TW for loss of a loved one and racism

This was such a cute YA romance!! I really loved how Bao and Linh haven't talked to each other for their entire lives because of their family feud until Bao approaches Linh outside of her restaurant their senior year when she's having a rough time. Their budding friendship was so cute and I loved how they both bonded over the pressure from their parents and the unknown of their futures. This was more a friends to lovers and they were forced to hang out through a school assignment, which was fun. Even though Bao and Linh had similar parents who were very strict and had high expectations for their children, they were still very different characters and had pretty different families, which I appreciated.

The reason I knocked my rating down half a star is because I wanted just a little more from the romance. I think we had a long build up and then didn't really get a lot of them genuinely happy together. They were always worrying about their parents and then, of course, things blow up. I did enjoy how their families were forced to confront their issues and also confront what Bao and Linh genuinely wanted from their respective futures. And can we talk about the food? Both families own restaurants and this book had me hungry all the time! There was so much food and the atmosphere of this book was just amazing. I was lost in this world and could not get enough of this story!

Overall, I really loved this book. The characters were all so memorable and the romance was adorable. This also tackles racism and the life of an immigrant, and Bao and Linh struggle being the children of immigrants with such high expectations and responsibilities placed on their shoulders. I couldn't recommend this enough!

Thank you so much Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for #gifting me with an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A Pho Love Story is very fun and fresh in its take on two second generation American-Vietnamese teens trying to figure out what they want from life and falling in love in the process. It explores themes like immigration, war trauma, cultural identity and the burden of familial expectations and dishes out (no pun intended) mouthwatering descriptions of Vietnamese food. I loved how the author interspersed Vietnamese words and sentences in her writing, I think it added a lot of authenticity and character to the story.

The book in my opinion slightly suffers from being too long (400 pages), but overall it is a fun, worthwhile YA fiction read.

I’d recommend to people who enjoyed A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow and Tweet Cute!

First of all the title and the cover of this book is ridiculously cute! That had me hook - my love of yummy pho and romance! Being Asian-American myself, I love getting a glimpse in the family-dynamics that I could relate to. This book is not only sweet and cute, but it does show a lot of the different generation's issues of these families.

Bao and Linh had always kept their distance due to their family's pho restaurant rivalry. Neither had forgotten their brief childhood encounter, and when circumstances brought them together, they recognized a shared connection. As their friendship grew, so did the stress of sneaking around, and it was just a matter of time until it all unraveled.

The mention of food and a love story had me quite interested in this tale, and it didn't disappoint. It was fun, cute, and heartwarming, while also shedding light on many aspects of Vietnamese culture.

The relationship that developed between Linh and Bao definitely took center stage, and I adore it! They had a lot in common and could related to one another in a way many others couldn't. Both had family, who had made harrowing journeys to escape Vietnam, and both grew up in their family restaurants. They understood the commitment and responsibilities involved with having a family business, as well as the importance of family and community.

I liked watching their friendship grow and change. The review "dates" were such a brilliant way to force them together. I looked forward to each new location, where Linh and Bao would have the opportunity to get to know each other better. I honestly wish there had been more of these excursions, because they were wonderful.

The romance was definitely a big part of the story, but it was also about self discovery. Linh loved art, but knew her parents saw it as a hobby, so she hid her passion. She wrestled with following her heart or living up to her parents' expectations. In the meantime, Bao was just coasting, and with the help of Linh and a few others, he actually discovered something he not only had a natural flair for, but was also passionate about. While they both experienced some doubt, they supported, encouraged, and pushed each other along the way.

This story also had a strong family focus. The obstacle to this romance was a feud between the two families, but each family was very loving and only wanted the best for their children. There were some really beautiful moments shared between Bao, Linh, and their respective families, and many other characters also reinforced this theme of family.

I came for the romance, but was treated to so much more in this book. The mix of humorous, emotional, and heartwarming moments along with food, friendship, and family made this a rather delightful reading experience. P.S. I dare you to read this book and not be lusting for Vietnamese food after indulging in the fantastic food descriptions.

I received an advanced copy of A Pho Love Story through NetGalley so I could share my review with you!

Bao Nguyen and Linh Mai aren’t meant to be friends, let alone anything more than that. Their families run competing Vietnamese restaurants across the street from each other, so their parents hate each other with a singular passion. Bao and Linh haven’t spoken since they were children after their families made it clear that they were not to socialize with “the enemy.” But, when a chance encounter leads to an unexpected friendship, Bao and Linh realize that they might have more in common than anyone ever would’ve expected.

You can get your copy of A Pho Love Story on February 9th from Simon Pulse!

This story was such a cute rom-com, filled with family feuds and suppressed dreams. I was especially fond of the rival-restaurant premise that led to some bumps in Bao and Linh’s relationship. I haven’t read a book where the main characters are children raised in a restaurant setting, so this was extremely fun for me to read about. Loan Le was especially talented at capturing the different mouth-watering dishes the characters ate in the story. More than once I found myself hungry after reading A Pho Love Story!

