At a Glance
- The People We Meet on Vacation audiobook jumped 515% in Spotify listens and 800% in saves within two weeks of the Netflix release
- Over 300 fan playlists titled with “People We Meet on Vacation” or “Alex and Poppy” appeared on the platform
- The movie logged 17 million views in its opening weekend, topping Netflix’s English-language film chart
- Why it matters: Book-to-screen adaptations are rapidly becoming the dominant driver of audiobook discovery
Netflix’s Jan. 9 drop of People We Meet on Vacation has sent Emily Henry’s 2021 novel rocketing back up the charts-this time in audio form. Spotify reports that global listens to the audiobook surged 515% while saves vaulted 800% in the fourteen days following the film’s premiere.
Streaming Numbers Explode
The spike, revealed in a Spotify press release, marks the first time any of Henry’s works have been adapted for film. Listeners who watched Tom Blyth and Emily Bader portray Alex and Poppy immediately flocked to the narrated version, pushing the title into rare viral territory for romance audiobooks.
Fans also turned to playlists:
- More than 300 user-generated compilations now carry “People We Meet on Vacation” or “Alex and Poppy” in their titles
- Taylor Swift, Lorde, Gracie Abrams, Harry Styles and One Direction dominate the track lists
- Spotify’s official movie playlist-featuring The Cure, Joni Mitchell and other soundtrack cuts-has been saved over 9,000 times since launch
Film Scores Immediate Hit
The adaptation, costarring Jameela Jamil, Sarah Catherine Hook, Lucien Laviscount, Lukas Gage, Alan Ruck and Molly Shannon, opened to 17 million views during its first weekend, securing the No. 1 slot on Netflix’s English-language Top 10 film list for the week of Jan. 5-11, according to data cited by Variety.
Bigger Trend in Play
Spotify flagged the jump as part of an ongoing “book-to-screen boom.” In 2024, adaptations such as Wicked, It Ends with Us and Bridgerton helped place 66% of the platform’s U.S. Top 100 Audiobooks on productions already greenlit or released for film or television. The company expects the pattern to continue as more novels make the leap to screens in 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Audiobooks ride film coattails: Same-title releases can multiply listens by five-fold or more within days
- Playlist culture fuels discovery: Fans curate soundtracks that keep titles trending long after credits roll
- Streaming data signals demand: Watch for more studios to fast-track romance and book-club favorites already popular on audio platforms
People We Meet on Vacation is streaming now on Netflix; the audiobook is available wherever audiobooks are sold.
