Reviewing People We Meet on Vacation

As my first foray into Emily Henry’s romance novels, one thing is clear: Emily Henry is smart. Real smart. I’d pay her to be my therapist.

The depth and care she put into the characters is evident. Poppy Wright and Alex Nilsen are real people. This sounds like a low bar, but I read The Love Hypothesis prior to this; as enjoyable as it was, Adam Carlsen is NOT a real person.

Poppy has a real job and a damn good mentor of a boss. She goes to real places and meets real people. The dialogue and inner monologue was a high point. Clever, but not into Suits/Aaron Sorkin parody territory; it’s what I’d say if I was a bit more quippy and funnier. To boot, micro facial reactions that speak volumes on what each character is thinking.

I found more parallels to the situation than I’m comfortable with fully disclosing.

• I fear I am Alex Nilsen… sans the sexy body and tragic backstory
• Flirting with the line between friends and lovers
• The feelings of longing and inadequacy

The ending was a bit unsatisfying to me. Oh, we all talked to therapists and figured shit out… is a bit of a lazy resolution albeit I guess one of the most realistic ways this could’ve ended. What sucks is that you can really feel the thoughtfulness Henry put into the characters. You can feel it through their motivations and thoughts, the things the say and where they hold back.

I’m afraid if I re-read this I’ll have to examine more of myself. To be clear, that’s high praise. Maybe I should be in therapy. I guess I’ll have to give Emily Henry a call…

Rating: 4.2 / 5

I have yet to see the movie.