The Donut Trap

Loved this book! Such a cute romance, but the main character navigating her way through life after college was what REALLY hit home for me! So dead on. And her family was to die for. I want to live in LA and run a donut shop now (but with her family, not mine. Love you fam, but no).<br />

This book's crimes were twofold:<br />1) It made me drastically need to eat a donut, in the donut desert that is my current world, and<br />2) I didn't like it.<br /><br />Hard to say which was more difficult to endure.<br /><br />This involves a very annoying protagonist with very little to offer who is still somehow out-annoying'd and out-unappealing'd by her love interest, and also they have quietly somehow been obsessed with each other for many years, and also there's this weird love triangle for no reason.<br /><br />I'm not saying that only people who have their sh*t together deserve love, because I am obsessed with myself and I am someone who can thrive in no more than 1-2 life categories at once, if there are approximately 8 life categories, but I AM saying that reading about a passionless woman in her mid-twenties who lives at home and is more guided by her mom than most high schoolers I know...is not fun.<br /><br />Even if she's falling in love. <br /><br />Especially if the person she's falling in love with is also not fun, and also neither is their romance.<br /><br />And I need a donut yesterday.<br /><br />Bottom line: A book that only made me think about what it and I were missing! (Every aspect of a good love story and a ring-shaped pastry, respectively.)<br /><br />-----------------<br /><i>pre-review</i><br /><br />well now i'm sad for two reasons (this was bad and i have no way to eat a donut rn)<br /><br />review to come / 1.5 or 2<br /><br />-----------------<br /><i>tbr review</i><br /><br />few things get my attention more than donuts. in books and in life

<b>For the love of donuts!</b>???<br /><br />Jasmine has worked in her parents donut shop for… well, her whole life. Even now, after college Jasmine is still expected to spend all her remaining time helping her parents run the store. As the daughter of immigrant parents, the responsibilities and expectations of her were enormous. Her own dreams, wishes and needs take a backseat. <br /><br />After a chance reunion with a previous college crush, Jasmine’s hopes for a real chance at happiness are re-ignited. Fingers crossed her family will accept him.? <br /><br /><b>Totally loved the premise for this book.</b> As a daughter of an Immigrant parent I completely understood the extra pressures Jasmine faced. I just would have liked to have felt her struggle to come into her own a bit more. <br /><br />The romance also was a bit lacking. I didn’t feel the chemistry between Jasmine and her new beau. It came off as an awkward romance.??‍♀️ <br /><br />This is definitely a contemporary, women’s fiction novel. But I’d be hard pressed to classify it as romance. Just my opinion. There are many reviews that felt the ? that I missed. <br /><br />Posted to: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend.com/">https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...</a><br /><br />Thank you to libro.fm

3.5* Why would you choose this book? Because this girl loves donuts? <br />Jasmine portrays her Asian culture in a dynamic pledge to her immigrant family. When their little donut shop faces financial difficulties due to a rent increase, she finishes college and chooses to put her career on hold and work for them. The devotion to her parents is hard to find in our society. <br /><br />Jasmine's parents have expectations, including her dating experiences. She hid the fact she had dated someone, but now they want to arrange a relationship to a cousin. This is where the loyalty ends. Without disrespecting them, her best friend reminds her of all the friends she could fix her up with to go through her social media and see if she finds anyone she might be interested in. That's when "window guy" comes into place. His real is Alex, also Chinese, and she knows him from washing windows at her college. She is totally interested in him. After a failed family dinner with both sets of parents, she is rethinking her dating experience. <br /><br />This is a cute rom-com, although it is lacking in romance, LOL....but it was a fun, decent read. <br /><br />Thanks NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for this request in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars! The romance could've been stronger but I really enjoyed reading about a 2nd-generation Chinese-American immigrant heroine, her mess of a life, and her parents' donut shop.

