Jas is first generation Asian American and very relatable. She recently graduated college and has no idea where to go from there. She moves back home to help her parents out in the donut shop that they own and kind of just falls into a funk. Her parents want her to get a real job and find a boyfriend (must be Asian) and get married. Cue the secret high school sweet heart Michael (so white) and the random college crush Alex (Asian) that basically fall in her lap. We get to see a romance develop as Jas seeks independence and love(?) while trying to navigate who she is now.

There was a lot here that was working well. The experience of being a first generation-american. How her parents spoke three asian languages which meant she was fluent in none of them, only knowing the odd phrase of words often used. How much she needed to interpret documents and bridge the gap for them. The adult child trying to meet very high parental expectations really speaks to a wide audience. The uncertainty after graduating college. The work/life balance. All of it fit well. The novel has two parts though ; the family/work dynamics and then the romance. The family part was done very realistically and well. The romance fell flat and didn’t show much spark at all. I wanted to root for Jas and Alex but because she was always combative and emotionally unavailable I felt like maybe Michael was the real love interest. Then when Jas and Alex finally do come together intimately it was weird and rushed and kind of brushed to the side. Very underwhelming. It didn’t have to be graphic, but it didn’t convince me they were in love. When someone writes romance it should not be luke warm. Also I get quirks but the pimple popping stuff was super gross. I wouldn’t have kept that. The cup cakes went too far.

I would recommend this to adult children trying to break away from their parents. People that are into craigslist missed connections. Those that don’t find pimple popping gross.

Julie Thien’s debut, The Donut Trap, sparkles as a New Adult romance and looks at some of the challenges faced by the child of immigrants.

Jasmine isn’t sure what she wants to do - she graduated from college a year ago but now she’s fallen into a routine of Netflix and working in her parents’ donut shop. While she’s not sure about what she wants to do, she knows it’s not this - endless days of maple bars and her mom’s constant questions about her plans.

And then she runs into her college crush. And it’s a mutual crush. Even better, he’s Chinese which delights her parents. They’re Chinese born who’d been living in Cambodia and fled to the US to escape the Kmer Rouge. And yet, Alex isn’t as perfect as she thought.

Jasmine is so relatable - wanting to move onto the next chapter of her life but unsure what that is. She feels a responsibility to help with her family’s business which is on the verge of failing. Yet she dreams of never working there again.

The tension between Jasmine and her parents is so relatable. Julie Thien handles it with a lot of sensitivity - no one is a bad guy. Her parents want a better life for Jasmine and she appreciates their sacrifices but doesn’t always understand their particular POV.

There are absolutely adorable moments like when Jasmine and her mom are doing market research ie staking out other donut shops and checking out their customers and what they're buying.

The romance is sweet and gentle - nothing explicit.

I loved Jasmine’s friends and how supportive they are. I also want to go to brunch with them -yum!

I’m looking forward to Julie Thien’s next book!

As I read this now, and it’s late May, I want to classify this book as a good beach/park read…though as it doesn’t release until November I’d say it’ll be a great book to curl up with on a chilly fall afternoon.

As much as the summary seems to paint this as a sweet rom-com I definitely see it more as equal parts family and self-discovery with a little romance thrown in. And when it comes to the romance aspect I would classify this as a clean romance…think fade to black.

Personally, I’ve grown quite fond of romance novels that involve the family dynamic so much. Who we are, and how we treat different relationships, is so heavily impacted by how we were raised, and I think it’s an important aspect of love, that a lot of romance stories leave out.

It wasn’t hard to relate to our, 22-year-old, MC Jasmine and her feelings of being afloat with no real direction. Jasmine graduated from college a year ago and has been helping her parents with their donut shop. She feels trapped, she hates working the long hours at the donut shop but she also has no idea what else she’d rather be doing. Always held to high standards Jasmine feels like she comes up short and just wants to show her parents that she’s an adult and can be successful.

