A sweet, delicious read to devour this summer! Fans of Adiba's previous novels will want to run, not walk to the shops to pick this up because it is an absolute treat.
If you, like me, appreciate getting to see brown girls be chaotic and messy and perhaps caught in a love triangle (à la Devi in NEVER HAVE I EVER), and especially if you've been known to turn on THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF to relax after a long day - this is just the book for you.
I appreciated the way Jaigirdar masterfully balanced out the lightearted, quick and fun plot with the more serious discussions she introduced while exploring Shireen's experience as a fat woman of colour in Ireland, and how othering it can be to have fatphobia and racism thrown at you for daring to exist in a public sphere.
Cannot recommend this enough!

My Thoughts:
Shireen is depressed after her breakup with her girlfriend and her best friend is having a blast with her cousins in Bangladesh. Donuts and The Great British Bake Off are not enough to keep her from wallowing. That is until she gets the email that she will be a contestant in the first Junior Irish Baking Show. This is a way to showcase her family's struggling donut shop, You Drive Me Glazy, and fulfill her dream of bringing Bangladeshi desserts to the Irish audience.

Adiba Jaigirdar is the author of The Henna Wars so she still brings forward queer characters who stand up to racial bullying with a little humor and a lot of gumption to stay true to their culture and do a good job.

From the Publisher:
“Welcome to the first ever Junior Irish Baking Show!”

Shireen Malik is still reeling from the breakup with her ex-girlfriend, Chris, when she receives news that she’s been accepted as a contestant on a new televised baking competition show. This is Shireen’s dream come true! Because winning will not only mean prize money, but it will also bring some much-needed attention to You Drive Me Glazy, her parents’ beloved donut shop.

Things get complicated, though, because Chris is also a contestant on the show. Then there’s the very outgoing Niamh, a fellow contestant who is becoming fast friends with Shireen. Things are heating up between them, and not just in the kitchen.

As the competition intensifies , Shireen will have to ignore all these factors and more— including potential sabotage—if she wants a sweet victory!

Publication Information:
Author: Adiba Jaigirdar

Publisher: Felwel and Friends (June 6, 2023)

The Dos and Donuts of Love was a really fun story. I am a big fan of cooking competitions so it was new and interesting to use that as the setting of the story. I enjoyed some of the twists and turns that we were not sure who to trust. Overall if you like romance, baked goods, and interesting characters you should check this out.

Shireen is ecstatic when she is chosen to compete in The Junior Irish Baking Show! If she wins, she’ll get $10,000 plus lots of exposure for her parents’ donut shop, You Drive Me Glazy. But the reality show comes with lots of drama. Like, competing against her ex-girlfriend while simultaneously falling for another one of her competitors. Will Shireen win the glory (and money) or will she crack under pressure?

This book had so many cute aspects! I loved the adorable donut and chapter names! And the donut shop rivalry between Shireen’s parents and her ex-girlfriend Chris’ parents was so funny! I always love a book featuring reality tv shows and I thought this one was really interesting! I loved Shireen’s fashion and picturing her outfits was so fun! And of course, all the dessert descriptors made me hungry!

I do wish that this novel had been advertised more as a contemporary book than a straight up romance because, although romance is a big part of this novel, the love triangle didn’t give what I thought it would. In some ways that’s a good thing! And some ways not so much. I was happy with the way the love triangle resolved. But I will say, that I had to side-eye Shireen for even having feelings for one of those love interests. I really have no idea how she liked her.

I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a good summer YA contemporary with delicious food descriptions and a big side of sapphic romance!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publsihing Group/Feiwell & Friends for this arc! All opinions are my own.

TW: Mentions of racism and fatphobia, depictions of anxiety (specifically anxiety and panic attacks and spiraling thoughts), and online harassment

