Absolute perfection. THIS epitomizes why friends to lovers is my favourite framing in romances. This book is a love letter to friendship. It's like When Harry Met Sally, except you understand why she gets with the dude in the end. We see Poppy and Alex's relationship develop from their initial meeting, very much an odd couple pairing, to "this summer," where they're trying to reconnect after a falling out two years prior. The structure of jumping back and forth in time REALLY worked for me. We got to see so much of their relationship develop, and it created a slow burn to the convergence of tensions where the rumblings of their attraction crash into the chemistry of this summer. The scene where things finally get steamy--both literally and metaphorically--actually made me burst into tears, because...well, we don't need to get into that. But the pressure was so beautifully built. And it happened during a rainstorm, which is just . The grovel moment was a big public gesture, which is one of my favourite things about romcom movies.

Although the book is basically 95% about the build of Alex and Poppy's relationship, obviously they are dealing with the obstacles that have kept them from pursuing each other, so it also addresses millennial ennui (a phrase I wrote down in my notes towards the beginning to capture the spirit of the conversations, only to have the phrase itself be used at the end of the book, lol) and parasocial relationships and how to deal with your individual trauma in order to be able to build a new healthy life (therapy, is the answer) and how you can love someone but that doesn't mean they're the right person for you or that you can build the life you want with them.

Honestly, Emily Henry was already an auto-buy from me after only having read Beach Read, but I'll follow her to the ends of the earth after this one. I loved it, I will treasure having it on my shelves to go back to in times of need.