I have come to love Sutanto despite the chaos that often leaves me unsettled; so much so that I will gladly read just about whatever she decides to write next. I'm not usually one for YA, but knowing her ability to grab the readers and suck them into the world she's creating, I didn't really hesitate to read this one, and I'm glad for it. This was a fun story with a serious undercurrent that Sutanto deals with delicately but decisively, and most importantly, realistically. Another excellent creation from a talented writer.

My thanks to Random House Children's/Delacorte Press, the author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Didn't See That Coming by Jesse Q Sutanto
Pub date: Nov 28 2023

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's for a digital copy of this ARC.

-YA
-laugh out loud funny but covers serious topics as well (see TW below)
-friends-to-lovers


When Kiki discovers that she gets more respect in the online gaming community when they don't know she's a girl, she begins playing as her alter-ego: Dudebro10. Through the game, she becomes fast friends with another played, by the screenname of Sourdawg.

In her real life, Kiki is having a tough time. Her parents moved her to a different school, which has much more strict rules and WAY more homework than her previous school. Kiki finds herself suddenly a small fish in a big pond, and when she stands up for her beliefs in a group project setting, she is dubbed "Crazy Kiki" by the top dog at her new school. 



I didn't realize this was a companion book to Well, That Was Unexpected, but now I plan on going back to read that as well. I really enjoyed Kiki's story, and the progress she made and the confidence that grew within her throughout this book. I find Jesse Q Sutanto's writing always really enjoyable, funny, and easy to read.

If YA isn't really your thing, I would probably suggest picking up something else - this was a pretty young-YA, if that makes sense. Still a 5-star read for me, as I really enjoyed it.



TW: bullying, harrassment, online bullying

3.25

Setting: Indonesia
Rep: Chinese Indo cast; queer side characters

This was another fun and fast paced book from Jesse Q Sutanto. Kiki could be pretty annoying but I did enjoy her journey and growth, and Liam was a sweetheart.

This was enjoyable and entertaining-- a great palette cleanser in the midst of all the fantasy novels I've dove into these past few months. This book dealt about significant subjects, such as bullying in high school and harassment in online gaming, in a nuanced and sympathetic manner that I like, all the while providing readers a romantic view into the lives of our two leads. This is a clean, sweet teen romance just dealing with high school and finding time to game as outlet. Though predictable, it was fresh and funny and so so adorable.

This is a delightfully light, refreshing, and touching read; having not read YA in a long time, I quite enjoyed it, despite the fact that this is Jesse’s first novel for me. I enjoyed the setting in Indonesia. As an Indo, I can identify with Kiki and like how the book addresses bullying and gender equality. Jesse packaged everything intriguingly, and I found myself unable to put this book down. The writing style is straightforward to grasp. Tbh, my hunch about who Sourdawg was was nearly correct, and it piqued my interest as Kiki tried to figure out who he was. Not to mention how Kiki had to adjust to her new school environment and deal with bullying, all of which contributed to the conflict between Kiki and her new peers, which made me root for her!

I enjoy how the conflict is handled softly. It's also not an exaggeration to say that Kiki endures and responds to bullying. Some of Kiki and her parents' exchanges made me laugh; they are pretty funny. The Lil Auntie app is a one-of-a-kind concept. Following this, I plan to read Jesse's other novels. Thanks to Netgalley and Tbrbeyondtours for the arc!

I didn't realize this was a companion book/spinoff for Well, That was Unexpected until I was a few chapters in, and while I definitely liked it better than the first book, I didn't love Didn't See that Coming as much as I thought I would.

There was just something a bit juvenile about the book that made it hard for me to enjoy. The characters were flat and the conflict felt overly simplistic. I appreciate the desire to highlight sexism in the gaming world and more "conservative" Asian settings, but it relied so much on heavy handed exposition and lacked any kind of nuance. I found the way the secret online besties trope was handled was disappointing, and plot randomly took an unexpected turn after the midpoint that felt like it was from another book.

Being reunited with Eleanor Roosevelt Tanuwijaya was a highlight, though.

I received an eARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

When Kiki made her online male persona, DudeBro, it was to be able to play games without getting horrifying messages from male players. She never expected that she’d actually befriend another player.

She also never expected that her parents would move her to a prestigious school, one where she feels like the odd one out. Kiki has never been one to keep her head down, but when the entire school is pushing down on her, she suddenly has to, if she wants to ever belong. The pressure only increases when she finds out that her online best friend attends the same school, and is even in her year! Who could it be? And, more importantly, what would he think if he found out his online friend is actually a girl?

