By Abby Knox, Opinions and Editorials Editor

The hype for the Netflix adaptation of Emily Henry’s “People We Meet on Vacation” quickly died out as it fell short of audience’s expectations. 

Emily Henry fans have been awaiting the release of Netflix’s “People We Meet on Vacation,” yet that anticipation quickly fizzled out with the movie adaptation falling short of expectations.

With the book release back in 2021 and the movie’s recent release, readers and romantic comedy lovers everywhere had been anticipating it since the announcement of the adaptation in October 2022.

This movie was viewed 17.2 million times on Netflix during the opening weekend alone, and sat at the No. 1 film on Netflix’s English Top 10 movie list for the week of Jan. 5 to Jan. 11 according to Variety.

The book returned to New York Times Best Seller List and Spotify’s audiobook streams for “People We Meet On Vacation” increased by 515% since the film’s premiere.

Having read the book back in December 2021, I too was anticipating this movie.

The long slow burn love story is between main characters Poppy and Alex. These two best friends turned lovers are the definition of opposites attract. Poppy is a silly and creative travel journalist in New York City. Alex is a high school English teacher who is depicted as a more reserved goal-oriented guy.

 The second the movie began, it felt different. I did not get to slowly learn about these two characters like I had in the book. I am a strong proponent of the fact that when books are made into movies, the book is always better. In this case, my opinion still stands.

I enjoyed the spunky character of Poppy with the cool, calm and collected Alex. However, the movie did not encapsulate the slow burn romance, no matter how many flashbacks they included. 

The inner dialogue of main characters Poppy and Alex were completely missed in the movie. Yes, we saw what they were doing, but we never knew what they were thinking like in the book.

Maybe it was the fact that Poppy was played up to be more ditzy than how I perceived her in the book, or because I dislike that when books are turned into movies, since the story line is often altered.

Regardless of the reasoning for my opinion of this movie, I do want to reiterate that this movie was sweet. It ended well and made me happy. It could just be that deep down I am always a book girl at heart.