Absolutely one of the most fun books Injabe read in awhile. I laughed out loud while reading about Meddi , her mother and her aunties. It kind of has a Weekend at Bernies meets some Asian Stooges while making an appearance at Crazy Rich Asians. I read this so fast, it was very entertaining.

I don't know what I was expecting from this story but I definitely wasn't expecting it to be so absurd in the most fun way possible.

The amount of characters completely unfazed by murder and handling a dead body while juggling a wedding and rekindling an old love was so chaotic and funny. It's like 'Weekend at Bernie's' meets 'Mr. Right' with a focus on family and cultural/linguistic miscommunication.

This story requires a great deal of suspending one's belief that I was more than happy to do.

One of my favorite reads of 2021!! I haven't laughed so hard at a book in a good while, Absolutely adored it and read the book in one sitting! Of course there are parts that are over the top but that just made it all the more funnier. The banter between the Aunts and Meddy are hilarious. Everyone needs to read this book!!

When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is accidentally shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working, at an island resort on the California coastline. It’s the biggest job yet for their family wedding business—“Don’t leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!”—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie’s perfect buttercream cake flowers.

But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy’s great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?

AAR reviewers Em and Maggie read Jesse Sutanto's début rom-com Dial A for Aunties, then together to discuss the novel, and are here to share their thoughts.

EW:  Early, glowing reviews led me to Dial A for Aunties, but when I also discovered it’s been touted as the next Crazy Rich Asians, I was wary.  I was burned by that comparison before (Last Tang Standing). But Dial A for Aunties is SO MUCH BETTER than both of those books!  With a bonkers premise and a story that only gets more ridiculous as it unfolds, Dial A for Aunties is hilarious and absurd - it’s also romantic and heartwarming.  I loved every bit of it.  What did you think?

MB: I don’t know that those comparisons are quite apt. Crazy Rich Asians was a cultural exploration which had a lot more depth than you will find in this novel. On the other hand,  I would completely agree that the premise for Dial A for Aunties is bonkers and the story only gets more ridiculous as it moves forward.

Regarding it being romantic and heartwarming, I can get on board with the heartwarming. The author does a wonderful job of capturing the loving, bickering mess that is a close family and  Meddy, her Ma  and her aunties are just so sweet together. I have to say I was disappointed in the romance, though. The story’s emphasis seemed to be on the hilarity caused by Meddy and the aunties' inept handling of their Weekend at Bernies style situation, and while Nathan comes across as very caring and supportive of Meddy, I had no idea why he loved her or why she loved him. Their on-page time together definitely makes up less than half the book, which rarely works for me in a romance.

EW:  I’m not a Weekend at Bernies fan, but I see the similarities.  I happily immersed myself in Sutanto’s fictional world and perhaps it made me more forgiving of the more ridiculous plot developments.

I looked forward to every scene that featured Meddy and Nathan and I didn’t miss their backstory.  I just reveled in their long-standing love for each other and I rooted for them to reconcile.  I was so engrossed in the shenanigans related to the dead body, I didn’t miss the lack of romance.

I’m curious if you read the author’s note at the beginning of the novel?  In it, Sutanto discusses her background and how it influenced her characterization of the aunties in this story

Some of the aunties in Dial A for Aunties speak the sort of broken English that my parents’ generation does. Their grasp  of the English language is not a reflection of their intelligence, but a reflection of the sacrifice that they have made for us. They are, in essence, trilingual, and I am so proud of this heritage. I’m aware while writing this that I’m straddling a very fine line between authenticity and stereotype, and it’s my hope that this book defies the latter.

I thought this was eloquent and honest, and more importantly, it positively influenced how I read and interpreted these characters after meeting them in the story.  Sutanto successfully straddles the line between authenticity and stereotype; all of the aunties - and our heroine, Meddelin (a delightfully terrible misspelling of the name Madeleine) - feel very authentic to me.

MB: I think she strikes the right balance with that aspect of the novel. Many first generation immigrants speak this way and it is a testament to their intelligence and strength of will that they are able to come to a new country, learn an entirely different language, and successfully get jobs and raise families here. I think the author does a superb job of showcasing how genuinely amazing the aunties are.

However, while I thought she didn’t stereotype  them, I did feel she stereotyped several other characters in the novel. Most glaring was the small town bumpkin/idiot sheriff caricature she used.

