Thanks to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book!

SUCH A FUN BOOK AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!


“Bingsu for Two” follows River, whose life, at the start of the book, is in shambles. He just broke up with his long-term girlfriend, he walked out of an exam (meaning he will not be able to get into university), and he has an altercation with a rude customer at the café he works at (which belongs to his parents, btw), and he ends up quitting his job. So when he gets home he’s like………. 🧍🏻🧍🏻🧍🏻 “Ah shit…. I kinda just ruined my life, didn’t i?” 😬 So he desperately tries to find a new job just so he can at least pretend he still has his life together, ya know?

He ends up getting a job at another café called Bingsu for Two (they said the title of the book omg!), where, guess what? That rude customer from before also works at 🤪. Her name is Sarang, and she’s mean and bossy for no fucking reason. River, however, is set on making this work, so he just puts up her bullshit. Homeboy then accidentally posts a chaotic video of his day working at Bingsu for Two. The video goes viral and gets the café a bunch of attention, so River ends up becoming a barista + social media manager.

I reeeeally enjoyed this part of the book! Seeing River and all of his coworkers filming videos and creating events for Bingsu for Two was soooo much fun! Definitely my favourite part of the book!

I was lowkey sad at the end when they decided to stop their social media presence, although I completely understand that decision, of course.

I also really liked to see River bonding with all of his coworkers during this time. The SCs were SO GOOD! The author managed to make every SC compelling and three-dimensional, and I could always understand their choices and actions, even if I didn’t agree with them. Kai was definitely my favourite, but I honestly have a soft spot for them all! I also looooved the side romances! I wanted to see more of those couples (and of the SCs overall lol. Where are their books? I’d read them)! 🥹

Now regarding the MCs. First of all, River. For starters, I reeeeally appreciate that this is a m/f romance from the perspective of the guy. I feel like we don’t see that often, so this book definitely stands out in that regard. And I have to say: River is SUCH a fun POV character! He is messy. He is a dumbass. He is a pathetic loser. He is a bad idea machine. You can tell from a mile away everything that is going to go wrong because he keeps making bad decisions. But I love him dearly. 😭 LISTENNNNN! River is a mess, but 1) it makes sense for his character, and 2) it makes for very funny moments, so I loved it! I also really enjoyed his arc throughout the story. His struggles with his ex-gf Cecelia, him feeling like a disappointment to his family, him being lost in life and not knowing what he wants or who he is… It was all so well explored and portrayed! And I liked how it was all wrapped up at the end.

Now for the LI, Sarang. As I mentioned, she and River have a rocky start to their relationship. Honestly, I never fully understood why she came into that coffeeshop mad at the world and decided to be rude to a customer service worker. After that altercation, River and Sarang can’t stand each other. It was a little hard for me to fully understand this rivalry, unfortunately, because I honestly thought Sarang was unnecessarily rude to River during their first encounters. But I digress. As they start working together, we see their friendship grow and slowly develop into a romance, which I liked. I especially appreciate that this is a SLOW BURN ROMANCE!!! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! As it should!!! FINALLY a book that isn’t insta-love! LET’S GOOOOO!!!!!!!!! (sorry I’ve just been reading a lot of insta-lovey books so this one was a TREAT!)

Another aspect I loved about this book was the humour. As I already mentioned, River is a chaotic character, which makes the book really fun. But the way it was written also enhanced that experience! The multi-medium format was super engaging (the scripts, the tweets, that one screenshot from AO3?????? 😭🤣); the chapter titles were HILARIOUS (another one of my favourite things about this book!); and the overall self-awareness of the book was just on point!

All in all, “Bingsu for Two” was a delight, and I’m so happy I got to read it early (though that’s also kinda bad bc now I’ll have to wait EXTRA LONG for Sujin’s next book 😞). Anywayssss. I definitely recommend this book if you enjoy YA rom-coms! 🥹💖 (Also I know this book isn’t even out yet but can somebody please turn it into a movie??? I need itttttt!!!!!!!!!!! 😩😩😩)