Emily Henry

From the#1New York Times bestselling author ofBook Lovers andBeach Read comesa sparkling novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations.

Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.

Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.
 
Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven't spoken since.
 
Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.
 
Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?

People We Meet On Vacation

Julia Rutgers

"[ . . . ] 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."

tiffany 

“Then you thought you were pregnant and it scared me so much I got a fucking vasectomy. And it didn’t even occur to me to ask Sarah what she thought. I just made the appointment, and a few days after, I was walking past this antique store and I saw this ring. An old, yellow-gold art deco thing with a pearl. I saw it and thought, That would be a perfect engagement ring. Maybe I should buy it. And my very next thought after that was, What the fuck am I doing? Not just the ring––which Sarah would’ve hated, by the way––but the vasectomy, all of it. I was doing it all for you, and I know that’s not normal, and it definitely wasn’t fair to her, so I ended things. That day.”

“I didn’t know how to.” It sounds so pathetic. I’m twenty-six years old with a full-time job and health insurance, and an apartment and student loan bills, and I live alone in New York City, but there are just some things you don’t want to have to do on your own.

“It’s okay,” Alex says, pulling me gently into him. “Let’s get you back in bed and see if we can get rid of the fever.”

“I have to pee,” I say tearfully, then admit, “I may have already peed myself.”

“Okay,” he says. “Go pee. I’ll find you some clean clothes.”

“We have to stand so close I have to tip my head all the way back to see him at all. He brushes my hair from my eyes and cups the back of my neck, as if to stabilize it. “I’m sorry for being so tall,” he says over the metal music thrumming through the bar.

“I’m sorry for being so short,” I say.

“I like you short,” he says. “Never apologize for being short.”

“I’m fairly sure Alex does not want to sleep on the ground, but he takes one look at me and must see how into this idea I am—this is exactly the kind of spur-of-the-moment, out-of-nowhere surprise turn I’ve been hoping this trip would take—because he lets out an almost imperceptible sigh, then turns back to Buck with a fixed smile. “Yeah. That’d be great. Thanks.”

“ON VACATION, YOU can be anyone you want.

Like a good book or an incredible outfit, being on vacation transports you into another version of yourself.

In your day-to-day life, maybe you can’t even bob your head to the radio without being embarrassed, but on the right twinkly-light-strung patio, with the right steel drum band, you’ll find yourself whirling and twirling with the best of them.

On vacation, your hair changes. The water is different, maybe the shampoo. Maybe you don’t bother to wash your hair at all, or brush it, because the salty ocean water curls it up in a way you love. You think, Maybe I could do this at home too. Maybe I could be this person who doesn’t brush her hair, who doesn’t mind being sweaty or having sand in all her crevices.

On vacation, you strike up conversations with strangers, and forget that there are any stakes. If it turns out impossibly awkward, who cares? You’ll never see them again!

You’re whoever you want to be. You can do whatever you want.”

Hana 

🫶🏼

"When I look back up at him, he's beaming at me, and I think I love you more now than I ever have. How is it possible that this keeps happening with him?"

Christina Farkona

Tomorrow we will love each other a little more, and the next day, and the next day.

And even on those days when one or both of us is having a hard time, we’ll be here, where we are completely known, completely accepted, by the person whose every side we love wholeheartedly. I’m here with all the versions of him I’ve met over twelve years of vacations, and even if the point of life isn’t just being happy, right now, I am. Down to the bones.

He sniffs through a laugh, cups my jaw in his hands, and presses his forehead against mine, his eyes closing as his breath syncs with mine, our chests rising and falling like we’re two waves in the same body of water. “I never want to live without this,” he whispers, and I knot my fists into his shirt as if to keep him from slipping through my fingers.

The corners of his mouth twist as he breathes out, “

His eyes slit open, and the flutter in my chest is so strong it almost hurts. 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 like it there, and I think you would too, but you asked me what I’d be willing to give up for you, and now I know the answer is: everything. There’s nothing in this whole world that I’ve built in my head that I’m not prepared to let go of to build a new one with 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.”

I thought I had to run hundreds of miles away from here to find some place to belong. I spent my whole life thinking anyone outside my family who got too close, saw too much, wouldn’t want me anymore. The safest thing was those quick, serendipitous moments with strangers. That’s all I thought I could have.

