This book was such a wonderful, heartfelt read! I absolutely adored it!

I devoured this story in just a couple of days! Café Con Lychee touches on self discovery, the difficulties of high school, finding new friends, new love, the heartbreak of feeling unaccepted, and the joy in creation, and it was an absolute delight to listen to.

I’m sure the synopsis will tell you everything you need to know but I would definitely recommend this beautiful story of growth. Perfect for all ages. For my audiobook fans I really loved that it had two narrators.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the e-arc, and thank you HCC Frenzy for hosting the giveaway that provided me with the galley!

I had high hope for this book based on the synopsis. Unfortunately for me, the pacing of the book just did not hold my attention. After multiple attempts to read this one, calling it quits and DNF at 68%.

Emery Lee has done it again! Eir writing has grown immensely and this book is another hit! I really enjoyed Lee's diverse cast of characters and look forward to reading eir books in the future!

In Café Con Lychee, Theo Mori and Gabi Moreno are no strangers to competition. They are both on the soccer team, each having their own level of play. Theo is the savior of the team while Gabi is lucky if he remembers to tie his shoes properly before a game. These two characters are also in competition outside school with their parents cafés. The cafés sell different products but, are constantly feeling the pressure to out do each other. A new sense of pressure arrives when a fusion café opens nearby and starts stealing their patrons. The two boys begrudgingly come together to figure out a plan to save the cafés.

Theo and Gabi have completely different personalities. Theo is gruff and filled with so much anger. Gabi is more withdrawn afraid to live his truths. He doesn't want to play soccer but, he is doing so please his father. Growing up in a Puerto Rican family there is no room for error. Similarly, Theo is part of an Asian American family with certain expectations. Both boys are receiving so much pressure and this pressure is bleeding into their dynamic.

This book is told in alternating perspectives which allows the reader to get to know these characters. It also allows you to see the characters as they really are without a mask. This is a slow burn enemies to lovers. There is bantering and a touch of tension between them. The problem for me was their characteristics didn't feel fully fleshed out. Theo was angry, angry, angry lashing out at whoever gets in his path. This got tiresome relatively quickly. Gabi's lack in personality wasn't much better. He was so eager to please. His father was also really problematic and was very surface level macho behavior.

There is a bit of food humor thrown in the out the book which does help break things up a bit. I think there were just too many angsty scenes for me to really enjoy it. Things also felt a bit unreal overall. I really couldn't see how their plan would actually come to fruition Or be kept so secretive with social media. Maybe I'm just thinking too in depth about all of this.

I wanted to enjoy Café Con Lychee with the premise of two gay characters who had to work together to save their parents cafés. Unfortunately, the premise did not pan out anything like I though it would. It all just felt uneven and never really became fully fleshed out. Like I said though I may be overthinking this entire thing.

**Rating: 2.5 Stars**

Man, this book bummed me out a bit. The premise is great and this definitely needs to be on your list if you like enemies-to-lovers books that focus on the enemies part.
But there's just a lot of negativity in here (obviously for a lot of good reasons) and I wish there would have been a bit more light moments to balance out all the negative shit these two protags have to deal with on a daily basis (from their families, their peers, their so-called friends, their own internalized issues etc.). I kept having to set down the book because it made me sad, frustrated, annoyed..which shows it's great storytelling on Lee's part but you definitely need to be in the right headspace to read this one.

I did give this book a chance despite it being YA.
YA is not for me anymore, but this cover just tempted me and it I love queer rom coms.. And all the food made me hungry! It was cute despite some cringe moment, but I expected it.
Would I read it again? Not really.

Simply put, a fantastic melding of young queer love and culinary hijinks. The enemies-to-lovers romance was just *chef's kiss*, Theo Mori and Gabriel Moreno make an unexpected but exceptional pairing that I couldn't get enough of. From the humor to the impeccably accurate awkward teen yearning, the book is brimming with a literary charm that just pulls you in.

While this is a rom-com, the book also is one about cultural identity and touches upon the appropriation of parts of that identity. Lee does a great job capturing the struggles of diaspora while also balancing the plot with the budding romance between Theo and Gabi. Eir writing really captured the relationship dynamics of not just the two main characters but also the different friend groups and families.

After receiving an ARC of Emery Lee’s debut novel, MEET CUTE DIARY, and absolutely falling in love with it, CAFE CON LYCHEE quickly became one of my most anticipated reads of 2022. A closeted Puerto Rican boy struggling to openly be himself whilst also attempting to save his parents’ local restaurant from closing? I was sold. I am happy to say that this book has exceeded all of my expectations! CAFE CON LYCHEE can be summed up into two words: downright sweet. Yes, the pun was intended. There is something about Emery Lee’s writing style that is just so enjoyable to read! Not only do the books always hook you from the start, but they’re also always fun and fast-paced.

As a queer Boricua, the rep in this book meant so much to me. Seeing Gabi work through his own internalized biases, and the pressure from those closest to him, hit very close to home. I adored seeing him grow and learn throughout this book. Yes, it’s amazing seeing him fall for a boy, but I think it’s also amazing to see Gabi fall in love with himself. It’s not often that a character comes around that I want to protect with my entire being, but Gabi Moreno is one of those characters. I know he is going to do so much good to young queer Latine boys who read about him!