EW:  Yeah, I didn’t really get that character either.  Country bumpkin or just a doofus?  He’s not the only secondary character whose execution was clunky.  The bride and groom are also an odd pairing.  I know there needs to be a wedding (and the traditions and customs are fascinating), but the groom is so awful it’s almost overkill and then there’s the secondary plot involving the maid of honor.  I could never reconcile the character to her actions.

MB: I agree that the traditions and customs were totally fascinating. I loved the veiling ceremony and the tea ceremony, and thought those details were really nice touches which gave the novel a unique flair.  I didn’t see the twist involving the gifts and maid of honor coming at all and would agree it was random and rather distracting. I found the whole scenario with the groom and groomsmen part of the over the top nature of the plot.  The explanation for some of the behaviors could have been a lot simpler and worked better, I think. Subtle is not at all a part of this author’s style.

EW:  Based on the book blurb, I expected the murder of the blind date - the event that kicks off the story - to be some silly mix-up.  It isn’t.  Were you surprised by the sequence of events that led up to the death?

MB: I was surprised by the whole blind date murder scene, but, the difficulty I had with it was that it strikes an oddly serious/sinister note in a book that is otherwise strongly comedic.  Meddy goes on this date set up by her mom, the guy turns out to be a complete bore and she drinks to distract herself and can’t drive home. He insists on driving her car, and then proceeds to put his hand on her knee and drive them through a dark deserted area. She wants him to stop and get himself an uber, he insists on going on and makes it sound like sex is still on the table.  In fairness, they were in the middle of nowhere so it's conceivable he wanted to arrive somewhere he could catch a ride.  It’s also possible rape was the next step but we don’t really know because we never got there. It was for the possibility of what might come next that she winds up murdering him and I had to agree with her when she said later in the novel, “The poor guy, he was a shit but he didn’t deserve to die like that”.

EW:  Meddy makes it clear she wants him to take her back to her car and that she’s uncomfortable with what’s happening.  She doesn’t know where she is, and it’s dark and desolate.  I felt a palpable sense of fear for what might happen to her.

MB:  I can understand that. The general vibe of the novel - and knowing from the book's blurb what was going to happen - kept me from worrying very much about how that scenario was going to play out.

EW: And then afterwards, when you read the secret text exchange between her mother and the victim (Meddy's mom pretended to be her on a dating site), did you laugh out loud? And cringe? Oh my god I thought it was so funny and brilliant.

MB: The text message scenario plays into that a bit since it was such a piece of what you referred to as the ridiculousness of the novel.  They were so over the top, slapstick silly that they felt like a wink and a nod reminding us not to take anything we were reading seriously.

Part of the whole murder scenario is that the outcome  would have been drastically affected  by a simple phone call to 911. I have to admit that bothered me quite a bit. I realize that the story is meant to be light and funny,  but I thought it said something about Meddy that she could admit he didn’t deserve what happened and still feel totally entitled to getting away with it. Did that upset you, too, or did you feel she was justified in her actions?

EW:  I think she was in shock and could forgive her for it.  I don’t want to spoil the story, but her lack of action here versus what happened the following morning bothered me more.  That suggested a callousness that the author is constantly trying to pretend doesn’t exist.

MB: Yes, that’s the part that bothered me, too - and there were a lot of subsequent choices she made which could have been more responsible, compassionate and ethical and she doesn’t make them that way.

EW:  What did you like about the novel?

MB:  I loved the glimpses of Asian culture, and I really did adore the way the author captures the familial relationships between Meddy, her aunts and her mother; Sutanto does a near perfect job of depicting how messy, nosy, noisy, supportive, generous and loving  these connections are, especially when everyone is so close-knit. The aunts and their fights for dominance and approval are hilarious! In these portions of the book the humor is less over-the-top and more genial and mischievous.  The author captures Meddy’s dilemma regarding her family ties quite well - Meddy loves everyone and doesn’t want to disappoint any of her aunts or her mother, but she struggles to find space to be herself within the confines of their love. I think this is something a lot of people can relate to and Sutanto conveys every aspect of that common adulting situation with a compassionate realism that will resonate with many.  Nathan is a wonderful beta hero - he’s understanding, patient, kind, protective,  helpful and devoted.

EW:  The blurb asks: Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?

