A Bánh Mì for Two

by Trinity Nguyen

In this sweet sapphic romance about two foodies in love, Vivi meets Lan while studying abroad in Vietnam and they spend the semester unraveling their families' histories—and eating all the street food in Sài Gòn.

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 even 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.

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Lesbian, LGBT, Queer, Contemporary, Fiction

223 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 20, 2024

About the author

Trinity Nguyen is a Vietnamese American author and graduate of Franklin & Marshall College. 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. Her debut novel, A BANH MI FOR TWO, is a national independent bookstore bestseller and a 2024 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee. Trinity currently lives in Los Angeles with her cats and the succulents from her mom’s garden.

You can find Trinity on social media as @thetrinitytran on Instagram and Twitter, except for TikTok @eggtarts (because she refuses to retire the username), and otherwise trinity-nguyen.com.

Reviews

[Mai H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

✨ LA Times Festival of Books 2025 ✨

/ What a Girl Wants: Romance in Young Adult Fiction
/ Sunday, April 27, 2025
/ 12:30 PM
/ Taper Hall 101

A major pet peeve of mine is when people spell bánh mì bahn mi. I don't even care if you use the diacritics. Most of the time, to my own mother's detriment, I don't.

For the newbs, I am a Vietnamese American millennial whose parents grew up in Saigon. I have been dying to read this book ever since I met Trinity, and she graciously sent me a copy. As much as I like crossing off lists, I'm very much a mood reader, and enjoyed starting and finishing this book on my first trip (of many) to Vietnam.

So often, beautiful covers are a juxtaposition to what is inside the book. Not here. While I also enjoyed Lan's story, I resonated so much with Vivi's that it hurt my heart at times to read. My parents would've never allowed me to study abroad in college, but like Vivi, I know more about my dad's refugee story than my mom's. Again, like Vivi, I used to think I was entitled to my mom's story. I'm not. I will hopefully never know the trauma of fleeing my birth country in the midst of war. Something to think about.

Enough with the generational trauma. This is a story about love. Not only love between Vivi and Lan, but also self love, and the love of a city. While my trip certainly had its highlights, I too fell in love with my parents' birthplace. As I wandered the city, I wondered if my dad had been to a certain coffee shop, or my mom had wandered down a certain alleyway.

This book is about following your dreams. Whether that is Vivi's dream of discovering a country her parents left behind, or Lan's writing, this story has it all. While uplifting, it did make me emotional enough to cry a couple of times. To be fair, I also cried a fair bit in both Saigon and Hanoi, but I'll let you read about that on Instagram.

📚 book launch | bookchella day 2 | bookstagram review | cooking event

‍✈️ Đà Nẵng with Vickie and M | Hà Nội with Angel and Jordan | Hội An | Huế | Sài Gòn

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. BYR Paperbacks

[♥︎ Heather ⚔ (New House-Hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ A delightfully fun and heartwarming story that beautifully weaves themes of love, culture, and self-discovery. ༘⋆ ༄

╰┈➤˗ˏˋ 𝓠𝓾𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂

Vivi is Vietnamese American and, while she's lived in Little Saigon her whole life, she knows next to nothing about the real Saigon. Her mom, who grew up in the post-Vietnam war years, refuses to talk about it, and her dad immigrated too young to know much, so she signs up for a study abroad program and spends a semester in Saigon without telling her parents.

There she meets Lan, the author of her favorite food blog. Together they explore Saigon as Lan writes an essay for contest. A local having her eyes reopened as Vivi sees the city for the first time.

╰┈➤˗ˏˋ 𝓜𝔂 𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼

This was a really sweet and savory story - probably a little too young adult for me. I didn't find myself particularly invested or attached to the characters - but that's likely just me.

I found that the balance of food vs romance was just a little off for my liking- still a super quick and cute read perfect for summer.


╰⪼ 🌸Vacation flings
╰⪼ 🌸Fish Out Of Water
╰⪼ 🌸Destiny
╰⪼ 🌸Sapphic Romance
╰⪼ 🌸Clean Romance
╰⪼ 🌸Self Discovery
╰⪼ 🌸Foodie

Many thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Trinity Nguyen for the advanced audio copy in exchange for my honest thoughts. 🌸🍓

[len ❀ [ia bc of school] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow, we found each other—an ocean apart for most of our lives. It feels like she has always known me, and I have always known her.

another ya winner!

a sapphic vietnamese romcom full of family, grief, loneliness, first love, ancestral roots, family history, coming of age (duh!), language, and most importantly, love. the author’s timeline and balance of all these themes are written incredibly well, in my opinion, and blends everything together. while i did feel like the ending was a little loose and too rushed, i thought everything in between the story and before the ending was written in a perfectly timed way, never showing anything too much or missing information on what the author was describing.

teen romance. such a cute concept. something i never related to, and something i never will be able to relate to, as i’ve left my teens a couple years ago, yet something about reading it is so comforting and soothing to me. i love the process of reading about these two young teenagers finding such innocent love in each other. and it’s not to say all teens (or teens in general) are innocent, especially nowadays, but young adult fiction is already a reliable genre for me in terms of the safety measures it has. the progression of young adults finding happiness within each other, especially when they never expected it, and realizing they are at a young, free age of exploring these feelings and emotions willingly without too much worry.

