Super cute! I really loved this--yes, The Donut Trap is a romance but it's also a great look at what life in your 20s post-college is like--the surprise of "adulting" in all its "oh, this is my life now what?" glory. Looking forward to what Julie Tieu does next!

Cute read. I loved the humor and the first emotion that comes to mind is adorable when I think of this book. I love that this was a foodie romance--I keep a list of books that all deal in food and this is going on it. The author's writing was enjoyable but for some reason had me thinking of a YA contemporary rather than adult fiction but I loved this story either way. I'm not sure why but it reminded me of a couple of other books I've read.

Fun and definitely relatable story that mixes family expectations, self expectations, romance, and (of course) romance.

⭐️ audiobook review ⭐️

🍩 The Donut Trap
✏️ Julie Tieu

I was such a lucky reader and was given the opportunity to read this book through @netgalley and also given a physical copy through @harpercollins 🍩 this book was published late 2021!

Life is hectic at times and I was able to get this on the Libby app and listen to it on audiobook!

This book was the perfect book to read when I was going from serious, heavy books and I needed a break from that to something lighter. This wasn’t all rainbow and butterflies but a coming of age type story where Jasmine figures out what she wants and stands up for herself. Coming of age with romance sprinkled in! (See what I did there?! 😊 🍩)

#netgalley #harpercollins #thedonuttrap #julietieu #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookreview #bookrecommendations #bibliophile #bookaddict

The Donut Trap is a fun new adult romantic comedy full of tension, banter, and the realities of being a first generation twenty something who not only feels the pressure to be in a relationship but also has the pressure of have work and life balanced. Julie Tieu managed to take all the big feelings many post undergrads feel and bundled it into a wonderfully delicious romantic comedy.

This one felt too overly complicated for me and I chose to not finish it. I do recognize and appreciate the family dynamics the author brought into this one and would not warn anyone off of it, it just was not for me at the time.

Jasmine returned home after college, and ended up working in her parents’ donut shop. As immigrants from Cambodia, her parents worked hard and had expectations for Jasmine that felt like burdens to her. When her best friend Linh encourages her to meet Alex, sparks fly. This is a cute romance, but I was hoping for more in the cultural side. I do think this is for a younger audience than for a middle aged person like me. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I did not finish this title. At over 50% in I’m not finding myself picking it up to continue reading. I wish more was happening plot wise and the two main characters don’t have much chemistry. Thank you for the opportunity to review!

4.5 ⭐️

Fun, light-hearted, single POV, fade-to-black romance!

The donut shop setting was not cheesy and was honestly so fun! I also loved the family focus here and the way our main character and her parents learned to support each other better.

Jasmine had a passing meeting with “window guy” in college but had no way to get ahold of him. Now her best friends boyfriend posted pictures on Instagram and it turns out he knows window guy! When Linh sets them up the cutest romance commences! Now, to get both of their families on board…

Cute romance with good characters and very much a coming of age type of story. It’s cute and rom-comy a perfectly good enjoyable read.

This was thankfully, a quick read. However, it was not at all what I was expecting. This was slated as a romance, when really it should just be called YA or new adult. The story is definitely more about Jasmine trying to figure herself out after college than her relationship with Alex.

There were some cute and fun parts to the story. Doing the donut recon and testing out new flavors was fun. Finding out that while Jasmine called Alex "window guy" he was calling her "ticket girl" was adorable. But overall, I felt like Jasmine was immature and her relationship with Alex was just awkward. The chemistry was lacking.

There were also just a lot of little details in the book that made no sense and irked me. Like, how her younger brother, Pat, who is in college, got a phone number from a customer who is in high school. No thank you.
And how Jasmine magically gets a job just based on her friend's referral. No applying, no interview. Just a job offer. THAT IS NOT HOW ANY OF THIS WORKS.

While this book had a great premise, the execution was lacking.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an Advanced Review Copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Donut Trap did some things really really well: the family dynamics, Jas struggling with finding a passion, balancing her work/life, developing friendships, searching for a job, and all of the pressure that comes with being a 20 something in the phase of life between college and having your life "figured out." I really appreciated and enjoyed the cultural representation and the backstory of a Southeastern Asian Immigrant family and thought it was super interesting to read about. It was effortless and show not tell which made me feel like I was really just watching her family interact.

However, I would caution anyone thinking about reading this, that pressure of finding herself and the family dynamic is very difficult for Jas and difficult to read about. It's heavy and the tone for a lot of parts of the book is mildly depressed and it feels like Jas won't figure out what she likes or wants or stand up to her family. This novel is primarily a coming of age story in my opinion. The way Jas interacts with her family, friends, and even boyfriend reads like she is younger than college age or early in college. She doesn't figure out her adult voice until very late in the story and there's a lot of sneaking around, lying to parents, 'I have to be home at 10pm' stuff.