And my answer is a resounding - Yes!  Sutanto does it all, and Dial A for Aunties is one of my favorite books of 2021.  I laughed (a lot!) and I couldn’t put it down.  Super fun and entertaining in every way; it’s a DIK, A-, for me.

MB: If you love farcical novels and adored  Weekend at Bernies, Dial A for Aunties  might be a perfect afternoon read for you.  As a romance novel, though, my overall grade for it is a B. It relies heavily on its zany, wacky, unbelievable, excessive hilarity and only shines apart from that when it concentrates on how wonderful it can be to be part of a close, loving family. It will work for readers who like their humor goofy and don’t mind if the romantic hero and heroine don’t spend much time together.

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This was such a delight to read! I laughed out loud so often, while also cringing at the awkwardness of a young wedding photographer who, along with her aunties and mother, tries to hide the body of her horrible blind date while simultaneously working the wedding day of a wealthy client. (I know - there's a lot going on!)

This book is utterly absurd, hilariously ridiculous, and perfectly fun! Suspend reality for a bit, dive into this cozy little story, and enjoy! I'm looking forward to seeing how the Netflix adaptation is done as well!

Thanks to Berkley Publishing for the advanced read! All opinions are my own.

I’m a new Auntie so this title caught my attention and the yellow I absolutely loved, needless to say yes, I judged a book by its cover!

It’s funny and had me turning the pages. I loved the Aunties, they were my favorite part about the book. Unfortunately, I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to, I didn’t connect with the main character and found myself skipping around and getting back to the Aunties.

I enjoyed learning about the Chinese-Indonesian culture and the wedding stuff was fun!

Thanks to Berkley, NetGalley and Edelweiss for my advanced ebook copy.

Dial A for Aunties

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After a first date gone terribly wrong, Meddy needs to rely on her mother and her aunts to help her hide a dead body. The problem (aside from the dead body of course) is that the 5 of them are working the wedding of a huge client. What could possibly go wrong?

This hilarious book was exactly what I needed. Part Murder mystery and part rom com, this one had me laughing out loud with crazy family drama, swooning over the second chance romance, and on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen with the mystery. I also loved learning more aspects of the Chinese-Indonesian cultures. This is a book that truly has it all. Add this to your summer reading list because you won’t want to miss this one.

Thank you to Berkley for the advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Dial A for Aunties comes out Tuesday!

Meddling aunts and an accidental murder. This book just missed the mark for me. I love the aunties, they are hilarious. The overall plot was just way too over the top and totally unbelievable for me and I found myself not interested at all in how they get out of it.

One of the goals for my 2021 reading is to read more diverse authors. And when I read the blurb for Dial A for Aunties, I knew I had to add it to my TBR pile – and actually READ it.

Dial A for Aunties is a fun read for me. There are so many references that I identified with – being a Malaysian-born Chinese – like the aunties’ nosiness, the different generations’ language barriers, the cultural expectations placed on gender, and so on. And we haven’t even gotten to the total coopting of English, Chinese, and Bahasa that forms the lexicon of a Chinese/Indo person (I couldn’t think of the Indonesian version of Manglish/Singlish, lol!).

The plot is your basic girl-goes-nuts-dealing-with-her-aunties (which you’d totally understand if you had Chinese aunties) (no disrespect intended!), with the added comedy of trying to hide a body (of a total douche), while working a wedding (featuring another total douche as groom), and so on. Add in a theft, unrequited love, a once-in-a-lifetime love, and a bumbling cop, and you have the preposterously fun read that is Dial A for Aunties.

I loved its quirkiness, but you may have some trouble deciphering some of the words. Like “ayo” (come on, or let’s, depending on what follows), “wah” (an expression of surprise – like you’re impressed, not scared out of your pants), and so on. None of this (imo) detracts from the story itself, so don’t worry about it.

If you like a meet-cute with interfering family (and a dead douche), add Dial A for Aunties to your spring/summer reading. And prepare to snort in disbelief at some of the shenanigans these aunties get up to.

drey’s rating: Pick it up!

Check out Dial A for Aunties if you want a read that will absolutely crack you up! I LOVED this story - literally everything that could go wrong does, but who else can you count on besides family...especially when you need o hide a body!

This book is genuinely and absurdly funny and I had some great laughs while reading it. 

