Our First Bookish Kit Pick: People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry

It’s that time of year where we tuck books into our beach bags, suitcases, and picnic baskets and enjoy the environment around us. That hasn’t been easy for us in a long time, and now that things are opening up again, there is still time to tuck those books in our bags and enjoy some summer reading. Norma and I put together a fun bookish pairing with a book sleeve, bookmarks, and stickers and discussion questions for People We Meet on Vacation. Norma featured it in her  Etsy shop, and it sold out within an hour. I didn’t even get a chance to feature it here on the blog. So this is not the kit Norma created, but I substituted another book sleeve made our very talented Mom that is available to feature with the book and added some bookmarks that would go perfectly with the book and theme.

You can find the book sleeve here

You can find the beach bookmarks here and the pool bookmarks here

Use SISTERS20 at checkout for 20% off

Why Norma and I picked People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry for our first bookish kit.

We wanted a fun and entertaining summer read that took us on an adventure, and Poppy and Alex did just that. We loved the themes we could come with to go with the book. People We Meet on Vacation makes for a fantastic summer getaway read. It’s easy to get buried in; it’s a lighter, fun one with some depth to the characters, especially Poppy. She is a character to talk about.

Pack your bags and travel with Poppy and Alex to the places they vacationed on, and then travel over with Norma and me to our discussion post on our blog. (I will be adding the post soon)

“Two best friends. Ten Summer trips. One Last Chance to fall in love.”

Brenda’s review

My favorite summer read so far this year!! It’s one not to be missed! It’s the perfect getaway read, and I loved traveling with Poppy and Alex to the places they vacationed on. It doesn’t demand much from readers but still has some depth to the story and characters.

People We Meet On Vacation has all that I needed for a perfect getaway read. It’s a funny, heartfelt, engaging read with banter and dialogue between the characters that felt fresh and exciting. I often find with rom- coms the banter can become tiring and old fast for me. Here it felt realistic, fun, and lively. Their connection felt genuine, and I enjoyed the dynamics between Poppy and Alex from start to finish. 

What stood out the most for me was how Emily Henry nails those tropes like opposites attract, best friends to lovers, secretly in love with each other, and a more modern one friendship breakup. She adds a fresh, exciting modern twist while brilliantly weaves those tropes in by creating a history of friendship told across the vacations Poppy and Alex shared once a year. There is an interesting personal growth dimension that adds depth to the characters. We see this more with Poppy’s character, and Alex creates more depth for Poppy.   Emily Henry has a little surprise in the end that stands on its own and pays homage to the golden age grand gesture and confession of love elements of a rom-com. That clinched the deal for me, and I loved how it all wrapped!! I highly recommend it!!

Norma’s Review:

4.5 Stars! Romantic, delightful, and a captivating page turner!

PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION by EMILY HENRY is a refreshing, thought-provoking, compelling, emotional, sweet, and fun rom-com that absolutely stole my heart.  The friends to lovers trope here was done extremely well and not in your typical rom-com fashion.  The author has this unique ability to tap into your deepest emotions as well as the characters’ that are deeply affecting to you the reader.  Right from the very beginning I found myself fully immersed in this tale.

EMILY HENRY delivers a multi-layered, engaging read here with great characters that I absolutely adored, totally immersing me in Poppy and Alex’s friendship as well as in every vacation that they took together.  I loved their strong chemistry and the dynamics between these two.  Poppy is so quirky with the best sense of humour ever to Alex’s reservedness.  The author does an awesome job with totally investing us in their relationship and I was definitely rooting for a happily ever after ending for the both of them.

The teasing, humorous and witty banter between Poppy and Alex is what I absolutely loved and couldn’t get enough of.  I kind of envied Poppy’s teasing and witty nature.  I am more reserved like Alex so she had me thinking plenty of time how in the world do you come up with this stuff.  

The only part that frustrated me a little bit was when the friends didn’t talk for a few years.  The silence and miscommunication in a story normally bothers me though.  We as readers can see what’s happening so why can’t our characters? 

The story is told from alternating timelines of This Summer, and their past Summer trips of the places that they vacationed.  Their yearly vacation is where we really get to know Poppy and Alex as individuals and see the dynamics they shared as friends and a couple.  I think the title is a little more meaningful to who Poppy and Alex are as people rather than the people they actually meet on vacation.

It was an absolute pleasure reading this lighthearted rom-com with substance.  Some parts of this story really touched me and tugged at my heartstrings, either putting a huge smile on my face or making me a bit teary eyed.  Would recommend it!  

We received copies from the publisher through NetGalley