“But most of us are too scared to even ask what we want, in case we can’t have it.”

, not away. My only hope for figuring this out is to stay, sit in the discomfort.

Living, being responsible for myself, seems like an insurmountable challenge lately.

I always knew there was a reason we kept a boundary up. We’d let our libidos get the best of us and now he couldn’t even look at me, text me back.

Ten years of friendship flushed down the drain just so I could know what Alex Nilsen tastes like.

For the first time in my life, the airport strikes me as the loneliest place in the world.

All those people, parting ways, going off in their own directions, crossing paths with hundreds of people but never connecting.

I should enjoy this moment. I’m on vacation. Vacations always end.

It’s the very fact that it’s finite that makes traveling special. You could move to any one of those destinations you loved in small doses, and it wouldn’t be the spellbinding, life-altering seven days you spent there as a guest, letting a place into your heart fully, letting it change you.

I start to walk away, and Alex pulls me back to him, his hands light on my waist, voice low beside my ear. “In case I don’t kiss you as pornographically as I want to for the rest of the night, please know that after this trip, I’ll be investing in therapy to understand why I feel incapable of expressing happiness in front of my family.”

“I don’t know how to love someone as much as I love you,” he says. “It’s terrifying. […]”

“I scared myself so much that I couldn’t tell you what had happened. It was terrifying to realize how much I loved you. And then you and Trey broke up, and––God, Poppy, of course all of it was because of you. Everything is because of you. Everything.”

“So,” he says. “How did this happen?”

“Um.” I try to think of how to explain it. Years of undying love, occasional jealousy, missed opportunities, bad timing, other relationships, building sexual tension, a fight and the silence afterward, and the pain of living life without him.

We stand there grinning for a few more seconds, our locked hands swinging back and forth between us.

“I thought you didn’t like holding hands,” I say.

“So, what? I just get whatever I want now?” I tease.

His smile flickers back into place, calm and restrained. “Yes, Poppy,” he says. “You get whatever you want now. Is that a problem?”

“What if I want you to have what you want?”

He arches an eyebrow. “Are you just saying that because you know what I’m going to say, and you want to make fun of me for it?”

“No?” I say. “Why? What are you going to say?”

Our hands go still between us. “I have what I want, Poppy.”

My heart flutters, and I pull my hand from his, coil it around his waist, and tip my head back to peer into his face. “I am resisting the urge to PDA all over you right now, Alex Nilsen.”

He bends his neck and kisses me so long that a few people start cheering. When we pull apart, he’s pink cheeked and bashful. “Damn,” he says. “I feel like a horny teenager.”

Alex bumps his leg into mine under the table, and when I glance at him, he’s not even looking my way. He’s just reminding me that he’s here, that nothing can really hurt me.

4.5 stars.

This was such a fun read!

I picked it up because I liked Beach Read and wanted to read more by the author, but imagine my surprise when I started reading and it's far better than Beach Read. I even had to buy a physical copy because of how much I was enjoying the book.

In my opinion, friendships are the hardest relationships to write about, and she nailed it. This remind me of the dynamic that me and friends have (without the sexual tension) and found myself laughing with the inside jokes these two had. This was my favourite part and what made me like this book so much.

It's what it promises, a friends-to-lovers summer read. It's cute, funny and feels real. Like, I felt that the characters were friends, I felt the awkward moments, the tension. The only downside I have is that I felt that the final was rushed, that the book needed to be finished and she did it. Suddlenly they were a couple and everything was ok, the end. I wished it showed more of the change in the relationship, how the dynamic was different between them. I don't know, I felt kind of dissapointed, like we know that they are going to get together at the end so give me something that keeps my interest till the last page.

Also didn't like the whole "I faked to not remember the details of our vacations together because I felt ashamed of how obsessed I am with you" Like???? I saw it coming from page 1 and the scenarios where it was shown didn't make sense, saying that you like architecture is not going to make her belive that you are in love with her, Alex.

In any case, this was the fun light read that I was looking for.

arwen

THEY GOT ME (probably more a 4.5/5 than a 4/5)

Hanna Rybchynska

4.5 stars
This was so cute and amazing! 
However, friends-to-lovers is not my favourite troupe.

