Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review. I love JQS and I think her YA books are such a hit. This was such a fun read!

I'm such a big fan of @jesseqsutanto Dial A for Aunties that makes me even more excited to know that she will have a new book with Indonesian representation and set in Indonesia. I'm beyond thrilled to get the ARC for Well, That Was Unexpected not only because it's a love letter to my country but also featured one of my favorite tropes - fake dating 😍

𝟷𝟻 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝑼𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅
• Holy Sh*t! It just chapter ONE 😆
• oh nice! We have multiple POVs 😍
• WHAAAATT??? OOHH MYYY GOOD!!! 🤣🤣🤣
• 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 & 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑓𝑢𝑙 - Jesse always could make perfectly ordinary words become hilarious 😂😂😂
• GRRHHH 😤😤😤 why she is so annoying
• JRENG JRENG JRENG 😝😝😝
• naaahh, at least now it's better 😇
• ON POINT!
• aarrrghhh I want to visit Bali 🥺🥺🥺
• lol it's so ibu ibu Indo
• TOLD YA! 😆
• well, they actually cute together 🤭
...please excuse my excessive use of emojis because this book literary brings that reaction to MY face! 🤭

This romcom is a total surprise and an absolute riot! Picture this: in California, our main character Sharlot gets busted by her mom in a rather... compromising situation. Meanwhile, half a world away in Indonesia, George Clooney (our charming love interest) is caught in an equally awkward moment by his dad and sister (Eleanor Roosevelt, who's an absolute gem in this story).

This book is so outrageously fun, it's like discovering your favorite snack all over again.

The story gets wilder: rumors about George's unusual interests (which are totally not true, by the way) start flying around, leading his family to hatch a plan to set him up with a 'normal' girlfriend. Concurrently, Sharlot's mom ships her off to Indonesia to keep her out of trouble and decides a local boyfriend would make her stay more enjoyable.

The online conversations are a hoot – think parents impersonating their kids in the most hilarious 'How Do You Do Fellow Kids' style. The book skillfully layers multiple tropes: Sharlot and George end up on a fake-date vacation in Bali, making wild assumptions about each other based on their parent-catfished online chats, adding a sprinkle of 'enemies to lovers' to the mix. Plus, George belongs to a wealthy Chinese Indonesian family, so the tabloid drama adds to the chaos.

This book is a masterfully crafted mess of situations and emotions that had me completely hooked. I absolutely fell in love with it.

This was such a fun read and I loved it more than I thought I would. Aside from the humour, it is a wonderful coming of age story in which the characters come to know themselves - and take ownership of who they are. The story is told in 2 POV.

This author is such a good story teller. Her romances always have us in a chokehold and this one did not disappoint. I would the characters funny and relatable. I loved that the story was set in indonesia, it gave some insight into the culture there. This was a cute YA novel

The miscommunication trope was very strong in this book. Not my favorite but more understanding of it in YA books.

I have to say I did not like the MC Sharlot, she was awful. The way she treated people was horrible.
George was okay. Not my favorite character but not terrible.

I honestly wish we had a book about Kiki and Eleanor. They were so fun! I think I would have enjoyed the story more if it had been about them.

Overall it was different than her adult novels but still enjoyable.

"Well, That Was Unexpected" by Jesse Q. Sutanto is a delightful and comedic rollercoaster that keeps you hooked from start to finish. The novel's witty and quirky characters bring a fresh perspective to the romantic comedy genre, making it a perfect read for those who enjoy lighthearted and unexpected love stories. Sutanto's writing style is engaging and full of humor, making the pages fly by as you become immersed in the characters' antics and predicaments. The story's blend of romance, family dynamics, and personal growth adds depth to the narrative, making it more than just a typical romantic comedy. With its charming plot twists and relatable moments, "Well, That Was Unexpected" is a feel-good read that leaves you with a smile and a warm heart.

This book was a whirlwind! I loved it! This book had me laughing so hard that I started crying, especially the first 15% of the book. While this book is just one miscommunication after another, which is something I usually don’t like, it felt endearing to watch Sharlot and George fall for each other despite thinking they didn’t like each other because they’re parents are kind of awful! I loved how much their thoughts mirrored each other in trying to hide the deception. I really feel like they were made for each other!
I thought the inclusion of Indonesian culture was really cool to learn about. I also thought the representation of the limited rights and stigmas that women and members of the LGBTQ+ community deal with in the story gave way for some great discussions throughout the book.
I’m also loved learning about Eleanor (Roosevelt) and Kiki and I’m definitely looking forward to Kiki’s book!

