A Pho Love Story

by Loan Le

When Dimple Met Rishi meets Ugly Delicious in this funny, smart romantic comedy, in which two Vietnamese-American teens fall in love and must navigate their newfound relationship amid their families' age-old feud about their competing, neighboring restaurants.

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. Not ideal.

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

For years, the Mais and the Nguyens have been at odds, having owned competing, neighboring pho restaurants. Bao and Linh, who've avoided each other for most of their lives, both suspect that the feud stems from feelings much deeper than friendly competition.

But then a chance encounter brings Linh and Bao in the same vicinity despite their best efforts and sparks fly, leading them both to wonder what took so long for them to connect. But then, of course, they immediately remember.

Can Linh and Bao find love in the midst of feuding families and complicated histories?

• ISBN10: 153444193X
• ISBN13: 9781534441934
• Publish Date: 9 February 2021 (first published 1 February 2021)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[riv @dearrivarie]

a story of family and relationships
A Phở Love Story is a debut young adult novel from Loan Le that follows two Vietnamese-American teenagers as they navigate friendship, family, and finding their passions. Coming from families of two competing pho restaurants, Linh and Bao have only seen each other in passing, but after an instance of kindness and an assignment for the school newspaper, they start spending more time and seeing new aspects of each other. The relationships in this book are what make it such an endearing and memorable story.

Reading about their families made me take a step back and just appreciate all that my parents have done for me and the support I've received in my career choices even if there have been some arguments along the way. Family is also addressed connects itself to the romantic relationship. I really appreciated how Bao and Linh's relationship gradually developed - there was an initial spark of interest but we got to see their feeling grow for each other which brought on all the cutesy feels.

proudly asian american
This story represents a sense of familiarity and representation that makes me crave more stories that are unapologetically embracing the Asian American voice. As someone who is not Vietnamese, but grew up in a big cultural city on the East Coast, so many elements of this novel reflect life moments I've experienced from parental communication struggles to the comfort of sharing food with a loud (and gossipy) extended family. I was rolling my eyes at the auntie circles and relating so much to Linh's sister Evie's experience as the older sibling.

Despite Linh and her family having different visions and definitions of success, they never lost their line of communication with each other and that really touched me. A lot of times as a child of immigrants, it's hard to reconcile our parents' ideals of the American Dream with our own passions, and reading Linh's perspective just really resonated with my own thoughts and experiences. I honestly loved both sets of parents and learning about their stories made me more eager to take the time to listen to the stories of my own parents.

A Phở Love Story read like a snapshot from my own life and just further exemplifies the importance of writing and sharing these stories from all different backgrounds and cultures. I know for a fact that this story is an example of something I sought for as a teenager and I'm so glad that it's officially out for current and future generations of Asian Americans to read and feel seen.

Originally posted at dearrivarie for the Colored Pages' #APhoLoveStoryTour

[Kim Deister]

The moment I saw this book as a “coming soon,” I knew I had to have it! In my former life, I was a Vietnamese linguist in the US Army. Once of my teachers, Cô Thảo, showed me a side of Vietnam and its people I’d never known, the Fall of Saigon when I was only four years old. The language, the culture… I fell in love with the beauty of both as a student.

The novel is YA, telling the story of Bao and Linh, born and raised in the United States. Their families fled Vietnam during the war, coming to the US for a new start, a better life. But for as long as Bao and Linh have known of each other, their families have been embroiled in a bitter feud. It’s a modern-day, Vietnamese version of Romeo & Juliet. Only the feud is over competing restaurants. Or so they’ve always thought. Everything began to change the day Bao walked across the street and talked to Linh.

There is so much to love about this novel. For one, it’s an own-voices story, which came through clearly. The Vietnamese culture is very family- and community-centered, as it was in this book. The focus on phở, a major staple in both the culture and the cuisine of the country, was so on point. And it made me yearn for a bowl every time I began to read. For another, it’s so much more than a romance. It talks of the very real trauma caused by the turmoil of the Vietnam war, the struggle of assimilating into a culture that both isn’t one’s own and which hasn’t always been welcoming. Leaving Vietnam didn’t give either family a fresh start, not entirely. Old hurts didn’t stay at the boundaries of their previous home but followed both families over the years. And the racism faced by so many during the first post-war years has never really ended. And now it’s come to Bao and Linh to right the wrongs of the past, to find a way to move forward, for themselves and for the families they so love.

The down side for some might be the plethora of Vietnamese, some of it not translated. This wasn’t an issue for me, as I could read it, but it could be for some. But none of it is so integral to the plot that it would ruin the story to not translate those parts. That would be the only possible down side, in my opinion. There was just so much to love!

My recommendation: This is a must-read book for me! So beautiful, so rich with Vietnamese culture!