Though I really enjoyed this story I was left feeling like I needed more. I would have loved for Jasmine to have a deeper conversation with her parents about her struggles in college…the short conversation they had felt too quick and devout of the emotional intensity she must have been feeling. Granted, there are things that I can speak of but not feel…or feel them but not speak…and maybe that’s how Jasmine felt. Perhaps she could only speak on the subjects by not allowing herself to feel the pain? Though if that were the case I would have loved a sentence or two saying that so it felt more meaningful.

Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by reading so many books, that involve restaurants/bakeries/etc, but I was also left feeling slightly disappointed that there weren’t any recipes at the end of the book. So many delicious dishes and donuts were discussed and we weren’t given a single recipe insert crying emoji. Although with the release still a ways off…I can hope maybe one or two recipes will slip in before print.

Overall I think Julie did a great job on her debut novel and I look forward to seeing what other stories she has in store for us!

Somewhat Spoilery issues I had…

I found having Jasmine’s old high school boyfriend in the book unnecessary. There was already so much going on in Jasmine’s life the entire kiss seemed really out of place and then the conversation they have about it felt too short. With the long history they had in high school I feel like the conversation they had should have been longer as to why the kiss shouldn’t have happened. At first, I didn’t mind him being in the story but the kiss just threw me off, and then their final convo in the book just didn’t feel like enough.

I also really would have loved it if Jasmine had further discussed her ex with her mom. Culturally I know a lot of families who frown upon dating/marrying outside of one’s culture but I felt like Jasmine never allowed her mom to say whether or not she would have approved of their relationship. As an adult, when she’s talking to her mom and telling her about their past relationship I would have loved if they’d discussed whether or not mom would have been okay with them dating.

Another thing that bothered me was Jasmine’s not being upset that Alex had tampered with her laptop. First…out of all the rooms he hid in hers after dinner? And then apparently he snooped enough to know he didn’t like how she formatted her laptop and decided to change some things…and when he admits it she’s not mad?! I just found this extremely unrealistic. Personally, I feel anyone would be upset about someone changing their settings especially if they barely knew them, at the time, and didn’t even ask permission to be in their room.

My final, small, issue with the book was Alex’s ex. All we know is that he has trust issues because she cheated on him and personally I would have liked to know more. I’m more used to romance’s having two narratives so we get that inner male dialogue. As this story has only Jasmine’s narrative I really would have loved for Alex to open up more with Jasmine and talked about his past relationship in more depth.

This romance is lighthearted and fun, but it actually explores some serious themes, which give it added depth and make it an engaging read. I like the way we see romance between two unlikely people, but I really loved the way the author brings in the extended family. You don't just marry a person, you marry a family, and these characters and the decisions they make are driven by their loyalty to their families, their culture, and their family expectations. Really enjoyed this book and look forward to recommending it, especially to readers who want to explore different cultures.

Jasmine is stuck in a rut. After graduating with a degree in sociology that she doesn’t really care about, Jas starts working full time at her parents donut shop. With the news that rent prices were increasing, she decides to create a plan to increase business.

Enter Alex. After briefly meeting him when he was purchasing tickets for a sports game in college, she forms a semi-crush on him. By chance he enters her world again, this time as an actual person rather than just a pretty face. Everything is nice and sunny until the parents meet. Then everything starts to go a little downhill. Their relationship is interesting, and I never got super excited or interested in it. The main issue was that Jasmine needed to grow more as an individual. I did appreciate how they actually had to work on their relationship. It was not perfect and required tons of communication on both ends.

I was most frustrated by Jasmine as a character. I found that I couldn’t relate to her at all, and even found her to be annoying and mostly unlikable. She lacked ambition to the extent that despite being unhappy with her current circumstances, she was unwilling to do anything to change them. Jas clearly respected her parents, but most of the book focused on her whining about her life and parents. Sure, she moved on in the end, but it didn’t make up for the previous 2/3 of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange of an honest review. I stopped reading at 27% of the book, I tried to really hard but I couldn’t deal with the insta love with Alex which really didn’t make sense and then seeing her old highschool flame again after a couple of hours from meeting Alex. I had a hard time connecting with Jas but I’m sure there are other people who will love this story.

