This story was super cute with great representation of Southeast Asian culture and identities. The characters were endearing and the romance was slow and sweet. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

I received an eARC from NetGalley and Avon in exchange for an honest review. Jasmine Tran thought a college degree would be her steppingstone into the world, but after graduation she finds herself back in the donut shop her parents own, working long hours, with no time to do anything else other than sleep and watch Netflix. Her parents are pressuring her to find someone and settle down, but when will she have time? Her best friend, Linh, offers to set her up and Alex, the (no longer) nameless man Jas had a crush on in college, enters the picture. Will he be good enough for her parents? Will she be good enough for his? How will they find the time to see each other? And it's all happening while she's trying to find a job so she can finally leave the donut shop to start her life without leaving her parents with more work at their shop.

This was a great coming of age story that gave me insight I wouldn't otherwise have had into the Asian community. Also, I had never considered how difficult it would be if you weren't fluent in the same languages as you parents and had a language barrier there. Jasmine is great representation for the child of immigrants, the work ethic, the desire to help them and not let them down, while also feeling guilty about starting her own life. I would classify this as women's lit with a strong romance storyline. Jasmine's story of how she comes into her own is by far the dominant journey. I would recommend this to fans of coming-of-age stories, Asian representation, children of immigrants stories, and closed door romance.

Nothing will earn a low rating from me faster than creepy and/or annoying main characters. Not to mention the plot was lacking in something that I just can't put my finger on.

This would be more of just on the edge of four for me. I liked it, it was a cute romance which I will never deny.

I wish there had been a little more character development or things going on outside of just being romance but thats ok because it is a romance book so it can be expected to play out that way.


Overall this is a good book that I would definitely recommend to others!

Fun, heartwarming and full of laughs!
This is the first I have read by this author and I will certainly be looking out for her books in the future, I like her easy-to-read, light and very cheerful writing. This is a wonderful young adult/coming of age romance, perfect for those who are just discovering the genre and want to be slowly eased into it. it's not taxing and the story is engaging and will keep you turning the pages. The characters are all very likeable, you can very easily connect and enjoy their journey. and the pacing is just right for the story, it's nice and easy to read and would be great for these sunnier days.

I got this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.The story hooks you in from the start.Jasmine is a bit awkward and so was her romace which made this so enjoyable to read.

I will start by saying this was not what I expected. It had a bit of a women's fictiony vibe to it. Now I tend not to care if a book has some woman's fiction than as long as the story is satisfying, and there is some steam, unfortunately it kind of fell flat for both. There is a lot of immigration and generational trauma in this book (and as an immigrant it did feel true to my experience). It took up so much of the story that it was hard for the romance to breathe. I honestly felt like I didn't get to know Alex very well. While the few moments we got of the two of them were mostly cute, it still felt like there was so much more of their story that needed to be told. And for how much the story centers Jasmine and her journey, I still felt like we didn't know her and she wanted outside of any job that wasn't at her parents' shop. I also think that we should have gotten her reveal of her troubles in college earlier, as it is something that Jasmine needed to work through in narrative, but because it was held off as a twist, it wasn't fully explored.
I will also say that I was probably disappointed by the hype. I have heard nothing but good things about this book and it wasn't what I was expecting. That being said I will probably pick up another Julie Tieu book because while this wasn't my cup of tea, I did enjoy her writing style and I have better expectations for what her books hold.

Bakery rom-coms? Great. Donut rom-coms? Even better. This isn't as much of a romance as I was expecting, but it was heartwarming and fun nonetheless.

DNF at 40%. I wanted to love this book so much more than I ended up feeling. Such a cute concept, but the story felt so flat. The romance did not seem to have any depth and just everything felt a bit too cheesy. Maybe I was not entirely in the right headspace for it - but I think overall I just wanted a little bit more to this tale.

The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu is a delightful, sweet rom com that ticked all the boxes for me. I'm looking forward to seeing what Tieu writes next!

I loved reading about a 2nd-generation Chinese-American immigrant heroine and her parents donut shop. The parental relationship was obviously my favorite part. Even though Jasmine had angst with her parents, they weren’t villainized. Among the expectations, she appreciates their sacrifice. With that being said, I didn’t really buy the romance between Alex and Jasmine. I didn’t think Alex was on the page enough to warrant a believable romance.

I thought this was a really cute coming of age story. This book isn’t what I expected, but I enjoyed it regardless. It’s not as much of a romance as I thought it was. There was so much more to it. I thought the characters were great and I liked seeing where Jasmin’s life was going to take her. Overall, this was a cute debut story, and I would recommend it!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun rom com to read and I really love the trope of fake dating until you fall in love and start actually dating.

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

What I liked: The general plot, the family dynamics and the insecurities the protagonists had to overcome

What I didn’t like: The protagonists were new adults but this read like YA. But most of all, the characters didn’t really have any personality which made it hard to connect to them or care much about their journey.

Overall, I liked it, didn’t love it.

This one was a nice, cute romantic comedy! It left me craving donuts though, haha! I love romance books that also include family dynamics (ex, The Kiss Quotient), and this one definitely delivered there as well!

I love a good rom com but I definitely enjoy the evolution that is taking place within the genre; I think this book could have pushed it a bit farther. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC of this book!

A delightful book full of adventure, action, and thrills. Fun to read, engrossing world building, and very descriptive imagery made it feel like it was cinematic. It's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. Would recommend.

Cute, cute, cute! It's always refreshing beyond words to see a story starring both a POC main character and a POC love interest -- as a woman of color who often feels left out of the narrative, it feels like an act of humanization. I am yet to find a romance novel that makes me feel humanized as much as Julie Tieu's THE DONUT TRAP. Despite my identity being a little different from that of Jasmine, her experiences felt like a reflection of my own experiences. I loved how Tieu elegantly weaves themes of immigrant culture and experience so delicately throughout the narrative -- and the result is a book that feels like a warm hug. A favorite to treasure.

I treid reading this but quit around 60%. It was a decent read - it just didnt hold my attention. Thanks for letting me read it.

I enjoyed this book mostly because of the family relationship and them all working together to help the donut shop gain more customers. It did have a love story line but wasn't fully the main focus. The tension and insight from the parents being Asian immigrants and their children being first generation American gave great focus on what it's like for many families in America. The main character was what I think lots of young twenty year olds feel, no idea what they want in life, challenge navigating career help after college, social media giving FOMO and no idea where to start romantically. I would give this a four star as a fiction title with lots of Asian representation with lots of humor written in. As a romance I would give it two stars for how the love interest and relationship was written. Definitely a fun and humorous title.