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A review by thebooknerdscorner
Didn't See That Coming by Jesse Q. Sutanto
3.0
A gamer romance that takes a deep dive into the misogynistic online world that mirrors the sexism in everyday society.
Kiki Siregar has always been the most confident girl in the room. That is, except when she plays online multiplayer games. In order to avoid sexist comments and constant harassment, Kiki plays anonymously as a guy. Even her best online friend, Sourdawg, doesn't know her true identity. This isn't a problem, until Kiki transfers to a new private school that Sourdawg just so happens to attend. Unaware of Sourdawg's true identity, Kiki feels the pressure of trying to discover who he is in real life before her secret is blown.
I must say, Kiki was one of my favorite characters in "Well, That Was Unexpected," so I was happy to learn that she was the main character in this one. I would never have guessed that she was a gamer, but I thought this was a really cool twist. She seemed so glamorous when she was beside Sharlot, but she's much more down to earth than I had originally pegged her as.
The best part of this book is how unabashedly it attacks misogyny and sexism. Treating women unfairly is common all over, but it seems to be even more extreme in the conservative Far East. It was heartbreaking to see Kiki dismissed time and time again due to her gender alone. The way that Kiki is treated online and in person was totally unacceptable. Unfortunately, many young girls and women are treated like this constantly, so it is so important to bring up the effects of misogyny every now and then.
The imbalance of power between men and women and those with wealth and those without is devastating. This book highlights that so thoroughly. Jonas is a rich kid who flaunts his wealth and abuses his power as often as he physically can. He is quite misogynistic, revels in putting others down, and is quite the pain to Kiki the entire novel. It's hard to have any empathy for people like him, but this book does a great job at showcasing where people like him are coming from despite all their wrong doings.
I really enjoyed the first half of this book when Kiki spent her time trying to adapt to her new school, investigating who Sourdawg is, and meddling with Eleanor Roosevelt's nefarious schemes. However, once the fake-dating/blackmail thing started, I felt rather uncomfortable by the whole situation. I couldn't believe that Kiki would let others take advantage of her like that. I understand that she was severely depressed due to the constant bullying, but I can't believe she lowered herself that far for that long. It made it hard for me to really enjoy the last half of this book.
If Kiki would have literally talked to anyone (her parents, Liam, her best friends, etc), she situation could have been greatly improved so much earlier. I understand why an author would pen Kiki's decisions how Sutanto did, but it's hard for me to understand why Kiki kept everything to herself for practically no reason. There were so many points in this book where I said to myself "If she doesn't talk to Liam here, she's actually an idiot." And then she never did, which made my heart break. Liam is too sweet to have to deal with the kinds of emotional turmoil that Kiki put him through; I would totally understand if he reacted less than positive to Kiki's antics.
Overall, "Didn't See That Coming" was an enjoyable, humorous gamer romance that blatantly told misogyny to stuff it. Kiki and Liam are both great characters that I was rooting for despite all their less than brilliant decisions. I wish the weird fake-dating/blackmail thing in the middle didn't happen, but I still enjoyed most of my time with this one. I look forward to checking out more of Sutanto's work in the future; her books all sound so funny and interesting!
Kiki Siregar has always been the most confident girl in the room. That is, except when she plays online multiplayer games. In order to avoid sexist comments and constant harassment, Kiki plays anonymously as a guy. Even her best online friend, Sourdawg, doesn't know her true identity. This isn't a problem, until Kiki transfers to a new private school that Sourdawg just so happens to attend. Unaware of Sourdawg's true identity, Kiki feels the pressure of trying to discover who he is in real life before her secret is blown.
I must say, Kiki was one of my favorite characters in "Well, That Was Unexpected," so I was happy to learn that she was the main character in this one. I would never have guessed that she was a gamer, but I thought this was a really cool twist. She seemed so glamorous when she was beside Sharlot, but she's much more down to earth than I had originally pegged her as.
The best part of this book is how unabashedly it attacks misogyny and sexism. Treating women unfairly is common all over, but it seems to be even more extreme in the conservative Far East. It was heartbreaking to see Kiki dismissed time and time again due to her gender alone. The way that Kiki is treated online and in person was totally unacceptable. Unfortunately, many young girls and women are treated like this constantly, so it is so important to bring up the effects of misogyny every now and then.
The imbalance of power between men and women and those with wealth and those without is devastating. This book highlights that so thoroughly. Jonas is a rich kid who flaunts his wealth and abuses his power as often as he physically can. He is quite misogynistic, revels in putting others down, and is quite the pain to Kiki the entire novel. It's hard to have any empathy for people like him, but this book does a great job at showcasing where people like him are coming from despite all their wrong doings.
I really enjoyed the first half of this book when Kiki spent her time trying to adapt to her new school, investigating who Sourdawg is, and meddling with Eleanor Roosevelt's nefarious schemes. However, once the fake-dating/blackmail thing started, I felt rather uncomfortable by the whole situation. I couldn't believe that Kiki would let others take advantage of her like that. I understand that she was severely depressed due to the constant bullying, but I can't believe she lowered herself that far for that long. It made it hard for me to really enjoy the last half of this book.
If Kiki would have literally talked to anyone (her parents, Liam, her best friends, etc), she situation could have been greatly improved so much earlier. I understand why an author would pen Kiki's decisions how Sutanto did, but it's hard for me to understand why Kiki kept everything to herself for practically no reason. There were so many points in this book where I said to myself "If she doesn't talk to Liam here, she's actually an idiot." And then she never did, which made my heart break. Liam is too sweet to have to deal with the kinds of emotional turmoil that Kiki put him through; I would totally understand if he reacted less than positive to Kiki's antics.
Overall, "Didn't See That Coming" was an enjoyable, humorous gamer romance that blatantly told misogyny to stuff it. Kiki and Liam are both great characters that I was rooting for despite all their less than brilliant decisions. I wish the weird fake-dating/blackmail thing in the middle didn't happen, but I still enjoyed most of my time with this one. I look forward to checking out more of Sutanto's work in the future; her books all sound so funny and interesting!