I received an ARC from the publisher and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
The Dos and Donuts of Love promised to be a delicious confection of a book from the title alone, and it absolutely delivered! From the punny chapter titles (e.g. I Knew You Were Truffle When You Walked In!) to the myriad descriptions of baking and baked goods, it’s an absolute delight.
Shireen is a fabulous protagonist, especially in how she navigates some pretty difficult issues, like racism, fatphobia, and her struggle with anxiety, all of which resonated with me in various ways. I also love the bold statement, consistent with Adiba Jaigirdar’s work as a whole, of having Shireen’s queer identity be accepted by her family, even if their wider community isn’t as open.
The baking competition premise, with multiple potential love interests, promised drama, and it delivered. I was pleasantly surprised at how things evolved with Shireen’s ex, Chris, especially as their breakup was so recent and didn’t happen on the best note. Niamh presented a very interesting prospect at first, but she was very different than she initially seemed as the story went on.
This is a super sweet book, interwoven perfectly with weighty issues, and I’d recommend it to anyone who loves food-oriented romances.
CWs: Mentions of racism and fatphobia, depictions of anxiety (specifically anxiety and panic attacks and spiraling thoughts), and online harassment

3.5 stars rounded up

this was really sweet and fun, i loved all the puns with the character names, chapter titles and the names of the desserts. i definitely would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the great british bake off, junior bake off, or food/baking stories in general

One thing I love about Adiba Jaigirdar's books is that she always highlights Bengali culture and tackles the experiences of racism that a person of color might face in Ireland. If this was the sole basis of my rating on the book, it would receive 5 stars.

The only thing that decreased my rating was how frustrating Shireen was with her interactions with Chris. I understand that she was feeling hurt still over the circumstances of their break up but her continually being rude and mean to Chris even when she was actually trying to be cordial with Shireen was hard to read. I feel like there could have been more time spent on her being much more apologetic about her treatment of Chris, but overall it was a very enjoyable read.

Trigger Warnings: break-up, fatphobia, anxiety, anxiety attack, homophobia, racism, cyber bullying

Representation: Irish-Bengladeshi, Bengladeshi, Bengali, Fat, Mental Health, Queer, Lesbian, Taiwanese

The Dos and Donuts of Love is a pun-filled YA contemporary romance that finds a teenage girl competing in a televised baking competition, with contestants including her ex-girlfriend and a potential new crush.

Shireen Malik is still reeling from the breakup with her ex-girlfriend, Chris, when she receives news that she’s been accepted as a contestant on a new televised baking competition show. This is Shireen’s dream come true! Winning will not only mean prize money, but it will also bring some much-needed attention to You Drive Me Glazy, her parents’ beloved donut shop.

Things get complicated, though, because Chris is also a contestant on the show. Then there’s the very outgoing Niamh, a fellow contestant who is becoming fast friends with Shireen. Things are heating up between them, and not just in the kitchen.

As the competition intensifies , Shireen will have to ignore all these factors and more― including potential sabotage―if she wants a sweet victory!

This was such a cute YA story! I loved all of the food and cultural aspects, as well as the romance and storyline. I have to mention how cute the cover is as well! The writing style is fun and easy to read, the book itself is a quick, light read. I liked the second chance romance and also the “villain.” I also loved the voice of reason in Fatima. I feel like there wasn’t a huge inclusion of both sets of parents, I did enjoy the interactions we did have. Overall this is a great story to read in the park now that spring is here! Make sure to bring some sweets, though!

I liked this better than the other book of Adiba Jaigirdar's that I've read--A Million to One--and I'm glad to see she returned to contemporary YA romance with this because it works well!

As an avid Great British Bakeoff fan, I loved the spin-off Jaigirdar creates and appreciated all the thinly veiled references to the show and other folks within the celebrity cooking sphere. I'm also glad she addresses the cyberbullying and racism inherent in reality TV, even a cozy cooking show. Love triangles can become annoying quickly, but I liked how this one resolves (and was not expecting the twist or secret motivations of a particular character!); my main qualm is that the book doesn't really address the reason Shireen and Chris broke up before the show. It feels like an oversight, but maybe it's a lesson in closure and expectations.

This book doesn't have a fairytale ending, and that's to its merit. Grab it if you're a fan of cooking shows and want something light and romantic.

I wanted to love this as much as I absolutely adore the cover but it just fell flat to me. I’ve read a couple of Adiba Jaigirdar’s books at this point, and I think i’ve decided i’m just not a fan of her writing style. I feel like i’m always left wanting more with her characters, and the same thing happened with this. I also wanted to put this down a couple of times just because of Shireen’s mean comments to Chris in situations where Chris was at least being cordial. I just feel like the characters could have communicated better, but that’s also probably the point of the story. I also feel like this book was mismarketed since I was expecting a romance with Niamh (not that i’m mad it didn’t happen because she was annoying), but I had no clue this is a second chance romance. I’m super picky with second chance romance, so i’m not sure if I would have picked it up otherwise.

