Rarely do I give a book five stars. I loved A Banh Mi for Two by Trinity Nguyen. I was able to draw upon my own personal experiences as a Asian American living in America and relating to Vivi. Much like Vivi my own parents did not speak about their own childhoods, their personal experiences growing up in another country, things about their own families, or their reasons for moving to the America. I loved watching Vivi and Lan's friendship blossom and grow into something more. I think Trinity Nguyen did a fabulous job with the character development and the development of the storyline.

Lan has always been the good girl her parents wanted, and now that her dad has passed away, she has stayed to take care of her mom even though her passion is to keep working on writing the internationally famous food blog, A Bánh Mì for Two. Vivi, a freshman in college, has never been to Vietnam but desperately wants to learn more of her family’s heritage--family and details that her parents will never share with her. Through the magic of a fictitious rom-com, the two meet while Vivi steals away on an exchange program without her parents knowing (really??) and help each other with their goals, falling in love with each other in the process. This was sweet and cute, if a bit unbelievable at times.

A Banh Mi for Two is a super sweet sapphic romance about Lan, a girl who is running a banh mi stall in Saigon and Vivi, who is studying abroad and connecting to her family history in Saigon. I loved the focus on Vietnam food, culture, and history.

I really loved how much this book covered, while still feeling like a light, romantic read. From the effect of the war on one of MC's family to grief, this book dealt with a lot of heavy issues while still feeling overwhelmingly positive. I would absolutely pick this one up again!

Thanks to NetGalley, Trinity Nguyen, and Macmillan Audio for the chance to read and review! My opinions are my own

Vietnamese American teen, Vivi, is starved for information about her home country, her mother’s family, a void her parents aren’t willing to fill, keeping that part of their lives quiet to the point of secrecy.

So Vivi fills that hunger by following a blog called Bánh Mì for Two, run by Lan, a teenager living in Saigon. She posts photos of street food vendors with enticing captions and stunning photos…but the blog has been silent for a few months and Vivi is worried.

So Vivi lies to her parents, heading to Vietnam on a study abroad program her freshman year of college, telling her parents she’ll be in Singapore instead. Once there she meets Lan and the two hit it off, sharing the difficulties they face as modern girls with old fashioned parents, expectations they feel - even if unstated - and worry about filling.

This is a charming sapphic YA that focuses as much on Asian culture as it does on romance. As the two eat their way through the city, they fall in love and share their worries, trying to navigate familial obligations.

While this won’t be for everyone, I love diverse literature, especially for teens, people who need to see representation more than anyone else.

I thought it was cute and educational and I throughly enjoyed it. The audio features two distinct female voices that add charm to the story. The emotional depth is will appeal more to its intended audience, but if you’re a fan of YA, love food, and are interested in Asian culture, check it out.

Better yet, buy a copy for your kids’ library!

Thanks to @netgalley and @macmillanaudio for the ARC. This one comes out August 20, 2024.

Sweet sapphic love story of two Vietnamese girls trying to find their way. Vivi travels to Vietnam in severer in hopes of finding her family that her mother won’t talk about , and Lan struggling to help her mother and their family food cart while taking a hiatus from her very popular food blog.
This story talks about Vietnamese food in a beautiful way (I googled some places in town while reading) and a friendship that blossoms through difficulties.

A Bánh Mì For Two is an adorable YA queer coming of age story set in the city of Sài Gòn. It is not only a beautiful story about love, it is a story about self love and the love of a city. I thought it was just such a great experience, the scenery, the imagery everything was so vividly described and easily portrayable in my mind.

The characters were amazing, I fell in love with both the FMC's. They grow with each other and discover themselves through their struggles. Their friendship was beautiful to watch blossom into something more.

It was just a great heartfelt, emotional, beautiful story that had the perfect mix of culture, heritage, finding yourself, food, love, friendship and family. Definitely a fast read that is worth checking out.

🎧 The narration by Carolina Do & VyVy Nguyen was really great. They had the perfect voices with the perfect pronunciations for the Vietnamese words were perfect. They had the right emotions and intonations in their voices which made for a great listening experience.

✨️Thank you to @netgalley, @macmillanaudio & @trinitynguyen for my gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review.

*4.5 Stars*

This was great. I loved getting to know our main characters and seeing them evolve. This was a pretty shirt novel but I was into it from beginning to end and I felt every second of it. I even shed a few tears. I really liked the whole plot. I was invested in both of their personal journeys as well as the romance. I loved the whole food side of it all and the food blog and everything really. An amazing debut and I cannot wait for more by this author.

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!