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A review by a_picara
A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I was so excited for this book -- the premise is great! Two young women, falling in love over street food. At the beginning, it felt mid, but by the end I was just annoyed and hoping for it to be done.
The characters are flat and indistinguishable from each other. This is entirely because the writing is so bad. This novel feels like it was written by someone who is very good at writing English papers explaining what a novel is about. The majority of the narrative is interiority and that is boring. It's terribly boring to read about how much one character cannot stop thinking about the other, especially when there has been nothing special shown between the two characters and they haven't done anything other than glance at each other and get takeout together.
The plot is so thin as to be non-existent. One girl is writing a story for a magazine submission and the other is searching for her family, so they agree to help each other. This set up seems like it would provide many opportunities for the characters to get to know each other and to show how they collaborate. But all action is skipped over, and most of the book is set while they are away from each other and just wanting to see each other again.
And then there's the terribly forced family drama for both characters that wraps up neatly in the last chapters. The novel constantly states it's themes (third culture kid experience; familial obligations; guilt; the cultural importance of food), and while those are great topics, they are not explored in any complexity. This novel has a set idea, and wants to convey that one perspective, which is why the main characters read as the same, despite some surface-level differences.
The characters are flat and indistinguishable from each other. This is entirely because the writing is so bad. This novel feels like it was written by someone who is very good at writing English papers explaining what a novel is about. The majority of the narrative is interiority and that is boring. It's terribly boring to read about how much one character cannot stop thinking about the other, especially when there has been nothing special shown between the two characters and they haven't done anything other than glance at each other and get takeout together.
The plot is so thin as to be non-existent. One girl is writing a story for a magazine submission and the other is searching for her family, so they agree to help each other. This set up seems like it would provide many opportunities for the characters to get to know each other and to show how they collaborate. But all action is skipped over, and most of the book is set while they are away from each other and just wanting to see each other again.
And then there's the terribly forced family drama for both characters that wraps up neatly in the last chapters. The novel constantly states it's themes (third culture kid experience; familial obligations; guilt; the cultural importance of food), and while those are great topics, they are not explored in any complexity. This novel has a set idea, and wants to convey that one perspective, which is why the main characters read as the same, despite some surface-level differences.