I did love the premise of this and the baking competition element, I thought it was super fun and was super quick to get through. I also loved Shireens parents and the support they had for her throughout. I loved the body positivity Shireen had and how she wasn’t afraid to be herself and feel confident in her body. There were so many great elements to this book which is why i’m rating it a 4 and I did genuinely enjoy this book for the most part.

unfortunately, this was not my favorite of adiba jaigirdar’s work. i loved the concept, i absolutely adored the puns and the various romances, and the baking competition definitely kept my attention, but i thought that the writing felt lackluster and not up to the skill that we’ve seen jaigirdar write at before. i still loved it and will be recommending it to everyone

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG I AM SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP OVER HOW MUCH I ADORED THIS BOOK! ADIBA NEVER MISSES!

Quick Premise:
Shireen (Desi FMC who is grappling with her anxiety/panic attacks) has recently dumped her girlfriend of one year, Christina (we have a Taiwanese ex who got a haircut) but then, she is invited to compete in the Junior Irish Baking Show! The only problem is.... Christina has also been invited and they immediately get paired up during the first round. It's not all bad though; Shireen meets Niamh, a sweet and outgoing competitor who quickly offers up friendship to her :) However, Shireen needs to focus so she can use the semi-fame of the show to hopefully drive more business to her family's donut business, You Drive Me Glazy.

My thoughts:
First of all, the chapters are titled as food puns, like "Pudding Up With Exes" LOL! If you're a dad joke/punny joke connoisseur, one star immediately is given for the cleverness of that alone! Shireen's angst and inner monologue is so fun (you get first-person narrative), as most main characters Adiba writes are. I just have no notes!

Read this if you love:
-Great British Bake Off (or any adjacent baking shows)
-save-the-family-business trope!
-teen fictional coming of age
-Irish Desi representation <3
-reality tv competition & everything that comes with it, such as the diverse cast of competitors & camaraderie (for most of them), behind-the-scenes moments & the feelings of achievement/pride after completing a bake!
-a fat teenage girl who is not ashamed of her body & won't let anyone else put down her looks/confidence either!

Thank you Adiba for consistently giving us young female characters who stand strong in their convictions & inspire me to love myself & go after what I want no matter what. Adiba's books are so incredibly healing & toe the line between moving coming of age stories and swoon-worthy romantic moments so well!!!

Adiba Jaigirdar does it again with yet another amazing YA story! In The Dos and Donuts of Love, we follow Shireen as she participates in the Junior Irish Baking Show in hopes of winning to help make her dream of opening her own dessert shop come true. We witness as Shireen navigates competing on a reality show with her ex-girlfriend Chris and a budding crush on another contestant on the show, and things get messy!

The queer brown girl representation in this book is absolutely incredible. Shireen is portrayed as a character is comfortable in her sexuality and this is very refreshing. As a Bangladeshi Muslim myself, I resonated immensely with Shireen and her parents, especially their relationship! It’s so healthy and supportive, something that we don’t see enough of in South Asian narratives. Adiba Jaigirdar includes so much of Bengali culture within all of her works, but in this one, we really see our food shine! She’s also able to weave together a perfectly paced plot with a memorable cast of characters and touch on important topics such as racism in such a meaningful and commendable way. Along with this, the chapter titles consisted of dessert themed puns and I was living for it! I felt hungry the entirety of reading this book though haha.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book & can’t wait for it to be released for all to devour it in June! Thank you to Feiwel & Friends and netgalley for an eARC of The Dos and Donuts of Love!

Shireen is still trying to get over the breakup with her ex-girlfriend, Chris when she gets the news that she’s made it on the first ever Junior Irish Baking Show. It’s Shireen’s dream to eventually become a professional baker, so this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Not only will it come with prize money, but it will help promote her parents’ donut shop, You Drive Me Glazy.

However, what she doesn’t expect is to see Chris also made it into the show. And that she’ll be paired with Chris for the first challenge. Shireen has to put all distractions aside if she wants to win the competition. Especially when potential sabotage makes its way onto the show.
Thanks to Feiwel & Friends and NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar to review! A baking competition themed romance is exactly what I needed right now. And yet another great summer read!

