Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

This is the story of a Vietnamese family in which the father, who is the owner and the founder of the Vietnamese sandwich chain Duc’s Sandwiches, goes for retirement. So the question is, who will be managing this business?

Duc will set his children against each other to find a business successor after his retirement. But all will be according to his rules. The five siblings, consisting of a brother and four sisters, will have different objectives. Individually, each of the girls will be tasked with the responsibility of revitalizing run-down shops in a different state. While their brother has the chance to inherit everything provided he marries before the year ends!

The story follows many characters' perspectives, but thankfully they are narrated in a third-person style. This will help a lot in distinguishing the characters from each other. I think the premise of the book is very unique. It’s not something that I have read before despite reading many books. The whole plot is about this Vietnamese American family, so expect a culture-rich story with lots of depth.

Following many characters means you will have several subplots. Some can be appealing, and others can be just OK. My overall impression is that I found this story to be enjoyable to read, and I believe the author did an excellent job with the competition and the overall dynamics of the family.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC

Chose this one kind of on a whim and was not disappointed. The Tran family (four adult sisters and one adult brother, none of whom get along), an absent father, doting “uncle,” missing mother and bitter ex wife - add in Vietnamese restaurants and an inheritance challenge; what could go wrong? It’s a quirky story and I’m not sure the plot is iron clad but I enjoyed getting to know the characters and settings. An easy quick read. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Another broad family comedy from Huynh! The Tran sisters have to revitalize one of the family's band mi'shop across the country to get their inheritance, whilst their brother just has to get married. The backstory of "Uncle" Huey and how their dad Duc Tran went from immigrants to successful men and why their mother Evelyn left is mixed with the messy love lives and gentrification neighborhoods in the current America.

3.75 stars

This sprawling family tale seeks to explore the definition of family. It features a group with disputed parentage, and five children. Their mother left long ago and none of the children feels particularly close to their father. They have been advised by family friend and lawyer that there father has finalized his will and has a proposition for each of them. The oldest (and only) son's involves him marrying within a certain time period, and the other four have to do with each of them being given one of their father's banh mi sandwich shops to revitalize. We see fairly quickly that this isn't really about money from their father's business holdings - it's about fixing their sense of abandonment dating back to when their mother left.

Each of the grown children has lost their way a bit personally. The current chapters are interspersed with their mother and father's story from the past. This does include an actual historic event, the criminal trial of two Vietnamese shrimpers for the death of a White fisherman.

I appreciated that this book was a bit messy, because families often are. I also liked that everything was not totally resolved and tied up neatly at the end. Of all the characters, I still felt the mother's motivations and actions were cloudy. There is a lot of humor and some real poignancy as well. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

very well written book and has a cool historical fiction side plot. would definitely recommend. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

I was unable to finish this book and thus will not be posting a full review. Something just didn't work for me and I was pained reading this. I decided not to continue. Thank you for the opportunity and consideration.

I've read 86 books in 2025 so far and this is my favorite one to this point!

This book is about a large Vietnamese-American family who come together in the modern day to learn how their (living) father is going to divide his estate. The father isn't there, but his lawyer is, and he gives them all tasks, many related to his chain of bánh mì stores and says that the person who does theirs first will get his estate. The mother is mysteriously missing as well and it's clear that we'll learn more about her wherabouts and reasons for leaving during the course of the tasks.

The adult children complete the tasks, while having to deal with their pasts and relationships with each other, and the reader gets to learn about the parents' backstories through a series of flashbacks.

The story is sweet, funny, heartbreaking, and surprising. The book feels easy to read but the content is layered and just like in Huynh's debut book, lots of things are happening in layers. I'm looking forward to rereading it and digging more into where there may have been hints and details, because I was so excited to find out what was happening next that sometimes I would find myself flying through.

Misc note: I've seen some platforms categorize this as non-fiction and others categorize it as a romance. It's neither of those, it's lit/contemporary fiction.

Read it, you'll love it, and read The Fortunes of Jaded Women by the same author too!

Thank you to Atria books for an advance review copy of this book. My opinions expressed herein are my own.

This story of strained family relationships highlights the damage that lack of communication can impart on siblings, parents, and spouses. The family patriarch, Duc Tran, is a Vietnamese immigrant who has spent his life chasing the American dream, but at a cost. His adult children are angry and hurt, but after an inheritance. Chaos ensues.

The appreciation I now have for any immigrant coming here with the American Dream is so much higher because of this book. Carolyn had me laughing & crying while I read this book. The will to push past any obstacle life throws your way the characters faced in this book. The plot was perfectly executed between last & present. I loved it from start to finish.

This book is about five estranged siblings and their father who makes them play a game in order to get their inheritance. The book has two timelines: present and 1980s Little Saigon in Texas. The present chapters made me laugh a lot. The siblings bickering with each other was hilarious. The past chapters were eye-opening because I had no idea Vietnamese refugees were treated like that back in the 80s. This was my first book by Carolyn Huynh and I loved it so much that I immediately bought her debut novel, The Fortunes of Jaded Women.

Thank you Atria and NetGalley for my e-ARC!