I agree with other reviews about this book being more of a coming of age story rather than a romance. To be honest the romance in this story was a bit underwhelming and that was a big disappointment. But the other aspects of the book (family issues, getting life together) were what kept me reading. I was happy with the ending but I wish that the romance had been more developed.

Enjoyable story, a really good look into the lives of multigenerational family relations and workplace. The writing was excellent and I loved Jas’ journey into a new life separate but not apart from her parents. I loved the relationship between Jas and Alex and didn’t want the story to end. I feel like it could have gone on longer, or maybe there’s a sequel on the way.

This a very sweet romance with a funny, likable main character who is in that period after graduating from college when you're still trying to figure out what to do next. I loved the setting in the donut shop, although it did make me crave donuts the entire time i was reading.
I have to be honest, I rooted for Jasmine to end up with the other guy. I thought Alex was not worthy of her affections but it was still a cute, sweet romance.

The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu is a very enjoyable light, funny, multicultural romance. And with a big donut on the cover, I just couldn’t resist this book. This is more than just a romance, it’s an emotional journey for Jasmine, and a journey for her family and her relationship with her traditional hard-working family.

After graduating from UCLA, Jasmine Tran is still working in her family’s donut shop in the suburbs of Los Angeles, instead of following her dreams. Except she doesn’t know what her dreams are, so her life is on a constant loop, of work, Netflix, and donuts.

When an old college crush shows up in her shop, her life begins to change. Alex is everything she’s been looking for, and everything her parents want her to marry. He’s Chinese and fluent in Mandarin, the language of her parents. But, after dinner with Alex, her parents, and his mother turns disastrous, Jasmine is not sure Alex is the man for her or she the woman for him. But, he’s made her realize she has to get her life in order before she can

This book has everything I like. A light sweet romance, a family that loves her daughter, but may not show always know how to show their love, and some fun friends to round out the story. I think a lot of people can identify with a woman who finds herself a bit lost after graduating college, and also feel indebted to her family. Jasmine has to find a way in life, and this is her story. I thought the pacing was good, and the characters were all well developed. I thought Jasmine’s relationship with her parents was complex, and Jasmine’s journey to understand herself and what she wants for herself involved understanding her complex relationship with her parents.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Romance with food and a multicultural family to boot! Tieu has added a lot of ingredients to her donut tale and this would be a good read for romance lovers and young adults. I found it to be much like frosted donuts--a little too sweet for my taste. But I applaud the idea behind this book and if you like frosted donuts with sprinkles then go ahead and take a big bite!

I finished this book in a day and really enjoyed it! Jasmine Tran is fresh out of college, trying to figure out what she wants to do now that she's graduated, and helping out her family's donut shop in between. Along the way, she meets Alex Lai and the two begin a shaky but absolutely adorable romance.

The representation in this book!! Jasmine's parents are Chinese from Cambodia, who escaped the Khmer Rouge to Vietnam for a few years before immigrating into the US. I love love loved the fact that there were snippets of Vietnamese and Chinese pinyin and the character's own mix of Chinglish, and how Jasmine's parents talk to each other in Khmer. The dinner with Alex's mother was filled with tensions and often reflects the tensions that exist between Asians who run their small businesses and are just trying to survive with Asians who have the privilege to follow the strict model minority myth.

One of the things that I absolutely love was Jasmine's journey on what she wanted to do now that she has graduated college and the emphasis that Jasmine doesn't really know what she wanted to do. Oftentimes in media of Asian-Americans who face tension with their parents on which path forward they should take becomes a matter of people wanting to pursue the arts and face tension from their parents for that choice. I appreciate that in this case, Jasmine has no idea what she wants to do, and I honestly feel like that's most representative of someone who is in their early 20s and trying to reckon with being a new adult and what they really want to do with their lives. The conversation that Jasmine has with her parents when she says that she wants to try working at a job that she's never had just to try it out, without an end goal in mind, is incredibly realistic. It works that she has no idea what she wants to do, and oftentimes in real life, even people who think they know exactly what they want to do at the age of 22 ends up not doing that. The short conversation between Jasmine and her younger brother Patrick when they talk about how Patrick asks Alex for advice on other career paths that are adjacent to what Patrick does is another example of how much I wish there was more time in the real world for people to really explore all of their options for their career.

