TLDR: I LOVED THIS BOOK! A Banh Mi for Two is a delightful, contemporary lesbian romance. Short and sweet, that's what it is. And the story warmed my heart.

A Banh Mi for Two is a dual POV story of two girls who are discovering themselves, their past and their future, and navigating between traditions and adapting to the world around them. Lan is in Sài Gòn, torn between being a dutiful daughter for her widowed mother and keeping up with their family owned bánh mì stall. Vivi is American Vietnamese, who has come to Việt Nam to find out what was so "wrong" with Việt Nam that her mother didn't ever go back behind her back. Their paths cross because Lan writes a food blog that Vivi has followed fanatically, and they meet at one fated coincidence. Together they help each other discover themselves, their futures, pasts, and the love for one another.

I really did enjoy the narration of this book. I also really enjoyed the imagery, history, and description of what Sài Gòn is and was from different POVs. I highly recommend this book to all! Five stars.

Thank you Netgalley, Macmillan Audio | Macmillan Young Listeners, and the author for the opportunity to read this for an honest review.

I will post to Instagram, Goodreads, and Storygraph.

I’m so glad I read A Banh Mi for Two by Trinity Nguyen. I was transported to Saigon with a compelling and sweet story about a growing friendship and potential romance between Vivi, a Vietnamese-American college student who is studying abroad, and Lan, a Vietnamese food blogger. This book offers so much: mouth-watering scenes of street food, Vivi’s search for her family in Vietnam and the chance for family reconciliation, and Lan’s decisions about what to do with her future. Excellent narration by Carolina Do and VyVy Nguyen. Fun sapphic romance with deeper themes as well. Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the eARC. Recommended.

I have been waiting to read this since the first time I saw the cover in spring of this year. The book did not disappoint. This story has a deep set love for Vietnam, its culture, food, and people. It beautifully expresses the complicated feelings of children of diaspora on Vivi's side. On Lan's side, I was pleasantly surprised to see a YA version of concepts I remember from Jamaica Kincaid's A Small Place, of the differences between how tourists and natives view a land. I appreciated that both girls' stories addressed the effects of colonialism and the war on generations of Vietnamese people, and it did so in a way that both honored the gravity of the situation and made room for the joy and love that one would hope for in a YA romance. I'm also a sucker for books with immigrant families where the kids actually have a good relationship with their parents (even if they do lie to them about what country they're studying abroad in...), so that was an added bonus.

I genuinely enjoyed this book, especially listening to the audiobook so that I could hear the pronunciation of Vietnamese names, places, and foods. Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC!

A Banh Mi for Two is equal parts sweet and thoughtful, as it follows to young women figuring out their space in the world while falling in love. Vivi has taken the risk to study abroad in Vietnam to find out her mother's roots behind her back. Lan is feeling the burden of responsibility four years after her father's death and with an ailing mother. But, they both connect over a love for street food and the blog that brought them together. The novel offers wonderful insight into what it is like from the non American perspective of thriving Vietnam post war, while while giving equal measure of sapphic romance.

I had high hopes for this book. It reads like a love letter to modern day Saigon, while also honoring the past. I just found the story eye-rollingly cringey and completely far-fetched. This sapphic romance is saccharine and hard to imagine. The story is filled with implausible coincidences and a bit of a silly premise. I really wished I liked it more. Thanks to NetGalley and to McMillan Audio for the advanced copy which releases 8/20.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ A delightfully fun and heartwarming story that beautifully weaves themes of love, culture, and self-discovery. ༘⋆ ༄

╰┈➤˗ˏˋ 𝓠𝓾𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂

Vivi is Vietnamese American and, while she's lived in Little Saigon her whole life, she knows next to nothing about the real Saigon. Her mom, who grew up in the post-Vietnam war years, refuses to talk about it, and her dad immigrated too young to know much, so she signs up for a study abroad program and spends a semester in Saigon without telling her parents.

There she meets Lan, the author of her favorite food blog. Together they explore Saigon as Lan writes an essay for contest. A local having her eyes reopened as Vivi sees the city for the first time.

╰┈➤˗ˏˋ 𝓜𝔂 𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼

This was a really sweet and savory story - probably a little too young adult for me. I didn't find myself particularly invested or attached to the characters - but that's likely just me.

I found that the balance of food vs romance was just a little off for my liking- still a super quick and cute read perfect for summer.


