Reviews with content warning for Death - Dial A for Aunties

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

203 reviews

kemikemi's review

emotional funny 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

3.0

This book started out fun zany; the characters were funny, the premise was so wild, and I loved the way that Meddy’s family had her back immediately. However, I started getting frustrated with characters, and then the last act of the book devolved into what the fuck???? that then got so quickly wrapped up all neatly with a bow…it just didn’t end up panning out in a way that kept up with the promising start for me.

As for as the main character herself, I took issue with how around midway Meddy contradicted herself regarding her moral code and lying; I went on a rant to my friend about how in one of the scenes Meddy refused to lie to someone’s face but then she literally ended up doing just that a couple scenes later because her NOT lying to cover for something earlier resulted in a false assumption being made that she decided she had to play along with. And considering the entire premise of the story is her trying to cover up a person’s death that she caused, which would then turn into a secret she’d plan to harbor forever, Meddy drawing her proverbial line at lying about something technically related but rather innocuous in comparison felt so ridiculous. There’s just something that bothers me about deception/“I have a secret” story plots where characters refuse to lie and/or are terrible at lying on the spot—like you’re either committed to keeping this a secret at all costs or not!! You’re stressing me out!!! Another thing that bothered me was how heavily Meddy started internal monologuing during all the high intensity situations at the end of the book; she kept repeating the same thoughts/themes and it got a bit too repetitive in a way that took me out of the action.

But about the pacing and ending of the book: honestly, despite how insane the premise is, the first half of the book does feel like it unfolds rather realistically for the situations that keep happening regarding the dead body main plot, and disbelief can be reasonably suspended to go along with the zaniness—which is perfect. However, after the actual wedding ceremony ended is where it started to go too off the rails for me, and I just wasn’t satisfied with how everything past that ended up unfolding and wrapping up the book. It was all wayy too much and too fast in my opinion, so I found myself disappointed by HOW we got to the ending (the ending we all all into the book knowing from the start). So in all, this book ended up being a little bit of a miss for me compared to how I originally thought I was going to like it, and I’m not sure I’m going to read the sequel(s) ☹️

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margaret_k30's review against another edition

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funny hopeful tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

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lauraelovesbooks's review against another edition

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funny 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? No

4.0

This was so cute and fun! Not what I expected but anyone in the mood for a good ‘caper’ and some dark humour (not a cozy mystery), look no further!

The Aunties had me laughing out loud multiple times

I do wish that we got more of the romance between Nathan and Meddie (I’m a romance girlie through and through so I was expecting a bit more focus on that), but what we did get was very sweet

The few little twists kept things interesting and this book never felt like it dragged. All in all I really enjoyed it!

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sheaes21's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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? It's complicated

3.5

I love the authors so much. She is my favorite! I definitely want to keep reading the series. I felt like the plot development wasn’t as strong as her other later works, she has grown so much as an author. I loved the twist of the ending side story.

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shannonvonpesach's review against another edition

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dark funny 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? Yes

2.5

Ik vond de humor leuk, maar er was geen "adempauze" met al deze gebeurtenissen.
De romance ging mij ook te snel en was ongeloofwaardig.

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lemonix_reads's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Great read!

Really funny and I love the family dynamics! I laughed a lot with this book, wich doesn't happen a lot for me with books. I loved the main characters a lot.

I do have to say, English is my 3rd language and I had to look up a few words. The author uses really 'fancy' words sometimes in English, but I didn't know what those meant.

I recommend this book to anyone, esp. If you have a reading slump!

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bibliomania_express's review against another edition

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dark funny 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

4.0

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto is a comedy of errors where wedding photographer Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing a blind date and needs help from her aunties and mother to deal with the body. With several mistakes and hijinks, the body ends up at the wedding the Chans are working at - which just happens to be owned by Meddelin's college ex.

This book was a lot of fun in a campy, unbelievable way. There's wedding shenanigans, mistakes in texting, clashing aunties, a theft, and a cute romance. It isn't really a mystery, but there are some surprises along the way. I enjoyed all the inter-familial relationships tied into the Indo-Chinese culture.

It does also get a bit dark, what with the murder and all. If you are squeamish about any discussion of dead bodies and decompression, then maybe steer clear.

I do wish there had been a bit more conversation between Meddelin and Nathan in the present day, since the romance leans heavily on a few flashback chapters.

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