Picking up “Café Con Lychee” wasn’t a bad choice at all especially with the adorable cover picture. Follow the story of Theo and Gabi in this delightful enemies to lovers read by Emery Lee.
About
Theo wants to escape. Leaving Vermont for college means getting away from working at his parents’ Asian American café and dealing with their archrivals’ hopeless son Gabi who’s lost the soccer team more games than Theo can count.
Gabi is miserably stuck in the closet. Forced to play soccer to hide his love for dance and iced out by Theo, the only openly gay guy at school, Gabi’s only reprieve is his parents’ Puerto Rican bakery and his plans to take over after graduation.
But the town’s new fusion café changes everything. Between Theo’s family struggling shop and Gabi’s family plan to sell their bakery in the face of the competition, both boys find their dreams in jeopardy. Then Theo has an idea- he decides to sell photo-worthy food covertly at school to offset their losses. When he sprains his wrist and Gabi gets roped in to help, they realize they need to work together to save their parents’ shops but will the new feelings rising between them be enough to send their future.
Thoughts about the Book
The enemies to lovers plot is never a bad idea. Theo and Gabi start the novel as enemies, but they are forced to work together to save both their dreams and their family’s restaurants. I can’t also forget to mention the adorable cover which looks very good with bubble tea on the cover.
Theo and Gabi were the most delightful leads; Theo seems to hate Gabi a lot more than Gabi does. Their enemies dynamic was centered around the fact that their parents own rival businesses; it was nice that their POVs’ were alternated. They both had different personalities and experiences with being queer. It was really sad to see Gabi have to go through all of the homophobic comments his father had made and how his father’s rejection of queerness pushed him into the closet. On the other hand, it was nice to see Theo’s parents push against their family’s culture to accept their son. And they both learned to love themselves and each other.
“You can’t confine a whole sport to one gender and then insist everyone’s straight.”
The book has such a fun premise; the beginning was fantastic but the ending felt kind of rushed. The book addressed issues like coming out, facing homophobia, solidarity in the queer community, struggles of being a teenager especially a child of immigrants and racism.
One thing to be appreciated about the book is how the author fused two different cultures and the way the cultures were represented was perfect. There were also mentions of food and tradition. At the end, they had to all put their differences aside to create a better look.
This is my first Emery Lee read but it won’t obviously be the last.
Conclusion
4 stars. The novel is recommended anyone who likes fun gay romances, diverse representation, coming-of-age, rom coms and food-referencing YA contemporaries. It is a super fun read that is worth your time, so pick it up today.
euphoria 
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