The Donut Trap is your cute, run-of-the-mill novel that ticks off all the essential elements of a rom-com. It's cute and sweet (no pun intended), kind of bland, but does its job. It's a fun read, but not one I'd be drawn to come back to.

A cute romance!

While The Donut Trap didn't blow me away in terms of the plot, I really enjoyed reading about the characters and their development throughout the story. I enjoyed Jasmine's journey to discovering who she really is because I definitely understand the struggle of feeling lost after graduating from college. I think Julie Tieu did an amazing job in capturing those years after university and juggling your identity and purpose when your parents are nagging you to get married.

I also loved that this is a OwnVoices novel and that it takes place in the San Gabriel Valley! I grew up in the area and loved the easter eggs hidden in The Donut Trap. Overall, it was a cute and sweet book, and I'm excited to see what other novels Julie Tieu will release in the future!

I would consider this a New Adult genre/book with a coming of age theme with a side of romance. Jasmine has moved home and is working in her family's donut shop. The shop is just getting by, and the rent is going up. This spurs Jasmine to get creative and help her family. Along the way, she tuns into a former crush and begins to explore a relationship. That isn't really the focus of the book; it's more about Jasmine growing and maturing and figuring out how to make and own her own decisions in the face of her family's expectations for her. It's a great story of growth and includes some of the angst that is typical of younger adults.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A good enough book, but not exactly what I thought it would be. This is more women's fiction that romcom I would say. I think many people will be able to relate Jasmine, I just wanted more out of this book. If I had to compare this to another book, it has the same vibe as Honey Girl.

3.5/5 Stars. I enjoyed this one. I was not a huge fan of the romance but loved the story about the main character and her family. Thank you for the early copy!

4.5⭐️

The Donut Trap read more like a YA coming of age novel than a contemporary romance. However, I still really enjoyed it based on the author's captivating writing style.

This debut novel revolves around Jasmine Tran, who doesn't know where her career is headed after college. So she comes back home to help her parents run their donut shop.

She feels a lot of pressure from her strict Asian parents to have good job and marriage prospects, of which she seems to have none. Most children of immigrant parents especially Asian parents would be able to relate to Jasmine's struggle between meeting parental expectations and finding your own identity. I appreciated how gracefully Jasmine handled the conflict with her parents at the end.

I liked how her relationship with her college crush, Alex Lai developed into a sweet romance. I appreciated how she never appeared desperate despite pressure from her parents to find a suitable boyfriend and was confident enough to voice her concerns about their relationship to him.

The role social media played in the story also seemed very relevant. Don't read this book on an empty stomach as it will definitely make you crave donuts!

Thank you to Avon Books and Net Galley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I remember being excited about this book because it looked like such a cute romance. It was even in the romance section of requests. However, the romance was definitely more of a subplot than the main attraction. Which I found disappointing.

I did like the representation present in this book as well as Jasmine's character and growth. I just wish it was more of a romance book, as advertised.

Tieu’s The Donut Trap depicts the woes of being a first generation college graduate with immigrant parents to perfection. I could see my own struggle as I read and couldn’t not put it down.

This one revolves around a mom and pop donut shop that Jasmine helps run with her parents. Full of lots of food and culture references, this reads a lot like a college coming of age story about an Asian girl named Jasmine who can’t seem to decide what to do with her future. Quirky and unique, this is a story with donuts, lots of dating, and an interesting family dynamic.

Jasmine has been living at home, working in her parents donut shop and feeling like her life is going nowhere. Then Jas meets Alex and a job opportunity falls into her lap and everything suddenly changes. Jas can’t decide if all these new opportunities are for the best or if she’s just settling.

This book didn’t read like a romance to me, but is more about finding oneself. I felt like Jasmine was all over the place and super indecisive about her future. I had a hard time connecting because Jas spent most of the book either lying, complaining, or avoiding making decisions. I found myself getting frustrated with Jas over her inability to communicate and the way she dealt with Alex when she was frustrated. This one just seemed a bit scattered to me and I don’t think I would ever recommend it to anyone looking for a light-hearted romance.

I thoroughly enjoyed the coming of age / self-knowledge and family stories in addition to the romance in THE DONUT TRAP. The first person narration works perfectly to recount Jas and Alex's slow burn courtship as well as allow the reader to better understand the self-doubt and frustrations Jas experiences as she emerges as her own person beyond the parameters and expectations set by her family and circumstances.

I’m super pumped I was able to get an e-copy of this book, thanks to NetGalley. I’ve been trying to read all the books with characters who are recent graduates from college or 20 year olds so I’m super grateful to add this book to my collection of relatable books. I’m giving this book a 3.5 stars. I found it to be a great, coming of age, 20-something story. The only reason why it wasn’t a 4 or 5 star for me was because it was a bit slow and boring, particularly in reference to the romance. I personally felt that the main character, Jasmine, and her love interest had no chemistry. Other than that, I loved seeing Jasmine’s experience as a Chinese American girl, recent graduate, who is just trying to figure out her life. It was a very relatable 20 something story!! I’d recommend picking the book up for a light read and if you’re in the need to feel not alone as a recent graduate!! And I can’t wait to read more from Julie Tieu.

3.5/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was very cute. I really liked this relationship. It was super adorable, I really loved watching these two build a relationship. The cute messages, flirting, and spending time together. Literally just really adorable all around. The only reason I think I didn't give it a higher rating was that It still felt a bit of an average read, nothing really stood out to me. Overal it was cute and adorable and I would recommend for an easy quick read.

