Bingsu for Two

It is tough being a teen! It is even tougher when you are tasked with co-managing your family’s flagship coffee shop while struggling to revise for your SATs and maintain a relationship with your brilliant (but devious) girlfriend!

Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? Well, this is where we begin at Bingsu for Two with Sujin Witherspoon’s protagonist River. River makes a series of (in my opinion rather rash) decisions in response to the stressful situation we find him in which result in him walking out of his exams, quitting his job and becoming newly single. River finds immediate solace in a local Korean café just a few minutes away from his old job – with a cast of very likable characters. There is Dario the muscular jock with a soft spot River’s best friend Kai, Vanna who helps at the café with her effortless coolness and Sarang, daughter of the owner Mr. Cho, who loves to hate River.

The story takes us through a lot of the complex moral dilemmas of late teens dating in the Instagram age – it also takes us through quite a lot of sound online marketing advice. As you might imagine the story comes at us at breakneck speed, not always taking too much time with big moments before another comes along. Witherspoon tackles some important topics head on – the Korean diaspora, consent, online harassment and first loves – deftly switching between irreverence and objectivity.

River is tender and confused as he provides a comforting voice for the reader whilst he does his best to find his place in the world, whilst missing his past. Bingsu for Two really grounds itself in Korean and Internet culture – unafraid to reference what our characters know and love. This can sometimes lead to certain references not always translating as hoped – but this is rare, and the essence of our characters is always clear. This is a funny and heartfelt romance that readers will enjoy for its frankness and its strong sense of self.