“Because I have something to look forward to every day: seeing you, working on the contest application together. And … Sài Gòn has been less lonely with you in it.”

we follow vivi and lan in a dual pov narration, which worked really well and in the authors favor, as it was pretty damn easy to follow along the narration and know who was who. vivi and lan’s only similarities are the fact that they are both vietnamese, but that’s really where the similarities end. vivi is vietnamese american, born and raised in california, while lan is vietnamese born; vivi struggles with the language, lan is fluent; vivi is able to go to school and go on study abroad trips, lan needs to worry about helping and providing for her mother and family. there is a clear difference in their class status, depicting the reality of two similar yet different people born in two different countries. this is something that many vietnamese individuals will be able to relate and sympathize with.

i loved how the author wrote vivi’s character. while i’m not asian or vietnamese, i was able to relate to her, with my parents also being immigrants and me being a first gen born in the u.s. but this is about vivi, and i loved how the author depicted her struggles and realities of being born in california as a daughter of two vietnamese parents; the reality of not being vietnamese enough but also not being american enough; the reality of wanting to learn your ancestral language but not being able to speak it well and enough; the reality of feeling ashamed for having what you have while your family struggles back home; the reality of wanting to learn about your family and ancestry but also understanding that you are privileged. i loved witnessing vivi’s internal monologue as she learned more about vietnam and her ancestry. her thought processes, questioning, and confusion on why her parents left the country is reasonable. i think too often, we, as a diaspora, don’t really interpret and understand the reasonings behind our parents leaving their country. i remember when i visited the motherland for the first time and i wondered how my parents would leave that place for where we live now. and it’s not because they wanted to, it’s because there was no other choice. it’s not that they find the country ugly, or are disappointed where they’re from; it’s because when you’re in a life or death situation like that, there are really no choices. but the thing about vivi is that she wanted to learn and understand, and we see her slowly grow to become more knowledgeable, understanding, and sympathetic to her mother. i was rooting for her throughout the whole story, hoping and wishing her family reunion would be a successful one. we also see how vivi was not able to learn the vietnamese language as well because her parents didn’t teach her, which is super common for the diaspora in the u.s, yet she still tried to do it on her own, educating herself on it, learning it to be ready because she knew she wanted to be connected to her roots somehow.

lan’s character is going to touch hearts in the most painful way for many. she's a daughter but also a caretaker, hustler, and someone who needed to grow up too fast. her guilt for leaving her mother is heartbreaking. she doesn’t know how to do anything else besides help her mother out in the stall and work to provide for them. she’s still grieving her father, and not ready to lose what she has always worked in and known to do. her dreams, passions, and aspirations are only a part of her mind. i felt for lan, and i got sad for the young girl that wanted to do so much more in life but knew her options were limited.

“When you’re Vietnamese, you have tenacity in your blood. You have the will to survive. So no matter what, we will always be okay, because we’re Vietnamese.”

one micro-trope i really love in romances is when one character feels like they start living after meeting the other character, and that’s kind of how it is with lan and vivi, especially with lan. with lan being the creator and face behind the successful blog of a bánh mì for two, and with her father’s death still haunting her, she feels trapped and unsure of how to write more. vivi and lan’s meet up wasn’t one for the books, with lan unnecessarily and unfairly judging vivi just because she’s american and a “tourist”, but after some communication between them that allows the two to see each other in a better light, the two spend a lot of time together that allows each one to learn about each other and of course, get closer together. with vivi helping lan get inspiration for her blog and lan helping vivi find her family, the two develop a close friendship and connection, developing closer and more intimate feelings for one another. their friendship was always one full of attraction, but the author takes her time with it, developing it at a slow but well-paced time. there’s so many moments between the two to appreciate and notice. lan starts enjoying life more with the help of vivi, living her life more bit by bit and enjoying her youth. she’s excited to go out and shows vivi places worth going to. the author does not miss out on describing the setting overall, and she gives us more than a glimpse of the life the two girls are living. we can easily feel like we are in vietnam and saigon there with them, witnessing chaotic moments, trying delicious, cultural food, breathing in the fresh aromas, and living a colorful life.

