I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

To his friends back home, Viet Ho is calm and collected and a lovable oddball who nurses an obsession with forensic science. He’s relieved to head off to UC Davis and escape from being in the middle of his bickering immigrant parents. Yet, on campus and with the school year unfolding at an overwhelming pace, Viet struggles to belong and to keep his depression hidden.

Evie Mai is a junior biology major and the eldest daughter who has never trod far off the beaten path. She has everything: good grades, a solid group of friends, and a smart, ambitious boyfriend, who’s the son of a well-connected university board member. But their busy schedules, as well as their interests, no longer align. Determined to close the distance, she and her boyfriend both apply to a student-run clinic for underserved communities. But will that save or expose the gaps in their relationship?

When a clumsy accident brings Viet and Evie together, they bond over their shared hometown and similar history—and their orbits grow smaller as their friends collide. The more time they spend with each other and support each other, mentally and emotionally, the more their friendship shifts into something else.

Short and Sweet Review

Viet is headed to UC Davis for his freshman year of college, he has a passion for forensic science and he’s just ready to immerse himself in the college life experience. Sadly, college is going by in a pace he wasn’t expecting and with the weight his parents put on him he ends up being depressed. Evie is a junior at the college and a biology major and this year she decides she wants to apply to a student ran clinic and her boyfriend Jake applies also. There’s been some distance between Evie and Jake and she’s hoping this will bring them closer together or it might just be the thing that makes them realize it’s not going to work out. Viet and Evie start spending time together and although he’s sure of his feelings Evie has a boyfriend and for Evie she’s not sure if she should stick with Jake or move on to someone who seems to care a bit more.

If you’ve read A Pho Love Story then you’ll remember Viet as one of Bao’s friends and coworkers and Evie is Linh’s older sister. This book was a companion novel and from reading the synopsis I feel like I knew what to expect from this book, I found it predictable but I was still interested in seeing how everything would unfold. Viet and Evie are our main characters and we get both of their POVs, I will say that Viet’s chapters are longer than Evie’s, when I think about it more it could have just been in Viet’s POV. Viet was a good character he was starting his first year of college and navigating that and we also see how his parents depend on him a lot and he takes on a lot of their issues, which we see ends up putting him into a depression. I did like seeing how his depression was portrayed because sometimes he had bad days and other days were he was still sad but he knew he just had to be functional and get through the day. I also enjoyed seeing how his friends rallied around him and checked in on him. Evie was an okay character, she fell into the stereotypical older sister role and asian child that had to be the overachiever and doctor. Evie has been dating Jake for a while but it doesn’t seem like they’re on the same page but when she meets Viet is when she starts to realize the cracks in her own relationship. I did like seeing Viet and Evie hang out but it felt very predictable that they would get together the only hurdle was Jake.

Overall, I do think I enjoyed this book more than A Pho Love Story. Viet was an interesting character to follow and I liked seeing him go through his first year and also just seeing how he dealt with his depression. Evie was okay and I feel like she could have offered more. I did like the plot but I feel like the ending wasn’t great it kind of fizzled out towards the end.