A gorgeous Romeo and Juliet retelling, with the fake-dating trope woven within. I especially loved the descriptions of the foods, they were mouth-watering and sounded absolutely delicious.

This is the romeo and Juliet retelling you didn't know you needed.
It is such a cute retelling with a Vietnamese background and I loved reading it. It has introduced me to a culture I was ignorant to before and I loved how authentic the author makes it, could have maybe done with footnote translations but that's not overly required.

Along with fake dating, enemies to lovers is one of the guilty pleasure tropes I enjoy in a romance novel. So, when I saw this Vietnamese take on 'Romeo and Juliet', teenagers falling in love despite family rival pho restaurants, I thought this would be an instant hit. This is certainly well-written, with the mouth-watering depictions of food peppered throughout, and Le works hard to bring multiple dimensions to our lovers Bao and Linh. However cute this book is, it could have been trimmed and made the pacing more gripping, the dense description cut to allow some earlier action to propel the story forward.

Young adults will enjoy this and, along with all readers, root for the adorable main couple. It missed the mark for me though in terms of pacing and also, the promised 'enemies' phase was not there. The families are rivals but this book should be marketed as a 'tentative friends to lovers' - no wonder the initial bite and drama of the trope was missing. Overall, cute and lovely but underwhelming in its pacing. 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A Pho Love Story follows Bao Nguyen, who is still questioning who he wants to be and what he wants to do in life. And, Linh Mai, who wants to follow her dreams as a painter and an artist but is unsure how to do so. Due to a family feud, they’ve been avoiding each other for years. But, when they meet again, become friends and start developing feelings for one another things go into disarray.

I had a lot of high hopes for this book as it is was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021. Sadly, I really struggled to fully enjoy this book and found it very difficult to become invested in. It did have its moments which I thoroughly enjoyed and I still feel it is well worth a read because I know so many people who have loved it.

I enjoyed the characters, I just did not form the connection with them that I usually do when reading a book. Linh is navigating the tough decisions she has to make upon which career path she wants to go down. She seems quite over dramatic at times but I felt her character growth throughout the book was worthwhile. I loved how she voiced all her ideas and opinions via her art too.

Bao is not too sure on what he wants to pursue in life. Then when journalism falls into his lap it is like it was meant to be. I enjoyed watching him write to portray his emotions and thoughts and how those words are powerful and meaningful to the reader.

I was hoping for a more slow-burn, forbidden romance between Linh and Bao but they very quickly became friends and things moved from there. The tension that I was hoping for just was not there but there were some extremely cute moments.

The family drama between the Mai’s and the Nguyen’s was interesting but it just did not give me enough to be invested in. It has to be said though this book does not just revolve around romance and rivalry. This book also talks about racism, the experience of Vietnamese immigrants in America, family pressure, trauma, grief and finding your passion. The author covers these topics in such an expansive and great way. I feel it is worth the read just for the discussion around Vietnamese immigrants.

I’m so glad that I could get the audiobook from my local library to listen to alongside reading this book. It really helped with the pronunciation of characters names, phases and food dishes that are mentioned a lot throughout the book. I feel it worked excellently as an audiobook and I did enjoy listening to that.

This book made me feel so hungry it is unbelievable. It is pack full of delicious descriptions of food that made my mouth watch. It made me realise I have yet to try any Vietnamese cuisine so I will be rectifying that as soon as possible.

Overall, this was a fun read even if it did fall short in a few areas. I enjoyed learning some things about the Vietnamese culture whilst reading this book and the mouth-watering food descriptions are worth the read alone. Just don’t read it on an empty stomach!

3.5 stars. Took a couple of attempts to read this and I consumed the final 50% by audiobook. The audiobook was good.
The first 40-50% of the book was slow and I didn’t care about the characters or feel any chemistry between them. I’ve seen a few people DNF and I can understand why, it doesn’t hook you until later into the book. I shelved this book a couple of times before finishing it. The second half of the book is much better; the main characters develop their friendship/relationship, we understand more about the family rivalry and we delve more into Vietnamese history and family dynamics.

I received an ARC of this book from the publishers. I bought the audiobook myself and these opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this story, it was very sweet and what I call a cute contemporary,
The descriptions of food where so delicious it kept making me hungry. I am so interested in trying some Pho as I have never had it before. This book was bright and vivid in its writing, and a lovely story. It was quite long in places and slower pacing but I did not mind too much as the plot helped.

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.

Is there anything better than a forbidden love story? I don't think so.

Loan Le has written the sweetest book, about two competing Vietnamese restaurants, and the two families who run them. While this is, of course, a (pho) love story, it is also about Family, and about what you would do for the ones you love. The two family dynamics in this story are so universal and appealing. Bao and Linh are kept apart not just by the competitiveness of the business, but of a deeper family history they spend the book uncovering.
It is, of course, also a love letter to food, and I will never say no to that! I think a lot of readers of going to put this book down and immediately look up some delicious recipes to try.

Really lovely story, fantastic to be reading a love story that doesn't centre white characters and to be able to experience a story from the point of view of a different race.

I’d firstly like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the chance to read the eARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I didn’t finish this book. After several weeks of trying to preserve and get through it, I just had to call it with a DNF at 72%. However from what I did manage to read, this book is incredibly cute and definitely a great read for the target audience and fans of contemporary YA romance.

