A Bánh Mì for Two stole my heart. Not only did it transport me to Vietnam, it told a story about family, ambition, and love. It’s a sweet sapphic romance with foodies and characters navigating their own families. Keep reading this book review of A Bánh Mì for Two for my full thoughts.
Summary
In Sài Gòn, Lan is always trying to be the perfect daughter, dependable and willing to care for her widowed mother and their bánh mì stall. Her secret passion, however, is A Bánh Mì for Two, the food blog she started with her father but has stopped updating since his passing.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese American Vivi Huynh, has never been to Việt Nam. Her parents rarely talk about the homeland that clearly haunts them. So Vivi secretly goes to Vietnam for a study abroad program her freshman year of college. She’s determined to figure out why her parents left, and to try everything she’s seen on her favorite food blog, A Bánh Mì for Two.
When Vivi and Lan meet in Sài Gòn, they strike a deal. Lan will show Vivi around the city, helping her piece together her mother’s story through crumbling photographs and old memories. Vivi will help Lan start writing again so she can enter a food blogging contest. And slowly, as they explore the city and their pasts, Vivi and Lan fall in love.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
We will always love fellow blogs. Here we support other blogs and now I need the A Bánh Mì for Two blog! We love not only the influence she has as a food blogger, but also the ways she uses her influence to help out other spots and food stalls. A Bánh Mì for Two is a dual POV treat. From the start, I loved how Vivi navigates visiting Vietnam for the firs time. For her to go ‘home’ and feel both familiar and strange at the same time. To navigate the secrets her mother has been keeping, to learn about Vietnam, and to connect the dots of her heart.
Vivi feeling this dichotomy of Vietnamese American, of experiencing Vietnam, and the United States, through these different lenses. It is a touching story for everyone who’s had to navigate multiple identities and feelings. The pain of those in her family, the memories they have to hide, and the ones that hurt but can see the light of day. The difficult conversations we have to broach. It asks us whether we unearth the past, whether we can let it breathe without it destroying us. And whether educating and informing others, our family members, is worth looking at the scars.
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Sometimes we just aren’t ready, yet. In A Bánh Mì for Two, it begins with the ways blogs and words, stories and the raw emotions in our writing, can connect across miles. A Bánh Mì for Two honors the memories of food, the ways it can evoke the past, bridge gaps. It also explores the history of the food. A Bánh Mì for Two is a multi-faceted debut which I absolutely adored. Find A Bánh Mì for Two on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.
Tour Schedule
| Tour Date | Tour Hosts | Type of Post |
| August 20th | @toffiladyreader | Bookstagram feed post only |
| @thereadingchemist | Bookstagram feed post only | |
| Bookworm_panda | Bookstagram + Reel | |
| August 21st | Read.withviv | Bookstagram feed post only |
| @hazelstaybookish | Bookstagram + Blog | |
| utopia.state.of.mind | Bookstagram + Blog | |
| August 22nd | Unraveling.chaos | Bookstagram + Blog |
| @ohyouread | Bookstagram only | |
| @cherumanalil | Bookstagram feed post only | |
| August 23rd | @marybee.books | Bookstagram feed post only |
| @wiltedpages | Bookstagram + Reel | |
| Words of Mystery | Book Blog only | |
| August 24th | @ilanaba_nana | Bookstagram feed post only |
| Stargirl.magical.tale | Bookstagram + Reel | |
| August 25th | @pagesforpaige | Bookstagram feed post only |
| @soni.reads | Bookstagram feed post only | |
| 24hr_yabookblog | Bookstagram + BookTok | |
| August 26th | PeiReads | Bookstagram + Reel |
| A French Augurey | Bookstagram feed post only | |
| @metamorphodani | Feed only |
About the Author
Trinity Nguyen is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College with a degree in government and economics. She was born in Viet Nam and raised in Little Saigon, California, and learned English by reading too many young adult novels and never turning off closed captioning.
With a grudge against winter, she now calls Los Angeles home but never fails to complain about the heat. She lives with her cats and the succulents from her mom’s garden, daydreaming about her next grocery store run. She writes messy diaspora kids and queer girls with big smiles and big hearts.