I think this could have been more of a home run for me if either the romance had been more central to the story, or if the resolution of the conflicts was more impactful. It seemed like everything just fell into place at the end and there was a long period of pretty much everyone being mad at everyone that wasn't resolved concretely for me. But maybe that's more realistic to life.

As for the romance, I was smiley and swoony at a few parts which feels somewhat rare these days and I felt like there was so much potential for an amazing romance, but I think Jas held herself back so much we didn't get to see it. There was so much fighting between them I wasn't even sure if I was rooting for them at times. Again, this is just a realistic story and not one I would call a romance first and foremost.

I think I need to note that what held this back from 4 stars for me was that I didn't really enjoy myself reading it. As someone in my mid twenties I can relate to the things Jas was going through even though not completely, but I just didn't ever have a super happy feeling reading this even at the end, and my ratings are mostly determined by my enjoyment and secondly objectivity of the writing, story, elements, etc. This was just heavy and not exactly cathartic.

Overall, I think Julie Tieu is an amazing writer and she really crafts emotions in a deep way and makes you feel for her characters. I can't wait to see what else she writes and I hope she decides to focus on romance a bit more in her next novel.

2.5 stars
While this book was generally pretty cute, there was an aura of immaturity throughout the story that started to get annoying after a while. Jasmine feels more like 16/17 years old rather than a college graduate. She can't seem to talk to her parents about anything, she's hidden all her relationships (past and current) from them, and doesn't really seem to have a life beyond the donut shop. The whole story reads more like contemporary fiction with romance sprinkled in than a real romcom. Even when you get to the romance, it doesn't seem that developed or feel like a real adult relationship. I appreciated the POC representation, Jasmine finally finding the courage to stand up for herself, and everything about the donut shop. Just not enough to love the book. I needed there to be more meat within the story itself. The last 20% of book also felt rushed and like a whole different story with her trying to adjust to her new job. It's a fine story with good writing but the tone of the book doesn't match the summary or the cover and it felt more YA than NA/romcom. I really wish this cutesy cover trend would stop.

The Donut Trap was the perfect New Adult book. I enjoyed the setting but at times couldn't relate to the story too well as it's very much a coming of age story. I think the representation was excellent and it's a great choice for YA/NA readers.

I was so excited to read this book for the Asian-American main characters, and the characters themselves were great, however the story itself was very middling. The plot could've been more fleshed out and immersive. It was also hard to tell if the point of the book was to be a romance or a coming-of-age story. I came for the romance and felt like it fell flat a little.

This was such a fun read! Being of ethnic background, the relationship between the main character and her parents was so spot on and relatable. I loved this book and it made me order doughnuts, so that's a plus.

The Donut Trap tells the story of Jasmine Tran who works at her parents donut shop, but she wants more out of life. When her college crush enters her life, things begin to change for her. But with neither of their families supporting them, Jasmine struggles to find the balance between love, family, and doing what’s best for her.

I really enjoyed Jasmine and Alex’s relationship. It was realistic to me because they didn’t just have insta-love, but had to work to overcome obstacles throughout the book. This was a contemporary romance, but there was so much more to it. It delves into family expectations and finding your own identity in a Chinese family.

As a foodie, I really loved that Jasmine’s family owned a donut shop. I was craving donuts the whole (pun intended) time I was reading this.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon & Harper Voyager for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Donut Trap is a New Adult romance with strong coming of age themes. Jasmine’s parents sacrificed and suffered so that their children would have better lives, but at times, Jasmine feels like she and her brother are the sacrifices. They feel bowed down under a weight of expectation and obligation, and the result is that they both resort to hiding important parts of their lives from their families.

This is a clever, somewhat angsty, coming of age romance novel. I enjoyed it, but also found it very hard to read. The depiction of difficult family dynamics was a little too good. My full review will appear on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.

I loved the donut shop setting but went into this expecting a romcom and got more of a coming-of-age novel. I didn't like the main character very much so had a hard time getting invested in her family story but enjoyed the author's writing and will definitely read her next book.

Thanks to Avon, Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the copy to review.

I did not know going into this book that it was New Adult. I am not a huge fan of New Adult books, they feel too much like young adult to me. Both the MC’s were 22 and I honestly have no real interest in reading about characters that young.

I didn’t really like any of the characters and this really didn’t feel like much of a romance.

This is told entirely from Jasmine’s POV and I feel like she spent a lot of this book being unhappy with working at the Donut shop but not really doing much to try and change her life.

There is no steam in this book, there was one scene that I thought might turn into a sex scene and then in faded to black.

Overall this book was just not that interesting and did not hold my attention.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

Rating: 2.5/5