Why ‘People We Meet on Vacation’ should have stayed a book

Now comes Alex—a soft cedar- and musk-scented Alex who loves to run as a hobby. His restraint does not come off as cold but as a shy, ethical hesitation shaped by responsibility. He believes actions speak better than declarations, and that love without stability is not love. In the romantic genre, Alex’s quiet love for Poppy feels almost radical, which is exactly what makes him Poppy’s Alex Nilsen.

The movie adaptation fails to deliver the emotional depth of the characters. (Generated using AI)

Slow burn romance

Patience is essential to enjoy this slow-burn romance with its deeply rewarding friendship moments. While the novel clearly follows a friends-to-lovers arc, it understands something many romances rush past. Chemistry builds over time through the accumulation of small intimacies. Inside jokes, shared silences, crying moments, and simply being there for each other feel less like effort and more like muscle memory. By the time romance enters, it does not feel like a plot twist but a long-denied, inevitable want.

This may be why the movie adaptation does not work as effectively. It fails to deliver the emotional depth of the characters, rushing them from meet-cute to vacation buddies to misunderstandings and reconciliation. What it misses is the decade-long emotional infrastructure beneath them. Friendship is not just important here—it is foundational. It lays the groundwork for everything that follows, and that grounding felt absent in the film. For those who have not read the book, the shared history, the awkward in-betweens, the effort they put into each other, and the presence of other characters who shape their lives are largely lost.

Structurally, the book moves back and forth across summers, allowing us to see the characters grow, retreat, and develop. As the main characters evolve, the novel also gestures toward the importance of where they come from and what they carry with them. Alex and Poppy have contrasting upbringings that explain much about who they become. Alex, the oldest of four, steps into responsibility after his mother’s death and his father’s emotional withdrawal. At a young age, he learns that stability is fragile and that being good means being careful. Meanwhile, Poppy grows up as the youngest of three in a house full of noise and presence. She describes a life always surrounded by people, yet deeply lonely.

Loneliness, summer and fun

Loneliness is a major undercurrent in the novel. While People We Meet on Vacation is filled with fun summers, love, and friendship, it is also about the quieter kind of loneliness. The modern kind that exists even when you are functional, employed, and socially outgoing. Poppy’s restlessness and compulsive movement show her refusal to stay long enough to name her dissatisfaction. Alex’s careful, defensive actions are another response to the same feeling. Together, they build a temporary home in each other, especially during their summer trips. These vacations give them relief from loneliness and allow them to be vulnerable.

Rachel, Poppy’s closest friend, plays a key role as both mirror and catalyst. She calls out Poppy’s self-deception and gives her the space to confront what she is truly searching for. Rachel helps push the story forward by demanding honesty.

The novel also engages quietly with millennial ennui—the exhaustion that comes after achieving what you want and still feeling hollow. Poppy has the dream job and an Instagrammable life, yet remains profoundly unsatisfied. This feeling becomes the trigger for her journey. The book suggests that everyone eventually collides with the gap between expectations and reality, and that avoiding it only deepens the emptiness.

One charming takeaway is the “Shark Jumping” game Poppy plays with her brothers, a creative spin on storytelling and truth that reflects the novel’s playful yet meaningful tone.

Ultimately, People We Meet on Vacation makes you want to take that summer trip while also asking what you are really running toward—or away from. It sits with missed chances, wrong timing, and quiet longing, and delivers a love built through repetition rather than grand gestures. In choosing each other, leaving, returning, and taking that long-awaited vacation together, the novel affirms that intimacy grows not from spectacle, but from showing up.