Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Dial A for Aunties

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Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

33 reviews

kayesomething's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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

4.25

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scriptrix's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This was such a fun read! I was slightly stressed watching Meddy and her aunts blunder through possibly the worst attempt at covering up a murder, but I just couldn't stop reading. Is this realistic? Meh. Is it a hilarious, movie-adaptation-ready romcom-slash-murder mystery? Absolutely, 100% would watch this on Netflix.

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tiemzahra's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

This book is very funny, very interesting. As it is written by a Chinese Indonesian writer who resides in Singapore, I somehow could relate with some of the scenarios (not that I have ever k***ed my blind date). Meddy accidentally killed her blind date, and her 4 (including her mom) meddling Aunties came to the rescue.

I love the book. I listened to the audiobook while reading this, and I love how the accents are appropriately done. Despite enjoying this book, I think the personalities of these 4 aunties were a bit too much. I wouldn’t dare to invalidate other’s experiences with such relatives, but I was so worn out by them. They’re in a huge crisis, but their pointless rivalries went on and on…

And this book also features one trope I couldn’t stand. The I-will-make-you-hate-me-to-break-our-love-but-I-totally-love-you-and-this-is-just-for-your-own-benefit trope. In other words, the miscommunication trope. Although it is quickly settled, this is a huge breaker for me. All in all, still a very fun read!

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lsvctria's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

Main plot is normally not my cup of tea but the author made it work and the payoff was pretty good at the end.

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jenn_reads's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

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asparagusisreading's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted tense 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? Yes

4.25

I am a Nathan stan

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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This was a book club choice for my long-distance book club! We wanted to pick an AAPI author for AAPI Heritage Month, but as life happens, we (alright, it was definitely on me) ended up not actually being able to finish in time to discuss it actually during May… However, I am so glad this was the book we voted for, even though it took me awhile to get my hands on it, because once I started it, it was a sprint to the finish – I couldn’t put it down!

Meddy Chan works as a photographer as part of her family’s wedding business, along with her mother and three aunts who take care of cake, flowers, hair/make-up, and entertainment. When her mother meddles in her dating life, impersonating her on a dating site, Meddy agrees to go on the date she sets up. But things take a turn when she accidentally murders the date. Thankfully, her mother and aunties are there to help her hide and get rid of the body. However, their mixed priorities, interfamilial squabbles, and a surprisingly turn of events leads to the body ending up in a cooler at a major wedding they’ve been hired to do. A wedding that just so happens to be held at a new hotel run by an ex-boyfriend that Meddy has never gotten over. Can Meddy figure out how to get away with murder, re-kindle a romance, and manage her family? She might even be able to do all that and find herself along the way.

This is potentially one of the most fun books I have ever read. Like, part how to get away with murder, part family drama, part failed heist, part rom-com, all told with a fantastically light and humorous narration. Although at times there were some aspects that required some suspension of disbelief to really get into, it was totally worth it for the entertainment value. And to her credit, the author did a really solid job of creating conditions that, while leaning towards unbelievable, skirted close enough to the line to make it reasonable-ish to suspend that disbelief. Reading all the bumbling but well-meaning ways that Meddy’s mother and aunts try to help her deal with the dead body of her date, the sibling rivalries and family loyalty and the numerous twists and ways that their plans go wrong and make things worse – it’s a comedy of errors that just gets better and more ridiculous in all the best ways. I don’t want to give anything away, because that would ruin the ride for you, but the way that so many extra people get involved, from Meddy’s ex/the hotel owner Nathan, to the bride and groom and maid of honor, to the local sheriff…it was all great.

