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kelly_e's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
3.5
Title: Dial A for Aunties
Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: April 1, 2021
T H R E E • W O R D S
Comedic • Unbelievable • Lighthearted
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Meddy, is the photographer in her family's wedding business. When her mom sets her up on a blind date through an dating site, Meddy soon finds herself in a nightmare situation culminating in the accidental death of her date. Without thinking she puts the body in her truck, and immediately turns to her family, her mom and four aunts, to help clean up the mess. At the same time, the family business must continue with a very important wedding. Dial A for Aunties is part cozy mystery and part rom-com, with a side of family drama and finding oneself.
💭 T H O U G H T S
The quirky and entertaining family dynamic is what makes this book! Each of the characters (particularly the aunties) has their place within this hilarious story. Each aunt played a different part, and their bickering cracked me up with their meddling behaviour and untimely one-liners. Reading Meddy's backstory in the beginning, and setting the stage seemed fun, but eventually the plot got a little carried away. I thoroughly enjoyed the family wedding business aspect and getting a glimpse into Chinese-Indonesian culture. While the story is definitely a little over the top, I did feel as though the familial guilt aspect was extremely relatable.
Dial A for Aunties was so much fun and the premise was clever making this the perfect vacation read. If suspending reality is something you struggle with, this may not be the book for you as this one certainly requires quite a bit of it. I am looking forward to hooking back up with Meddy, her mom and aunties and continuing this series.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• soap opera watchers
• readers needing a palette cleanser
• anyone needing a laugh
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Your aunties coming over, so late at night, coming to help us get rid of body, and we don’t even offer them any food?"
Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: April 1, 2021
T H R E E • W O R D S
Comedic • Unbelievable • Lighthearted
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Meddy, is the photographer in her family's wedding business. When her mom sets her up on a blind date through an dating site, Meddy soon finds herself in a nightmare situation culminating in the accidental death of her date. Without thinking she puts the body in her truck, and immediately turns to her family, her mom and four aunts, to help clean up the mess. At the same time, the family business must continue with a very important wedding. Dial A for Aunties is part cozy mystery and part rom-com, with a side of family drama and finding oneself.
💭 T H O U G H T S
The quirky and entertaining family dynamic is what makes this book! Each of the characters (particularly the aunties) has their place within this hilarious story. Each aunt played a different part, and their bickering cracked me up with their meddling behaviour and untimely one-liners. Reading Meddy's backstory in the beginning, and setting the stage seemed fun, but eventually the plot got a little carried away. I thoroughly enjoyed the family wedding business aspect and getting a glimpse into Chinese-Indonesian culture. While the story is definitely a little over the top, I did feel as though the familial guilt aspect was extremely relatable.
Dial A for Aunties was so much fun and the premise was clever making this the perfect vacation read. If suspending reality is something you struggle with, this may not be the book for you as this one certainly requires quite a bit of it. I am looking forward to hooking back up with Meddy, her mom and aunties and continuing this series.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• soap opera watchers
• readers needing a palette cleanser
• anyone needing a laugh
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Your aunties coming over, so late at night, coming to help us get rid of body, and we don’t even offer them any food?"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Car accident, Sexual assault, Racism, and Drug use
Minor: Gun violence and Alcohol
therese_nook68's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
One of my new favorite novels.
It’s such a fun read full of enjoyable twists that had me gasping and laughing at the same time. It was so outrageous and just so much fun. Like everything you think can go wrong, does go wrong and every random plot twist that you think can’t happen, does happen. It’s just a lot of fun and I can’t wait for the Netflix movie because this is perfect for the screen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Car accident
queergoth_reads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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? Yes
5.0
This book was so much fun. Yes it was a total farce but it has me rolling around laughing. I absolutely loved the characters and while I had a good idea of how it would end from the start the journey definitely kept me on my toes. Absolutely fantastic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Car accident
Moderate: Racism
folded_between_pages_of_books's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Car accident, Death, Murder, and Drug use
Moderate: Sexual harassment
mamawantsbooks's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident and Death
Moderate: Alcohol and Drug use
Minor: Sexual harassment
aep215's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death, and Murder
megs_bok's review
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Car accident
kimveach's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
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
This book was so much fun. I'm looking forward to the next in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Alcohol, and Car accident
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
Minor: Drug use, Vomit, Car accident, and Cursing
allyordyna's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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? Yes
3.5
Who knew murder could be so dang funny—
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Car accident
Minor: Racism and Sexual assault
afi_whatafireads's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
"I won't abandon my family. Not for love. Not for anything."
Personal Ratings: 3.75🌟
A quick and easy read that is filled with bits of mystery, elements of love and adds a dash (or a bottle) of ASIAN. This book is just WILD Its so chaotic but it hits close to home too, especially when the author is a POC and everything that goes on in the book was just filled with overbearing aunts who are kepochis but would do the world for you.
Short Summary
Meddy is a Chinese-Indonesian who lives with her Ma and her four aunts. The family is so tight-knit that they even went into business together, as a Marriage Event Bussiness. When Meddy somehow got herself into a predicament, and accidentally killer her blind date, her aunts and her mum came to the rescue, well except, they weren't being so discrete about it. One thing led to another with a wedding to juggle and an old flame of Meddy pops up, its a weekend wedding story that is filled with chaos but also a story that brings a family closer together and the reignition of an old flame.
Personal Thoughts
The whole story is chaotic in a sense that, if you're living in an asian household, you'll definitely understand the humour of the story. We get overbearing aunties, very-over-the-top and dramatic moments and also a family that will literally defend you for anything, even when you commit murder.
With this book, I felt pride and joy reading it. What with the inclusion of words that are so familiar to me like 'sayangku' and a mix of Indonesian words that are very familiar to a Malaysian makes the story not only endearing but makes me feel happy that the author really upholds her culture inside the book. Whilst I am not the biggest fan of the writing style and some parts that just makes me irked especially with the repetitive behaviours of the aunties, I get that in all, the message of the story is clear, which is familial love and the fierceness of an Asian family in protecting their loved ones.
I love when stories includes homage to their culture, and there was one scene where the bride hires a local designer for her wedding dress makes my heart filled with warmth. That and the way their family is so tight-knit that they can share secrets like this with one another. Again, tho I'm not the biggest fan of the writing style, the humour and how relatable the story is, is still enjoyable.
For anyone who's looking for a quick read and something to cheer up your day, this book will be it for you! There's a dash of murder-mystery, crime solving, a slight kidnapping and also a romance that is oh-so-cringeworthy-but still leaves you smiling at the end. Can't wait to read the sequel, I can just imagine how more chaotic it would be and this would be great if it were made into a movie cause Oh Gosh I can just imagine how funny and chaotic it will be.
Thank you to Times Reads for generously providing me a review copy of the book.
Disclaimers: All my reviews are my thoughts of the book and according to my personal preferences. Even though I had received a review copy, it does not affect my review and honest thoughts for the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Car accident