abbie_'s profile picture

abbie_ 's review for:

The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu
3.25
funny lighthearted medium-paced

Completely out of my wheelhouse (heterosexual romance) but that's the fun of audiobook roulette! Unsurprisingly, the non-romance aspects of this book were what I enjoyed the most - Jasmine's struggle to determine what she really wants to do with her life, processing her trauma over an incident at college, her relationship with her immigrant parents. All of this was well woven into the story, and to me was stronger than the romance plot.

As for the actual romance - it's not steamy (I'm not 100% with the lingo, but I'd say closed door/fade to black?) but there is some good chemistry between Jasmine and Alex! However, I got to the end of the book and was like... 'Who is Alex?' We know he's Jasmine's college crush after she saw him *one time*, and then he reappears in her life by accident. He works long hours doing ~something~ and likes to hike. That's literally all we know about the man. Oh and he's super handsome with six-pack abs, obvi. Considering how much effort Tieu put into Jasmine's characterisation, this was a little disappointing. 

But still, a fun, fluffy book with lots of delicious doughnuts if you're looking for something easy to read! Audiobook narrator, Natalie Naudus, was good too.