This was a lovely book! I enjoyed it so much. But it made me very hungry for pho! It’s such a sweet and beautiful book!

I will pretty much jump at any chance to read a book written with and for the Vietnamese American experience and A Pho Love Story is no exception. This romantic comedy is a cute twist on the Romeo & Juliet trope - if Romeo and Juliet were Vietnamese American young adults whose parents own rival restaurants. The story is really sweet, with a solid combination of heart, humor, and serious issues.

This is the exact story that I would have loved to have growing up, especially during my middle and high school years. The representation of the Vietnamese family experience and community is on point. I know so many 'Bao's and 'Linh's and Loan Le's portrayal of filial piety was fairly accurate - especially from the perspective of a teenager. As I'm older now, I'm also able to empathize with the Nguyen and Mai parents at the same time. Bao and LInh's romance was sweet and the conflict was just angsty enough for what I'd expect from young adult fiction.

Living more than a 10 hour drive from my parents now, Le's descriptions of the food made me miss my mother's cooking so much. This was another book to inspire me to head out to my Asian grocery.

A cute YA romance story that incorporates Vietnamese culture. As someone who lived in Vietnam (but is not Vietnamese), I loved the references and the frequent phrases and sentences in Vietnamese. This own voices book is important for Vietnamese-American teens representation. The story was predictable and the writing a bit simplistic, but it was still enjoyable!

If my teens want a cute romance I would be sure to hand them a diverse one. If your library purchases simple teen romances for your collection then there's no reason not to include this one.

*I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

A Pho Love Story is a great contemporary romance that has a new take on the Romeo and Juliet storyline. I will say that this book was difficult for me to get through. I think that's a little more personal preference than anything. I liked Linh and Bao and how they dealt with their family's dislike of each other. They were easy characters to relate to in the idea of being a teenager who hasn't figured out their future. I also enjoyed their parents! I could see where they were coming from and why a feud had begun between the two families. The multilingual aspects of the book sang beautifully and I was able to grasp the meaning behind what was being said.

One of the things that didn't quite work for me personally was the length. While I'm sure everything was necessary to tell the story, I felt myself falling in and out of what was happening and I felt like I could already see the outcome. That's mere personal preference though. I know that I have students who would like the familiarity of knowing what comes next. It's a well written love story that is bound to get fans for it's love of food, culture, and storyline.

I loved this love story. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book. I highly recommend reading it.

I was torn between three and four stars for this novel. I was really happy with the characterization, the Vietnamese-American representation, and the love story at the heart of the text, but I often found myself thinking that this book may be a touch too long. I have nothing against “long” stories, but this one feels just a bit padded in the middle, which lessens the impact. Still, I couldn’t help but be drawn in to this novel, and what it does well it does really well. If you do pick this one up, just be warned that it is a bit of a slog in the middle.

I enjoyed this immersion into another culture. The story's alternating viewpoints add a nice dimension to the exploration of the romance and the families' feud. A very enjoyable read!

I really enjoyed this book and not just for the representation. I would have liked maybe some footnotes that explained how to pronounce some of the phrases and what they mean (I'm imagining it a bit like how it's done in Crazy Rich Asians). I love the opportunity for deeper understanding.

Realistic fiction. Young adults and adults will be drawn to this story of young love, bildungsroman, family rivalry and history, and finding the right path. Growing up as a worker in your family's restaurant is already complicated but living a hidden life with hidden dreams makes it ever more difficult. Hopefully, Bao and Linh will be able to convince their families that putting aside their rivalry is best for all!

such a warm, sweet YA.

i’d you liked Tweet Cute then i’m sure you’ll like a pho love story. two families own their own restaurants...across the streets from each other, and the rivalry is SERIOUS. but is the rivalry entirely detached and revolving only on their recipes and sales? or does it go deeper than that?

bao and linh are sweet, they gave me the loveliest of feels & the descriptions of Vietnamese food made me hungry, and wee perfect descriptors on the chilly nights i read by the the christmas tree.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I’ve been screaming about this book for literal years. I’ve been so hyped for it for so long, and when I finally got the chance to read an ARC, I dropped everything for it! A Pho Love Story was the Vietnamese-American contemporary that I’ve been waiting for, with a cute romance and complex family histories.