“How do you like it?” she asks, her eyes studying my mouth. I swallow, not sure how to answer her because my eyes haven’t left her face. At all. Even now, I’m only focusing on the upturned corners of her mouth.
A breath hitches in my throat as I watch her face in front of me, tracing every line, every detail. “Beautiful,” I breathe out.

one of my only issues have to do mostly with the ending. it felt rushed and too loose for my liking. i thought the author should have developed it a little more, especially with vivi’s mom and her family. the apology between lan and vivi (cause is it a ya without a third act conflict??) was resolved a bit too quickly. there was no tension whatsoever, and it felt like the necessary character development was messy. i also wasn’t a fan of the constant italics used more in the beginning of the story. i thought this was going to be another case of wren martin ruins it all, as this was a big issue i had throughout the entire book, but luckily the author toned it down a bit with this that i didn’t even notice it wasn’t a big issue anymore. and then lastly, sometimes the pace was a bit off. not rushed or too slow, but the chapters would end in a certain place or with the characters doing a certain thing, and the next one starts off in a whole new location or action without us really knowing.

for those who love/would love: girls loving girls, a cute teen romance, exploring saigon together, delicious descriptions of vietnamese food, learning about history, learning about your family, acceptance from the get go and absolutely no homophobia, please read this.

vivi and lan, you two will always have a place in my heart.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a beautiful story that will make you insanely hungry + weep profusely (in equal amounts).

definitely one of my favorite debuts from this year and i look forward to everyone falling as much in love with it as i did!

Read my full review here

thank you to edelweiss for providing the arc!

Follow me on Instagram

[lisa (fc hollywood's version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

many thanks to trinity nguyen for providing me with this e-arc. i reached out to her in exchange for an honest reviews, this doesn't affect my rating

warning: more ramblings than review. read at your own risk lol

somehow this universe has decided that i would have to read a book that talks about motherly love right before i move out of my mom's place, but i have to say that i have cherished this book ever since its announcement till the last sentence. for many years i have yearned for a sapphic vietnamese rep that takes place in vietnam, and trinity nguyen's book has been a wonderful gift to my bisexual vietnamese heart, even more so when i learned that, at the heart of this book, resides one of my favorite things about vietnamese culture: streetfood, particularly the relationship of food and love in vietnamese culture.

at first, it took me a while to get into this book, because i wasn't used to have so many vietnamese references, ones that can only be written by those that know vietnamese culture so intimately. for a long time one of my complains with diasporia literature is that the writing and the using of vietnamese terms often seem "inauthentic" to the lack of accent. nguyen's writing portrayed vietnamese culture in an incredible way that makes my heart yearns for my homeland, because she used non-westernized names for "ethnic" cultural terms, and that i deeply appreciated.

the thing is, the book is not exceptional by any mean as a "romance", with the young writer's prose and the insta-love, but ultimately this book is a love letter to vietnam, to its culture, to parenthood, to youth and to the love that exists in this world. per se i didn't concentrate properly on the romance aspect of vivi's and lan's queer relationship (although i deeply appreciate the existence of the rep) i find myself loving the representation of every forms of love that exists in vietnamese society and its many nuances. for many times throughout the years i have found myself in conflict with my mother, being raised in the "west" and experienced another kind of love than the one i could observe around me. but growing up i recognized the ambivalence in which a person can love in different socio-cultural context, and for that i am wholeheartedly moved by the way trinity nguyen wrote about parenthood, biological and otherwise that is constantly present in vietnamese society. the last sentence of the book moved me to tears, because in the end it's all about the people we care about in life, no matter the kind of relation we have, and how we express our love towards them. for that, i am grateful that this book exists.

[Trinity Nguyen]

A Banh Mi for Two is coming 8/20!

a few notes about the sapphic romcom of my heart below:

- while i loved writing about my home city and the foods that have shaped my childhood, i never want to be an educator on all things vietnamese. i've taken great creative liberty in fictionalizing the places in the book, and because cities are always changing, a banh mi for two is by no means a map of must-see-sights in saigon/hcmc
- this story is my love letter to street food, to vietnamese diaspora kids, and to queer girls who love romance (so, it's for funsies! NOT trauma!)
- while the main premise of the book isn't about the family history post-The American War in Viet Nam, there are still themes exploring scars of generational trauma, the boat refugee experience, and what it means to be a second-gen vietnamese child of the diaspora (please be aware of what may trigger you, though i've made sure to handle the content with care!)
- again, this book encompasses the vietnamese diaspora lived experience of myself and the people i love and does not speak for everyone who identifies as vietnamese! such a beautiful thing, to be Vietnamese but lead very different lives than each other <3 i hope you can relate to the book of my heart, even if just a little bit, and find comfort in the stories of two girls carving a place for themselves in viet nam.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh this book was pure and utter delight. From the beginning to the end, Trinity Nguyen had both my heart and my stomach stirring. This isn't just a book about food, it's a book that beautifully captures what it's like to find your own path in life and what it's like to find one's identity as part of a diaspora. CW: death of a family member

A Bánh Mì for Two is a beautifully crafted dual narrative YA contemporary novel that follows main characters Lan and Vivi Huynh. Lan lives in Sài Gòn and helps run the family bánh mì stall while also taking care of her mother and exploring her passion for food blogging. Vivi Huynh is secretly visiting Việt Nam for the first time as a means to learn more about her identity and heritage; something she feels like her mother keeps hidden from her for unknown reasons. The two characters collide into each others lives once Vivi discovers that Lan is the creator behind the infamous A Bánh Mì for Two food blog. Together they learn more about each other, their futures, and the responsibilities (or lack thereof) to their respective families.

