A Pho Love Story
Series: None
Author: Loan Le
Published February 18th 2021 by Simon & Schuster Children's UK

Goodreads Synopsis
All's fair in love, war and noodles . . .

If Bao Nguyen had to describe himself, he’d say he was a rock. Steady and strong, but not particularly interesting. His grades are average, his social status unremarkable. He works at his parents’ pho restaurant, and even there, he is his parents’ fifth favorite employee.

If Linh Mai had to describe herself, she’d say she was a firecracker. Stable when unlit, but full of potential for joy and spark and fire. She loves art, and she dreams of making a career of it one day. The only problem? Her parents rely on her in ways they’re not willing to admit, including expecting her to work practically full-time at their family’s pho restaurant.

For decades, the Mais and the Nguyens have been at odds, having owned competing, neighboring pho restaurants. Bao and Linh have resolved never to befriend each other, for fear of pushing too far and bringing on undue heartbreak. But when a chance encounter brings Linh and Bao closer, sparks fly . . .

Can Linh and Bao’s love survive in the midst of feuding families and complicated histories?

This delicious debut is perfect for fans of When Dimple Met Rishi and To All the Boys I’ve Love Before.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

To say that Bao and Linh's family's were at odds would be an understatement. In a feud to rival that of the Montagues and Capulets, their family's have been rivals ever since Linh's family opens a pho restaurant across the street from Bao's family's. Their parents have always told them to stay apart, but when they are flung together to work on the school paper - Bao writing, and Linh illustrating restaurant reviews, there's a spark between them, and they want to be able to spend more time together, without having to hide it from their respective families. And when it seems that there might be more to the animosity, stretching make to their parents days in Vietnam, Bao and Linh need to discover the truth, to hope to have any chance at a future together.

This was a book that I first started reading as soon as my review request was approved, and I struggled for some reason, so put it to one side. Then, in August, I was clearing my NG backlog, and was hooked this time around. I really liked the spin on Romeo and Juliet, with the added historical element of the Mais and the Nguyens journey from Vietnam as refugees during the War. As a former history teacher, I've always been interested in the history of Vietnam, though it's not really on the UK curriculum much, so it was only after I graduated that I really looked into it. I don't think I've ever seen it explored in a YA book before, and not by an Own Voices author either. It was hard hitting at times, learning about how the parents fled the country, and how some didn't make it to America.

The plot line of the book was good, though it was a little too long, I think. It's over 400 pages, which is long for a YA contemporary, and at times, I felt like some of the chapters dragged a little. Linh and Bao had contrasting POV's, and I liked the chance to see into both of their lives, and see them as they started to look into what they wanted to do in the future, and come to terms with the fact that their wishes may be at odds with the dreams of their parents, and how they could reconcile that. Linh was a fantastic artist, but to her parents, that wasn't a career path she should go down, and she should look at something like engineering or similar, which would give her more financial security. But art was her love, and when she had the opportunity to display work in prominent places, she did so in secret - with Bao's support - knowing that if/when the truth came out, it could hurt her parents. She loved the, but hated that she was relied on so much in the restaurant, and wanted her own life, not the one they had planned for her. Bao's family was a little different, and they didn't put so much pressure on him, but he still wanted to make them proud. I enjoyed seeing the two of them grow, and the chemistry between them was fantastic. The romance wasn't as much rivals-to-lovers as I thought it might be, rather it was their parents who were rivals, never them, but all in all, a really good YA debut.

Dates Read:
August 22-24, 2021

Rating
4 Stars