Honestly, all of the characters are wonderfully developed. Our other perspective is from Theo Mori, the son of an Asian rival restaurant. Theo is a character that broke my heart. I can resonate with the pain he feels regarding his family. He is yet another character whom I want to wrap in a hug and protect from the world. The work Emery Lee is doing- to show queer boys of color being complex human beings capable of anger, fear, hope, love, apprehension, doubt, excitement, joy, etc- is work I cannot begin to express my appreciation for. After living decades witnessing POC being portrayed as caricatures, Emery Lee is a refreshing voice in the writing world. All of e’s characters- including the amazing, and amazingly awful, side characters- are written with such a focused voice.

All of this to say, you should read this book. If you’re a foodie, a queer POC, a lover of angst, or just a fan of YA books, CAFE CON LYCHEE is definitely worth a read!

(I usually put CWs at the end of my reviews but unfortunately lost the list I made whilst reading.)

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ARC provided by HarperCollins Canada and Quill Tree Books.

Theo Mori and Gabriel Moreno have always been at odds. Their parents own rival businesses and Gabi’s lack of coordination has cost their soccer team too many games to count. Stuck in the closet and scared to pursue his own dreams, Gabi sees his parents’ shop as his future. Stuck under the weight of his parents’ expectations, Theo’s best shot at leaving Vermont means first ensuring his parents’ livelihood is secure. So when a new fusion café threatens both shops, Theo and Gabi realize an unfortunate truth—they can only achieve their goals by working together to cook up an underground bakery operation and win back their customers. But can they put aside their differences long enough to save their parents’ shops or will the new feelings between them boil over?

Cafe Con Lychee had such a cute premise and sounded like it was right up my alley, but this book was kinda disappointing since I had high hopes for this book and was so excited to read it. The premise is great and this definitely needs to be on your list if you like enemies-to-lovers books that focus on the enemies part. However, there's way too much negativity and I wish there would have been a bit more light moments to balance out all the negative. It was marketed as a romance, and while that romance is there, the pacing felt really off and didn’t work well. I wasn’t really sure why they liked each other and wasn’t convinced of their feelings for each other. The food delivery service during school also didn't feel realistic. I did like seeing how Gabi and Theo put aside their differences to benefit each other. I really needed some positivity in my life and the ending wasn’t enough to change my mind about the journey in this book. I would recommend this if you don't mind a very slow burn enemy to lovers story that isn't all sunshine and rainbows.

Rating: 2.5/5

This was an interesting premise, with two ‘enemies’ whose families own rival cafés teaming up when a new fusion café threatens both of their businesses. Overall it’s a sweet story and I felt it picked up for the better in the second half but it did feel awkward and clunky in the writing and characterization. I think the characters were smoothed out more by the second half so they didn’t read so much as caricatures. An enjoyable story with lots of delicious food, it just needed a little time to develop.

This book starts out rather rough, with a rather forced rivalry between two cafes in a town that apparently cannot support three of them. I almost stopped reading with how grumpy and mean Theo is at first, but I really cared about Gabi. Once their friendship/relationship starts to grow, the book has some good moments. It just gets muddled with a crazy plan to try to save their parents' cafes (and a lot of weird Homecoming drama).

If you like your YA romance with a ton of angst and descriptions of food, this could be a good pick for you.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher.

A lot of the reason I stopped reading YA is because YA parents are the worst. After becoming a parent I just wasn’t sure I could relate to YA in the same level because like sure I’m going to make mistakes but am I going to be homophobic in front of my kids friends? No who does this. Also the parents didn’t care at all that their businesses were closing down and it was all on their kids? Idk it was not realistic and it took me out of the story

Rating: 4/10
To be completely honest, if I hadn't received this as an ARC and if it wasn't our book club pick of the month, I probably would have DNFed this by the 50% mark. I was super excited to read this one because on paper it ticks a lot of boxes that I love (2 BIPOC MCs written by a queer/bipoc author who uses neopronouns. Yes, more of that please!). It was overall okay, but I had a lot of annoyances that just kept adding up. It's a quick, easy to read YA, so if you like YA by all means give it a shot, but here are some of the problems with it for me:

1. This is marketed as enemies/rivals to lovers but it isn't. It's one character (Theo) who is absolutely mean to the super sweet LI for absolutely no reason just because they are both from "rivaling" cafes. One person in our book club said it should really be marketed as a bully romance, and I have to agree with that. By the final act, I absolutely did not believe that either of these two characters actually liked each other and rolled my eyes when they got together. If you like bully romances this might be more your thing.

2. Theo is the main character (and even though it's dual pov with Gabi, Theo feels like the mc) and he is SO unlikable. I absolutely did not like his character at all. He is mean to everyone for absolutely no reason. He's mean to the LI Gabi, he's mean to his best friend Justin, he's mean to his parents, he's mean to his brother. His only personality trait is sarcasm TM with no redeeming quality. And all of the other characters are so nice to him even though he absolutely does not deserve it. I actually liked Gabi and all of the side characters and probably would have liked this more if Theo wasn't one of the worst main characters I've ever read.