What Worked: The writing of this one was immaculate. From the characters to the food to the descriptions of Việt Nam, Nguyen did a wonderful job immersing readers into the environment and culture experience by the main characters. While I enjoyed all the discussions surrounding food, I LOVED the exploration of all themes related to identity and family. Lan and Vivi both struggle with understanding their family dynamics. Lan is torn between what she perceives to be familial expectations and her dreams. She struggles not only with the grief of losing her father, but also with the lingering fear of what could occur if she leaves her chronically ill mother. Vivi is trying to find strength in her identity as being both American and Vietnamese and why her mother attempts to keep the Vietnamese aspects of her life such a secret. Nguyen reminds younger readers that parents do not always keep things from their children out of spite. It can be pain, fear, trauma, and regret that leads to the withholding of information. Sometimes it's easier to forget and let go then to remember and heal. Additionally, the romance between these two was absolutely adorable. It started slow with them questioning their possible attraction; however, readers get the opportunity to see their friendship/support of each other turn into something more.

This was such a quick read, but it definitely packs a punch and stands out as one of my favorite YA books of 2024.

[Hannah B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

UPDATE I TRIED BÁNH MÌ AND IT WAS SO FUCKING GOOD READING FOR THE WIN

I normally have a pretty tough time visualizing things when I’m reading, but the setting was so vivid in this book that I couldn’t help but feel like I was in Việt Nam with Lan and Vivi. So much so that Sài Gòn felt like a third main character! I lasted about as long as I could—half way through the book—before googling bánh mì near me. I would’ve liked a few extra chapters at the end to wrap everything up, but overall it was such an atmospheric read and a wonderful sapphic, coming-of-age romance.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25/5


I received an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Are words needed when this gif sums it up perfectly?

The book exists.
I don't feel anything.
No love or hate for this one.
It wasn't overly amazing
It wasn't terrible either.
The writing was good but the subject was a little boring?
I liked the ideas of food in Vietnam, and learning about their culture, but the head cinema was low the whole read.
The ending felt rushed and completely open-ended which I kinda hate.
And finally, as per usual the Sapphic element didn't hit right and the vibes weren't there between Lan and Vivi but they weren't NOT there either?

I wanted more from this.

[Pang on Speed Clearing Books, Miss You!!]

Geeeeez!! I just ate Banh Mi this afternoon in Vietnamese cafe! and I eat it many times now. It is this one, right??



*yum yum* SO Curious on this book!! 🤤
damn my every menu always come with ice chocolate lol! ☕️

[. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really cute sapphic romance set during a study abroad trip in Vietnam. I love when books feel like a love letter to a certain city. The descriptions of Saigon brought the city to life, and I loved how the author emphasized the significance of street food, how the vendors are the heart of Saigon.

Vivi and Lan's romance was sweet. I liked the exploration of how debilitating grief is in regards to Lan's character. She lost her motivation to write after her father died, becoming overly critical of everything she attempts. But through Vivi, Lan is able to see both the city she grew up in and herself in a new light. The writer + person-who-loves-their-writing dynamic was adorable to read.

Unfortunately something about the writing prevented me from fully connecting to the story. Parts of it felt like it needed another round of editing. I liked the idea of Vivi and Lan's romance, but not so much the execution. Many of their scenes were developed with repetitive physical descriptions. I should've counted the amount of times the characters "blushed" or "their hearts raced." An overreliance on these phrases can end up taking away from the romance rather than adding to it. I feel that there are better ways to showcase attraction, by writing chemistry in the characters' conversations instead.

I also wasn't a fan of the breakup that happened with only a few pages left in the novel. I understood why Lan liked Vivi, but I didn't really understand why Vivi liked Lan, especially when she describes during the last 20 or so pages that she sometimes feels like Lan doesn't understand her. I was really shocked to see this being voiced near the end of the book. Conflict like that in a relationship should be addressed earlier on, so it can strengthen their bond and leave the reader rooting for their happy ending. Sadly the conclusion ended up feeling rushed like their reconciliation was unearned.

Despite the aspects that prevented me from becoming immersed in the novel, I still enjoyed my time reading it. I found many moments, especially the ones about Vivi's longing to connect with her heritage and homeland, to be emotional. I liked the exploration of two mother-and-daughter dynamics with Vivi and Lan's stories. Both felt that there was something preventing them from communicating with or reaching an understanding with their mothers. The scenes depicting their bonds were heartwarming. Overall this was an enjoyable read and I'll definitely seek out more books by this author in the future, as I'm sure her writing will only improve.

