Rating: 5/5

Book Blurb:

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.

Review:

Lan is a famous food blogger in Vietnam but has stopped writing after her father's passing, Vivi is a Vietnamese American girl who is a huge fan of Lan's blog and dreams about discovering the Vietnam her mother refuses to talk about, the two coincidentally meet and a sweet romance begins. Lan is the perfect daughter, always willing to help her mother and take care of the family food stall. She is also a popular food blogger who writes about Vietnam. She has stopped posting ever since her father's passing and is dealing with the grief of losing her father while trying to keep her family afloat. Vivi is a Vietnamese American who has never been to Vietnam and her parents refuse to talk about their lives living there before they moved to America. Vivi is also a huge fan of Lan's food blog and was inspired to lie to her parents and travel abroad to Vietnam for her freshman year of college program. Vivi is determined to find out why her parents left while also exploring all the places her favorite food blogger talks about. Yet when Vivi and Lan run into each other sparks begin to fly and the two girls help one another. Vivi will help Lan with her writing contest and Lan will show Vivi around Vietnam and help Vivi piece together her mother's past. Together they explore Vietnam, fall in love, and grow. This was such a sweet little read and I loved how heartwarming it was. As a Vietnamese American kid myself, this one really just tickled my heart. I love the exploration of Vietnam, the way the language and culture was interwoven, and of course, all the delicious food. The romance between Vivi and Lan was just adorable and I would absolutely recommend this book.

Release Date: August 20,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Henry Holt and Co. BYR Paperbacks for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

My favourite WLW reads of 2022 - whilst this list is a little long I read over 100 so I couldn’t condense it less

Books & Comics / Graphic Novels

Subtle cover and blurb WLW / Sapphic books & graphic novels for closeted folk of all ages.

WLW Book Rec for Wednes Addams!

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

Today's sapphic book of the day is We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds!

Summary: "Family secrets, a swoon-worthy romance, and a slow-burn mystery collide in We Deserve Monuments, a YA debut from Jas Hammonds that explores how racial violence can ripple down through generations. What’s more important: Knowing the truth or keeping the peace?

Seventeen-year-old Avery Anderson is convinced her senior year is ruined when she's uprooted from her life in DC and forced into the hostile home of her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The tension between Avery’s mom and Mama Letty makes for a frosty arrival and unearths past drama they refuse to talk about. Every time Avery tries to look deeper, she’s turned away, leaving her desperate to learn the secrets that split her family in two.

While tempers flare in her avoidant family, Avery finds friendship in unexpected places: in Simone Cole, her captivating next-door neighbor, and Jade Oliver, daughter of the town’s most prominent family—whose mother’s murder remains unsolved.

As the three girls grow closer—Avery and Simone’s friendship blossoming into romance—the sharp-edged opinions of their small southern town begin to hint at something insidious underneath. The racist history of Bardell, Georgia is rooted in Avery’s family in ways she can’t even imagine. With Mama Letty's health dwindling every day, Avery must decide if digging for the truth is worth toppling the delicate relationships she's built in Bardell—or if some things are better left buried."

Edie in Between by Laura Sibson

Today's sapphic book of the day is Edie in Between by Laura Sibson!

TW for parental death mentioned in summary

Summary: "A modern-day Practical Magic about love, loss, and embracing the mystical.

It’s been one year since Edie’s mother died. But her ghost has never left.

According to her GG, it’s tradition that the dead of the Mitchell family linger with the living. It’s just as much a part of a Mitchell’s life as brewing cordials or talking to plants. But Edie, whose pain over losing her mother is still fresh, has no interest in her family’s legacy as local 'witches.'

When her mother’s teenage journal tumbles into her life, her family’s mystical inheritance becomes once and for all too hard to ignore. It takes Edie on a scavenger hunt to find objects that once belonged to her mother, each one imbued with a different memory. Every time she touches one of these talismans, it whisks her to another entry inside the journal—where she watches her teenage mom mourn, love, and hope just as Edie herself is now doing. Maybe, just maybe, Edie hopes, if she finds every one of these objects, she can finally make peace with her loss and put the past to rest for good. But this journey to stake her independence from her family may actually show Edie who she truly is…and the beautiful gifts that come with being just a little different."

the last-honey book rec masterlist

because i’ve done a few of these and will probably do more in the future so i need somewhere to keep them organized

diverse fantasy books

sci-fi/fantasy books by POC authors about POC characters

AAPI books

books that are sapphic and/or have sapphic characters

The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska

Today's sapphic book of the day is The Dark Tide by Alicia Jansinska!

Summary: "Every year on St. Walpurga's Eve, Caldella’s Witch Queen lures a boy back to her palace. An innocent life to be sacrificed on the full moon to keep the island city from sinking.

Lina Kirk is convinced her brother is going to be taken this year. To save him, she enlists the help of Thomas Lin, the boy she secretly loves, and the only person to ever escape from the palace. But they draw the queen’s attention, and Thomas is chosen as the sacrifice.

Queen Eva watched her sister die to save the boy she loved. Now as queen, she won't make the same mistake. She's willing to sacrifice anyone if it means saving herself and her city.

When Lina offers herself to the queen in exchange for Thomas’s freedom, the two girls await the full moon together. But Lina is not at all what Eva expected, and the queen is nothing like Lina envisioned. Against their will, they find themselves falling for each other as water floods Caldella’s streets and the dark tide demands its sacrifice."