A Pho Love Story follows Bao Nguyen, a boy who's still hesitant about who he wants to be in life, and Linh Mai, a girl who wants to follow her dreams as a painter and an artist. They've been avoiding each other for years but they meet again, become friends, and start developing feelings for each other. Unfortunately, the sole reason why they kept evading each other's presence is that the Mais and the Nguyens have been in rivalry and competition for their neighboring pho restaurants in the past years.


The family drama between the Mais and the Nguyens was interesting but I didn't give enough care about it, it felt unoriginal. Still, this book didn't only revolve around rivalry and romance, it also talked about racism, the immigrant experience, trauma and grief, family pressure and expectations, and finding your passion. I liked how the author touched those topics in a great way. Also, the first half of this book was boring and dragged. It felt longer than it should be.

Thankfully, this never failed to make mee hungry. The delicious descriptions of the foods made me drool. I think I haven't eaten a Vietnamese cuisine yet. so next time, this is definitely one of the things I need to try.

The writing was mediocre, it wasn't that bad. There were a lot of Vietnamese dialogues. I couldn't understand them at all but luckily, there was the audiobook to help. Both narrators had cool voices.


“Or maybe, one day, what you can help her understand, is that for people like us, sadness is part of our inspiration. Others might bottle up their sadness and pour it out on certain occasions, but we let it pour from us and into our medium. It’s the same for most emotions, and we do it so that we can make room for more.”


The characters were all average. Linh aspires to be an artist, yet her parents have their different plans for her. Here, we can see her navigating through her dreams. She may sometimes be over dramatic but she had some character growth. I adored how she would voice out her ideas and feelings through art.


"It saddens me that you don’t recognize this. It’s an unfortunate reminder that as much as my community represents the true American Dream- building a foundation out of uncertain hopes and dreams- people like you would rather be ignorant or spread hate than accept this reality.
But your racism has no power here. Your words mean nothing in Little Saigon. So whatever you hoped to accomplish- in person and online- you have failed."


Bao isn't sure on what he really wants to pursue in life. Then, journalism came at him like they're meant to be. He writes to portray his emotions and thoughts, and he plays with words to make them meaningful and powerful.

I was hoping for a more slow-burn, forbidden-y romance between Linh and Bao but they quickly became friends. Although thhe tension that I was hoping for wasn't there, they were still a cute couple.


Overall, this was fun. I enjoyed learning a few things about the Vietnamese culture and I was delighted with the mouth-watering food descriptions. There were still elements lacking here but it wasn't a full disappointment. I liked the family dynamics and the lessons it gave on finding and following our passions. 3.25 stars!


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this was really cute, fun, and entertaining!!

review to come.. (rating might change)