[nikki | ཐི༏ཋྀ​​݁ ₊ ݁ . · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was cute! while the romance was there a bit, i was more invested in the exploration of identity and diaspora.

lots of yummy food descriptions and you will be feeling major wanderlust after reading!

[Carolyn Huynh · Rating 5 out of 5]

YOU WANT THIS BOOK!! YOU NEED IT. The Viet girlies will understand. It made me nostalgic for Viet Nam, young love, and the days of when I dreamt of a different life. It’s a stunning debut from a fresh Viet Am voice and I’m so lucky I read an early copy.

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. Chock full of food descriptions that made me hungry and containing a thoughtful exploration of what it’s like to be a diaspora kid, A Bánh Mì for Two is a sapphic love story that’s not to be missed for any lovers of YA contemporary.

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really delightful and full of heart! A Bánh Mì for Two is a YA coming of age story and cute romance set in Saigon, Vietnam between two teen girls.

Vivi is Vietnamese-American and has always been curious about her heritage but her mother refuses to speak about their homeland. She becomes a fan of a blog about Vietnamese street food and decides to study abroad in Saigon, while telling her parents she's in Singapore.

Lan is the author of the blog, but she's struggled to write since her father passed away. She feels the need to shoulder the burden of helping her mom with the family food stall because her mom has chronic illness. But her mom wants her to enjoy her youth and spend time with friends.

The two girls meet unexpectedly and form a friendship that sparks into something more. It's a great blend of food, culture, finding your place in the world, dealing with difficult family situations and history, and first love. It's a quick read and definitely worth your time! The audio narration is great too. I recieved an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

[Steph | bookedinsaigon · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNFed at 28%. I'm sorry; I'm calling it. As much as I want to support Vietnamese and Vietnamese diaspora writers, and as much as I love a story about the challenges of being the daughter of immigrants, there are certain aspects that just won't do it for me.

The first is that, despite being set in the wondrous city of Saigon (my current city of residence), A BANH MI FOR TWO is woefully vague in its descriptions of place. The Saigon of the book is flattened into something generic that could be in any country:

"Our window stares out onto the streets, offering a view of Sài Gòn with its colorful buildings, pagodas, and skyscrapers. I feel so small, like a droplet in this vast city. The sun glows as people hustle back and forth in the streets, most wearing some kind of hat to shield themselves from the heat."

What do the buildings look like? How about telling us a bit more about the juxtaposition of crumbling three- or four-story apartment buildings with the corridors on the outside hunkering in the shadow of skyscrapers looming like glassy, angular sequoia trees over them?

"But this noise is what makes Sài Gòn, Sài Gòn."

HELLO?? WHAT NOISE??! Tell me about the honks of motorbikes spanning the range from short, squeaky beep-beeps to long caterwauls. Tell me about the tinny, prerecorded cries of street vendors played through loudspeakers as they push their wares, messages so soothing and melodic and recognizable that they've been remixed into music concerts.

"The scents of the grimy street and grilled meat surround us..."

I want more description than "grimy." Tell me about the heavy scent of fish rotting in the dirty canals. About walking down a path lined with jasmine bushes and catching the whiff of urine mingled throughout.

At times, the descriptions are downright inaccurate:

"I look out the plane window, and my heart flutters at the cityscape beyond the tall trees."

This is Tan Son Nhat Airport we're talking about, so there aren't tall trees around the airport, just buildings.

"I watch the student's white áo dài flutter as she walks."

Okay, but the students only wear their white áo dài on certain days of the year, so is this consistent with the story's timeline?

"People speed by on motorbikes, grunting over potholes. They laugh with friends at food stalls and dodge traffic like experts."

If they are dodge traffic like experts, you can bet they're dodging those potholes. Getting stuck in a pothole is actually possibly dangerous and expensive here; you'd avoid them as much as possible. Now, grunting over the annoying speedbumps--that'd make more sense.

The book is better with its descriptions of food, and the bevy of emotions surrounding children of Vietnamese immigrants' struggle with their identity and their relationship with their parents.

"Custard pudding. Salty and buttery puffs. Lạp xưởng sticky rice. Mung bean pancakes. Pork floss served on piping-hot congee during days when I'm sick sprinkled with black pepper and dried onions. Flavors so distinct I see the food even with my eyes closed. Textures that shaped so much of my childhood."

Damnnnn, Trinity Nguyen knows her food. I wanted to put the Kindle down and walk away to find some to eat. (I did put the Kindle down, but for other reasons.)

Vivi's chapters were stronger than Lan's, and I empathized with her desire to better understand the story behind her ethnicity, which her mother refuses to talk about. I laughed at the way in which Vivi's mom mixes Vietnamese and English in her speech:

"Is that a pimple? Tch, Mommy biết Asia can be so stressful on you."

