Reviews

A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen

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queenofthemadlads's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.5

It’s a pretty weak Pride and Prejudice parody (and yes I know that’s what it’s supposed to be). The characters don’t feel nearly developed enough, and they all make these really snap decisions that just serve to move the plot along as opposed to actually feeling genuine. I did really like all the descriptions of the baking. As a big fan of GBBO, it felt very inspired by that, and there were very good and inventive descriptions of all the baked goods.

sierraodeh's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.75

passworlds__'s review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.0

***BOOK CLUB BOOK #2***

I has some hopes for this one as I am historically a sucker for books featuring the Asian diaspora, specifically in the United States and even more specifically books that focus (1) on the children of Asian immigrants and (2) those children's relationships with said immigrant parents and the difficulties that are sure to come. Also, sometimes (alot of the times, almost everytime) I like to project myself onto these characters that are somewhat living the adolescence or youth I never really had, so I (embarrassingly) have a soft spot for these kinds of stories, regardless of how corny, dumb, or unrealistic the stories are 😩✋.

All of this preface to say, I liked the first maybe 15-20% of this book and then since then I struggled to care for the baking competition plotline and any of the love interests or romantic relationships in this book. And hey, I'm not one to think critically much ever when reading books, but I could not suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy this book 🤷‍♀️.

gilliebeanbooks's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5

sdawginthebuilding's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.0

I’ve forgotten how silly and unserious YA novels can be until I read this. It was fun identifying the Pride and Prejudice parallels, but a lot of the retelling feels very surface level. At some points it seemed like the author forgot that they were basing the story on P&P and just squeezed in some details relevant to the source material.

I appreciated the cast of Asian American characters, and I’m glad that there’s more representation in books now. However,

I am still unsure about Mrs.Yang’s motivations for being so desperate to set Liza up with a boy. I feel like a lot of East Asian moms are not concerned with that kind of stuff until you get older.

bookishrealm's review against another edition

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3.0

A Taste for Love definitely caught my eye because it was marketed as a Pride and Prejudice re-telling. If you know anything about me then you know how much I love anything related to Pride and Prejudice. 3.5 Stars

A Taste for Love follows high schooler Liza Yang as she attempts to navigate familial expectations while trying to live a somewhat normal life where she isn't constantly compared to her sister. When she isn't off attempting to follow her own dreams and goals, Liza spends time helping her mom at their bakery, a passion that they share. If you're a foodie like me then you'll be completely absorbed into the various food descriptions. This isn't a book that I would read while hungry. Yen does a great job connecting Liza and her mother through baking especially since they don't really get along. There is a great appreciation for familial dynamics that Yen captures on page. This is also evident in the relationship that Liza shares with her sister. While she feels compared to her sister by her mother, Liza doesn't allow that to stop them from having a strong bond. When Liza makes the trip to go visit her sister, readers get the opportunity to see how much love exists between the two of them. It definitely is hard to see how hard Liza's mom is on her, but I also think that her mom wanted the best for her. I wouldn't necessarily go about it in the same way, but I think that's a difference in generational and cultural perspectives.

One thing that detracted from my enjoyment of the novel was the build up of the relationship between James and Liza. James is clearly "Darcy" so his character is supposed to be stand offish and hard to figure out; however, I had a difficult time connecting with their relationship as a whole. In some ways they felt more compatible as friends than two individuals who were developing a romantic relationships. In fact, by the end of the novel it felt slightly awkward seeing the outcome of the relationship. A lot of this seems to stem from the fact that this book has a lot of characters. At times it can be difficult to fully flesh out characters if there are too many involved in the story. If Yen would have tapered down on the amount of characters, I believe that Liza and James would have gotten the character development they needed in order to make their chemistry feel more believable.

Overall, I thought it was a really solid YA contemporary romance. Yen definitely developed a story that was reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice but was able to stand own it's own two feet with it's own voice. I'll be excited to see what Yen writes in the future.