Reviews

I LOVED all the baking in it coz let's be real baking + books = *pure bliss*

thought the romance was a bitttt rushed though but other than that interesting plot and liked how she really explored their friendships and the relationships Liza had with her parents and sister

mashedpotato's review

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Love the GBBO influence

lawbooks600's review against another edition

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funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Representation: Asian and Black characters
Score: Six out of ten.

This one was okay. I wanted to read A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen for a while but I put it off for a few months, before finally picking it up at a library only a few days ago. The blurb sounded promising, but the ratings were low, so I headed in with low expectations. When I closed the final page, it was okay.

It starts with Liza Yang, a Taiwanese American, living with her controlling mother, seeing her as rebellious compared to her sister, Jeannie, but only because of one subject: traditional values. Liza's mother only wants Liza to date Taiwanese or Chinese men, and no one else. Why? I'm unsure, other than it's a value promoting monoracial marriages. The pacing is slow in the opening pages, and it doesn't pick up steam at any point in the narrative. The characters are likable and have character development, but it wasn't easy to connect or relate to them, especially Liza's second love interest. All the characters lacked depth, so I didn't feel like Liza and her partner had any chemistry, but adding more depth would improve the reading experience.

I like the diversity here, but I keep seeing a lot of Asian American stories, and I'd like to see more outside America, like British Asian and Asian Australian ones. Nothing much happens in the first 160 pages of the story, but the second half is more engaging as I get to see a baking competition, but the contestants are all Asian men. Liza soon realises the true purpose of the bake-off--her mother selected them, hoping Liza would date one of them, and she does. The relationship starts slowly but picks up, but I'd love to see more of the side plots, particularly those about racism and cheating.

I don't get to see why Liza's mother has a tight grip over Liza's life, especially considering she won't allow Liza to play sports (explaining her lack of swimming abilities until the 6th grade,) claiming she could risk tanning her skin and make herself less appealing (she still plays indoor sports behind her back without consequences, though.) It sends a message that Asians have a culture of not playing sports, meaning no swimming culture, soccer culture and so on, perhaps due to systemic racism. Really? I would've enjoyed A Taste for Love more if Liza's mother also changed as a character.

Content Warnings

limeykiss's review

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5.0

A wonderful, wonderful book. Cozy and comforting. It dealt with difficult issues like parental expectations, prejudice, the immigrant experience, and the modeling industry with such grace and care. The HEA is so good it makes me want to hug the book (except that would be uncomfortable, because I read it on my iPad). This is one of my top 10 fave books of the year so far, and it has absolutely won a spot on my "comfort reads" shelf. It has also renewed my love of boba tea and introduced me to Yokan and Taiwanese sponge cake, both of which I'm going to make this weekend!

kzhawol's review

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5.0

Love, love, love. From Baking to Boba all my loves wrapped and stuffed into one bao, I mean book. This book covers the twists and turns of a first generation daughter of a locally famous set of restaurateurs and her family (mother) continuously trying to set her up with the 'perfect asian boy future husband'. Honestly this book made me want to drink boba and eat egg tarts while pining over Ben 10 times over.

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