As far as some of the character pieces, they’re fairly surface-level, in the same way that the plot is more for enjoyment than depth. The author does recognize this (mentioning the likelihood of insta-love in the sub-title of the first section even), which made me that much more inclined to let myself fall in headfirst and past the flippancy of the plot. So, while I was cheering for Meddy to get back with Nathan, because of course I was hoping for the happily ever after, I wasn’t ever like, invested in them. Similarly, I loved the way the big wedding storyline ended, it made my heart happy, even though my actual investment level was low. The most profound piece of this entire novel, however, was a relationship-based one. The Chinese-Indonesian mother-sister-aunt-daughter-niece connections are bustling and overbearing, but absolute perfection. You can feel, so very deeply, the personal associations and experiences that Sutanto has with that aspect of the novel. I mean, after reading her Introduction Author’s Note (which, by the way, was great – really setting up her hopes and goals in what she’s portraying and honoring, while recognizing the ways she might fail…it really put me in the right mind-space from which to read the novel), it was no surprise. But expected or not, it was still far and away one of my favorite things: warm and self-deprecatingly funny, while clearly full of honor and love and gratitude.

This was such a cozy book and I legitimately had the best time reading it. There was a sort of comfortable camaraderie that Sutanto creates with her writing and you can’t help but love and cheer for things to work out for Meddy and her aunties, despite the myriad hilariously terrible plans they make. What a fun AF story. I hope they make it a movie because I would watch the sh*t out of it!

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aimzthereader's review against another edition

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funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Ok this book is out there and over the top. Most of the time I don’t like books where it seems soooo unrealistic and unrelatable . When I think, no way in hell would this happen in real life that’s usually the mark of a book I wouldn’t like (I mean unless I am specific reading a genre like fantasy or sci-fi where it is supposed to be unrealistic) . HOWEVER, this book is sooo outlandish that it works.

I read this really quick because I didn’t want to leave the family and I am excited to see that there will be a sequel. I really loved seeing the family dynamics and that the author comes from a big family with similar dynamics. I liked learning about the Chinese-Indo culture and I loved how the language was woven throughout.

The characters were lovable and the plot moves along very nicely. Most of the time you’re rolling your eyes at the antics they get themselves in and you’re laughing at what the aunties find important in a situation. This is a great quick read.

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bookscoffeehayley's review against another edition

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funny 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

4.0

Okay wow. This book is RIDICULOUS. In the best way possible. You do need to suspend some sense of disbelief when reading it because things get a liiiitle absurd. But you will be literally laughing-out-loud while reading!

This was a fun, quick read and I’m intrigued to read the next book once it is released. I loved the Aunites so much. I thought each one of them had such a unique personality and added so much humor and love to the story.

Dial A For Aunties started off really strong and I flew through part 1. I loved the back and forth between Present Day Meddy and College Meddy. Part 2 slowed down a lot for me and became a little redundant. The second half of the book definitely picks back up and there are so many wild twists that I didn’t see coming!

From the acknowledgments, I learned this book is supposed to be made into a Netflix movie and I cannot WAIT for that! I think this book will make the perfect movie and I’m really excited to see how it translates to film!

Overall, this is such a fun summer book. It’s funny, there’s romance, there’s a murder, it’s full of great characters. Perfect for a summer night spent reading outside, or inside if you are also being attacked by cicadas….

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iviarelle's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This is a very strange little book. It's vastly over the top and downright silly at times in the way things keep getting more and more complicated until they resolve... but I find it incredibly charming at the same time? It's probably a perfect read if you need something fluffy and feel-good (despite the murder) that will absolutely demand your attention for the duration. I had trouble putting it down once I started, because every time I felt like a stopping point approached, something else came up that I needed to find out how it resolved.

My only real down side is the naming of Big Aunt could get a little... frustrating-hurtful for fat readers who are sensitive to that kind of thing. Her name for the whole book is just Big Aunt, because she's a little bigger in size than her sisters. She's never put down for it that I noticed, and in fact Meddy says in chapter 1 that Big Aunt is the one who meets with clients and everything because her size just makes her more majestic and convincing and confident. But, the other aunts are just Second Aunt and Fourth Aunt, and so Big Aunt being the only one with a distinguishing characteristic and that being her name might not land well for some readers.

That being said, I'm not sure it's exactly what I expected, and yet, it's pretty much everything I could have asked for from the premise. This is a definite recommend.

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