two was because of the chapters taking place in the past breaking up the narrative of the present story. This way, the story took way too much time to fully explore the depth of Poppy and Alex‘ friendship before moving onto their love. Now, I‘m not too mad about it if it weren‘t for the fact that once we get to them stepping into the roles of „lovers“ instead of friends, we get too little of them to see them exploring this transition.

While I would have wished for some things to progress a bit quicker (or am just mildly unsatisfied that it took me too long to get properly invested), I can see the honesty of the bond Poppy and Alex share. Emily Henry excellently wrote two characters who couldn‘t be more different from each other, their history of becoming best friends, and making me believe that this, in fact, is the best friendship I‘ve ever came across. However, I wished for more moments like the one in Tuscany where I could feel that the question of „what if“ lingers between them. Especially because the novel is told through Poppy‘s POV, I get that most of the memories are tainted by her perception and her thoughts. But to be honest, Alex was too good at hiding that even I wouldn‘t have guessed any other feelings than friendship if I hadn‘t known this was a romance novel to begin with. Which was another reason why I didn‘t get as invested in their romantic relationship.

Nonetheless, I must say I love how Emily Henry writes characters, the humor and banter that come with them, and how her books end up being perfect summer reads. I, for my part, have read this one during my own mini vacation in my hometown, but it felt like I was taking several vacations as I was lying there at the lake, bathing in the sun. While I didn‘t end up devouring this book as much as Book Lovers, I can safely call myself a Emily Henry fan for the fact alone that her characters are so believable and her stories are great getaways.