Linh is an aspiring artist who knows her parents would be disappointed by her choice of career. Meanwhile, Bao doesn’t yet know what he wants to do despite college being on the horizon. Their families own rival pho restaurants; however, there seems to be a darker history underlying their rivalry. Thus, Linh and Bao haven’t really interacted despite having met and going to the same school, but one day, they’re partnered up to write pieces for their newspaper on restaurants that would be good date spots.

Overall, the story was very cute. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a romantic comedy, though, because it deals with some fairly heavy trauma (which I’ll touch on later).

I liked the characters; Linh and Bao are such well-written protagonists, and you really understand their dreams and desires. The side characters were great too. Linh’s best friend, Allison, is ambitious and meddling and essentially the reason why they start to like each other. Bao’s best friend, Viet, is also dependable and supportive and loves crime shows. We also see a lot of Linh’s and Bao’s parents, which is fairly abnormal for YA novels.

The romance was cute! I do want to clarify that this book isn’t a hate-to-love story; instead, Linh and Bao click from the very beginning. Rather, their relationship lies more on the forbidden side because their families hate each other so much.

My favorite aspect of this book, however, is the Vietnamese-American representation. I loved seeing Vietnamese culture sprinkled throughout the book, even just the little things like the food and mentions of Paris by Night blaring in the background at all times (if you know, you know).

Also, it was nice seeing the Vietnamese phrases throughout the book! Honestly, I laughed a bit when I read “trời ơi” written.

I will be honest and say that this book was fairly similar to other typical Asian-American stories with protagonists who want to pursue an arts career despite their parents’ disapproval, so that aspect of the story wasn’t necessarily new…and honestly, I’m a little over it simply because I never had to go through that but that’s just me.

However, I really liked how this book made this situation more specific to a Vietnamese-American experience in that many people of Vietnamese descent and of my generation (speaking broadly) have parents who are refugees from the Vietnam War. There’s a lot of trauma there, obviously, and has led them to want stable lives for their children, especially financially. Obviously, this is applicable for many other Asian Americans, but it was just so fascinating for me to read it from a singularly Vietnamese-American lens, which again, I haven’t really seen in a YA contemporary.

Also, this trauma from the war is very up-front and is the reason why I said this book isn’t a romantic comedy. Linh’s and Bao’s parents’ stories of their life in Vietnam are an integral part of the book. I won’t say it’s super heavy; it’s just that this book wasn’t as light as I was expecting, not that that’s a bad thing; I just want to clarify this for other people.

So again, a lot of people of Vietnamese descent in my generation have parents who are refugees, who fled from their homeland and have had to build up their life in other countries. This was something that is so specific to Vietnamese diaspora (again, speaking broadly and not only for Vietnam) that I didn’t even know it was something I wanted to see in a book until I read it. I just related to this so much more than when I’ve been reading East-Asian-American stories over the past ten years, so I really appreciated being able to read this book.

A Pho Love Story had some adorable moments but also explored heavier issues, such as familial trauma. It intertwined so many great aspects of Vietnamese culture throughout the story, and I also really enjoyed the characters and their dynamics. I definitely recommend A Pho Love Story if you like Gloria Chao’s books!

Very cute Romeo and Juliet inspired romcom based upon two rival pho restaurants. First off, yes I was compelled to eat pho, but due to the pandemic had to make do with my hubby’s home made ramen (not suffering!) I was drawn to the two protagonists and the mysterious storyline of why the two families disliked each other so much; however, the supporting cast fell flat and was stereotypical. The feud seemed unrealistic. The book suffered from poor editing coming in at a whopping 400+ pages which was too much for not enough development. There was some good stuff here and I think some of my students will enjoy the book. Personally, I think there is so much more potential.

