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bookdragonkatie's review against another edition
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Car accident, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual assault
laurensilva's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
As far as its story, Dial A for Aunties is funny and charming as it chronicles the antics - and immense love and loyalty - of our protagonist and her Chinese-Indonesian family. I see so much of my Filipino titas in Meddy's Aunties and my culture throughout the book and that will always bring a thrill of recognition.
On the other hand, I wish I liked the writing style more so I could give more stars to this otherwise fun read. My main peeve here is the overly twee, conversational style. Especially in the first few chapters, the writing was so cringey (ex. the excessive use of "Argh." and "I'm down for platonic friendship, yeah. I'm chill. Totes chillax.") to the point where it became distracting from the scene I was trying to read. There’s so much of it so early on - before we even reach the murder - that I barely even have the encouragement of “what happens next???” to keep reading. Still, I held on (skimmed) so I could get to the meat of the book.
I was also disappointed by all the “I’m so tiny I can be picked up so easily!!! Oh men think I’m so tinyyyy.” There were three references to this in as many pages!!! We get it, Asian girls can be small, but let's move on from hitting us over the head with this physical description as a character trait.
On the other hand, I wish I liked the writing style more so I could give more stars to this otherwise fun read. My main peeve here is the overly twee, conversational style. Especially in the first few chapters, the writing was so cringey (ex. the excessive use of "Argh." and "I'm down for platonic friendship, yeah. I'm chill. Totes chillax.") to the point where it became distracting from the scene I was trying to read. There’s so much of it so early on - before we even reach the murder - that I barely even have the encouragement of “what happens next???” to keep reading. Still, I held on (skimmed) so I could get to the meat of the book.
I was also disappointed by all the “I’m so tiny I can be picked up so easily!!! Oh men think I’m so tinyyyy.” There were three references to this in as many pages!!! We get it, Asian girls can be small, but let's move on from hitting us over the head with this physical description as a character trait.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Car accident
Minor: Racism and Vomit
abicaro17's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
Crazy Rich Asians meets Weekend at Bernies in this hilarious wedding hi-jinx rom com! Meddy is a wedding photographer who accidentally kills her blind date and calls on her mom and three aunts to help her hide the body. Nathan is her college ex who just so happens to own the hotel that the wedding Meddy and her family are working that weekend. This book is absolutely adorable! Between the hilarious aunts and crazy chemistry between Nathan and Meddy theres a little something for everyone. Do I think this book has any semblance of reality? No. Is it a fun cute read anyways? Hell yeah!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Confinement, Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Drug use, Kidnapping, Violence, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Body horror, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Gun violence
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
3.5
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) ☹️
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) ☹️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Car accident, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol and Drug use
Minor: Racism
margaret_k30's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident and Death
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Racism and Sexual assault
sheaes21's review
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.
Content Warnings
Minor: Car accident, Sexual harassment, Murder, and Death
shannonvonpesach's review against another edition
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.
De romance ging mij ook te snel en was ongeloofwaardig.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Alcohol, Death, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault and Racism
bibliomania_express's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault and Racism
thediaryofanauthorintraining's review
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
4.0
Ridiculously fun read! If you’re looking for a kooky rom-com with hi-jinks, I highly recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident
winonamc3's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident and Death