You and Me on Vacation

Chloé

literauri

I didn't really like it like I thought I would, but the ending was amazing

ingrid 

for a sec I thought she was gonna move back to Linfield and got real scared 
she ended up with my dream job in NYC tho solid 4 stars

1.75/5


took me around 2 months to actually finish this and i had to force myself

update: definitely better the second time around

original review (2 stars): this was really slow-paced to the point where it was frustrating when it shifted from present day to a series of past summer vacations. overall, it was fun, but not one i would read again.

"What happens when best friends with nothing in common come together, fall apart, and fall in love? The Vacationers meets When Harry Met Sally..., from the author of Beach Read When Poppy met Alex, there was no spark, no chemistry, and no reason to thinkthey'd ever talk again. Alex is quiet, studious, and destined for a future in academia. Poppy is a wild child who only came to U of Chicago to escape small-town life. But after sharing a ride home for the summer, the two form a surprising friendship. After all, who better to confide in than someone you could never, ever date? Over the years, Alex and Poppy's lives take them in different directions, but every summer the two find their way back to each other for a magical weeklong vacation. Until one trip goes awry, and in the fallout, they lose touch. Now, two years later, Poppy's in a rut. Her dream job, her relationships, her life--none of it is making her happy. In fact, the last time she remembers feeling truly happy was on that final, ill-fated SummerTrip. The answer to all her problems is obvious: She needs one last vacation to win back her best friend. As a hilariously disastrous week unfolds and tensions rise, Poppy and Alex are forced to confront what drove them apart--and decide what they're willing to risk for the chance to be together"--

People We Meet on Vacation

Bella Baxter

Maria

this was just perfectly OK, not bad but not mindblowingly good. it was cute and sweet but also felt very formulaic. i kind of struggled with all the exposition and the buildup to the big summer that ruined it all had the opposite effect in that by the time we finally got to it i wasn’t feeling it that much anymore. still a pretty quick, fun read (once you get into it), definitely the kind of book you can binge during the summer on a beach.

Selin Igten

first read 18/11/2021: i cried
second read 26/02/2024: still a 3 star, i don’t know why i cried the first time i read this but okay… might’ve been pmsing!

aleksandra

4/5

Emily Henry knows how to write men.


  
    "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"

"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"

tris

not a huge fan of romance books, everything was kinda expected, especially the happy ending. some chapters were long and i didn't like when they would jump back to the previous summer trips. overall, it was a fun read, felt like i was on vacation reading it!

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by Newsweek ∙ Oprah Magazine ∙ Marie Claire ∙ Parade ∙ PopSugar ∙ BookPage ∙ BookBub ∙ Betches ∙ SheReads ∙ Good Housekeeping ∙ BuzzFeed ∙ and more! Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love. From the bestselling author of Beach Read comes a sparkling new novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations. Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together. Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven't spoken since. Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees. Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?

Meg Ma. Guerrero 

3.5, just needed a light read to get me through a slump

probs shouldn't have had the audiobook playing on speaker for some chapters (👀) but it was fun to listen to nonetheless

now im gonna need calahan skogman and danielle galligan to be cast as alex and poppy if this ever gets turned into a movie or show-- imagining the 2 of them as these characters made it both easier and more fun to listen to

“begin again” and “I almost do” by taylor swift

“one less lonely girl” by justin bieber

“I don't think I knew I was lonely until I met you.” <3

“I’ll never belong anywhere like I belong with you”

i’m so happy i decided to reread this! the second time reading this was even better like i’ve laugh and cried so much while reading this ugh poppyalex truly have my heart! the longing and yearning from both poppy and alex side was perfect to me! friends to lovers supremacy esp with the best banter

“begin again” and “I almost do” by taylor swift
“one less lonely girl” by justin bieber

“I don't think I knew I was lonely until I met you.” <3
“I’ll never belong anywhere like I belong with you”

i’m so happy i decided to reread this! the second time reading this was even better like i’ve laugh and cried so much while reading this ugh poppyalex truly have my heart! the longing and yearning from both poppy and alex side was perfect to me! friends to lovers supremacy esp with the best banter

Madelyne a⟢

I didn’t know I was deep into this friends-to-lovers trope until I read this. This made me feel all the feels. The writing is just breathtaking—how it challenges Poppy to grow and find herself and what she truly wants and also just putting it out there, I’m a simp for Alex. He’s the best friend you could ever dream to have. I would usually give romance novels a good 4 stars if I enjoyed it but this one’s an exception, it’s just a breath of fresh air. I loved every bit of it. I wish I could read this for the first time all over again!