I received an advanced reading copy of Didn’t See That Coming in exchange for an honest review.

Didn’t See That Coming is a young adult novel by Jesse Q. Sutanto. And while it is classified as a romance, it goes deep into the misogyny that women face every day, both online and in real life.

It’s actually really interesting, because I feel like the sort of situation that Kiki finds herself in is one that is actually realistic. Women and girls who are online, and specifically those who game, face so much harassment, and it’s honestly frightening. I used to know someone who used to stream herself gaming, and she would tell me about the harassment she experienced, to the point where once someone even sent her her own address, and I couldn’t imagine having to deal with that. So, it’s likely that many women have had to create online male personas, and when you play a game for a while, you might end up making friends. So I could easily see Kiki’s situation actually happening, and I think that made the book hit much harder than I originally thought it would.

But while there are definitely themes of harassment and misogyny in this book, this is still a YA romance read, so I promise it’s not all doom and gloom. Only a tiny bit of gloom, or more than a tiny bit, as Kiki tries to fit into a new school environment that seems determined to suffocate her and every other teenage girl who walks through its doors. Gah! Going into the gloom again!

But Kiki does make friends! There’s Liam in her class, as well as two younger students who have been working on making a dating app for the school, and are determined to rope Kiki into her schemes. Yeah, for a book that’s barely over 300 pages, there’s a lot in here!

I had fun reading this book. I actually read it in only a few sittings, and found it hard to pull away. I think teens will have a great time reading this book, and specifically girls who feel like they’ve had to shape themselves into someone else to fit in.

Didn’t See That Coming will be released on November 28. You can preorder your copy from Delacorte Press here.

Wow, I totally went into this book blind. I had no clue what to expect from that blurb. I must say, I had a lot of conflicting emotions as I read. As a gamer, I can totally understand her reasoning for wanting to have a boy name. Before she changed her gamer identity, she had a girl name, and she would get messages constantly with threats, and they would automatically not want to be on her team because she was a girl, so therefore she couldn’t be a good player. Her only friend was Sourdawg, and he opened up to her, obviously thinking she was a boy.
When she gets sent to a prestigious new school, Kiki is met with many challenges. She was used to being the popular girl at her old school, and at the new school, there were so many rules, and she wasn’t able to voice her opinions because females were looked down on. The principal made me so mad. He justified the bullying Kiki received at her new school, especially by golden-boy Jonas.
I wasn’t surprised when I learned who Sourdawg was, but I really enjoyed watching it all play out. Overall, it was a good YA romance. I would give it a 3.5/5 (rounded up to 4/5).

This was cute but it was almost to YA for me. I’m not a gamer either so that was interesting. I’m rating this a 2.5/5 stars because it just wasn’t for me. I’m so sorry!

3.5 stars

After reading “ Dial A for Aunties ” I knew Jesse Q Sutanto would never disappoint me in my search for humour and messy Asian families – and once again she has provided. “Didn’t See That Coming” was hilarious and adorable, while also encapsulating the brutal misogyny still rife today – especially in the online gaming world. Such a fun but important YA novel!

“we pretend that the patriarchy is done and we’re in a society with gender equality, so we can’t even fight it because the fight’s over. How do I fight something that’s already playing dead but is still very much alive behind closed doors?”

Kiki was confident, strong, and funny – I loved her character. As she would say, she absolutely slayed, and I loved her refusal to back down and fall in line. She did NOT have a fun time at her new school, and while she made a few decisions that truly pissed me off, she was also a stressed teenage girl, so I couldn’t really blame her. Sutanto’s powerful messages on misogyny and sexism were so brilliantly told through Kiki’s character, and I also adored the abundance of hilarious and adorable side characters.

“I’d like to find the asshole who normalized “Not like other girls” as a compliment and grind his stupid head into the dirt.”

I may not be a gamer, but this book struck hard when talking about the struggles that women go through when gaming. Nonetheless, I had so much fun, and read this in a day. A masterful blend of important topics and fun teenage shenanigans, and while one event in the book really irritated me, I truly enjoyed this overall. Super fun! Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and TBR and Beyond Tours for the ARC copy.

This sweet gamer romance reads like the story from the movie "A Cinderella Story" with Hilary Duff. A mystery friend becomes something more. With a flare of humor, this love story is engaging and includes difficult topics as well as diverse communities in a light manner.

This is a great YA romance - feminist, funny, and so cute!

Kiki is a gamer, and she's confident and funny. I really love her personality. And even though she's confident, she's not immune to doubt and feeling down when she starts getting bullied at her new school.