Dial A for Aunties is Jesse Sutanto's debut novel and follows 26 year old Meddelin Chan who out of guilt and familial loyalty is stuck at home living and working with her mom and aunties in their wedding planning business.  Meddelin accidentally kills her blind date, who is supposed to be the owner of the posh hotel where she they are planning the wedding of two billionaire families. As loyal aunties, of course they will help of her hide the body without judgment. And the crazy just gets more uber crazy from that point on...

This is a mix of genres, you will get some murder mystery, a little romcom and a whole lot of ridiculous! If you have a logical brain and looking for a book that makes sense, then you may struggle with this this story. If you are looking for an over the top and funny read that defies logic then go grab it. This remains me of the ridiculousness of Finlay Donovan is Killing It.

The book narrative shifts between present day and Meddelin's college experience with Nathan, the love of life...the one that got away. Loved Nathan's character!  

Meddelin's mom and aunties are hilarious and the kind of loyal that we all need in our lives. The rivalry between the aunties and the resulting banter from that was great.

I will admit that I struggled near the end because...well...logical brain over here 🙋‍♀️. Once I accepted that this was supposed to be ridiculous then I was able to accept it for what it is...a fun read. 

This is more 3.5 than 4 for me. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an ARC. This book is available on April 27, 2021.

This was a fun and fast read from debut author Jesse Q. Sutanto. Meddy accidentally kills an online date in self-defense and she calls on her mother and 3 aunts for help to hide the body. It takes place over one wild and outrageous weekend during which a lavish wedding takes place (Meddy and her family work together as wedding vendors) and the Chinese-Indonesian family tries to hide a body while keeping the wedding running smoothly. At the same time, Meddy's old love whom she never got over shows up as well. I really enjoyed it!

This was one of the funniest books I’ve read in a long time y’all! It’s completely ridiculous and over the top and you have to go into it knowing that it’s not believable whatsoever, but who freaking cares because it’s a mash up of Finlay Donovan and Crazy Rich Asians and when I tell you I cackled...

I flew through this zany adventure, it’s fast paced and crazy shit just continues to happen from beginning to end. Just when you think things can’t get worse for Meddy after she accidentally kills her blind date she turns to her mom and aunties for help, and when you meet her aunties, you’ll get it. They take meddling, bat shit crazy to a new extreme and they’re some of the most entertaining characters I’ve ever come across. Read this when you need a mood lifter, I promise you can’t read this without laughing, it’s hysterical

This book was a pleasant surprise for me. I like my mysteries dark and my romance on the peripheral. But this book was hilarious. I loved the characters and the writing was wonderful. Suspend your disbelief and it is a fun ride with a loving, kooky family. The main character is very relatable. Overall a pleasure to read.

Dial A for Aunties summarized in four words: what. a. wild. ride.

I honestly cannot say that any book has ever made me laugh as much as Dial A for Aunties has. First of all, the book is even more ridiculous than the synopsis makes it sound, but it's absolutely wonderful.

Jesse Q. Sutanto is a very skilled writer who knows how to write an engaging story that has you simultaneously laughing, hanging on the edge of your seat, and feeling all the feels. This book could be categorized as a family drama, a romance, and a thriller. It offers readers so much and also features an Indo-Chinese family living in LA. The book also reads like a TV show. No wonder it's already been optioned by Netflix! Dial A for Aunties is a fabulous own voices novel that touches on a lot of themes that are present in many other Asian-American and immigrant families. Sutanto has another book, The Obsession, due out before Dial A for Aunties as well as book deals for a few others! I absolutely cannot wait to read anything and everything Sutanto publishes.

Dial A for Aunties is truly unlike any other book I've ever read and I will be recommending this one to my friends for a while. Pick this one up if you're looking for a laugh out loud page turner!

4.5 ⭐️

Because Meddy couldn’t be another child that leaves the nest, she stays behind to help the family business as a wedding photographer, breaking up with her long term boyfriend Nathan who decided to pursue the career of his dreams in NYC. When Meddy’s ma sets her up on an online blind date, the guy turns out to be a total creeper, and Meddy accidentally kills him! What does she do now? She enlists her ma and aunties to help her dispose of the body.

I laughed so many times that I lost count! The dialogue alone made me crack up and a bunch of cultural references overlapped with my own, so I totally could relate. Meddy’s ma and aunties were a riot. The comedy of errors were hilarious. Sutanto’s writing was simple yet fun, easy to read, and I enjoyed some unexpected twists in the mix. Also, Nathan was described as a Daniel Henney meets Lewis Tan. How could you resist that?

