When the world feels like it's too much, you just want to read a book that feels like a hug. A Banh Mi for Two was that book for me. I loved exploring Saigon with these characters and it reminded me of my own study abroad experience.

A Bánh Mì for Two is a heartwarming, food-filled sapphic love story that centers on Vivi, a Vietnamese-American student visiting Sài Gòn for the first time to study abroad, and Lan, a Vietnamese blogger who helps her parents run their bánh mì stand. As they journey through the vibrant food scene of Sài Gòn, they build a tender connection, compete in an essay contest, and uncover parts of Vivi's family history.

This novel beautifully delves into themes like parental relationships, responsibility, belonging, loss, and the impact of being a child of immigrants. It also sensitively addresses generational trauma from the Vietnam War. Vivi’s longing to understand her heritage while feeling caught between two worlds is particularly well-captured. And of course, the food descriptions are mouthwatering, vividly bringing Sài Gòn's cuisine to life.

While the story shines in character depth, the plot sometimes feels secondary, and the ending comes a bit too quickly. However, watching Lan and Vivi's romance blossom makes the journey thoroughly enjoyable and heartwarming.

Overall, it's a delightful contemporary YA romance that I'd definitely recommend.

As a person who picks up audiobooks rarely and finds them very hit or miss, I absolutely adored how this was told, narrated and explored. The two POV's were very distinct, dynamic and worked really well together when listening but also within the plot.

This story was such a beautiful mix of romance, exploring your culture, finding out about hidden familial truths and the realities of those who lived the life that could've been yours. It was warm, sweet, hopeful and had me hungry on every twist of the page.

This story was the perfect one to listen to whilst engaging in other cosy hobbies, finishing a diamond painting and finishing this sapphic story at the same time was the absolute best feeling. Getting to live inside the heads of Vivi and Lan and watching how their two opposing personalities melded and mixed was wonderful. I'm so incredibly excited for more from this author and will be looking for them in bookstores even if there are no future books in sight.

A delightful sapphic romance unfolds between two food and culture enthusiasts, Vivi and Lan, during Vivi’s semester abroad in Vietnam. As they delve into unraveling family histories and familial pressures, they form a beautiful bond while having fun adventures and indulging in the delectable street food of Sài Gòn.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book, giving it a solid 4.5 star rating. As a lover of cute sapphic novels, I particularly appreciate that it’s a YA book as I believe in giving young adults more queer representation and for them it is a crucial genre in literature. I was also delighted to find depictions of Asian characters in queer literature. As an Asian American who has limited knowledge about my Japanese relatives (but great knowledge in culture), I found it refreshing to read about a character who shares similar feelings that I experienced during my childhood.

Overall, I recommend A Bánh Mi for Two. It is a heartwarming story filled with emotion, humor, romance, culture, challenges, and lots of delicious foods.

After finishing this, I am both crying and so hungry. This is a fantastic YA debut about love, culture, family, self-discovery, grief, and so much more. I loved our two main characters; both Vivi and Lan are complex characters both dealing with relatable problems, and I enjoyed following both of their stories. I'm glad we got both of their perspectives. I loved feeling like I was exploring Saigon as I read. Nguyen's descriptions are beautiful and feel like a love letter to the city. Overall, I highly recommend this.

The audiobook has great narration and is easy to listen to, even at a higher speed.

Thank you MacMillan Audio for a copy of A Banh Mi for Two!

“A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen is a heartwarming and mouth-watering read that will delight fans of lighthearted, emotional, and hopeful stories about sapphic romance, food, and self-discovery, making it a perfect fit for readers who crave a sweet and satisfying tale of love, identity, and cultural heritage.”

Man, this book made me hungry. I wish y’all could see the amount of highlights/notes I have of Vietnamese food to try after reading this...

Similar to Navigating With You, the author does a really good job balancing the wholesome, sweet moments with heavier themes, such as grief and immigration. The author also has such an amazing talent painting a picture of Sai Gon and the street food!

Highly recommend for foodies/readers craving a wholesome love story.

A Banh Mi for Two is such a great meet-cute story and it was a delight to listen to the audio book. Carolina Do and VyVy Nguyen did a wonderful job with the narration, I didn't want the book to end because I was enjoying their tag-team narration so much. The book also rocked, they had great material to work with.

I very much enjoyed following along as a food blogger Lan and a study abroad student Vivi meet because of all the appetizing street food in Sài Gòn, Each girl is hiding something from her family, but it all works out in the end - in all the best ways.

This was such a fun story, and I loved listening to it. Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this book.

This is a very cute and tame sapphic romance but it didn't WOW me. It is very digestible and I can see it being very popular as a FUN book.

I was provided with an alc of A Bahn Mi for Two by Trinity Nguyen. The descriptions of Saigon and the street food elements in the book were really enjoyable, the romance was sweet, and there were some very thoughtful observations and conversations. I also felt that the narrators (Carolina Do and VyVy Nguyen), were great voices for the characters and liked the dual point of view. Thank you NetGalley for this advanced listener copy.

I received a copy of this audiobook from netGalley for a honest review.

I loved this love letter to Saigon. The characters are well thought out and interesting in a way not always shown in YA novels. I loved the look into Saigon's street food culture and it's history as well as it's current way of being a modern city. I wish I could go to Vietnam with Lan as my guide!

3.5! Ok so this was cute and really cool reading a book set in Vietnam! It was super cool learning about a culture I am not well versed in through food and travel. The romance was ok, it wasn't the strongest relationship ever, there was not a lot of foundation of build up to it, it just kind of happened, so I was left wanting a bit more. But the family relationships were super strong and I loved reading about both mother-daughter relationship change and evolve into something more for both main characters.