This tale is essentially a culture-filled, young enemies-to-lovers/star-crossed-lovers tale. Two teenagers, from families with rival restaurants, find themselves drawn together and falling for each other. Our two main characters were likeable and I very much enjoyed watching their awkward teenage dynamic grow - I also really appreciated the two best friends who were believable and equally relatable! The banter and chalk and cheese personalities of the friendships really made this interesting and allowed me to imagine how my high school friend group were.

I really loved the snippets of non-English dialogue (even if I couldn’t understand it) and interactions between our main characters and their parents, showing us more of their Vietnamese family culture.

I think for lovers of simple, easy reading YA this would be perfect, but the pacing in this book just wasn’t for me. I would’ve liked it to be a little more intense/dramatic but again that’s completely personal preference! The book wasn’t bad, just not fast enough to keep me interested.

Overall it was full of yummy food descriptions, budding friendships and a snippet into Vietnamese family life. A cutesy YA with a forbidden-love twist.

I wanted to read this book so badly all year after seeing a review on a friend’s Bookstagram. Unfortunately it’s taken me two whole months of dipping in and out to finish it.

The positives: the cover is super cute and I think will appeal to the target audience! Also the descriptions of the food made me very hungry. The history of the characters shone through in the story all the way through.

And now the not so positive: the characters of Bao and Linh didn’t hold my interest at all, and the drama of the family feud, which should have been the interesting twist, fell flat for me. It was only revealed in the last 10% of the book and by then I was past caring.
I felt the entire story didn’t really get going until 60% in (the shorter chapters in the second half of the book helped massively with this). One huge bugbear was the extensive use of the Vietnamese language with no context or translation. Later on in the book, there were some translations in italics but that really should have been the case all the way through. I would have loved to see some guide at the back on how to pronounce these words too, as there’s nothing more frustrating than not knowing what you’re reading.
It’s such a shame because I love learning about Vietnam and the history and culture, and I hate giving negative reviews. For that reason this review will not be posted anywhere else!

LOVED LOVED LOVED THIS. Heartbreaking and poignant and romantic. Lots of family dynamics, and the most delicious food descriptions in the world.

A Pho Love Story is a book that will make you hungry, In every sense of the word. Hungry to read more as it's a lovely story, and hungry for actual food as food is a huge and integral part of the plot.

This was so slow getting anywhere and I got so infuriated by that. The Idea is good but it takes so long to get to know the main characters and their motivations. When it did it was good but it just took so long to make it that far.

DNF at 18%. I was really keen to get engrossed in this lovely sounding romance novel but I was struggling to get into the book because I felt that character development was weak and there was somewhat of a rush to introduce romance, though it felt unnatural at that point, so I kind of disengaged at that point and no longer wanted to pick it up. DNFing for now.

I am always in the mood for romances and YA contemporary novels during the Summer months so I was very excited to pick up A Pho Love Story. The story follows two Vietnamese-American teens who fall in love despite their parents age-old feud, expect modern day Romeo and Juliet vibes set in a beautifully food-rich setting!
Bao and Linh both work in their parents restaurants and are desperately attempting to find the path in life that follows their own passions. It's an important story about finding what you love in life and fighting for the right to follow your dreams. I also enjoyed the added layer of mystery as Bao and Linh uncovered the true reason behind their parent's feud. A Pho Love Story is the perfect summer read.

Thank you netgalley for providing and advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun read, set in high school linh and bao had a great dynamic. I really liked adored the cultural representation and of course the food (had me craving pho from the start). The familial pressures on the kids and the way they coped with them maintaining the upmost respect for their family was done really well. Overall it was an enjoyable read but I wasn’t blown away by it. Looking forward to what else the author has in store for us

3/5 stars

I quite enjoyed this YA contemporary romance book, and I loved the fact that it was about two rival Vietnamese restaurants!

This was quite middle of the road for me, and I'm never quite sure how to write middle of the road reviews, but I'll have a good go, starting with the things I liked about it.

THINGS I LIKED:
- The Vietnamese representation and the discussions about being Vietnamese in a western society
- The descriptions of food
- It was light and easy to get through as the writing, while not a favourite writing style for me, did work well with the story.
- I love the forbidden romance/friendship trope

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE:

THE CHARACTERS: In contemporary/romance books, the characters are the main focus of the story, and to be honest I thought they were just okay. I think I've just read too many books where there's a trope of figuring out what you want to do with your life but the thing you want to do isn't something your parents would accept this year, and this portrayal didn't stand out to me as the characters didn't feel fully fleshed out to me.

THE CONFLICT: The majority of the plot in this otherwise plotless book is the conflict between the Mais and the Nguyens, but to be honest, when I finally found out why these two families despise each other so much, I was a bit disappointed as the conflict was based on something that was really just a misunderstanding.

THE PACING: It did feel a little drawn out at times for such a light story.

Overall, I'm glad I read this book as it was a light and quick read, but was a little pho-gettable for me. I would read something else from Loan Le in the future though.

Fun YA read that left me wanting more - to read and to eat!!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

Romeo and Juliet comparisons are going to be obviously made when I tell you this is a story about two families that both run Pho restaurants, they’ve avoided each other as their families don’t get along. I will warn you reading this book will make you hungry and make you really crave Vietnamese food. This is a lovely light romance , the family feud was brilliant, although it seemed to take forever to see why they were fighting. I also loved the the insights into Vietnamese culture and history. Overall I really loved the characters, the focus on family and thought it was a great summer read.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion