Very delightful, very sweet. Made me hungry every time I went to read. It is definitely a blast how you recommend want to keep an eye out for the authors works in the fiture!

<b>thank you to netgalley for providing me with an e-arc of this!!</b>

Vivi has always wondered about her mother's family in Viet Nam. her mother never talks about them and she refuses to return to Viet Nam with Vivi, but Vivi knows they are there. given the opportunity to study abroad in Sai Gon, Vivi goes, hoping to find the remnants of her family in a country she barely knows. meanwhile, Lan has been working the banh mi stall, one of the final reminders of her father after his sudden death four years ago. Lan's passion rests with her food blog, but her pen has dried up since her father died.

when Vivi's and Lan's paths cross, the two team up to discover where they come from--and where they still have to go.

this book started out strong enough. the conflicts each girl faced really piqued my interests. as I kept reading, I couldn't help but feel that we were revisiting the same problems over and over. by the time anything was being done about it, I was 48% into the book. 48%!!! that's HALFWAY THROUGH IT!! granted, Vivi finding her family in a city of ten million people shouldn't have been easy, but in the beginning it didn't seem like much was being done about it. when they finally got a break in the case, everything fell into place <i>a little</i> too easily. someone knew someone who knew someone who knew someone else.

there was no conflict that was not immediately resolved, other than Vivi's and Lan's overarching conflicts of course. Vivi and Lan would go speak with someone about Vivi's mom, and the conversation would digress to food before the other person said, you look like you have a question you want to ask me! not to mention, the conversations that Vivi and Lan had both with each other and with the people they encountered were frank and then bordered on didactic. everything was a gentle lecture about others' lived experiences and then became overly saccharine (I know I've been using the word saccharine a lot, but I feel like this is a really common trend in YA lit in particular, at least the ones that I've read recently).

if you want to learn more about vietnamese culture and the impact of the viet nam war on refugees, this is the book for you. I would have eaten this book UP when I was like 15-20. I saw a lot of my younger self in these characters and their relationships with their family's past, legacy, and piety. there were parts toward the end that made me tear up, too. but as an almost 30 y/o who has thought about this for what feels like a hundred years, I found a lot of the observations to be trite and a lot of the thematic conversations that the characters had leaned toward monologues.

I would recommend this book to any young person still struggling with their dual identities or who want to be affirmed in their identities.

Incredibly sweet and fun, and also a super quick read which is always appreciated. Definitely don't read this one on an empty stomach!

Thanks Henry Holt and NetGalley for the gifted DRC book.

After her father passes away, Lan can’t bring herself to update the food blog they started together, A Bánh Mì for Two. She works at the family bánh mì stall in Sài Gòn and cares for her mother in her role as the perfect daughter. Lan meets Vivi, a Vietnamese American student secretly on a study abroad semester who is in Việt Nam for the first time. Vivi is looking to find information about her parents’ homeland since they won’t talk to her about living in Việt Nam. She also wants to try the foods she has read about on A Bánh Mì for Two, her favorite blog. Lan agrees to help Vivi navigate the city and find her family history. Vivi agrees to help Lan enter a food blogging contest by getting her back to writing again. As the two spend time together, love grows.

A Bánh Mì for Two was such a sweet romance, but the book was about a lot more than sapphic love. There was a strong exploration of self-identity, family obligation versus individual desires, culture, grief, and intergenerational trauma. The poignant areas were balanced well with heartfelt moments to create an emotional yet overall warm coming-of-age story. The characters were well-developed with Sài Gòn being a character of its own. Vivid imagery of the city and the food depicted made for an immersive reading experience. I found there to be enough deeper meaning to the book to outweigh any of the teenage angst that can sometimes be annoying as an adult reader of YA novels. This was altogether a great read that I’d recommend to anyone looking for YA sapphic romance, especially foodies.

I loved reading A Banh Mi For Two! Nguyen has such a way with words, and I truly felt transported into the story. A marvelous debut, and can't wait to see what's next!