The Family Recipe has an adorable premise (and lots of drama!) about 4 siblings (3 sisters, 1 brother) trying to accomplish a task their father has left them in order to 'compete' to see who's gonna get the family inheritance when he passes away. It's like a dysfunctional family competition, but not a toxic one.
The book is told by different POVs (one for each sibling) and we follow a year in the lives of these people.
That premise alone really appeals to me. But the execution of it failed to keep me invested in the story.
This is not a long book, and there are too many characters to follow through in the period of time of 12 months, and it was rushed. I thought the story was too rushed so I couldn't care enough for all of them because I didn't feel like they were developed enough. Not enough pages for such a big premise.
It brings valid discussions, yes. But it just fell a little flat to me.
I'm sure other readers might enjoy this book better than I did.
And I do recommend it to readers who love family drama.

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books, for providing me with a free eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

This was a fun read about a dysfunctional family that has to overcome their dislike of each other for the sake of the family business. Each character has their flaws but the journey is worth the read.

Received an arc of this book I wanted to like the book but could not get into. It just dragged for me

Another well written family drama by Carolyn Huynh! The first third of the book was a bit slow to get into as we got to know each character and their motivations behind how they pursued the family inheritance. I like books that have a surrounding mystery but I felt like this one took a little too long to get to. I appreciate that the author acknowledges that family relationships are complicated and while you can start making moves to repair them for the better, it's something you actively need to work towards everyday.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC.

I love seeing more from new author Carolyn Huynh, since her first book, The Fortunes of Jaded Women was so much fun. She can deliver a complicated family dynamic without any issues. I didn’t buy the big reveal as well as some of the character reactions to certain things. Connie and Evelyn were a bit flat where there could have been more, and are we supposed to believe a 3 year old is texting/can read? If someone is texting for the child, then why not say that? Sorry, such a small thing to get hung up on, but atlas here we are. A lot didn’t go right for me, but all in all I really enjoyed Huynh’s writing style and looking forward to reading more by her.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Family Recipe by Carolyn Huynh

This book is deliciously messy in all the best ways— I love how this heartfelt, funny, and deeply poignant story about family, identity, and the complicated ties that bind us. Carolyn Huynh delivers another sharp and emotionally rich dramedy, filled with estranged siblings, generational struggles, and, of course, banh mi.

I think what make this book stand out is how Huynh explores the immigrant experience, the weight of legacy, and the search for belonging in a rapidly changing world. Through witty dialogue and rich storytelling, Huynh paints a vivid picture of Little Saigon communities across America, touching on themes of gentrification, family duty, and rediscovering one’s roots. The sibling dynamics are impeccably written—filled with tension, rivalry, and reluctant love that makes their relationships feel raw and real. I'm going to get a banh mi after reading this book.

"The Family Recipe" is about a Vietnamese family whose patriarch, the head of a sandwich franchise, goes into hiding. His four daughters must each revitalize one of his sandwich shops as part of the inheritance plan, while his son must marry in order to claim ownership. The story revolves around the finding of their father and discovering how the inheritance rules tie into their mothers' disappearance. Themes include generational trauma, racism, finding oneself and family. Recommended for readers who are interested in dysfunctional families and 1970s culture. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Pub Date: April 1, 2025.

#TheFamilyRecipe

As a big fan of The Fortunes of Jaded Women, I was so excited to read Carlolyn Huynh's sophomore novel, and it did NOT dissapoint! Funny, heartfelt, thoughtful, and insightful. Loved all the characters, with their flaws and imperfections and general humanity. Loved seeing a broken family trying to figure out their next steps together. The historical part of this novel was also super enlightening: I didn't know much about the treatment of Vietnam refugees in the US after the Vietnman way, and knew nothing about the KKK involvement in that treatment. As sad as these moments in history are, I'm always grateful for books that give me exposure to these parts of our dark history. May we all be a little more like Georgia.

This book deals with racism throughout the US against Vietnamese people. The book goes back-and-forth between post Vietnam war versus today. Each chapter is told from a different Character perspective. This book shows the history of the KKK. A three star read.

***** I received an arc for my honest opinion from NetGalley****

Talk about a dysfunctional family! In Carolyn Huynh's The Family Recipe, patriarch Duc swears he will pass on his fortune to one of his five adult children at the end of one year, but they will have to work for it. The exception is oldest child and only male Jude, who simply has to get married (although that seems like work to him). Each of Duc's four very different daughters, all in their twenties and thirties, is charged with taking time off from her current life to renovate and reinvigorate one of the Duc's Sandwiches stores in Philadelphia, Houston, San Jose and New Orleans. The first one of the five siblings to achieve the goal their father has set for them will win.

Is that fair to the women? Where is Duc right now anyway? His best friend and the family's lawyer has been communicating with the family on his behalf. And how much is his fortune worth? Does any one of these five siblings even stand a chance of winning the challenge? For all of them, living with Duc hasn't been the childhood they needed. Their mother left the family two decades ago and doesn't want to be found. Duc's second wife has also left home and has a score to settle with him.

Duc was a lowly fisherman in his native Vietnam, but his banh mi shops had filled a need in the Vietnamese communities throughout his adopted home of the United States. His story takes up a large part of the plot. I found it interesting to read about those Vietnamese communities as they are today, and how the customs and lives of the residents have changed (or not). Unfortunately, the story in general left me flat. I felt that most of the family members were either unlikeable or quite shallow, to the point where I didn't care whether they succeeded at the challenge. Nor was I particularly interested in the family dynamics and bloodlines. However, readers who enjoy stories of dysfunctional families and how cultural backgrounds can affect lives in varying degrees may find this book satisfying.

My thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.