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In this piece, Mia will be reviewing People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.
Review: People we meet on Vacation
Review: People we meet on Vacation
By Mia Bartscher
By Mia Bartscher
Welcome, Scrollers, to the first installment of Beguiling Book Reviews, a new (and most likely inconsistent) column. Here, I will be discussing and reviewing books I have enjoyed this past month. I will also be taking recommendations, much like my predecessors, through the form below, so if you have any books you would like for me to read or review, then please let me know!
This month, I will be reviewing People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry.
Synopsis: “The first time Poppy meets Alex, she hopes she never sees him again,” says Washington Post. People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry is a fun, colorful story that centers around best friends Alex and Poppy. Despite having seemingly nothing in common, they have been inseparable ever since a car trip from college to their shared hometown showed them that they may not be as different as they originally thought. Though they no longer can spend every waking moment with one another (he lives in their childhood hometown, and she in New York), they spend one week a year taking a vacation together. That is, until the disastrous trip two years before the plot takes place. Now, as Poppy suffers from professional burnout, she realizes that the last time she was happy was that very vacation. In an effort to rekindle her passion for travel and her friendship with Alex, she plans a trip that she hopes will fix everything. However, in order to reconcile with Alex, it means she will have to face her feelings and be true to herself, no matter how hard it will be.
Photo Credit: Boston University
Note: If you enjoyed When Harry Met Sally, go read this book. The author herself calls it “an homage to one of my favorite romantic comedies.” The dynamic that the protagonists have, especially initially, is reminiscent of the film, and their “meet-cute” is right out of the movie.
Photo Credit: HighDefDiscNews
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and it had so much to do with the characters. Although the setting (or, rather, settings) lent a wondrous, whimsical mood to the story, the characters are what kept me enthralled. Poppy’s bubbly, outgoing personality brought energy to the story and contrasted the reserved quietness of Alex.
Poppy is a character who uses her confidence, as well as her happiness, as a defense mechanism. She uses her individuality as a way to defy those who ostracized her and made her feel like she was less than worthy. I think she is relatable because she is what many people aspire to be: unapologetically, positively herself. But even her self-assurance is not without doubt. Her need to be herself is built on a lack of belonging, of feeling like an outsider as a child and, as such, she is sensitive to criticism about her quirks, which leads to conflict in the story.
Alex, on the other hand, is a quiet, reserved character who puts others' needs before his own to an extreme. His personality, too, is a result of his childhood. After his mother died, his father shut down, and Alex, as the oldest child, took over the rearing of his siblings. He, even as an adult, has a need to please others and will sacrifice his own needs for those of others. Furthermore, he has a hard time loosening up and relaxing. Because of this, he and Poppy work well together. She makes him loosen up and relax, and he makes sure they are responsible and safe. The two, though so apparently different, balance one another, and it is what helps them build such a strong friendship.
Depiction of "opposites attract", photo credit DeviantArt
This story is a fun, banter-filled adventure but, according to Kirkus Reviews, “There’s depth to the story, too—Poppy’s feeling of dissatisfaction with a life that should be making her happy as well as her unresolved feelings toward the difficult parts of her childhood.” This story explores themes of burnout and how our childhoods affect us well into our adult years. However, the story retains a light, optimistic tone throughout this, and it paints a picture of the ways that having someone’s unconditional support can help heal the wounds that time has caused.
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