Book 1/30.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I intentionally chose You and Me on Vacation for the inaugural read of my 2023 reading challenge as my fiancé and I would be on vacation at the time I was reading it. I know that’s a little a lot on the nose, but I have a lot of nose to begin with so 🤷♀️😅
I was very excited to read this as The Love Hypothesis, the final book of my 2022 reading challenge and a MAJOR 5 star read, lost out on the 2021 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance to People We Meet on Vacation by a paltry 563 votes. The Love Hypothesis was EXCELLENT and (insert my own hypothesis 😎) if 563 people thought PWMoV was even more excellent then it would be so much fun to find out if I agree with them or nah 🤩
The finding of my hypothesis is that while You and Me on Vacation is an enjoyable read, The Love Hypothesis should have won the award.
You and Me on Vacation is built on the friends-to-lovers trope, with opposites attract thrown into the mix. Poppy and Alex have been best friends for 12 years and each year they take a vacation together, until it all went wrong 2 years ago. This year Poppy asks Alex to join her on one last trip. A trip that will determine the rest of their lives.
My favourite thing about this book was the banter between Poppy and Alex. Their banter in the opening third had me alternating between giggling like a schoolgirl and laughing out loud. Absolutely delightful! I also really liked both main characters and enjoyed how they complemented each other sooo well. I loved how the story was set in both the past and the present as the author swung back and forth between their vacations of yesteryears and them trying to mend their relationship in the present.
Beach Read was my first Emily Henry read and I rated it 3 stars, so perhaps it is a step up that I rated her second novel one star higher. But I do not agree with the 563 people who voted for it over The Love Hypothesis mostly because I found the reason Poppy and Alex did not talk for 2 years to be extremely contrived. It just did not seem credible to me that it would be reason enough to not talk for 2 years, no matter the circumstances around it.
That said, You and Me on Vacation is an insightful investigation into that unknowable gray area between friendship and true love and was a great way to kick off my 2023 reading challenge.
** A guide to ratings **
1 star – did not like it
2 stars – it was okay
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing
Lwile the Leo 