<b> <i>2021 Spring Bingo (#SpringIntoLoveBingo?): Flowers</i> </b><br /><br />Content Notes: <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="0252ccc7-2059-4b8b-9728-a5d3d5ca0c0e" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="0252ccc7-2059-4b8b-9728-a5d3d5ca0c0e">references to Khmer Rouge and alcoholism (heroine once fainted due to alcohol poisoning during college). </label> <br /><br />Not recapping the premise or plot, but here are my main takeaways:<br /><br />I went into THE DONUT TRAP with completely wrong expectations, realized my mistake halfway through, recalibrated, and ended up enjoying it. The story excels at two things, which are so good that it makes up for my main critique/frustration with the book. <br /><br />1) The tension between first gen immigrant parents and Americanized 2nd gen children who can barely speak their parents' language. Jasmine's parents have Chinese ancestry but grew up in Cambodia, fleeing the Khmer Rouge to stay with relatives in Vietnam before moving to the USA as refugees. I've often thought that balancing this tension without villainizing the parents is a hard, hard task for writers. Julie Tieu executes it perfectly. Despite every resentful aside that crosses Jasmine's mind, she genuinely adores her parents. She chafes under their expectations while appreciating their sacrifices. There are no villains or heroes here: both Jasmine and her parents mess up and (understandably, if wrongly) say cruel things. There is a huge experiential/communication gap as both parties struggle to be honest with each other and voice their feelings in a way that the other party can understand in their non-fluent language.<br /><br />I never felt that the dynamic was toxic or unfixable. Families are hard, immigrant families doubly so. I don't want to spoil all the parts I loved, but this was the best part of the book and I was so impressed by the nuances. I can't perfectly grasp Jasmine's specific diasporic narrative as it's not my cultural background, but there were enough "yep, this part is familiar " twinges to affect me emotionally. <br /><br /><b>I understood the subtext. I should have been able to keep up and toughen up. To her, it was a simple observation, a matter of fact. To me, it was yet another unnecessary reminder that my life, my work will always pale in comparison to those of my parents. I knew this very well. It didn’t bear repeating. Wasn’t that the point, though? Wasn’t that the narrative for every immigrant and refugee who had come to the United States? To come and build a better, safer life for yourself and your family? If the measure of success was that I was living a more comfortable, easier life than they had, then why was I simultaneously penalized for it? These questions rang in my head, but they were better left unspoken unless I wanted to add <i>inconsiderate</i> and <i>ungrateful</i> to my list of shortcomings. </b><br /><br />2) Jasmine as a 22 year old mess, both in college and post-graduation. The feeling of helplessness, of lacking skills, of wondering why all your high school friends are moving on to exciting careers while you're despairing what the point of college even was... yeah. Julie Tieu really nailed it, lolsob. Maybe you won't relate if you haven't gone through this specific post-graduate languishing, but I sure as hell did. <br /><br /><b>“It's hard to talk positively about something that I <i>had</i> to do, you know? Am I happy that I helped bring more business to the shop? Yeah, but it’s a means to an end. Even this job—which I’m not qualified for—is just a way to get out of the shop, but I know I can’t say that when they ask me why I’m interested in working there or what my passion is. What <i>is</i> my fucking passion, anyway? Breaking out of the shop without my parents questioning all my life choices? Which is fucking ironic considering all my life choices have revolved around the things they wanted. It’s all bullshit.”</b><br /><br />The weakest part of THE DONUT TRAP is... and it feels weird to say this... the romance. Don't get me wrong. It is cute. I like Alex! I like Alex and Jasmine together! I like reading about their dates! I like their flirty texts and teasing! But the romance just wasn't AS good as my first two points. Alex, in particular, feels like an opaque character. It feels like Jasmine's parents are on page longer (or at least equivalent) compared to the love interest. Alex is literally in another continent for the last third of the book. <br /><br />This is all fine, but not exactly what I expected. Then I recalibrated THE DONUT TRAP as a new adult, post-graduation coming-of-age story with a cute romantic arc. There are a few kissing scenes and a closed-door sex scene in the end. It's much more enjoyable if you consume the book via this lens. <br /><br /><b>Notes re: minor frustrations that didn't affect my rating:</b><br /><br />- casual use of the ableist word "spaz" (heroine uses it to call herself clumsy). I really hope the word can be edited out in the next six months because most people I talked to agreed that the usage is offensive/unacceptable (similar to ret*ard, imo). Maybe people use it casually, but they really shouldn’t. <br /><br />- spoilery complaint: <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="f93b4868-fbe7-4c7f-b3ed-c0f6ac6624fd" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="f93b4868-fbe7-4c7f-b3ed-c0f6ac6624fd">I don't understand how Jasmine can get a job without ANY interview, especially in a media/magazine company... Like, I don't care how good your references are or if you know the person who currently has the job you applied for. Not a single interview to personally make a good impression on the hiring manager/boss of the magazine! As someone who is in her early twenties and has ample experience in applying to jobs/internships, I maintain this setup is impossible. I will happily argue with anyone who says otherwise. I get that there's no time to put an interview on-page, so make it off-page then!</label><br /><br />- There is a very weird, off-the-cuff remark where the hero says that he accessed the heroine's laptop (without permission and when she wasn't in her room) to enable her FaceTime settings. Um. WTF? This is a very odd and upsetting sentence that has zero relevance to the plot. I would be incredibly angry if someone changed a laptop setting without my knowledge! Just... edit this out, please. <br /><br />- There are a lot of pop culture references (which didn't personally bother me because I am ambivalent) but I wonder if THE DONUT TRAP was first written 3ish years ago because some of it felt... casually dated. Just a sense that I got (you might disagree with me! I’m no expert). There are a few basic errors I caught — not a big deal, but the details have to make sense if you're going to include a pop culture reference. For example, the narrator says that one day she listened to a "Taylor Swift album that dropped out of nowhere." <br /><br />Look, I don't know if this is a no-pandemic AU universe or set in summer 2019 (I suspect it is, because there's a reference to the song Despacito being popular two years ago). But Taylor Swift's only surprise albums are folklore and evermore in 2020, two albums that would not exist without a pandemic. Unless I wildly misread the book, there is no pandemic in THE DONUT TRAP! I swear I'm trying not to be nitpicky, but there are enough strange references/errors where I was like... huh, how does this work with the timeline, then? I'm not going to list them all in this review, but this aspect can benefit another edit. If you're going to use pop culture to flesh out your worldbuilding, the details have to make sense! Otherwise it's just going to irk readers who are familiar with that specific piece of pop culture. I also think some clarity wrt the year can be helpful. Is it summer 2019? Why not just say so, instead of vaguely alluding to songs being relevant two years ago (presumably in 2017, as that's when the song came out)? <br /><br />***<br /><br />I know my annoyances seem like a lot, but the voice and strengths of THE DONUT TRAP make it a four-star read for me. Certainly not devoid of flaws, but I had a lot of fun reading this debut. Excited to see what Julie Tieu writes next!<br /><br /><b>Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.</b>