╰⪼ 🌸Vacation flings
╰⪼ 🌸Fish Out Of Water
╰⪼ 🌸Destiny
╰⪼ 🌸Sapphic Romance
╰⪼ 🌸Clean Romance
╰⪼ 🌸Self Discovery
╰⪼ 🌸Foodie

Many thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Trinity Nguyen for the advanced audio copy in exchange for my honest thoughts. 🌸🍓

I think this one will hit especially well with young adult readers; there's a nice balance between the food descriptions and depictions of Sài Gòn and the teenage journey of finding yourself while staying connected to the past and those who came before. Vivi and Lan both have a lot to work out in their lives and next steps, as well as their familial relationships, and getting a glimpse into each others' lives helps both of them find an answer and start to heal.

I think my biggest issue is pacing - there's no sense of time here, so everything just feels really fast, both the romance development and the issues being wrapped up. While Vivi was there for a semester, the entire story seemed to take place over a couple of weeks and felt more like a vacation trip story than a study abroad story.

There's also a really interesting issue here that gets brought up about cultural heritage, intergenerational trauma, and history, and while some of it feels like dipping a toe into the waters, I think it's a great introduction for YA readers.

This book was so lovely! Especially for a debut novel. Trinity crafted something very special here.

A Bahn Mi for Two follows Lan and Vivi. Lan is a blogger and Vivi is her biggest fan! <spoiler> I really enjoyed their dynamic and seeing them go from parasocial, to friends, and finally love. </spoiler>

It was also so nice to see Vietnam from two perspectives; resident and someone there for the first time. The research for the writing contest was so much fun. I loved visiting the markets and festivals.

I thought the exploration of grief and familial duty was done Especially well. This book also talked a lot about colonization and it's aftermath. As well as the sacrifice of refugees. I learned a lot about Vietnam's history that I was unaware of!

The ending was tied up nicely. My only complaint is that it ended a bit abruptly. I would have loved an epilogue from the future! Just to see how things played out.

Fair warning this book will make you HUNGRY.

I would like to thank Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for a free Audio Arc of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was a very nice story about two girls who find each other and learn to face their fears (independently of each other) I think the story was a little too fast (especially with the love story) and at times it read a little too dramatic for what was actually happening... however, I did feel that the story felt real and important and I'm sure that it would be an impactful story to the target audience.

This book is so freaking sweet. A saphic YA novel but also crosses backgrounds. I loved so much about this book. I honestly can't remember loving a YA book this much in a long time

This was a cute sapphic love story/rom com set in Vietnam. You will smile and also be very hungry while reading this book! Looking forward to what the author does next.

This debut sapphic story is sweet and heart warming. I listened to the audiobook and I thought the narrator did a good job bringing both voices to life which helps to bring the love story more to life. I liked that this book was about so much more than the surface romance. Vivi has grown up feeling like she wasn’t American or Vietnamese enough and her mother hasn’t helped her journey for identity because she wont’ talk about her history in Vietnam and refuses to think about Vivi having any connection there. Lan has grown up in Saigon and had a popular blog about Saigon hidden gems until her father died and she began to put all of her time and energy into their family’s Bahn Mi food cart. Lan knows to be a good daughter she must sacrifice to take care of her mother. The two girls meet by accident a couple of times before they realize they have been talking online through social media over the blog for months. As they give into their connection and explore Saigon together Lan rediscovers who she is and Vivi gets to piece together another part of her story through her culture. But Viki is only in Saigon as an exchange student for one semester and her parents don’t know where she is. Lan is starting to dream of travel, but knows it will remain nothing more than a dream. This was a well written story and the audiobook was fun and a quick read.

Wow! I loved this book! The story brought tears to my eyes and made me want to visit Vietnam! It is definitely as story about mothers and daughters, and strong women. I found both MCs to be realistic and endearing, and I loved the struggles both had with their relationships with their moms. There is a generational perspective that speaks to the struggles of the past visiting themselves on the survivors and their descendants that was profound. I highly recommend this to all readers. The love story was lovely but the story of reclaiming the sense of identity and community with one's culture was just beautiful. The two narrators were fantastic!

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for this audio ARC!

A Bánh Mì for Two is a sweet and tender YA contemporary romance with lovely characters and a sweet sapphic love story.

ABMfT was such a sweet story. Lan and Vivi were beautifully relatable characters with fantastic personalities and chemistry. I loved their romance and how they helped each other explore themselves and the world around them. The story was fun and filled with delicious food, family, and friendship. The pacing was great, and the writing was lovely. I highly recommend fans of sapphic romance and contemporary YA check out this beautiful book!