This is literally how my parents and I talk too (in Mandarin, not Vietnamese), lolll. They couldn't produce an English-free sentence except with a lot of effort. Language plays an important role in immigrant parent-child relationships. Vivi's realization that she "hadn't ever listened to Vietnamese without a sad tone" was a simple yet powerful way of reckoning with the generational trauma wrought by the Vietnam War.

Unfortunately, Lan's chapters were weaker. Lan's conflict was a much more generic one about a daughter caught between filial duty and wanting to strike out on her own. There were a few other throwaway lines about other aspects of life in Vietnam that could have been interesting, such as Western tourists' casual racism; or the way in which language, particularly switching between Vietnamese and English, can carry negative connotations; or the very real phenomenon of white man-Vietnamese woman dynamics. Unfortunately, the book did not explore those further, except as backdrops to the rather more dull main arc of Lan and Vivi's friendship-turned-romance.

A BANH MI FOR TWO reads very young, and perhaps the lack of distinct details about setting would bother someone with less firsthand knowledge of Saigon less. If you enjoyed recent YA releases like Dear Wendy, you'd appreciate this one more than me.

[Toya (thereadingchemist) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am an absolute sucker for stories that center cultural foods. One of my all time favorite comfort foods is Pho Ga (chicken pho), so I couldn’t wait to read A Báhn Mì For Two, which is a sapphic contemporary romance that takes place in Saigon and is all about the best Vietnamese street food!

I loved both Lan and Vivi.

Lan (a Saigon native), uses her food blog to spotlight other street vendors. Lan struggles with grief after the death of her father and feels lost in trying to find her creative spark to write again. Lan puts her family’s needs ahead of her own even to her own detriment.

In the surface, Vivi (a Vietnamese American study abroad student) seems like everything in her life is perfect, but she’s desperate to learn about her Vietnamese heritage that her mother refuses to discuss.

I loved how Vivi and Lan come together to help each other with their own personal struggles while embracing all that Saigon has to offer. They were such a great balance for each other.

If you’re looking for a sweet coming of age story that explores sexuality, familial struggles, and TONS of incredible food then pick this one up!

Thank you Fierce Reads and Macmillan Audio for providing a review copy.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

This debut sapphic story is sweet and heart warming. I listened to the audiobook and I thought the narrator did a good job bringing both voices to life which helps to bring the love story more to life. I liked that this book was about so much more than the surface romance. Vivi has grown up feeling like she wasn’t American or Vietnamese enough and her mother hasn’t helped her journey for identity because she wont’ talk about her history in Vietnam and refuses to think about Vivi having any connection there. Lan has grown up in Saigon and had a popular blog about Saigon hidden gems until her father died and she began to put all of her time and energy into their family’s Bahn Mi food cart. Lan knows to be a good daughter she must sacrifice to take care of her mother. The two girls meet by accident a couple of times before they realize they have been talking online through social media over the blog for months. As they give into their connection and explore Saigon together Lan rediscovers who she is and Vivi gets to piece together another part of her story through her culture. But Viki is only in Saigon as an exchange student for one semester and her parents don’t know where she is. Lan is starting to dream of travel, but knows it will remain nothing more than a dream. This was a well written story and the audiobook was fun and a quick read.

[Ann Zhao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lan is so much braver than I am, because if I ran a blog and one of my readers found me and tried to become my friend, I would file a restraining order. Good thing she didn’t, because then they fell in love :’)

What really gets me about this book isn’t even the romance, though, it’s the family drama. Any time I read anything about a girl finally understanding her mom’s past… there go the waterworks. What a fantastic book; Trinity is truly an incredible writer, and I promise I’m not just saying this because we know each other.

[shatterinseconds · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars

I don’t know how I feel about this book. On one hand it was cute and I loved that it was set in Vietnam, a needed change for me from mainly America-set contemporary romances, but on the other hand, because of its extremely short length, everything was very surface level and some of the dialogue felt stiff/unnatural.

I was planning on rating this a little higher but then I encountered the completely unnecessary third act break up no more than 20 pages from the end and that broke me. The relationship felt very one note to begin with so a random fight to shove in a chapter’s worth of ‘conflict’ added nothing to the characters’ story.

I also wish the study abroad part of it was incorporated more because besides the few mentions of homework, I honestly have no idea when Vivi ever went to class or what courses she was studying. I wanted and expected more college vibes. The novel spans about three or four months (Vivi’s semester), but by the way the passing of time is barely brought up, it easily feels as if the whole story took place in two weeks, a month at max.

However, I enjoyed that it was dual pov and very much liked the plot of Vivi learning about her family.

[Amanda at Bookish Brews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has my entire heart many times over!! You need to read it!! It is so full of the precise diaspora yearning I feel constantly and I will be recommending this book to everyone forever.

