''People We Meet on Vacation'' is a romance novel by

Emily Henry Emily Henry is an American author who is best known for her ''New York Times'' bestselling romance novels ''Beach Read'', '' People We Meet on Vacation'', '' Book Lovers'', and '' Happy Place''. Biography Henry attended high school in Cincinnati ...

, published May 11, 2021 by

Berkley Books Berkley Books is an imprint of the Penguin Group. History Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Company" by Charles Byrne and Frederick Klein, who had worked for Avon; they quickly renamed it Berk ...

. The book is a ''New York Times'' best seller.

Overview

''People We Meet on Vacation'' follows Poppy and Alex, two best friends who are opposites in every way. She is a wild child with insatiable wanderlust while he is laidback and would rather stay home with a book. Every summer they come together for a week long vacation. Until one trip where everything is ruined and they stop speaking for two years. Now, in order to find happiness Poppy convinces Alex to take one last vacation, in order to fix everything between them.

Reception

''People We Meet on Vacation'' is a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' and IndieBound best seller. The book received starred reviews from ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'' and ''

Kirkus ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

,'' as well as positive reviews from ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

,'' ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

'', and ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

''. In a starred review, ''

'' describes the novel as a “warm and winning ‘When Harry Met Sally…’ update that hits all the perfect notes." ''

'' explains in its starred review that Henry’s book is a story that will appeal to those who “are drawn to stories with emotion, poetic language, and a strong sense of place” and compares it to Kate Clayborn’s ''Love Lettering''. Alicia Rancilio of ''

'' praises Henry’s writing, even highlighting that she is “especially skilled at is writing dialogue.” From ''

,'' Angela Hurt applauds Henry, saying she "masterfully depicts early-30s uncertainty and angst, adding an interesting personal-growth dimension to the story." Hurt, however, also claims that it still fails to live up to Henry’s previous novel stating, "'People' lacks the pizazz — the special spark — that helped “ Beach Read” shine." ''

'' concurred, saying that “Henry’s latest rom-com lacks the spark of 2020’s ''Beach Read'', but still offers plenty of lighthearted summertime fun.”

References

{{reflist 2021 American novels Berkley Books books American romance novels Contemporary romance novels