My Recommendation-
If you love stories with forbidden romance, you should check out A Pho Love Story! This book would be a good choice for fans of When Dimple Met Rishi or To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, or folks who love a sweet romance story!

This book was unfortunately a struggle for me.. The characters’ voices are so similar that if there weren’t chapter headings to tell me a different character’s POV was being presented, I would have thought most of the story was coming from one character’s POV. The book is also advertised as a rom-com but I didn’t find most of it especially funny. . I’m disappointed because I fully expected to love this one.

a pho love story tried really hard, but it didn't pay off. the characters were flat and dull, the romance was horrible and at some point, it physically hurt me to continue reading.

putting this one down and never picking it up again at about 40%.

I had a lot of trouble getting into this book. I never felt like I was fully invested and felt I could put it down at any time without needing to know what happened. That was too bad, because there were a lot of parts of the story I did like!

The biggest issue with this book was that the two perspectives worked against it. Linh and Bao were two distinct characters with different goals and personality traits, but their voices were just so similar. While reading I often forgot whose chapter it was and I had to go back and check. I feel that's a big issue in a story with two perspectives. If there was going to be that much difficulty keeping the voices separate, I wonder if it would have made more sense to just pick one character to tell the story, or to keep a third person perspective that went back and forth. This book wasn't all bad, and there were some sweet and intense moments. I just felt the writing was sometimes a little bland or confusing.

I've been looking forward to A PHỞ LOVE STORY for almost a year now, and I am SO excited to see all of the buzz that this book is getting; it's so great to see so much Viet-Am rep coming out this year and to see other readers being excited for it! 😭

A PHỞ LOVE STORY by Loan Le is a YA rom-com about two Vietnamese-American teens, Linh Mai and Bảo Nguyễn, whose families own competing phở restaurants in California's Little Saigon.

If you can, I highly recommend having some Vietnamese food on hand while reading this book because it will make you HUNGRY! Every food that was mentioned gave me cravings. People tend to exclusively think about phở and bánh mì when thinking about Viet food, so it was so wonderful to see APLS highlight so many of the other great dishes (and desserts!) that are out there. If you haven't branched outside of phở before, I highly recommend remediating that ASAP. 🤤

Although this is a a rom-com, the family drama plotline was the most compelling to me. I couldn't stop reading when Linh and Bảo started to unravel the history behind their family feud. The theme of growing to understand your family through their past is a not uncommon in diasporic #VietLit, but it's something that I still love to read because it is so important. My parents share very little to begin with, but like Linh and Bảo, I was so absorbed in my own problems when I was younger that I never tried to find out what my parents' lives were like in Vietnam. At one point, a character talks about how he has questions that he wishes he had asked his late mother before it was too late. This really struck a chord with me and is something that I'll be thinking about for a while.

Thank you to Colored Pages Blog Tours, Simon Teen, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

A Pho Love Story was a super cute book. The premise: Two teens whose parents own competing pho shops end up falling in love. I loved the premise. Both Bao and Linh were great characters. One issue that I had with this book was that it was little too long for the story that was being told.

Will not finish - 37%

A Pho Love Story was listed as part of my most highly anticipated 2021 releases. And so, it hurts my heart a little to admit that I don't have the energy to finish this book.

This isn't a badly written book. It's just not a story for me. I know that A Pho Love Story will resonate deeply with a lot of readers from the Asian diaspora, especially among immigrants.

However, as someone who's been born and raised in Asia, I guess I've reached a point where I crave representation that goes beyond the struggles of being Asian and American. Quite frankly, I'm sick and tired of this lens. And that's not a reflection of the author's writing. It's a reflection of where I am mentally and emotionally as a reader seeking characters who look like me and live like me.

Moreover, while I cannot comment on the book as a whole, I will say that I think there's a missed opportunity here. I was really looking forward to the intensity and tension derived from rivals turned lovers. However, the relationship between Linh and Bao is more of a forbidden romance, and I was a bit disappointed that the rivalry is solely between their parents. In fact, Linh and Bao identify their common ground right away and easily bond. This is also partially why my interest immediately declined. I would've loved to see them being ruthlessly competitive, slowly unlearning their biases, and working towards bridging the chasm between their families. But alas, this was not that story.

On a more positive note, A Pho Love Story delves into the trauma experienced by refugees of the Vietnam War, which is a discussion that is very sorely-needed. Undoubtedly, this debut novel brings something meaningful to the YA contemporary genre.

Family-centric romances with a food service component seem to be all the rage these days! This one has its issues - it's longer and the pacing is pretty slow, there isn't much to differentiate the two POVs, and I didn't necessarily connect with the romance during the buildup although it was very sweet later on - but it also features a really strong community element and a bit of a heavier family history plotline which sets it apart. Definitely something for fans of Sandhya Menon to try out.

This book reminds me of a modern day Romeo and Juliet. It was such a fun tale of requited love between two young people who are unable to be together because their families are restaurant rivals. What I loved most were the Vietnamese phrases along the way.