First of all, I absolutely loved all of the baking puns at the beginning of each chapter. Not only do they reflect what’s happening in the story, but they also just make reading the book a fun experience. Because who doesn’t like baking puns, honestly?

As a fan of baking shows, I knew that I was probably going to love this. You get to see a lot of the competition in the book, and while some of it isn’t quite believable, it was still so much fun to read. Seeing what Shireen comes up with, applying it to her culture. And she gets to make donuts for her family’s shop as well!

The side characters were pretty well developed, as well as Shireen, making a full cast that fleshes out the story. Warning: if you’re a baker, you’ll probably want to bake once you’re done reading this!

If you like ex-lovers to lovers romances with a side of baking, you’ll definitely love this book when it comes out next month.

Teenaged Shireen Malik, daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants to Ireland, is depressed from a recent breakup and because her best friend, Fatima, is spending the summer in Bangladesh with her family. Shireen is propelled out of her doldrums when she's chosen for a junior baking show, but less thrilled when she learns her ex-girlfriend, Chris Huang, will also be a contestant. Can they learn to at least be friends again? What baking challenges await? Will Shireen's baking experience pay off in a win that will help her parents' donut shop stay open? Stay tuned!

I was initially drawn to this book by the baking show plot element. The fictional Junior Irish Baking Show mashes up elements of several different types of reality shows: a confessional booth for the contestants, weekly impromptu challenges (no pre-planning for the bakers), and different rules for different episodes. There are punning nods to real world celebrities Paul Hollywood, Mary Berry, and Gordon Ramsay.

Fictional Padma Bollywood, one of the show judges, is Shireen's favorite professional chef, and their relationship offered a nuanced exploration of the value of mentorship and how race and culture figure into that. When racist trolls target Shireen and Chris, the only contestants of color, on Twitter after the first episode, they're upset by how their fellow contestants are dismissive of the abuse. Padma is able to support them when others don't, and later is able to leverage what power she has in helpful ways which I will not spoil here. I loved the contributions of supportive adults, especially Padma and Shireen's parents, to the story.

Chris and Shireen have a hint of a Romeo and Juliet vibe (minus the tragedy!), in that their parents own rival donut shops across the street from each other, and they first interact via conflict. Both shops are suffering from declining business when the book opens; I loved the way those issues were resolved, as well.

I love the absolutely goofy premise of this forthcoming young adult novel. Shireen Malik, helps out at her parents’ donut shop, You Drive Me Glazy, in Dublin. Unknown to her parents, she’s recently dated and broken up with Chris Huang, the daughter of their archrivals (Shireen’s parents are fine with her sexuality; she’s just not sure how they’d react to any fraternizing with the competitors). The breakup, combined with her best friend Fatima spending the summer with family in Bangladesh, has Shireen down, until she’s selected to compete on the Junior Irish Baking show, a Great British Bake-Off-style reality competition. And for the first challenge, she has to work with a partner, and of course, her assigned partner is Chris. Shireen has to navigate her complicated feelings for Chris; a flirtation with another contestant, Niamh; and winning the show, which will help both her budding career and her parents’ store.

In general, the plot here was quite predictable, which I don’t think is really a drawback for a cute book like this. Rather than being surprised by the plot, I was delighted by the million hilarious dessert puns (every chapter title is one), silly situations (a food fight on live TV!), and touched by Shireen’s deep and specific love for her Bengali culture. She and Chris are the only two minorities to appear on the show, and are often subjected to racist comments from fans. One of the judges, an Indian baker who is Shireen’s hero (this woman, absurdly, goes by Padma Bollywood), reaches out to the two to offer her support. Shireen’s parents are also refreshingly kind and supportive. I honestly wish Jaigirdar had leaned more into the predicability of the plot—it did annoy me a bit to have information (like why Shireen and Chris broke up) very insistently withheld during the text, while I think being a little less “teaser-y” about some of these plot points would have allowed me to focus more on the big heart and sheer fun of this charming book.

This was everything I wanted and more! I recently discovered queer reality TV novels are among my favorites, and The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar just further cemented it.

Shireen is trying to get over her ex-girlfriend Chris when Shireen gets invited to be on the first Junior Irish Baking Show. Except Chris is a contestant too. And one of the other competitors might be after more than a friendship. What's a girl to do?

