Title: Bingsu for Two
Author: Sujin Witherspoon
Publisher: Union Square & Co. 2025
Genre: YA Romance
Pages: 320
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Foodie; She Reads Romance - New Adult
Where I Got It: Library
Meet River Langston-Lee. In the past 24 hours, he’s dumped his girlfriend, walked out of his SATs, and quit his job at his parents’ cafe in spectacularly disastrous fashion—even for him.
Somehow, he manages to talk his way into a gig at a failing Korean cafe, Bingsu for Two, which is his lucky break until he meets short, grumpy, and goth: Sarang Cho. She’s his new no-BS co-worker who’s as determined to make River’s life hell as she is to save her family’s cafe.
After River accidentally uploads a video of his chaotic co-workers to his popular fandom account, they strike viral fame. The kicker? Their new fans ship River and Sarang big-time. In order to keep the Internet’s attention—and the cafe’s new paying customers—River and Sarang must pretend that the tension between them is definitely of the romantic variety, not the considering the best way to kill you and hide your body variety.
But when Bingsu for Two’s newfound success catches the attention of River’s ex and his parents’ cafe around the corner, he faces a choice: keep letting others control his life or stand up for the place that’s become home. And a green-haired girl who’s not as heartless as he originally thought . . .
Completely by chance I happened upon this book at the library. And I’m so glad that I actually checked it out and dove in a few days ago. This is a typical angsty teen romance, but it also has a lot of heart and great banter in between ridiculous situations. The book reminded me of Emma Lorde’s Tweet Cute, but even more updated for today. We get two teens trying to find their own identities through the process of saving a family coffee shop. The characters are cute but also very real and relatable. They make mistakes but also grow and change for the better throughout the story. Witherspoon has crafted a cute story with propulsive writing that kept me turning the pages. I’m excited to see what the author writes next.
Next up on the TBR pile:
