TL;DR: While I can see the appeal of this book, especially for the young adult audience, but I unfortunately didn’t end up loving it as much as I thought I would. Part of that might have to do with my elevated expectations but, despite the interesting family history and the blossoming romance between Bao and Linh, it was the pacing that really did it for me. The pacing dragged the story down immensely and with the ‘slice-of-life’ style of storytelling, it made for an incredibly slow read. That said, I did enjoy the family drama, learning about Vietnamese history, the Vietnamese food, the journey to find one’s passion, and of course, all the art. If any of that sounds appealing to you, I would recommend this coming-of-age contemporary!

One thing is for sure, be prepared to get hungry when you read this book! Following two characters whose families own Vietnamese restaurants means that there’s a lot of talk about many beloved dishes like pho and banh xeo, but also many others that I’d never heard of but still had me salivating. Food is such a large part of Asian culture and it symbolizes so many things, so I appreciated reading about it through our MC’s perspectives and their family legacies. Also, I have to say that I loved how unapologetically Vietnamese this story was—from the character mannerisms, to the liberal use of Vietnamese sprinkled naturally throughout their conversations, and of course, the historical aspect.

Bao and Linh, are first generation Vietnamese American kids whose parents were war refugees. What I loved most about their story were the historical glimpses of what it was like living in Vietnam during and after the war, but also the view into their present-day family life. Le touches upon the trauma that comes with living through a war, and how it can still haunt people years after it’s over, and I think it laid the foundation for the family history/drama well. Both our MCs have a heavy sense of respect and fear of their mums, and I think that’s something a lot of Asian kids will be able to relate to. We know who really has the power in an Asian household, lol. 😂 There was no question that they loved their families dearly, but on the flip side, there were things they couldn’t be honest with their parents about out of fear of being misunderstood or even shutdown completely.

I appreciated Bao’s struggle to figure out what they’re passionate about and what their next move could be after school ends when all their life they’ve seen themselves as mediocre. Similarly, I appreciated Linh’s struggle to be open about her desire to pursue art while balancing parental expectations. No doubt, a lot of young readers, especially Asian readers whether they are diaspora or not or those who struggle with figuring out what they want to do once school ends, will be able to relate to their situations. There is, of course, their “star-crossed lovers” romance. I thought there were a lot of cute, sweet, and tender moments between these cuties, but I wasn’t blown away by it and neither did it feel like a huge part of their story. Rather, it felt more like the catalyst for the family rivalry to finally come to the fore and take centre stage. The family rivalry was what kept me hanging on until the very end because I needed to know what really happened! I managed to figure it out before the final reveals, but it didn’t dampen my satisfaction with how it turned out.

Despite enjoying many aspects of this story, I struggled so much with the pacing. I don’t think it helped that this was a character driven “slice-of-life” type of story that had many heavier/sombre moments. This meant there was a lot of repetitiveness in the cycle of their thoughts and actions. Combined with the intensity of their struggles, and not to mention having to hide their burgeoning romance from everyone in the community, it made for a fairly slow-paced read. Also, I love romances for their banter and although there were cute cheesy moments between Bao and Linh, there wasn’t much levity or banter to balance the heavier moments out. If this had been better paced, I wouldn’t have known this was 400+ pages, but as it was, it felt much longer than that!

Overall, while I’m sad that I didn’t end up enjoying this as much as I thought I would—Leslie, who I was buddy reading this with even DNF’d this—I’m still glad that I finally read it and can knock it off my TBR. Part of me feels like I’m no longer in the right ‘headspace’ for YA contemporaries, as my enjoyment of them has lessened significantly over the years, which is also something to consider when deciding whether to keep this on your TBR or unhaul it. I’m very certain that younger me (or even the me from a few years ago) would’ve loved this and so I’d still recommend it to those who are looking for a diverse, culturally rich coming-of-age story.

Have you read A Pho Love Story or is it on your TBR?

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