It's a story of love for a girl, for the homeland that was taken from us, and the dream that the world is so much bigger 🤍 I love this book so much you can't miss it!!!

update note? THE COVER IT'S REAL! AO DAI ON THE COVER! I'M CRYING

[Darcey]

bánh mì mention?? vietnam mention?? SÀI GÒN MENTION??? plus sapphic?!?! this book sounds adorable - i always gotta support my viet girlies 🙏

also the girls in áo dàis on the front are too gorgeous 💝

[Mandy Truong · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had to drop after 33%. As a Saigonese, I was excited to see Vietnam being portrayed in mainstream American media. After patiently tolerating this book to try and find some merits, I have to say I'm sorely disappointed. I don’t normally write long reviews, but this is so near and dear that I have to vent my anger here. Not only is the writing mediocre, the depiction of Vietnamese culture is surface level at best and downright misguided at worst. It genuinely feels like I'm consuming to some chatgpt plotline wrapped around a pretty diversity inclusion bag that's excecuted by a highschool fanfic writter wannabe

Here’s some critiques:
1. For a story that takes place in Saigon, author does a poor job of world building, showing the lack of understanding of its setting, its culture, or its people. You could replace Saigon with Hanoi or Hue and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Author’s description of Saigon, or lack thereof, is a huge letdown. Her overuse of different Vietnamese food names, inserting them randomly in a sentence, doesn’t do the food any justice. I now know the names of many Vietnamese food, but do not know anymore about the taste, the making, or culture of such food.
2. The lack of understanding of the way Vietnamese live is saddening. The author needs to understand that there is a clear distinction between Vietnamese and Vietnamese American way of thinking. We don’t have far-fetched dreams of being astronauts. We don’t name our restaurants 1975 (not in Saigon at least). We don’t normally have names for random banh mi stalls. We don’t make lines at banh mi stalls. Our attitudes towards English as a secondary language are different from what were depicted in the books. We don’t pick up English in high school and be experts at writing and speaking. Lan’s nonchalance at her English mastery downplays the hard-work and privilege of English language learners in Vietnam. Standing in queues and being offended by someone complimenting your English is a very American reaction.
3. The family responsibility vs personal ambition is such an overplayed trope in this book. Lan’s conflict feels dragged out and unnecessary. As a matter of fact, Lan’s character is not believable at all. Her character feels like it is being created as a damsel in distress waiting for her Vietnamese American lady in shiny armor to swoop in.

[Clover · Rating 4 out of 5]

I WANT TO VOMIT THAT WAS SO SWEET. also im on the verge of fucking bawling. i’m literally shaking trying to stop the tears thanks pristiq 🥹👍
i think this book really hit me hard for three main reasons;
1. i’m a fat fucking lesbian
2. i am fatherless and relate to a lot of the guilt lan feels about her parents & that familial need to look after the family
3. i very much relate to vivi’s yearning for home, and feeling split between two countries. my grandparents fled yugoslavia post-WW2 and have never told my mum or i anything about family stories. i’m so serious only a week ago i found out my great uncle’s name. like they say NOTHING about OUR history. only my grandparents migrated here, so they’re the only relatives i have, much like vivi. so i very much feel the yearning for knowledge and connection that vivi does.
i had a beautiful time reading this. reading about lan and vivi’s blossoming romance was so sweet, mixed with their sight seeing UGH IT WAS SO CUTE. god this was such a lighthearted read which i needed!!!! the children yearn for soft sapphic romances!!!!
i think the only thing holding this book back from 5-stars for me is the pacing. this shit went by WAYYYY too fast. which yeah i mean that can be because their romance was fast but….. idk i felt like some plot points weren’t fleshed out enough, and for the length of this book either some plot points needed to be chopped or the book length extended or…. man idk i am not a writer. but like idk lan’s revelation surrounding her father’s death, or vivi’s feelings towards her mother all being fully fleshed out and resolved in one chapter meant it happened way too fast and was a bit jarring. the speed at which things happened emotionally for characters kind of threw me out of the book? like yes the fast-paced nature worked for sight-seeing, but for the character’s growth it felt too fast. i still fell in love with the characters, but i don’t know if i can get over just how… rushed this book felt at points.
anyways im really craving some banh mi rn catch me placing a cheeky ubereats order at 11:30pm 😋😋

[Anniek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Bánh Mì For Two was one of my most anticipated YA romances of the year, and this story was just as sweet as I hoped, but had even more depth than I expected as well: a win!

Lan and Vivi both have very different experiences, and it was amazing seeing both of those portrayed with care, and seeing them connect regardless. Lan, who lives in Saigon, has always been passionate about writing and her street food blog, but after her father's passing, she hasn't been able to write. Vivi, who lives in California, is visiting Saigon without her parents knowing, because her mum wouldn't allow her. She's always wanted to know about Vietnam and her parents' past, but her mum has never wanted to tell her about it. Together, they go on a mission of finding Vivi's mum's relatives who still live in Saigon.

