Reviews

A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen

bardo's review

4.0

What does a mother do when her teenage daughter refuses to date the right boy? Well you combine your annual baking show with a dating match up! This is where Liza finds herself and is determined to beat her mom at her own game. A Taste for love is an hate to love baking rom com. Liza is every senior battling the expectations of parents and the "correct" path to take after high school. While Liza is bucking at her parents expectations, her older sister seems to be gaining all the familial praise. The dynamic between the sisters and their conversations help to give the plot depth and an insight into siter competition. There is often a disconnect with how parents want to show their love and expectations and how it is received by their children. Liza and her mother display this generational gap perfectly. Throughout the book this relationship is the most misunderstood and concrete, especially with the relationship standards. While this was a light hearted romantic comedy, Yen does weave in deeper themes for readers to think about.

bekahtay19's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

shannonreadss's review

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I loved the diversity and the food descriptions. I didn't read the synopsis so I didn't know about the competition. Initially I was quite sceptic about it, but I ended up really liking it. The characters were fun to read about and I was really rooting for Liza at the end.

jxmcarstairs's review against another edition

2.0

I guess I might not be a YA girlie anymore.

Don't get me wrong, it was cute and I'm a sucker for anything set in Texas. (it makes me feel seen)

And before I sound like I'm tearing in, it's also important to me that it's known I listened to the audiobook. I feel like some of my opinions are influenced by the story's delivery.

But 1) I would never have guessed this was a P&P retelling if it weren't for a character explicitly going, "omg doesn't he kind of remind you of Darcy??" in regards to the male love interest.

And 2) it was a little...cringey...for me. Like the flirting gave me the ick, but there were occasions when I was grinning because of the romantic interactions. The situations and insta-love b/w some of the characters make me less attached, too. It was just kind of juvenile for my tastes and these characters are supposed to be like 18. I didn't think I was that old, but they acted kind of childish.

Also one whole star was subtracted bc I can't let go of Liza wearing a shirt w/ a glasses-wearing fox that had "foxy nerd" written on it...like, girl.

James' *apron, no shirt* moment could have saved Liza from her "I'm not like other girls" shtick, but the moment didn't deliver.

dreamersolace's review

3.75

Predictable but cute story. I kinda expected more from the competition but it started pretty late in the book and didn't last that long either.

2catmom's review

4.5

Very charming and cute teenage rom com with baking, Taiwanese culture and cuisine, siblings, cultural rivalry… and grace for mistakes

readingwithrae's review

dnf @ 10%

the writing in this is very juvenile, to the point where i know i'm not going to enjoy it. the p&p bakeoff idea is super cute, and i'm sure there's a bunch of teens who will love this, but it's a little too on the younger side of YA for me to enjoy as an adult. no fault of the book, btw!

emilyily13's review

1.0

ever wanted a p&p remake that spent most of its time on an infuriating version of mrs bennet and that also relegates darcy to an extremely minor character for the first half of the book?? no??
the majority of the plot points dont make any sense and people dont act or talk like normal humans.
calling it a p&p remake is a stretch, and i had to skim large chunks of the book to get through it. couldnt have been happier to reach the end.

1.5/5 stars

fatima17's review

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.25

thebookberrie's review against another edition

A Taste for Love is about a girl named Liza who rebels against her mother's traditional values, especially when it comes to dating. The only thing they agree on is baking so when the annual junior competition comes around, Liza agrees to help. When the day comes around Liza realizes that all the contestants are young Asian American men that her mother has picked. The bachelorette situation is even worse when Liza sees herself falling for one of the contestants.

I can't even say this started off cute because this started off slow as hell and did absolutely nothing for the longest time?? For a book that is about a baking competition, it doesn't start until halfway after Liza has just been doing a bunch of filler things. She goes on a trip to New York to visit her sister and it was so much pls, I do not care start baking or do anything else.

When it finally gets down to it, it was pretty cute and light while also dealing with some serious topics but I just couldn't enjoy it after the painfully slow start. I don't like baking shows or books either oh my god why do i keep picking them up.