How can you say no to a story set in a donut shop? You can’t. You shouldn’t. Julie Tieu’s debut novel The Donut Trap is a delightful story about finding your way, about family and love and all that good stuff.
Jasmine Tran is out of luck — she’s got no job, no boyfriend, and she’s back at home working at her parent’s donut shop. It’s not the glamorous post-college life she envisioned for herself. Then an old college crush strolls back into her life. The high school boyfriend makes an appearance. And amidst all the romance you also get the story of a daughter, trying to figure out how to be helpful to her parents, to help the shop survive a brutal rent hike, to deal with the constant comparisons to her “perfect” brother, and most troubling and confounding to Jasmine, how not to disappoint them.
This is a fun read, with all the awkwardness and heart, laughter and tears, you want in a coming of age story. Do yourself a favor and get yourself a donut or two before you dive in. You’ll be hungry and / or desperately craving one by the time you’re even partway through this fun adventure.