I felt this was more a a growing up story than a romance. Didn't really feel the chemistry between Jasmine and Alex. I did enjoy Jasmine and her efforts to make her parents' donut shop better. Story was a bit predictable but still a fun read.

The Donut Shop had a really cute premise (it literally had me at donuts) but unfortunately, it didn’t quite deliver. Jasmine Tran is currently living at home, has no professional or dating prospects (much to the disappointment of her mother), and is forced to work at her parents’ donut shop as a result. She knows she needs to break out of her rut but when a rent increase weights heavily over the family business, her parents expect her to help out more than ever. At the same time, she runs into an old college crush, Alex Lai, who pretty much ticks off all the boxes for her and her parents, but their new relationship soon begins to hit some bumps in the road. Between relationship drama, family expectations, and her own internal conflicts: there was a lot going on.

First and foremost, I struggled to relate because I had a very different upbringing from Jasmine. The author leans very heavily into the strict Asian parents stereotype, which does exist (my ex-friend from college can attest to this) but that wasn’t my experience. I was never pressured to have a certain career or to date or get married. I was also never afraid to stand up for myself. While my parents and I definitely had a big generational divide that prevented us from seeing eye to eye when I was younger, we organically became very close as I got older. This conflict is a huge part of Jasmine’s story and journey, and it’s not resolved in a cathartic way. Suddenly things were just better after Jasmine’s big “confrontation” (which was supposed to be the climax and utterly laughable, and not in a good way). But that was pretty much the pattern with this book. Parent drama? Fixed. No job? She lands the first one to fall into her lap and of course, she excels at it. Relationship drama? Easily resolved too. Jasmine spends the majority of the book complaining and flailing about (can you tell I couldn’t empathize with her?), but I felt as though we never really saw her work hard to put in the effort to earn how easily everything worked out for her in the end.

This book drew me in from the first page. Jas and her family are very relatable and the donut shop is a place I would love to visit. I'm excited to read more from this author.

This is a great read for anyone who found themselves a little lost of college. You have this new degree, but now what?

That’s exactly what Jasmine is feeling. She’s helping her parents out at their family-run donut shop, but she’s trapped - wanting more. How will she balance making them proud while being personally fulfilled in a career? Oh, they are also pressuring her to find a “nice boy” and settle down. One day while she is working in the donut shop, in walks her college crush aka “window guy” and the rest is history. The Donut Shop is much more of a coming - of -age story, not a romance, although the romance is sprinkled in.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC copy. The Donut Shop is out now.

The Donut Trap was sweet read. While the premise of the book leans heavily into the romantic comedy aspect, I felt the romance took a back burner to Jasmine's coming-of-age story. I felt for Jasmine and really enjoyed seeing how she grew into herself over the book, but I was slightly let down in the romance area. I also thought the drama with her ex was a bit unnecessary. So I came for the romance and donuts, but stayed for Jasmine coming to terms with herself.

This book is advertised as a romantic comedy, but I think that's doing it a disservice. Don't go into this book expecting a romance. Instead, approach it as coming-of-age story with a romantic arc.

Jasmine is a recent college grad, but she has no job prospects and no idea what she wants to do with her life, so she's working at her parents' donut shop.

I don't know what the year after college was like for anyone else, but I did a lot of second-guessing myself during that time. I didn't have a job lined up immediately after graduation, so I moved back into my parents' house and worked multiple jobs in an attempt to save money to get my own place, while looking for a "real job" and trying to have a social life. Reading this book brought me back to that time... in an enjoyable way.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to read The Donut Trap. While I really loved the premise of the story, I wasnt super compelled by the romance aspect of the book. Alex and Jasmine just didnt make me feel the swoon butterflies I was hoping for.

What I did love was the way that Julie Tieu depicted the wild wild west of life after college and not meeting expectations. That hit me straight in the heart and so many of us can relate.

I also think she does a great job of blending in the relationship of kids with their immigrant parents. Overall, Id love to read another of Julie's books but this one wasnt quite what I thought it would be (and hey, maybe thats just me and my romantic expectations😂)

At its heart, this is a portrayal of a Cambodian-American family living in Los Angeles and generational clashes over duty, loyalty, expectations, love, respect, and guilt. Jasmine is a recent UCLA graduate who is aimlessly working at her immigrant refugee parents’ donut shop with no idea what she wants to do with her life. All her parents want is for her either to get married or find a real job, but being trapped in the shop nearly prevents the possibility of either, at least until fate intervenes and a couple of faces from the past offer the chance at both romance and a job. Will she have the courage to stand up to her parents, shed the guilt from the mistakes she made in college, and find the confidence to see in herself what others do?

For those who haven’t been raised in patriarchal societies where adult children are subservient to their elders and males are are held in higher regard than females, it’s frustrating and difficult to accept a scenario in which a grown woman accepts a mother imposing an early curfew or a cruel lecture where she calls her daughter both stupid and fat, but it’s a testament to Tieu’s storytelling that we are given a window to see into this family’s world and find a degree of empathy and understanding for all of them. The romance between Jas and Alex is far from smooth but it’s real and very sweet, and, aside from the donut shop, Jas’s struggle to find work in LA and having to live with her parents in the meantime is all too familiar.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Avon through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.