Review – The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu

Posted November 3, 2021 by Carole in Reviews / 10 Comments

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review – The Donut Trap by Julie TieuThe Donut Trap by Julie Tieu
Narrator: Natalie Naudus
Published by HarperAudio on November 9, 2021
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy
Length: 8 hours 19 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon | Audible | B&N | Kobo | Libro.fm
four-stars

Julie Tieu sparkles in this debut romantic comedy, which is charmingly reminiscent of the TV show Kim’s Convenience and Frankly in Love by David Yoon, about a young woman who feels caught in the life her parents have made for her until she falls in love and finds a way out of the donut trap.

Jasmine Tran has landed herself behind bars—maple bars that is. With no boyfriend or job prospects, Jasmine returns home to work at her parents’ donut shop. Jasmine quickly loses herself in a cyclical routine of donuts, Netflix, and sleep. She wants to break free from her daily grind, but when a hike in rent threatens the survival of their shop, her parents rely on her more than ever.

Help comes in the form of an old college crush, Alex Lai. Not only is he successful and easy on the eyes, to her parents’ delight, he’s also Chinese. He’s everything she should wish for, until a disastrous dinner reveals Alex isn’t as perfect as she thinks. Worse, he doesn’t think she’s perfect either.

With both sets of parents against their relationship, a family legacy about to shut down, and the reappearance of an old high school flame, Jasmine must scheme to find a solution that satisfies her family’s expectations and can get her out of the donut trap once and for all.

 

I had a good time with this book! I am somewhat impressed by the fact that I was able to resist the call of donuts despite being the fact that they were mentioned frequently throughout the story. And I do like donuts! I picked this book up because I was in the mood for something fun and light and this book fit the bill. I found this one to be a very enjoyable book.

Jasmine has always worked at her parent’s donut shop. She started helping out when she was young and now that she is out of college she is there all the time. Her parents are immigrants and have always worked hard and expected a lot of Jasmine and her brother. When it is announced that the rent on the donut shop is going up, Jasmine knows that they need to increase their revenue so she comes up with some new ideas with her brother’s help. When her path crosses with her college crush, Alex, sparks fly right away. But is he too good to be true?

I liked Jasmine a lot. The romance in this book is cute but it is just a small part of Jasmine’s journey in this story. Jasmine grows a lot in this book. She takes a lot of initiative with the donut shop and has some really important conversations with her parents. She also is working to find a job and move on from the donut shop. I did like the romance in the book and thought that Jasmine and Alex made a great pair once they worked through a few things.

Natalie Naudus did a great job with the narration of this book. I thought that she did a great job with these characters and I found her voice to be very pleasant to listen to for long hours at a time. I believe that her narration added to my overall enjoyment f the story.

I would recommend this book to others. I found this to be a very well done and entertaining story with fantastic characters. I will be looking out for more books by this talented author.

I received a copy of this audiobook from HarperAudio via Libro.fm.

10 responses to “Review – The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu

  1. DEBBIE HAUPT

    It sounds like a winner Carole Thanks!
    Sorry I’ve been awol from the blogs for awhile but I was recently diagnosed with an inner ear disorder that messes with my balance and makes me dizzy. I’m seeing a specialist but that won’t be until the end of the month

  2. I just finished this the other day. I adored Window Boy and Ticket Girl. I thought the focus of the story was more on Jas though, which was fine, because I enjoyed spending time with her and her family.

  3. Great review you have here.

    I am glad that this one was such a treat for you. You never know with foodie set ups if they will make you craving it or not haha

  4. Oh this sounds good! I’m not sure I could resist donuts but that’s a small price to pay. I like the character development and progression and love the sounds of Jasmine’s character.