In this sweet sapphic romance, A Bánh Mì for Two, readers are transported to the bustling streets of Sài Gòn, where two foodies find love amidst family histories and culinary adventures. In this sweet sapphic romance, A Bánh Mì for Two by [Author's Name], readers are transported to the bustling streets of Sài Gòn, where two foodies find love amidst family histories and culinary adventures.

The author has described this book as a love letter to Vietnam/Vietnamese street food, and it really delivers! Exploring themes of family, love, culture, and the ways we find our own path through dual-POV, this is a really tender, fun romance. I felt like I was traveling while reading it, but with much more depth than typical tourism (and some deserved critiques of it!). I'm so excited for more from Nguyen!

This book will tug at your heart strings. I grew up in southeast Louisiana, home to many Vietnamese immigrants. They brought with them their own spices and recipes and adapted them using the abundance of fresh seafood in the area. I would love to visit Vietnam to experience the culture first hand, and Trinity Nguyen’s vivid description of the setting of this book made me want to do so even more. I enjoyed this book as a mirror, looking into a culture and a love story outside of my own experiences.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me a copy of A Banh Mi For Two in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.
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This book was just a delight to read from start to finish. We're introduced to two characters, Vivi and Lan, who may be more alike than they realize. This book did a wonderful job of showcasing how food can bring so many people together through times of grief, doubt, and happiness. In Sài Gòn, Vivi hopes to find answers on why her mother never opens up about Vietnam, while Lan tries to balance being a good daughter and running a famous blog, A Bánh Mì for Two. It was clear to me that both of these characters had such love put into them by Trinity that you can't help but fall in love with them too. Nguyen did an amazing job with how moments in Vietnam's history have affected many families, like Vivi's. Although there was a mini-third act break up that I am usually not fond of, it was resolved somewhat quickly for me to enjoy this book still. This was such a delight to read and I am so excited for whatever Trinity may write next.

This book was so fun to read! I will give it 4.5/5 ratings! I was happy enough to read an advanced copy and I will give a Good reads ratings as well! This book gives us a glimpse into the Vietnamese everyday life and relationships in Vietnam! I love the details to the food in the books and the cultural foods of Vietnam! I will recommend this book to anyone who loves food and adores a good love story!

I have loved reading YA focusing on different cultures lately, and this book is a great addition! I learned so much about Vietnam that I'd never heard before and it was so impactful to read about the different experiences those that stayed in Vietnam after the war faced and what decisions led to people leaving.

The characters is the book were both likeable and well rounded. Vivi and Lan were both dealing with different types of expectations, Lan self-imposed pressure to support her family and Vivi the expectation of going along with her mother's wishes. The characters work well off of each other and their relationship is sweet and a great source of development. My one complaint is that the pacing sometimes felt rushed, like we were getting the highlights of moments rather than it flowing naturally.

First of all, read this book on a full stomach because the FOOD. It’s so good, the descriptions of the various foods, sauces, and preps. I sincerely spent a week after just wishing every meal was something from this book.

Loved the setting (Saigon) and the characters. Both were richly described and well developed. The story arc was sweet, with a fair bit of generational complexity woven in. By the end I was rooting for the main characters AND their parents.

Solid read with a compelling point of view. I’ll recommend this to a broad array of readers.

This was a cute, sweet romance, and I enjoyed it. The food descriptions were amazing, and even though I wouldn't want to eat most of what was described, the descriptions still made me hungry.

This book was adorable - very descriptive language about the food and sights of Sai Gon and it was fascinating to see how two different Vietnamese girls had different experiences with their culture. The plot was simple and straightforward but full of emotions as Lan and Vivi opened up their worlds to each other.

This is the type of representation I wanted when I was a kid and I am so excited to see more of this out in the world.

Caution: Do not read while hungry!!!

This one was really cute, it reminded me a lot of Adiba Jaigirdar's writing -- really saccharine sweet. I loved that it normalized living in Sài Gòn like most YA books normalize living in small town USA or New York City. I also liked that it introduced us to Vietnamese history, because like the novel suggests, we don't get that kind of history taught to us in school. It did lose me by the end because I truly did not understand Lan and Vivi's fight at all, it just felt like a 3rd act breakup just to have one.

After learning about this book sometime last year, this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024. As a Vietnamese-Malaysian-American, I felt extremely seen by Vivi's internal struggle with her identity. I also appreciated Lan's development and her connection to her family. As a debut novel, I was very impressed by Trinity Nguyen's writing style and her ability to immerse the reader in the setting of Sai Gon. Of course, as a Viet-American, I found myself salivating at all the food descriptions and made me miss my own ba noi's cooking. Lan and Vivi also had an incredibly sweet relationship and I felt like the development/pacing was very natural. I do think the ending was a little more rushed than I would have liked. All in all, I have already placed a pre-order for a physical copy of this book so I can share amongst my own friends and community.

Thank you to the author, Trinity Nguyen, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC!

thank you to net galley and macmillan children's publishing group for this eARC!

i really liked a lot of parts of this book, which is why i’m sad that the relationship fell a little flat for me. i really loved the exploration of vietnamese culture and i really liked each character individually. i liked their stories and their relationships with family/friends and i really liked how they developed. but, for some reason, i just couldn’t really get into their romantic relationship with each other. i don’t know why it just didn’t feel super natural to me and, contrary to most romances that i read, i wasn’t really waiting for it or anticipating it. it felt to me like the lines about “butterflies” and all of that typical stuff were almost out of place. however i did really like their friendship.

!!!SPOILERS!!!

the end also felt a little rushed to me. it seemed like her mom going to vietnam came kind of out of nowhere. i think there was definitely room for a little more development there.

all that said, i did really enjoy this book and it made me cry like a baby. it was definitely enjoyable and i’d still recommend it, if only for the beautiful descriptions of sài gòn.

A Bánh Mì For Two was one of my most anticipated YA romances of the year, and this story was just as sweet as I hoped, but had even more depth than I expected as well: a win!

Lan and Vivi both have very different experiences, and it was amazing seeing both of those portrayed with care, and seeing them connect regardless. Lan, who lives in Saigon, has always been passionate about writing and her street food blog, but after her father's passing, she hasn't been able to write. Vivi, who lives in California, is visiting Saigon without her parents knowing, because her mum wouldn't allow her. She's always wanted to know about Vietnam and her parents' past, but her mum has never wanted to tell her about it. Together, they go on a mission of finding Vivi's mum's relatives who still live in Saigon.

I felt the full range of human emotions reading this book. It's a very sweet romance, and it's so full of love. Not even just romantic love, but also love for family, love for your heritage, love for a city, love for street food. But there's also the sadness of the trauma Vietnamese people of older generations have been through, and intergenerational trauma of their children. As well as Lan's grief about her father dying, and feeling like she has to put your dreams aside to care for her mother. So at times, this book made me sad, but always the kind of sad that was easily balanced out by Lan and Vivi's sweet romance or other loving moments.

What a sweet story of romance, travel, belonging to a culture, understanding your parents' story, and of course food! Vivi and Lan are so sweet together as they travel Sai Gon in search of the best street food and Vivi's long lost family. I really enjoyed seeing Vietnam through these girls' eyes.

A Bánh Mì for Two is a must-read for any Vietnamese girl. I’m a Vietnamese American millennial, daughter to immigrant parents that have planted their roots in California.

This was a beautiful love story in so many aspects: Lan and Vivi find love in each other and in themselves. They find love in the family they’ve always had and the family they come to find. They find love in the city that’s always been home for one and pictures in a history textbook for the other - the city that’s the third main character in this book.

Lan’s background and growth was beautiful to read, especially with the author’s dive into grief: how it’s not linear and how we carry it and guilt with us every day. I will say, however, that I resonated much more with Vivi’s story. Someone who struggles with being neither Vietnamese enough or American enough. It was beautiful to feel so seen in the words of the book.

I will make sure a hard copy of this book goes on my shelf, as I know I will reach for it again and again.

Thank you to the author, Trinity Nguyen, for an eARC of this book. It was an honor to read.

So, as Vietnamese people say: have you eaten yet?