Oh my god this book was the WILDEST RIDE! I had not read the synopsis for this book, or even a blurb, before starting it and honestly, I think it was better that way! It was hilarious, surprising, and had so many fun (and anxiety-inducing) twists and turns. I won’t say anything about the plot because I think it was much more fun to know nothing going in. I will say that this book was a much-needed hilarious romp that would make an amazing movie.

I’ve seen a lot of other reviews that say you need to suspend disbelief while reading and that’s definitely true – but I think that made the book all the more fun as it took me away from my own reality for a few hours. I’ll also say that for such a satire-filled book, I found the romance element to be really sweet and endearing. I also loved the familial elements (the titular aunties were amazing). Overall, I would 100% recommend if you want to laugh out loud and have some fun!

Completely enjoyed this book from start to finish! It is a rom-com, but there is a touch of murder mystery as well. Meddy Chan is a photographer for her family's wedding business. The family consists of Meddy's mother and her three sisters (the aunties), who are Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneurs. They set Meddy up with a blind date, and Meddy accidentally ends up sort of murdering him. The whole family gets involved in dealing with hiding the dead body, but in the meantime, they have a huge wedding scheduled for the same weekend. It turns out that the owner of the resort where the wedding is to be held is Nathan, the "one that she let get away" love of Meddy's life. Lots of action and lots of humor. I lost count of how many times I laughed out loud. Recommend this upbeat, lighthearted story to readers who want a "clean" and gentle romance, lots of family love, a fast-paced plot, and terrific characters.

Meddelin Chan lives deeply immersed in her big, noisy, and at times, overwhelming Chinese-Indonesian family mainly filled with matriarchs who have their fingers in all her business. When Meddy’s mother catfishes a blind date for her, things go horribly wrong, and the man ends up dead or maybe, mostly dead. Meddy panics stuffing the body into her car trunk and driving home rather than doing the smart and sensible thing, like say, calling the police. Her mother and three aunts with whom Meddy’s works in their wedding business, come to the rescue and then major hi-jinks ensue each one more crazy town than the next.

The family has a major “Crazy Rich Asians” mega wedding to pull off that could make or break their reputation at a deluxe exclusive resort on a private island off the California coast. Through a series of missteps, the body gets sent to the fancy hotel in one of their food coolers to the island where the family spends the rest of the time madly shuttling him around to avoid their crime being exposed. To spice things up and add more zany complications, Meddy’s old boyfriend, Nathan, whom she foolishly gave up right after college due to family pressures and was forever pining for, turns out to be the hotel owner.

Meddy’s Ma and crazy aunts are a force of nature: loud, pushy, argumentative in three languages, they provide most of the comic relief in this sometimes dark tale of mishaps since, after all, hauling around a dead body is pretty out there and not a little grotesque. The most entertaining and informative part is the author’s depictions of family life for Indo-Asian immigrants who have traditional ways and beliefs as well as major expectations for their offspring. With the popularity of the aforementioned Crazy Rich Asians and an older film “Weekend at Bernie’s”, it is not surprising this story is slated to be released on Netflix.

This book initially starts off fun. I came into this story thinking it was some kind of mystery but really there's no mystery to solve. We already know the killer and her name is Meddlin Chan who works as a photographer for her family's wedding business. Meddy's mother is desperate to find her the perfect man so she signs her up for a dating site with a fake profile pretending to be her. Meddy agrees to go on the date but after her date tries to atrack her she ends up killing him in self defense. Rather than drive to the hospital or police station she panics and drives home. Her mother and auntiea immediately go into protection mode to help her hide the body and wacky hijinks ensure from there.

I see the rom-com label was slapped on this book but while there is a romantic side plot this isn't a rom-com. In fact I'm not even sure exactly what I'd call this. I think we could call it satire. It's a very dated satire though as most of the happenings in this story make it feel more early 2000s than 2021. Advanced in technology alone make this story completely unplausible. And while this story acknowledges it's ridiculousness somewhere around the 50% mark it completely goes off the rails and just starts throwing in zany plot points hoping something will stick.

Where the book truly shines is the portrayal of Indo-Chinese culture. However the aunties all feel like one note caricatures.

I recieved an arc from Netgalley in exchange for honest review.