This was a really cute (happy) Romeo and Juliet romance. The two main characters, Linh and Bao, have parents who own rival Pho restaurants. Each has been told how terrible the other family is, so Linh and Bao have never really talked to each despite their parents' restaurants literally being across the street from each other. One day, all that changes. Will their friendship (and romance) overcome their parents' rivalry? What started the rivalry in the first place? This is a really sweet story, and although I've never had Pho, it made me hungry as I read it because there is a lot of food in it!

See my private note to the publisher. The book sounded interesting and Vietnamese Americans are underrepresented in YA lit, but I couldn't stand to read it because of NetGalley's inferior app. Please offer it on Kindle and I will gladly finish the book and give it an honest review.

Words have power and the story of the past needs to be told. For the children of rival restaurants, communication has been off-limits, but when Bao sees Linh in the weeds on Pho Day, he heads across the street to help out. Soon their paths are crossing and friends help to get them together. And by being together they might be lying to their families, but they're discovering themselves. But lies must be addressed, both from the present and the past. They must find out why their families are such terrible rivals.
Within the process of discovery, we learn about what it means to be a Vietnamese American. How the rules of one world have blended with the customs of another. The story is beautifully crafted and highlights the relatable experiences of first-generation Americans.

The desciption says When Dimple Met Rishi meets Ugly Delicious but I like to think of it as Romeo and Julie meets Restaurant Wars. :-) Bao and Linh live across the street from each other and their parents own competing Vietnamese restaurants. They aren't supposed to look at each and talk to each other let alone fall in love. A nice rom-com for teens.

This one was just not to my taste. I felt like many of the characters were overly stereotypical and the pacing was uneven -- sometimes the story felt too long, while specific scenes felt rushed. The level of dislike between the families felt unreasonable. I get the tie to Romeo & Juliet, but making the families hate one another so much felt forced.

Received received an ARC from netgalley for an honest opinion.

I like the idea of this book, but not so much the execution. The characters were good, and I liked that it was based on Romeo and Juliet, and was happy that no one died at the end. Maybe there was just too much, it could have been shorter and I think would have been better.

Asian representation + Romeo and Juliet + delectable food = *chef’s kiss* (why do we not have a gif for that?)

This ya contemporary romance was perfectly sweet and romantic, with the right amount of dashes of spice and drama.

It’s a modern retelling of the tragic Romeo and Juliet, so you know there’s going to be family rivalry, but thank goodness it’s modern so there’s no, uh, well, tragic ending 😅

Since this book is about fighting between two family-owned restaurants, it reminds me of the movie Pizza My Heart, please tell me someone has seen this movie!

Now let’s get to what I loved about this story. First off, the food. This book made me hungry and made me want to go to all the Vietnamese restaurants and get some pho! The food was described so detailed and deliciously. But one thing I loved is that even though pho is the two main character’s lives, it isn’t everything. They have their own dreams they want to pursue, and part of this novel is their discovery of what they want and helping their parents understand them.

Next, the romance. You could say this is an enemies to lovers story, but Bao and Linh are only enemies by default. For their whole lives, their families have hated eachother. But Linh and Bao never actually hated eachother. When they first really meet, it starts off a little rocky, but it soon blossoms into a beautiful friendship that turns into something more. They were so sweet together, and just fit perfectly with the other.

The family dynamics between the parents who fled their country and came to the US and their children who never knew these traumatic times was well done and made me invested in the story. I wanted to know why there was such a deep seeded feeling of hate.

The ending, with the resolving of all the different issues (the restaurant rivalry, the parent/child tension, the forbidden romance) was perfect and gave me all the warm fuzzies. I can’t wait to see what Loan He has in store next!

If you love sweet ya romances, then you need to check this book out!