3. The Ironic situations: A) Theo is mad that his uncle is stealing from his parents by making them pay a lot of money for rent, but he is also stealing from them by taking money from the tips. But this "doesn't matter" because it's "just a few dollars here and there for the past few years" even though it's now hundreds of dollars worth in a shoebox. Bro, you are still stealing. B) White people appropriating and gentrifying cultures and neighborhoods is 100% a valid criticism to have and is a main part of the story of why the two BIPOC cafes are now failing (which is fine. I love the concept on paper). I just thought it was ironic that Theo himself in the text says that his Chinese-Japanese family has also appropriated a Taiwanese drink to make their bubble tea cafe.

4. I love the idea of two cafes run by BIPOC people overcoming gentrification. I do not like that the two BIPOC families hate each other and initially want to see each other fail and actively try to sabotage the other business. Especially when one is an Asian cafe and one is a Latine cafe that don't have much, if any, overlapping competition. If they were both east Asian/bubble tea cafes that sold the same things, I could maybe understand being a competing business, but they aren't. Why do the only 2 BIPOC restaurants in town have to hate each other?

5. I think it's weird that a high school student (Gabi) is weirdly obsessed with his teacher. Kids, especially queer kids, get attached to teachers and I can personally relate to that. But it's not written well here. It was almost creepy to me that Gabi not only has one on one time with a dance teacher outside of a class setting but has their phone number and regularly texts them and CONSTANTLY wonders what the teacher's opinion about something would be. Every chapter of Gabi's has him wishing he could ask the teacher her opinion on something. Their relationship isn't inappropriate but the way it's written rubbed me the wrong way.

6. For a book with only ~300 pages, this has A LOT going on in a short amount of time and some of it should have been consolidated. Soccer practice, dance practice, trying to save 2 rivaling cafes, a "romance", homecoming committee, a subplot romance with the friend... It's way too much subplot for this short amount of pages. (For example, all we know about Thomas for the whole book is that he left for college and asshole Theo hates him. Big Shocker. So when Thomas comes home and says he is questioning identity too, why do I care? I didn't know you until two pages ago.) Also, selling some drinks to school kids and having one catered Homecoming dance is not going to save years and tens of thousands of dollars in business debt. The premise has a lot of potential but this direction and execution wasn't it.

TLDR; this book would be at least a 3 star book if it was more focused and if Theo wasn't it in at all.

Thank you to netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book has my whole heart.

What a delight each sentence was, and the way Lee weaved the plotlines was just *chef's kiss*

A Romeo & Romeo storyline that comes together to bring enemies together against gentrification and whyte appropriation. A coming out and coming of age book all about family and friends and finding yourself.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review, but ended up listening to the audiobook from my library (highly recommend the audiobook!)

DNF'd about 20% into the book. I thought the premise was interesting, and the beginning of the book seemed promising, but the author's writing style ultimately didn't work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy of Cafe Con Lychee given for an honest review.

This story follows our two MCs, Theo and Gabi. Theo is an all around athlete and only average student, which he thinks is a disappointment to his traditional Asian (Chinese and Japanese) parents. He finds out his family business (an Asian bakery) is struggling and must come up with a way to save it. He finds himself at a crossroads with the mortal enemy- the son of the competitor’s business across the street. Gabi really wants to dance ballet and be true to himself but feels the need to hide it in light of the homophobic comments his parents say in front of him. So, instead he attempts to play soccer (terribly) to make his father proud and help out in the family business (a Puerto Rican cafe). He finds his parents are thinking of selling their shop due to the new restaurant that just opened up in town. He decides to partner with Theo and attempt to save both of their stores- but catches feelings for Theo in the process.

I would recommend this YA story to any teenager who struggles with self identity, wants to see a HEA with M/M protagonists, or anyone who just enjoys cute stories of love conquering all.

This was a sweet book and I had really high expectations but I was a little underwhelmed. I had trouble getting drawn into the story line of the competing restaurants-that weren't really competing(?)- and the relationship felt a bit forced and sudden so I had trouble connecting to them.

A little disappointing. Gabi is constantly running off and refuses to deal with issues head-on. I found him so insufferable that I had to slog through most of this book.

ENEMIES TO LOVERS? Because their parents own RIVAL BUSINESSES? Gabi awkwardness to Theo’s confidence? Different experiences of being queer from two different people which fleshes them out into fully-realized characters? Incredible descriptions of drinks and pastries? FOOD PUNS? Yeah okay I loved this book. Literally the only thing that could have made this book better would be if there were recipes in the back. YA novelists, get on this, please! This is a great readalike to Tweet Cute by Emma Lord, if you enjoyed that. Five stars.

I had a difficult time getting into this book. I didn't feel particularly attached to the characters and the love confession felt like it came out of nowhere (probably accurate for teenagers). But the last third really won me over. Maybe I'm just a sucker for queer kids and their parents (that's definitely it), but the ending pulled it together for me.