The love story in this was so cute, and I also appreciated that the author incorporated both main characters' parents histories in Vietnam and as refugees and then successful restaurant owners in the US. It deftly balanced the much more heavy elements with the lighter and fluffier elements. However, for a YA romance, it did feel a little long at over 400 pages.

Oh, how I love teen romance reads. The ones featuring teenagers who are figuring out themselves, their wants, their talents, their families, and the world around them as they're catapulting toward adulthood are some of my favorites.

The books acknowledge that teens are complex, responsible, and fallible.

Bao and Linh are Vietnamese-American teenagers whose families own restaurants across the street from one another.

Both grew up in those restaurants with immigrant parents, a deep commitment to family, and the knowledge that whatever caused the decades-long war between the two families was not to be questioned.
Then they met for the second time, and...*click*.

This is a love story not just about Bao (the boy figuring out what he wants to do with his life) and Linh (the girl who always knew what to do, but also that her family did not want her to pursue it), and THAT is what makes me rave. 

I don't want to give much away, but I will say some of my favorite parts of the story were the falling in love, the food, the friendships, the use of their families' native language, THE FOOD, the realistic messiness, and how every character was drawn so well that it felt like I was watching a movie. 

(Someone please, please make this into a movie.)

For readers ages 12+. 
For fans of books like THIS TRAIN IS BEING HELD, THIS IS MY BRAIN IN LOVE, I'LL BE THE ONE, TWEET CUTE, FRANKLY IN LOVE, THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT SWEETIE.

The main characters are so freaking adorable together in this book my cheeks hurt from smiling so much! Must read!

Just as I was starting to think I was outgrowing the genre and drifting away from seeing myself in YA contemporary, books like A Pho Love Story manage to pull me back in. Linh and Bao are undeniably cute together, but the conversations they have with their respective families about their immigration to America and what they have had to continuously sacrifice hit me hard, especially when Linh and Bao reflect on how their love for their parents influence their decisions.

Check out my full review here: http://loveyoshelf.com/review-a-pho-love-story-by-loan-le/

In A Pho Love Story, author Loan Le tells the story of Bao and Linh, two teenagers from families with competing pho restaurants. As Bao and Linh become friends, and maybe something more, they have to navigate rival families, complicated family histories, and their own insecurities.

There are a few things I love, on a personal level, about A Pho Love Story. It is set in Westminster, California, close to where I grew up. The picture Le paints of the city, known for its bustling Vietnamese population, is loving and accurate -- the way she describes the grocery stores, the food, the sounds and smells, leaves no question that this book is deeply rooted in a real, beloved, location.

Bao and Linh are both the children of immigrants -- their parents all fled from Vietnam under harrowing, sometimes deadly, circumstances. American teenagers with Asian refugee parents is a story I have lived, and seeing it represented on the page is a special experience.

That being said, the book overall fell flat for me. The characters feel one-dimensional and oddly similar -- it was difficult to tell Bao and Linh's parents apart, and although they mentioned their respective best friend's personalities and interests, the two characters also came across as oddly alike. Bao and Linh themselves were not particularly interesting character, and a contemporary romance that is over 400 pages, compelling characters are surely a must.

One of the biggest issues with the book was the tendency of Le to set up what seemed like interest, conflict-filled moments, and then to simply let them slip away. Early in the book, Linh's teacher tells her about an art exhibit that is happening nearby for one night only. Linh, whose emotional drama in the book drives mostly from her desire to be an artist conflicting with her parents' wishes for her to find a more financially stable career, wants to go to the event, but it is the same night as a big sale at their family restaurant, and her parents expect her to work. This feels like the set up for several chapters worth of content -- instead, the event passes by quickly and with a lot less fanfare that one might expect. Similarly, a chapter later, Bao is anxious about getting home in time from work -- his parents have already texted asking where he is, and he asks his best friend to make an excuse up for him to be ten minutes late. Instead, Bao is hours late coming home, surely setting up drama with his parents -- except this drama never materializes. This happens again and again, with the possible conflict moments half developed and then dropped, while certain emotional beats are repeated again and again.

Overall, it is a wholly inoffensive book, but it is a book with few redeeming qualities. One thing is certain however -- read this book with a big steaming bowl of pho next to you, because otherwise you will spend your entire read craving it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for the ARC!

Plotwise, this was really cute. Two teens whose parents own competing pho shops end up falling in love. I really like Bao and Linh and their cast of supporting characters. The addition of Chef Le and Saffron was lovely and I would certainly read a book just about them. I'm happy to see more Asian American rep in YA.

Two things didn't work for me...

1. It just seemed too long. There were entire chapters that didn't propel the story forward and were just "woe is me" teen angst, which isn't helping the story. The middle definitely dragged and then the end sped up.

2. I cared way more about the parents than the kids. This happens sometimes as an adult reading a YA novel, but I would have rather heard more of the family's history, the parents' journey to America. I know that's not the book I signed up for, but it's the far more interesting story here.

Overall, yes this was really cute and I'll absolutely buy this one for my school library.

I loved the book, but it was sadder than I expected. It definitely gave a Romeo and Juliet vibe. It would not be appropriate for students, but I loved reading the story!