Bingsu for Two coming January 14, 2025 from Union Square & Co.; 360 pages
Content Warning: Profanity, sexual references
About the Author: “Sujin Witherspoon is a Korean-American author, artist, and lover of words she can’t pronounce. She gravitates toward stories that will either plague her nightmares or make her stomach hurt from laughter—no in between. Having earned her degree in English from the University of Washington, she spends her time writing, thinking about writing, or thinking about how she should be writing. You can find her online at sujinwitherspoon.com” (Bio from author’s website).
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River’s life is falling apart. In the span of just one week, he broke up with his girlfriend of four years, walked out of his SATs, and quit his job as the co-manager of his family’s cafe. When his best friend convinces him to work at a struggling rival cafe, Bingsu for Two, River isn’t expecting anything special. He just hopes to avoid the nagging and frustrations of his disappointed parents. Under the guise of studying for the SAT, River joins the eclectic team at Bingsu for Two, led by the fiery Sarang and her sister Haneul, who inherited the business from their parents. When River accidentally records and uploads a video of the chaotic dynamic of his coworkers on social media, the cafe goes viral and earns a large fanbase that begins to “ship” River and Sarang. With this newfound popularity, the cafe and its crewmembers must rise to the occasion and come together to save the cafe that has grown to mean so much to each of them.
Enemies to lovers with an emphasis on found family? Sign me up! After looking at the summary of Bingsu for Two, I was incredibly excited to start reading and, for the most part, the book did not disappoint. The cast of characters was charming and diverse, and the relationships that developed between every member of the Bingsu for Two crew were simultaneously beautiful and realistically flawed. I love it when I can connect with and root for the supporting characters of a book just as much as the main protagonists, and this book allowed me to do just that. However, throughout the book, I felt as if I was missing something, as if there were a book I should have read before this one in order to have a better understanding of the characters and their relationships. It was challenging for me to understand how River and Cecilia could have been together for four years and yet seem as if they know and care so little about each other throughout the narrative. Also, with River’s family being such an integral part of his motivations and internal conflicts throughout the novel, I wish we could have seen more of their dynamic together. Instead, I felt as if we got brief glimpses into River’s family life, but not enough to garner an understanding of how his family life influenced his character arc. Despite this, Bingsu for Two offered an endearing cast of characters to accompany an interesting narrative progression.
Bingsu for Two releases on January 14, 2025.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and Union Square & Co. for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Sam Parker, Pine Reads Review Social Media Manager