I was really hyped for this book. Readers are so rarely treated to Southeast Asian stories centered around characters with a complex heritage. I'm not sure if it's Own Voices in that aspect because the author says in her bio that she's Chinese and born and raised in SoCal. I definitely feel the culture of San Gabriel Valley in this novel because I was raised there and it felt like <i>The Donut Trap</i> was made for me. Everything from the food, language, and the family mannerisms—it's everything us Southeast Asian kids could relate to. Unfortunately, those were its only strengths.<br /><br />The "slice of life/coming of age" genre is usually my cup of tea, but this was bloated with awkward lulls while the reader is trapped inside Jasmine's mind (the protagonist). When men enter her life, she becomes manic, irrational, and creepy. For example, she broke a ton of work protocols to search for an attractive customer's personal information which is just like...don't do that??? She has an equally unhinged, invasive, steamroller for a friend who encourages this kind of behavior. Jasmine's thoughts read like a chaotic YA protagonist's but written in the style of Sophie Kinsella or Meg Cabot. To some, this may be appealing but it was a tremendous slog for me to get through. There was also a disappointing lack of romance considering that's how the book was being marketed. I often found the parents and their love to be more interesting than the main character's—which is something I shouldn't be feeling considering they're the reason for much of the conflict!<br /><br />I appreciate that this book exists. Had I read it in the 2000's, I would have been smitten. Unfortunately, it doesn't do it as a 2021 novel. It could be great as an indie movie script but that's wishful thinking. I'll continue to keep an eye out for Julie Tieu's future projects because I really appreciated the memories and emotions she brought out in me, reminding me of my childhood in San Gabriel Valley. At worst, <i>The Donut Trap</i> is a book with a desire to be more than its meandering moments. At best, it's a beautiful love letter to working class, Southeast Asian immigrant parents.

It was adorable. I enjoyed reading this.<br />The audiobook was average. Wasn't bad, but the plot was kinda predicable.

The Donut Trap is a decent read but I think it would have benefitted from fully developed storylines. It's a shame because the author brought some interesting things to the table but it just didn't have a top-notch presentation. Part of the problem is it is difficult to define whether the book falls in the romance genre or if it's a coming of age story. It just drifts from one thing to the next.<br /><br />Jasmine Tran graduated college but with no job prospects, she is back to working at her parents' donut shop. She really hasn't pinpointed what she wants to do with her life, but she knows this ain't it. Unfortunately, with the shop financially struggling she can't up and quit and leave her parents in a lurch. Perhaps, thing will eventually turn around in her favor especially when she runs into her college crush, Alex Lai.<br /><br />Right off the bat, I loved the donut shop setting and was kinda impressed with my restraint in not making a donut run while reading this book. I also was into the chemistry between Jasmine and Alex in the beginning. However, by the end I didn't care one way or the other if they were going to make it as a couple.<br /><br />The issue for me was when the story shifted away from the romance and moved towards Jasmine's relationship with her immigrant parents and her feeling lost when it came to having a career outside of the shop. I think it's great to add substance to a romance but I found it lacking in proper execution. It's pretty far into the story before I was able to get a better sense of why Jasmine was struggling post-college. And even then I can't say I fully understood everything about her and that has more to do with how she was written than anything else. <br /><br />An okay read but it is slightly disappointing as the potential was there for something special but it fell a bit short.<br /><br />Thank you to Avon for providing me with a copy! All thoughts expressed are my honest opinion.

This is really a coming-of-age NA story. There is a romance, and it's sweet and nicely done, but really the story is about the heroine finding a balance with her loved, loving, but difficult family, addressing her insecurities, forgiving herself for mistakes, and moving from post-college marking time into finding what she might want to do with her life as an adult. (She is tbh a bit of a mess in the aimless way of many post-college people, but that's literally the point.) The guy is a bonus, albeit an extremely likeable one: we don't really dig into his as a person, but it's not really his book. <br /><br />The depiction of the Viet/Chinese/Khmer family was strong, in all the difficulties of generation gaps, culture clashes, and first gen immigration, never losing sight of them as flawed, loving people. A highly engaging story on its own terms. I will, however, admit that I've probably reached my limit with doughnuts/cupcakes/pie romances for a while. /brushes teeth vigorously/