The Dos and Donuts of Love is a fun YA contemporary romance. Adiba Jaigirdar’s newest book features a baking competition called the Junior Irish Baking Show, and MC Shireen dreams of winning it. Shireen is reeling from a recent breakup, and being accepted as a contestant on the show feels like just what Shireen needs to take her mind off her ex-girlfriend. But it turns out her ex is competing on the show, too. There’s also a very flirty new girl vying for Shireen’s attention which makes the competition more complicated than she expected. 

 

Shireen is ambitious and I love her personality. Her love of baking is heartwarming and I could feel her excitement. She experiences anxiety several times throughout the book, and I love how it's normalized. Her support system is incredibly supportive and understanding of her mental health, and as an anxious person myself, that meant the world to me because I don’t see that often enough. I love her parents and her best friend Fatimah is amazing. These are great core relationships that ground the story. 

 

This book is full of sapphic love and cute romantic moments. Chris, Shireen’s ex, was my favourite character, and Shireen’s changing dynamic with Chris was my favourite part of the book. While their relationship evolves, Shireen doesn’t show any character development herself until the very end of the story. Shireen is actually pretty self-absorbed and this was frustrating for me as an older reader who loves character development. But she’s a teenager, and she’s allowed to be selfish. I ultimately love where Shireen ends up in her journey and think the ending of the book is solid. 

 

I also like that Shireen finds a mentor who looks out for her in the competition. The book has a great message about staying true to yourself, and brings to light the reality of what it’s like to be a WOC competing (or even just existing) in a predominantly white space. 

 

As a fan of baking shows, I was expecting more from the baking show aspect of the book. I was disappointed because most of the challenges in the book were pretty simple. It was also hard to believe that the producers of the show were seemingly hands off whenever trouble arose (which was often!). 

 

Overall, this is a mostly lighthearted book full of eggcellent (😌) baking puns, sapphic love, and Bengali pride, featuring a protagonist who isn’t afraid to follow her dreams. 

 

Thanks to Fierce Reads for providing me with an eARC.