Book vs. Movie: "People We Meet On Vacation"

Like so many other fans of #1 New York Times best-selling author Emily Henry's People We Meet On Vacation, today I curled up on my couch with my favorite soft blanket and got lost in Netflix's newest movie--People We Meet On Vacation. Personally, I loved the movie, but here's a list of reasons why it might--or might not--measure up to some readers' standards.

1) Casting and Characters

First, Tom Blythe and Emily Bader did an immaculate job bringing this story to my television. Between their longing looks, tear-filled eyes, and authentic connection on screen, I fell in love with Alex and Poppy all over again.

Next, Jameela Jamil graced the screen as Swapna, and she was cast perfectly, which allowed her to play her part seamlessly, even with less time on screen than she had in the book. However, I'm not sure who chose Alice Lee to play Rachel, and I'm not sure if they told her what her role in the romance was. Luckily, her screen time was short and sweet because I loved Rachel in the book, but not so much on screen.

Lastly, when it comes to the Linfield townspeople, Sarah Catherine Hook was perfectly Sarah and was a more rounded character on screen than she was in the book. I loved how they changed her and let her have her own mini-story. Moreover, casting Molly Shannon as Wanda--a.k.a. Poppy's mom--was perfect. The condom scene was wild, folks!

2) Setting

Some of the setting changes didn't matter. For example, Poppy and Alex meet at school in Boston, which allows them to have a longer car ride home and get to know each other on the way. Another change was the venue of Davie's wedding being in Barcelona, which has more screen appeal, and only works because it made Poppy's ability to drop everything and attend more realistic. Don't worry, they still managed to work in the broken air conditioning, the airless apartment, and the thunderstorm.

Besides those two locations, settings didn't change as much as they did not exist. Most of the places Poppy and Alex go to in the novel are visited in the movie, but there's not so much time focused on the relationship building between them that occurred during certain vacations in the novel.

3) Plot and Storyline

I loved that they kept the nonlinear timeline that was followed in the novel, but appreciated where they had to cut corners to make things feel more authentic--most of the time. For example, Davie invites Poppy to his wedding directly, and Rachel isn't as important in the movie because Poppy never seeks her mother's professional advice.

I was really glad Sarah came through in the movie--in a different way than the book--but disappointed that Poppy never encountered her childhood bully before the end of the movie.

Speaking of the ending, the book did the third-act break-up way better, but the movie closed in a way that explained the image on the cover of the book and the movie, which I loved!

In conclusion, if viewers are looking for a replica of the love story they read, then they will likely be disappointed. However, if they sit down to Netflix and chill with an open mind, they--like me--will likely love the movie almost as much as the book (come on, we all know the book had better quotes).