The audiobook narrators for this one were great! They fit the two POVs well and presented the story with tenderness, personality, excitement, and wonderful voices for the different characters.

Thank you to the publisher for the free ALC!

This was such a sweet, cute, emotional, heartfelt and deep book! I love how it wove together the stories of an American daughter of immigrants from Vietnam with a young woman born and raised there. Their experiences have been so different, but they grow to understand each other and help each other learn to heal and see things differently.

This book will absolutely make you hungry, the food sounds amazing and I loved the descriptions! Lan's struggle with writer's block and feeling inadequate as a blogger and content creator will resonate with many people who work or just do it as a hobby too.

I would almost say the romance was a subplot, or at least sharing the main plot equally with other plot points. The book also follows the character's search for belonging, sense of duty, grief, complicated family relationships, community, and more. So many people will relate to one (or both) of these characters!

This was short, almost a novella, but I still felt like almost everything was able to be fully fleshed out. Young love and the way it can feel was captured well. Things wrapped up a little too quickly for me at the end, so it's more like 4.25-4.5, rounded up.

I loved having dual narrators, and what they brought to each character. Their voices were easily distinguishable and they fit the characters well. Great audiobook!

This book was so cute and a fun read.
This sapphic YA romance is going to tug at your heart strings, possibly make you tear up and definitely make you very hungry!
Vivi is Vietnamese American but her parents never talk about their homeland. She wants to visit her homeland to learn more about her culture but also why her parents left and hopefully meet some of her family that she doesn’t know. She knows her mother would never allow her to go so she secretly decides to do a semester studying abroad in Sài Gòn. Vivi is also super excited to try all of the food especially the street food as she in obsessed with a food blog A Báhn Mì for Two, the blog is what ultimately gave her the push to travel there.

Vivi meets Lan who lives in Sài Gòn helping to take care of her mother after her father died and helps run their bàhn mì stall. But her best kept secret is that she is the writer of the blog that Vivi is obsessed with. Lan has been having a very hard time writing after her father’s death. After Vivi finds out about Lan and the blog she wants to help. Vivi and Lan make a pact that Lan will show Vivi around and help her to track down her family and Vivi will help Lan start writing again.

As they spend more time together eating, exploring, and ultimately helping each other heal open wounds they still carry they fall in love. This story was absolutely beautiful from start to finish and I enjoyed it very much.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

A cute, sweet read.
It was also a nice look into Vietnam, their food, and culture. I was glad to see her connect with her mother and her mother's history in the end.

A sweet and savory debut, A BÁNH MÌ FOR TWO is a love letter to Vietnamese food, family, and self-discovery through reconnecting with your family history. On a secret school trip, Vivi runs into the food blogger who inspired her trip, and vows to help her writing, in exchange for help finding her family. The story unfolds leisurely, with a satisfying emotionally-charged end—a lovely debut that is well worth the read.

Vivi meets Lan while abroad in Vietnam. They both LOVE food and spend the school semester together working to detangle their family history while enjoying delicious street food.

A Bánh Mì for Two is a food blog Lan created and did with her father before he passed away. She hasn’t updated it since he passed. Viv’s family left Vietnam and never told her why. So, Vivi goes to Vietnam for a study abroad program without telling her family to find out why they left in the first place.

Then, Vivi and Lan meet. They come to an agreement where Lan will show Vivi the city and help her figure out why her parents left Vietnam and Vivi will help Lan enter a food blogging contest.

A Bánh Mì for Two is a YA LGBTQ+ romance. It is expected to be released August 20, 2024.

This was such a cute read! I definitely recommend it! But, be warned..it will probably make you hungry reading it lol

I have received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I want to say right off the top I am not own voices here. I definitely do not understand a lot of the deeper parts of this book so please go look at those reviews first.
This book was absolute gorgeous. I can't say I enjoyed every second of this book but thats because there were times you weren't meant to enjoy this but to stop and think. This book dealt with some heavy subjects and as I'm not own voices for that I won't speak on that part.
I really enjoyed the romance in this book and I don't just mean the romance between the mcs. The love the mcs feels for the food is palpable. The descriptions were deep and perfect. I could feel myself craving foods I had never had before. I was so hungry after reading this book just because the descriptions of the food was that amazing.
This was overall an amazing book. It was short but it packs a punch. I would recommend this to anyone who loves food or romances. If you love books about family and finding yourself this is definitely for you.