I felt the full range of human emotions reading this book. It's a very sweet romance, and it's so full of love. Not even just romantic love, but also love for family, love for your heritage, love for a city, love for street food. But there's also the sadness of the trauma Vietnamese people of older generations have been through, and intergenerational trauma of their children. As well as Lan's grief about her father dying, and feeling like she has to put your dreams aside to care for her mother. So at times, this book made me sad, but always the kind of sad that was easily balanced out by Lan and Vivi's sweet romance or other loving moments.

[Georgia · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book left me feeling hungry for: a) vietnamese food and b) an actual romantic connection between our two sapphic leads

[caroline ౨ৎ FREE PALESTINE · Rating 3 out of 5]

very cute, a few grammar/spelling mistakes but whatever let’s go lesbians !

[Sasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 stars

live footage of this vietnamese bitch (me) reading this book:

"it's more than cultural influences. vietnamese people are strong. we fought for freedom, and even if [french, japanese, chinese, and american colonizer] influences linger, we've made them ours."

that quote made me bawl like a baby. it took me back to this youtube documentary by uncivilized about a palestinian filmmaker visiting vietnam to learn about vietnamese resilience. it made me so incredibly proud to be vietnamese and i felt that again reading this book.

banh mi for two deserves a way, way higher average rating because trinity nguyen saved YA contemporary romance! 🎉 i've sobbed, laughed, kicked my feet blushing, and gone through a wild roller coaster of emotions. lemme tell you how much i love vietnamese food—i still play neopets and my first pet's name is "banhmee" and growing up, we would make songs and jingles for viet food: tuong gia vi (soy sauce), nuoc mam, rambutan...EVERYTHING! to the tune of cai luong (vietnamese folk opera) and acts seen in paris by night. vietnamese food is described aplenty so do not read this book hungry! i also can't believe this is a debut novel???? i'm definitely looking forward to trinity nguyen's future works. this was such a beautiful love letter to vietnam, our culture inside and outside of vietnam, and vietnamese girls (especially queer viet girls), diaspora and not. i'm convinced all viet girls are equally tormented and blessed by dysfunctional vietnamese mothers 🤣🤣 i tabbed the shit out of this novel. wholeheartedly, this is my favorite read of 2025 and it'll be difficult for anyone to top her.

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cover artist: molly murakami

[b ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"so no matter what, we will always be okay, because we're vietnamese."

— four point two five stars.

what a beautiful, beautiful book. i don't even know where to begin.

a bánh mì for two was promoted to me as a cute sapphic romance book from the person who recommended it to me. i've been wanting to read another sapphic book (as a sapphic person myself) for awhile now and thought that this book, a quick little 200 page read, would be the perfect book to pull me out of my reading slump.

but this book is so, so much more than the romance that it's marketed as. this book is such a beautiful transcription of culture, immigration, love (outside of just romantic boundaries), exploration, grief, and so, so much more. so many topics are tackled within these pages, and i was left a teary mess by the time i turned the last page.

previous to this book, i truly wasn't familiar with vietnam, as much as that pains me to say, outside of what i learned briefly in history (which, even as pointed out in this book, isn't much and wasn't the greatest information to go off of). for my first real dive into the culture, i truly loved getting to read about the city of sài gòn (which google has told me is also called ho chi minh city?), the traditions and customs and food surrounding it.

i also truly loved both lan and vivi's points of view, as both had different takes and experiences that drove how they reacted to situations (such as lan with the white tourists, which is something i would take into account if i were to ever visit. fiction can be so educational and insightful, actually!) i also personally loved how their different experiences and ways of life caused a rift in their relationship, because that made them all the more realistic to me.

my only true complaint is i really, really wish this were longer. the fast pace was incredible, as it made for a quick and easy read, but i was left wanting so much more from these characters, their relationships with not only each other but their families as well (especially vivi!), and the world around them, how they continued to grow and adapt with it.

in all, this was such a beautiful story that i absolutely urge everyone to read. on its surface, its a cute, sugary-sweet sapphic romance book told through food. and deeper within its pages, its a love letter to culture, family, and the hard-ships that we don't always tell each other that we face.

such an important story told in such a beautiful voice. i cannot recommend this enough.

[Lee [Bibliophile Tings] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you so much to Henry Holt & Co. for sending me a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Here’s what I loved about A Bánh Mì For Two:

⟢ The unconditional acceptance of Lan and Vivi’s love story - We need more 100% positive depictions of sapphic romance in YA literature. Both Lan and Vivi face challenges throughout this book, but none of them are because of homophobia.

⟢ The fact that this is a food book! - As someone with a desire to explore Viet Nam, I loved getting a glimpse into Sai Gon. All of the food mentioned had my mouth watering. As a whole, the setting is expertly written. I truly felt as if I had flown to Viet Nam alongside Vivi.

⟢ The dialogue in Vietnamese - I am a firm supporter of including dialogue in other languages when it makes sense for the story. Having dialogue in Vietnamese makes this story more immersive.

Bottom line: This is a summer must-read!

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