I loved everything about this book! Shireen's naming conventions are top notch. The Bengali rep is beautiful to see, and Shireen's body positivity is fantastic. The side characters were phenomenal, and Jaigirdar tackled serious issues like racism and fatphobia.

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, and Adiba Jaigirdar for the opportunity to read this e-ARC!

Shireen is a fantastic baker. Her parents own a donut shop and it's her dream to help her parents and get a jumpstart by winning the the first ever Junior Irish Baking Show.

Slight hiccup: her ex has also been accepted onto the show and now they're competing against each other while also trying to navigate a breakup. Fun twist: Niamh, a fellow contestant takes a liking to Shireen and they become quick friends, which is a great distraction considering Shireen's best friend is spending the summer in Bangladesh.

Loved the baking component and the puns in every chapter title. This was a great YA read that tackled topics like racism amidst a backdrop of competition that is seriously heating up by the end of the book!

Adiba Jaigirdar is just one of those top-tier authors for me. I will read each and every book she publishes. They just always bring joy to my heart and a smile to my face. Queer joy, particularly queer joy for people of colour, is something that should always be celebrated and Jaigirdar captures that perfectly. Reading her books is like letting a ray of sunshine into your life or getting the sweetest bite of cake.

The Dos and Donuts of Love takes an incredible premise - Irish Bake Off where you’re competing against your ex and developing a new love interest? Sign me up immediately.

This is a book that will satisfy even the sweetest tooth. It is a hopeful, delicate and beautifully romantic story about pursuing your dreams and pushing for your space. Shireen was a character that instantly snuck into my heart. Her passion and determination was overflowing, with her talent shining through. At the same time, she’s emotionally complex and three-dimensional, making mistakes that are all too human. I just loved everything about her (most of the time) and was rooting for her to get everything she deserved.

Jaigirdar brings the best descriptions of delicious food, making me salivate over the pages and imagine these incredibly creative cakes. She explicitly marries this with an exploration of cultural traditions and how evocative food can be of a time and a place. We all have certain foods we strongly associate with moments in time. This ties in perfectly with the central relationships of the book. We flit between the past and present, allowing us to see all sides of the relationship.

The competition is intense and Jaigirdar brings the racist backlash that people of colour experience from being in the media to the forefront. There are some sickening scenes and comments made, with an exploration of media manipulation and focusing on viral soundbites. The exploitation and neglect of contestants is on full display, particularly in the inaction against racism. I always like how Jaigirdar marries these achingly sweet and tender romance plots with incisive commentary on race and discrimination, showing the horrible realities that cannot be hidden behind these moments of happiness. Instead these joys are spitting in the face of those who would like to cover them up. By confronting the realities, Jaigirdar ensures these moments are that much more impactful.

The Dos and Donuts of Love is the YA contemporary romance of the year so far for me.

4 stars

Jaigirdar has cooked up (sorry - this book is filled with puns, and it's apparently contagious) yet another solid YA effort with this most recent tale about Shireen, her love of baking, her connections to her culture, and her potential romantic ties to some very lucky young ladies.

Shireen, the m.c., lives in Ireland and is the only child of two wonderful parents who arrived from Bangladesh in advance of her birth. The family owns and runs a semi-successful but recently struggling donut shop in Dublin. In an effort to explore her love of baking and support her family, Shireen participates in a junior Irish version of one of her favorite baking competition shows (that we are all watching on a major streaming service). This is a special feat for Shireen because she is going through a pretty tough breakup with her ex, Chris, and her reaction to that has been intense. She's 17, so use your imagination.

I was a little nervous starting this read because I just read another YA novel with a very similar premise and many matching details, and it releases only a couple of weeks before this one does. Having read both, I can say that folks who enjoy one will likely feel that universally. They're both great, and this one stands out because it is set in Ireland, features a Bangladeshi m.c., AND has some solid queer rep happening, which we cannot get enough of, especially in YA and especially these days. Readers shouldn't go for one book or the other but both. Just be sure to prepare effectively; the sweet tooth *will* demand to be satisfied with all of these delicious sounding deserts on display.

Fans of Jaigirdar, great YA, and delicious desserts will find what they are looking for here, and I am already on the hunt for what is next from this great author.