oh. oh this book is simply not the best </3 like its fine, dont get me wrong, but thats mostly because of the writing. i do enjoy emery lees writing, but the way e does plots and characterization...it leaves much to be desired. for instance, the plot for this book doesnt make much sense, and doesnt even play into the story all that much. why are a Puerto Rican bakery and Asian American café competing for customers in the first place??? thats never talked abt more than just mentioning that theyre both ethnic places which...is a bit of a stretch, in my opinion. and the whole competition thing is also not a strong point either because we come into these stories when BOTH places are starting to fail so the spirit of whatever competition there should be simply doesnt exist. the talk of tropes is also...well. they arent executed well at all. the biggest one is the 'enemies to lovers' trope but...theyre never really enemies. like...at all. gabi never really hates or even dislikes theo which makes it all very weak. and sure you could argue that theyre somewhat enemies because of the parents businesses, but its just not strong enough. it really isnt.

the supporting cast is also annoying. none of them are all that likeable and some are downright horrible. i dislike gabis parents the most (for obvious reasons) and most everyone else are just...there. justin is fine even if he doesnt really do anything, and vivi is alright, but meli is irritating. overall, not a lot of good characters!!!

oh, and just something that bugged me is that theo's parents didnt even know who gabi was when they went to pick theo up when he sprained his wrist. like...their families supposedly have this rivalry between each other because of the businesses, but they dont even know who their rivals son is...? that made no sense to me at all. shouldnt they have at least seen him ONCE?? very strange

i do appreciate what this book is trying to do, i do!!! and its a very good thing because we need books like this for teen readers today, but it would be so much better if this book was executed better.

i think i may be outgrowing the YA romance genre unfortunately—this was just too juvenile for me. like the climax being homecoming… stop. and lots of angst which isn't my cup of tea. but if you're looking for a great YA queer love story with football/soccer/rugby, Heartstopper!! that said, i do appreciate the diversity because i recently wrote in a review (for Chef's Kiss) that "i am tired of reading queer romances about skinny/ripped white men."
cover design is easily five stars.

A sweet, rich, fun read with depth of character and experience. This covers themes of self-coming out, stereotypes, cultural food, familial financial stress, rivalries, etc. I especially loved Theo's characterization as someone who deals with a lot of anger as a defense mechanism and seeing him lower those walls to let someone in was really wholesome and uplifting. 

<i>Cafe Con Lychee</i> is my first Emery Lee book but it won't be my last! I'm massively eyeing up <i>Meet Cute Diary</i> which also sounds awesome. 

<b>content warnings</b>: financial insecurity, brief mentions of divorce, racism + micro-aggressions, homophobia (from family members), toxic relationships, brief mentions of cultural appropriation, panic attacks, brief use of ableist speech 

Thank you to Netgalley and Quill Tree Books for the arc!

Theo and Gabi's families own competing restaurants, but they are forced to work together to try and save both family businesses. Theo comes to realize that Gabi isn't as horrible as he always thought, and Gabi comes to realize much more about himself. Also: soccer.


This was so good! I was immediately hooked by the characters and the duel perspectives in the book. I love a good enemies to lovers, but love the twist that Theo totally sees them as enemies while Gabi just...wishes Theo would be his friend. Both characters are really in depth and interesting and I loved following both storylines.

The plot is super fun! The food business in the school is great and I love the little soccer plotline that goes with it. I also like that there are deeper running storylines as well--with families, and internalized homophobia, and money, and coming out, and small businesses, and cultural appropriation. All of it was handled really well and flowed together beautifully! 

Emery Lee did a wonderful job on this one!