4/5 stars!

This was such a sweet and surprisingly reflective sapphic read!

Though A Bánh Mì for Two is a romance, and yes, Lan and Vivi’s relationship is adorable, the standouts are the story’s themes and personal character arcs.

Nguyen does an amazing job of exploring Lan’s grief and pressure of supporting her family, Vivi’s complex feelings about her identity, different mother-daughter dynamics, Lan’s feelings about the country’s tourism industry/commercialization, and the economic aftermath of the Vietnam War.

Nguyen also did a phenomenal job immersing me with her prose. Everything felt so vivid! The story is so rich with Vietnamese culture and I loved learning about the food and customs. You can tell that this book is a love letter to Vietnam.

Although the last 15-20% felt rushed and I would have loved more on Vivi’s mom and grandmother’s relationship, I liked how it ended!

The narrators also did an amazing job and this was a joy to listen to on audio.

There is so much to love about this book! It takes place in Saigon, which is bursting at the seams with life and yummy food. Viv is there for a study abroad program, but really to find her mother's family. Lan is a food blogger and works at her family's food cart, but is struggling with the loss of her father. The two meet and explore the city together, each helping the other with their projects. Along the way they begin to catch feelings.

I liked that the story is told in alternating chapter perspectives of both Viv and Lan. It makes you feel like you understand each of them well, making it all the more sweet when they finally get together. I learned a lot about Vietnamese culture and especially enjoyed all of the food descriptions.

First off this book made me so hungry! The food descriptions were mouth watering! I also loved the richness of the culture and scenery of Saigon. The romance and family drama all spun together nicely. Very cute romance!

I am an absolute sucker for stories that center cultural foods. One of my all time favorite comfort foods is Pho Ga (chicken pho), so I couldn’t wait to read A Báhn Mì For Two, which is a sapphic contemporary romance that takes place in Saigon and is all about the best Vietnamese street food!

I loved both Lan and Vivi.

Lan (a Saigon native), uses her food blog to spotlight other street vendors. Lan struggles with grief after the death of her father and feels lost in trying to find her creative spark to write again. Lan puts her family’s needs ahead of her own even to her own detriment.

In the surface, Vivi (a Vietnamese American study abroad student) seems like everything in her life is perfect, but she’s desperate to learn about her Vietnamese heritage that her mother refuses to discuss.

I loved how Vivi and Lan come together to help each other with their own personal struggles while embracing all that Saigon has to offer. They were such a great balance for each other.

If you’re looking for a sweet coming of age story that explores sexuality, familial struggles, and TONS of incredible food then pick this one up!

Thank you Fierce Reads and Macmillan Audio for providing a review copy.

What a sweet and savory story set in Saigon! (The alliteration is REAL!) Love this beautiful story that’s a juxtaposition of two girls finding themselves in the present while uncovering their truths of their past. (That sentence was gold 😂) I adored the love letter to Saigon and Vietnamese culture...in particular food culture because what’s more unifying than food? Nothing!

Viviana is from the OC in LA who heads to a semester abroad program to learn about her mom’s secret family…while her mom thinks she’s in Singapore. She meets Lan, a pessimistic street vendor who secretly runs a popular food blog that’s coincidentally one of the reasons Vivi comes to
Saigon. When they run it each other and Vivi manages to win Lan over, she agrees to help her family. The two girls fall in love with Saigon in new ways and each other in a sweet and wholesome story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this adorbs story that was so authentic, heartfelt and wholesome. Thank you #trinitynguyen for this story that needed to be shared.

Thanks to #netgalley and #henryholtandco publishers for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lan, an anonymous food blogger has struggled with writer’s block after losing her father. Vivi and her best friend Cindy are secretly studying abroad in Vietnam to unravel her mom’s family history.

When Vivi discovers a journal left behind in a park, she is certain that it belongs to her favorite food blogger! Lan and Vivi develop an adorably sweet relationship rich in delicious food and self-discovery!

I had the opportunity to listen this through Netgalley and it was a breath of fresh air! Truly a delight that made me hungry for Vietnamese cuisine!

I found this book to be super interesting. I loved learning about Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American culture. I really liked how food, specifically street food, was a focus for this story. I haven't been to Vietnam. I have been to China, and the street food was a major highlight for me. The YA finding yourself style romance was sweet and endearing.

The narration was fine. Nothing specifically stood out to me in either direction.

Thank you NetGalley, Trinity Nguyen, and Macmillan Audio for this audiobook ARC.

This book was beautiful and cute.

It is set in Vietnam, what I really loved. I think I have never read a book, set in Vietnam.

I loved how the author would write about all the street foods, but also about the country and traditions and history.

And yes, the book made me hungry for Vietnamese food

We see characters grow, characters finding themselves but also characters who solve family secrets.

I loved seeing how Vivi and Lan first became friends and slowly fell in love. It was sweet and beautiful.

I loved how Vivian and her mom would find back to each other and really talk. And that Vivian gets the chance to learn about her mom's history.

I also loved how Lan and her mom would solve their problem. It was beautiful what the mom said to Lan.

If you love:

Sapphic representation

Set in Vietnam

Food

Daughter mother relationships

You should read this book!!

This story is fine but bland. It's missing something. I stopped reading at 60% because I just stopped caring. The most interesting part is the search for relatives, but barely any time is spent on that. And I've never heard of a student being able to do a semester abroad before they've done any semesters at home first, or not having to attend some classes or something while they are on that semester. It doesn't feel like a whole book. It's just the romance with none of the supporting scenes that complete a story.