Also, the donuts!! All the donuts were amazing, and I loved the way that Jasmine enlisted her brother's help in trying to help her save her family's donut shop and the subtleties of trying to create new donuts and flavors that they can sell for more money while still competing with larger and more successful establishments as a mom and pop business. I found myself wanting matcha or black sesame donuts as I read through the book.

And the romance itself. I found that Alex and Jasmine's flirty, adorable romance to be enjoyable - the exact sort of honeymoon-phase type of new love of people who are young. I do think that this book is more of a coming of age type book rather than a rom-com, I did find the romance to be a fun escape.

I do wish that Jasmine's backstory, which is revealed near the 70-80% mark of the book, was at least hinted upon earlier. It makes sense to me that her family might not bring up such a thing, but as Jasmine's own brother Patrick pointed out later, it feels weird that everything was trying to play at normal when in fact there had been a big low point for Jasmine while she was in college. It also was a bit annoying to me that Alex refused to expand upon to Jasmine about what exactly had gone wrong with his ex (only telling Jasmine that it had to do with his ex cheating), but then getting angry at Jasmine for doing something that paralleled what his ex had done. While the situation around his anger was justified, he had never been willing to expound upon what had happened and I found Jasmine's anger at his reaction to being just as justified. I also wasn't sure that Jasmine's relationship with her ex was really necessary, but it did open enough doors for Alex and Jasmine to admit that they have to work on communicating, and I like how despite how cute they are, they still need to put in the work in their relationship.

Overall, a great story that I enjoyed a lot.

A thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the ARC.

This was a really cute, easy read. the writing was pretty light and fast paced and overall I enjoyed my time with this book.

They say you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, but I was intrigued immediately byThe Donut Trap when I saw its adorable cover that features two people sitting on a pink sprinkled donut. My absolute favorite genre of novel is romance that involves food and/or baking. Because of that, I knew that The Donut Trap was going to be right up my alley, and I was right.

Jasmine Tran is a recent UCLA grad living at home and working in her parents’ donut shop, Sunshine Donuts. Her parents are constantly asking her why she doesn’t have a boyfriend and are worried that she will never get married. She longs to find a different job, but she isn’t quite sure what she wants to do with her life. One day, through her friend, Linh, Jasmine is reunited with her college crush, Alex Lai, and she starts to be more hopeful.

It is easy to relate to Jasmine’s struggles as a recent college graduate. I think many of us feel a little lost as we enter the world of adulthood and the workforce. It certainly is tempting to stay in the comfort of the known as Jasmine does. I was glad to see her expanding her horizons beyond her rut of “New Music Mondays” and “Thirst Trap Thursdays.” I wanted to give her a hug and reassure her that it’s okay if she needs a little time to find the right path.

I loved Jasmine and Alex’s relationship. It is very sweet that they liked each other in college without realizing it that their feelings were mutual.They can tease each other and laugh together, but it is always clear that they care about one another. I loved that they each tried to learn more about what the other person cares about. Alex takes Jasmine to a Dodgers game because he knows she loves baseball, and Jasmine goes on several hikes because Alex enjoys hiking. Their relationship feels “right” even though it goes through some rocky points throughout the book.

The Donut Trap also delves into how complicated family relationships can be. Jasmine feels pressure from her parents to find a certain kind of job and to date a certain kind of boy that led to self-destructive behavior and lies. Jasmine and her brother, Pat, share a poignant moment when Pat tells her that he wants to help her but that she’s never asked him for everything. Alex has a tense relationship with his mother that makes him feel like he has to mislead her about Jasmine, which in turn causes friction in Alex and Jasmine’s relationship.