The first like 150-180 pages felt super long and boring but after that I loved it , I even got a bit teary at one point 🤭🥺, I would recommend reading, I just don’t think Emily Henry is the kind of writer for me! 

Issabelle :)

mutiara

dnf at 63%

the first half was so fun tho ????? i was really hoping this would be good because i love friends to lovers trope but ig its just too dragging because they already seem to be in love with each others from the start...i was also going to read all of emily henry's books but idk about now...

gülefşan 

Isabella 

It is definitely an easy light read, but I wasn't really invested until the second half of the book; that's when I couldn't stop reading. I thought I wouldn't like it because the tropes in the book were not the usual tropes I would go for, but I enjoyed it. Personally, it felt so slow at first then it became so rushed.

Sandrin

I mean its Emily Henry. She gets me. We have a connection.

De férias com você é o novo romance de Emily Henry, autora do hit Leitura de verão. Esta é uma história que faz rir e suspirar, em um tributo a filmes clássicos de comédia romântica, como Harry e Sally, Dois melhores amigos. Dez viagens de verão. Uma última chance de se apaixonar. Poppy e Alex. Alex e Poppy. Eles não têm nada em comum. Ela é uma garota rebelde; ele usa calça cáqui. Ela tem um desejo insaciável de viajar; ele prefere ficar em casa lendo um livro. E de alguma forma, desde uma fatídica carona na faculdade há muitos anos, os dois são melhores amigos. Durante a maior parte do tempo, Poppy e Alex moram longe um do outro — ela em Nova York, ele em sua pequena cidade natal —, mas todo verão, há dez anos, embarcam juntos em uma semana deliciosa de férias. Até dois anos atrás... quando eles estragaram tudo. E, desde então, não se falaram mais. Poppy tem todas as coisas de que precisa, mas se sente estagnada. E, se alguém lhe pergunta quando foi a última vez que se sentiu realmente feliz, ela sabe que foi naquela viagem final com Alex. Por isso decide convencer seu melhor amigo a saírem de férias juntos mais uma vez — pôr tudo em pratos limpos, fazer dar certo. Milagrosamente, ele concorda. Agora Poppy tem uma semana para consertar as coisas. E, quem sabe, contornar a grande verdade que permanece em silêncio no meio de sua amizade aparentemente perfeita. Será que algo mais ainda pode dar errado? "Emily Henry é a nova autora que vou comprar sem nem pensar, e De férias com você é a distração perfeita: uma fuga emocionante, divertida e doce que gostaríamos que durasse para sempre." - Jodi Picoult, autora de Um milhão de pequenas coisas " De férias com você é um romance encantador que se desenvolve lentamente, cheio de tensão sexual e possibilidades tentadoras. Fiquei apaixonada por Alex e Poppy e adorei viajar pelo mundo com eles." - Beth O'Leary, autora de Teto para dois

De férias com você

Ana Luiza

Li esse aqui durante minha viagem para os EUA e foi muitooo legal!! Li a maior parte nos voos de ida e volta e me divertiu muito. Visitei Nova Iorque, que era onde a personagem principal morava, fiquei horas esperando em aeroporto que nem os dois… Sinceramente, é o livro perfeito para ler numa viagem.
Mas, fora o cenário, não liguei muito pelos personagens, se eles iam ficar juntos ou nao.. Nenhum dos dois era muito cativante, o que foi o mesmo problema que tive com Beach Read. 
O plot em si foi legal, gostei de conhecer varias cidades e paises por meio do livro. Tirei as duas estrelas por realmente nao conseguir me importar menos pelo romance.
Mas vou continuar tentando Emily Henry, principalmente pq apesar de tudo seus livros são uma delicia de ler.

gabby

had me giggling and kicking my feet in the air

ugh my relationship anxieties have never felt more seen 🙏😫

People We Meet On Vacation

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