3.75 stars!

I absolutely loved Dial A for Aunties and so I was really excited for her YA debut. I thought overall this was fun and humorous, and I loved the inclusion of Indonesian culture. I do think, however, that the angsty teen behavior might have been a little too angsty. I didn't always love how Sharlot, the main character, treated her mom and I definitely had to suspend my belief at times. Overall though I'm glad I read this and overall enjoyed my time!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Well... this was an unexpected win (get it?)! I'd definitely recommend this book for your next romance book club. Worth a shot for sure.

Definitely not on the same level as Dial A for Aunties. I think I'll stick to Jesse Q. Sutanto's adult books, much more entertaining!

I genuinely enjoyed Well, That Was Unexpexted! It’s a perfect YA romance novel, with rich cultural references and contexts, honesty about those early romantic encounters, all of the emotions of being an adolescent in this world and growing up in specific communities, and a levity to the prose that kept me engaged. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this e-arc!

There is nothing better than when the setting is so rich that it is almost another character in the story. In Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Well, That Was Unexpected, Jakarta and Indonesia in general, play as big a part as Sharlot and George.

George and Sharlot are such relatable characters. And, the side characters Kiki and Eleanor stole the show every time they were on the page.

Oh, and I did NOT see the twist at the end coming!

For a slow burn romcom, the build up and the wait was absolutely worth the wait for this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for the review copy.

This book missed the mark for me. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but I just couldn't get in to it. It was fine, but not great.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I was very annoyed with Shar and how much of a jerk she was! I get that this was a YA and she definitely fit the role of a moody, ungrateful teen but man was she a bi***! I do like how we get to see a different side of Indonesia compared to the slums shown on TV. This reminded me a lot of Crazy Rich Asians (which is referenced a bit) but for a much younger audience.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy, but I do apologize for not reading it until now. I read the advance copy while listening to the audiobook that I borrowed from the public library. Having the male and female narrators helped me get into the story. I really enjoyed reading this story.

i loved reading a book set in indonesia (this is my first one actually), however i thought the romance between sharlot and george was a bit rushed which is why this is not a full 5 five star book for me.

I’ve only heard amazing things about this author’s adult book, so I was super excited to try out her new YA contemporary! While I feel as if I’m growing a bit too old for YA contemporary, and haven’t yet found a different appreciation for it now that I can’t entirely relate, I hoped that I’d still really enjoy this one! I did overall enjoy this, but I also just never got that into it. Maybe that’s because I’ve been having a hard time with this genre in general, or maybe it was just this specific book, it’s hard to tell!

I think one of the main issues I had with this book was how long it took for the main characters to actually start liking each other. It was definitely a hate-to-love relationship, but not in the way that usually works for me. The hate was more just like extreme dislike, but the sort of dislike that comes with thinking the person in front of you is not someone you could ever see yourself being friends with. And while I know it was all based on incorrect assumptions due to the premise of the book, it felt like it just lingered on too long to make the final relationship feel true enough to me. I just couldn’t get over how much they just, didn’t care to be friends even.

I did really like the setting of the novel, though, and the exploration of this country and culture that I didn’t really know much about. It also didn’t feel like a super Americanized version of it either. While one character was Asian American, there was still so much focus on her family and her history and where she came from, and it didn’t feel like the book was trying to make Indonesia seem like America. It didn’t feel like the book was trying to specifically cater to me, a white American, and I honestly really appreciated that. It also makes me think that this book will be a wonderful read for teens everywhere, especially in the US, since it really does show how often things are reframed from our perspective, even when it's not needed. There was also just so much love here in this book, even as tougher topics were discussed (feeling disconnected from your history, feeling unwelcome in your home country, homophobia/sexism, etc.). I just loved how this book was able to balance both showing how beautiful and wonderful Indonesia is, while also remaining honest about the issues it has (without trying to find some miraculous fix to them, either).

Overall, while this book wasn’t a favorite, I am excited to finally read more of this author’s books, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for future books as well!

Review will go live on my blog on June 9.

Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me an ARC!
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I really enjoyed this one. I think this is easily a highly recommendable read and I would buy this for others and scream for others to read this!