You will absolutely want a donut after (or while) reading this book. I definitely wanted to try the matcha and black sesame donuts that Jasmine encourages her parents to serve at Sunshine Donuts. The shop’s regulars like Sam, who always orders a medium coffee (and pays with pennies when he’s first introduced) really come alive through brief appearances in the story. The reader really gets a sense of the shop and its patrons. I’ve been reading a lot of books lately centered around small family owned businesses, and it is reminding me how important it is to find and support those local businesses.

I highly recommend grabbing a donut and a copy of The Donut Trap when it is released in November.

This is a coming of age book with a hint of love triangle romance included. I really liked the donut shop premise, and definitely wanted donuts more often than not while I was reading this, but unfortunately, it fell flat for me as a story. I just couldn’t get hooked in and it felt like a lot of work to get through this book. I wanted Jas to have a stronger story to end up with a better sense of self at the end of the book and I felt like there was still a lot unresolved with her parents and their relationships. I also don’t like when the romantic tension is something that can be easily solved with just a conversation, and that was the case here. I wanted them to be adults and talk instead of continuing to operate on assumptions and having petty fights that wouldn’t really matter in a grown-up relationship. It’s worth checking this book out for yourself, it’s also possible it’s just not the ideal time for me to connect with this story.

Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher through Net Galley. All opinions are my own.

For any recent grads still finding their footing, this is the romance for you! I thoroughly enjoyed Julie Tieu’s refreshing and charming debut romcom.

This literally sweet novel follows Jas, a recent college graduate who has been trying to balance working for her parents’ donut shop, finding her own job, and finding a boyfriend. I think she was a relatable and genuine lead just trying to figure out what comes next. What do you do with a degree you don’t care about? How do you navigate old friends who all seem more successful than you?

This book truly excels in its setting: the donut shop, the regular customers, Jas’ family and friends, and their family dinners all feel real. I think this is because Julie Tieu’s affection for them, flaws and all, shines through. She highlights the little moments of joy that come from the supposedly mundane: getting your dad to rest, your successful sibling actually needing you for help, taking a new hike in your hometown, or creating a new frosting flavor.

This is a romantic comedy and a coming of age for the quarter-life crisis. I think it succeeds because it’s an ode to learning to love all the kinds of love in your life. New adulthood offers the unique opportunity to appreciate romantic, platonic, and family love, warts and all.

Although this is fade-to-black, there are some really incredible moments including an iconic first kiss, some sneaking around her parents, the strange comfort of first love, and the giddy butterflies that can come from romance, friendship, and accomplishing your goals.

I would recommend this book to fans of Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert.

*Thank you to Avon for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Careful while you read this book because all you will want to do is eat donuts. I will never look at my mom and pop donut shop the same again. I have always preferred them to the corporate donut shops, and reading this book, I knew I was right. This is a coming-of-age story about Jasmine Tran trying to navigate her life after college which I really related to. Jasmine has spent her whole life working at her parent's donut shop, and now she is trying to do that and look for a job and possibly find love. She struggles to keep her sanity while keeping her parents happy and off her back.

Her best friend is by her side trying to support her and helping with her new love interest ( which is not really new). as it is someone from the past. We watch Jasmine, and her love interest try to figure out their relationship, and it is fun to follow along. Jasmine also finds a contemporary way to help her parents get more customers in the donut shop and help it become a bigger success. This is a wonderful contemporary romance, and I read it so fast, but now I wish I had more to read. I hope a 2nd book is in the works.

I am such a sucker for a romance with food, especially sweets, and THE DONUT TRAP delivers! Such a sweet and heartfelt debut about learning who you are amidst family expectations. I just adored it!

I think I actually jumped up and down when they approved me for this book!
This was a really cute book! I loved the romance part of it all! Complicated love!
A perfect coming-of-age romance. Loved this book

This book couldn't hold my attention. The characters are likable but begin to feel immature. I was looking forward to a great read. DNF halfway through. 2.5 stars