Hey all, Sam here.
It has been a very nice weekend, but things are settling back down to normal today, because my mom headed home this morning. And I’m glad I was actually able to keep up with the blogging schedule while she was here. It was nice to actually get a few posts written up in advance, which really helped maximize time spent with family instead of glued to my computer.
Anyway, today’s review is not one of the many NetGalley reviews I need to get to, but it is a review from my long Memorial Day weekend reading challenge. I still have a few books left to talk about from that, as well as a few from Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon. Depending on how the blogging goes in the next couple of weeks, I may start sprinkling in more bonus posts so I can get them all reviewed.
With that said, as we truly head into summer, I find myself in a beach read/summer rom-com/smut reading mood. Which is why I started my long weekend of reading with today’s book for review. Let’s get started.
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?
My Thoughts
Rating: 5 stars
I’ll be honest, I thought I read this book when it came out two years ago, but it was still on my to-read list according to Goodreads, so obviously I had to read it now. I’ve read every Emily Henry book now (aside from her newest release, which has come out in hardcover first…and since I prefer matching sets of books, I’ll either have to wait for the paperback to come out, or I’ll have to borrow it from the library).
I always enjoy these. They are absolutely perfect to read in the summer, with moments of light and fun in the sun, but also with enough relationship development and drama to keep the pages turning.
But this book also adds an additional element into it, and that is travel. Reading about all of Poppy and Alex’s travels and adventures filled me with this sensation of wanderlust. I traveled from one side of the US to the other multiple times last year, but since it was all work based and there were only a few hours of actual sightseeing and tourist experiences, it didn’t satisfy that desire to explore and have those memorable moments that make travel fun.
I also loved that we had the split timeline with this story. We followed Poppy and Alex’s travels from the past decade in flashback chapters, and then we followed Poppy and Alex now as Poppy tried to fix what was broken on the last trip they made together.
As I mentioned before, the tension and drama of this story kept me turning the pages. The past chapters were filled with this will-they-won’t-they tension that was fascinating to follow. And the current chapters hinted at the event that caused their separation, but overall it took a while for all the pieces to fall into place and everything to be revealed.
Overall I enjoyed the friends-to-lovers trope blended with this rediscovery/reconnection story. I found it to be compelling and entertaining, and I read the book quickly enough. It made for a great start to a long weekend readathon.
Well, that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.
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