The biggest (and most shocking) changes between People We Meet On Vacation's book and movie.

The Netflix adaptation of Emily Henry's People We Meet on Vacation has finally arrived, bringing Poppy Wright and Alex Nilsen's decade-spanning friendship to the small screen.

The screen version stars Emily Bader as the free-spirited travel writer Poppy and Tom Blyth as the reserved teacher Alex — two college friends who take annual trips together each summer.

The plot picks up as the now-estranged best friends reunite for one final summer trip to Barcelona for Alex's brother's wedding. Through a series of holiday flashbacks, the film explores a decade of their shared vacations, ultimately forcing them to confront their long-buried romantic feelings.

Watch the trailer. Post continues after video.

The film beautifully captures the vacay vibes of the dreamy beach read, but fans of the novel have flagged several significant shifts in the narrative.

From a different ending to massive changes to the backstories of several main characters, here are the biggest differences between the book and the novel.

The biggest changes between Emily Henry's book and movie on Netflix's People We Meet On Vacation.

Poppy and Alex met much earlier in the book.

In the film, Poppy and Alex's first interaction happens during a tense carpool ride home from Boston College. However, the book establishes that they actually met a year earlier during college orientation.

They weren't friends immediately, but their initial meeting provided a layer of history before their fateful road trip.

The setting of Barcelona was added in the movie.

The 'present day' portion of the book actually takes place on a sweltering, budget-strained trip to Palm Springs. The movie trades the California desert for the romantic backdrop of Barcelona in Spain.

The broken aircon plot remains in both, but the European setting gives the film a more cinematic, high-budget feel that differs from the more grounded energy of the original novel.

Image: Netflix.

Poppy isn't invited to the wedding in the book.

A major plot driver in the movie is Alex's brother, David, personally inviting Poppy to his wedding. When she calls Alex to talk about whether she should attend, she decides to travel to the wedding and pretend she's writing a piece for her magazine in Barcelona. In the novel, this doesn't happen.

In the book Poppy is the one who initiates contact with Alex after two years of silence, suggesting they go on one last trip together. When he tells her about his brother's wedding in Palm Springs, she plans the trip and pretends it's for her magazine (as a way to fix their friendship), and as a result they attend the wedding together.

Their trip to Croatia was cut.

The infamous Croatia trip is the emotional heart of the book, marking the moment Poppy and Alex finally crossed the friendship line and kissed for the first time. This was their last trip before their stilted two-year estrangement.

The movie replaces this location with Tuscany and reshuffles the timeline of their various summer getaways to combine the year of the pregnancy scare with the year of the accidental kiss.

By condensing ten years of vacations into a shorter recap, the film sacrifices some of the slow-burning buildup for a more concise storyline. And also changed the tone of that kiss. Also…

Alex never proposed to Sarah in the book.

One of the most jarring changes for fans is Alex's relationship status with Sarah.

In the movie, Alex actually proposes to Sarah in Tuscany following his almost-kiss with Poppy.

But in the book, Alex buys an engagement ring but never actually goes through with the proposal. He realises he is in love with Poppy ever before popping the question, and she later finds out in Palm Springs.

Including the proposal added even higher stakes to the movie version.

Image: Netflix.

Sarah's backstory is different.

In the film, Sarah is introduced as Alex's high school sweetheart — suggesting he has been tied to her since before he knew Poppy.

In the book, Alex actually meets Poppy during his freshman year of college, well before his relationship with Sarah began.

The final conversation between Poppy and Sarah is different.

The movie features a chance encounter between Poppy and Sarah at an airport, where Sarah is working as a flight attendant. This provides a clean, quick sense of closure for the women — but also gives Sarah her own adventurous send-off and a better life without Alex.

In the book, the interaction is much more fleshed out. Poppy goes to the high school where Alex and Sarah both teach (yes, in the book she's a teacher rather than working in her family business). They have a more nuanced conversation in a hallway, where Sarah essentially gives Poppy her blessing, acknowledging that Alex was never truly hers.

Poppy and Alex's families look different.

The movie simplifies the chaotic family dynamics found in the novel. In the book, Alex is the eldest of four brothers, while Poppy has eccentric, loud parents and twin brothers.

The film condenses Alex's siblings down to just one brother, David, to focus the narrative. Similarly, Poppy's family life is less cluttered, and we don't hear or see any of her siblings.

Image: Netflix.

Alex's backstory is less fleshed out in the movie.

Some fans want justice for Alex! The book explores how the death of Alex's mother in childbirth shaped his fear of intimacy and his career choices. It even includes a significant subplot about Alex getting a vasectomy out of fear. The movie omits the vasectomy entirely and touches only lightly on his grief.

Overall, Alex's life goals and career aspirations are downplayed in the film — leaving more room for Poppy's character to drive the plot.

The ending is different (and less dramatic).

The movie opts for a classic rom-com ending with Poppy chasing Alex down through the streets in a dramatic running sequence.

The book's ending is far quieter but more vulnerable: Poppy finds Alex at a local bar surrounded by his coworkers. Her confession is more of an emotional breakdown than a cinematic chase.

Poppy and Alex don't end up living in New York.

In the novel's epilogue, the couple reaches a compromise where they temporarily live and work in New York City — before agreeing to try living in Lindfield for a few months to test it out. It's a way for them to test out where they want to live longer term.

The movie delivers a more definitive happily ever after by having Alex and Poppy move in together in New York.

Feature image: Amazon/Netflix.