Liam is really sweet and a steadying presence. He stands by what he believes and it's very endearing. He offers to help Kiki and stand up for her, but listens whenever she asks him not to. I think that's a low bar, but it's just not always met. So I appreciate that he really listens to Kiki.

I did think the conflict between Kiki and Liam resolved a little too easily. I don't want to spoil anything, but the level of lying that Kiki did is not really excusable despite the circumstances. I don't have any problem with her being forgiven, but I do think she should have had to take more responsibilty for her own actions. A more in depth conversation between them would have been more satisfying to me.

Overall this is a really great YA romance. It takes on some big issues, but is still lighthearted and funny.

Thanks to NetGalley, Delacorte Press, and Jesse Q. Sutanto for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

In true Jesse Q. Sutanto fashion, I thought this book was hilarious. A feministic, smash the patriarchy, relatable novel as an Asian who's always felt pressured to be on her best behavior. What I was really excited for, and enjoyed, was the feminist plotline when it came to online gaming. I wanted it to be a little more present though, I thought that there was so much more going on that it took away from the "yes video games are fun, more women should play them!" storyline that I was particularly looking forward to. The romance was cute as well, but felt like it came in a little too late. Overall, I did enjoy this book, as well as Jesse's writing, but I have to say my expectations weren't met at it's fullest and I think that Jesse's adult works definitely excel more in my book. (If you have yet to read Vera Wong, do it!)

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacourt Press for a free E-arc in exchange for my honest review. Didn't See that Coming is a Young Adult Romance about a gamer girl and her online friend. It is a follow-up to We'll That Was Unexpected as it follows characters introduced in that story. You don't need to have read the first book first, but I strongly suggest it as this book does have spoilers for that one. (And they are both fantastic!) This story has miscommunication, fake dating, "enemies to lovers," friends to lovers, and strong female friendships. It also covers topics such as feminism, bullying, misogyny within the gaming world and the world at large, cyber bullying, and the ups and downs of coming of age. At the 20% mark I just couldn't put the book down. The characters are either lovable or love to hate and the story holds so much hope. One of my favorite Young Adult reads this year.

Kiki Siregar is a serious gamer with a lot of confidence in herself, but she’s come to learn that confidence doesn’t always help her in certain situations. When you a girl in a guys gaming world, no one takes you seriously, even when you are better than they are. Kiki creates her alter ego online and plays as a guy, which is great, until she crosses paths with her best gamer friend in real life. Should she keep up the guy gaming profile facade or tell him who she really is?

Didn’t See That Coming is a really well written and entertaining book, but it covers a lot of heavy topics. I loved parts of this book and disliked others, but the humor and the parts I loved definitely outweighed the parts that weren’t for me. I loved the cast of characters in this book and think they all added perfectly to this storyline. As always from Jesse Q. Sutanto, we get an almost crazily humorous story that makes it very hard to put this book down. Some of the craziness seemed a bit over the top to me, but it didn’t take too much away from the main message. Kiki faces a lot of push back in this book when she transfers into a very conservative school and she realizes that not all of the world, especially a lot of her home country isn’t as accepting and liberal as she is used to. Bullying, online and in person, is a huge topic in this book and I think it was really well handled. Overall this was a good, humorous read and I would recommend it!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

Thanks to @netgalley & @prhaudio for the free advanced copies of this adorable YA gamer romance!

Didn't See That Coming by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Pub Date: 11/28/2023
Format: Audio/Ebook Hybrid
Rating: 3.75 Stars

I do not game and I also do not really read YA romance (I really need to start reading synopses before requesting books...whoops) but this was a very cute novel! I have to say, I requested Didn't See That Coming because I've wanted to check out Sutanto for a while and she didn't disappoint!

This book is a YA romance, yes, but it is also a social commentary on the different standards boys and girls are held to in school systems and life in general. I thought the approach and execution were fantastic - Sutanto makes a lot of important points while still keeping this book light and adorable (and narrator Risa Mei really matches the tone spectacularly in the audiobook).

I would absolutely recommend this novel to fans of YA romance or anyone looking for a quick read that will put a smile on your face. Really looking forward to checking out more from Sutanto in the future!

This story of Kiki really had me hooked from the beginning. I am not a gamer but I knew the problems girl gamers have with playing. I think the author did a really great job at addressing the sexist problem. I have seen other games get the same responses that Kiki did and its infuriating. The fact that she has to pretend to be a boy to play these games to have the boys leave her alone is crazy.

I read Well, That Was Unexpected last year and I was so happy to see that we got another story from the book that I really liked. Between that and the gamer aspect I couldn't put this book down and read it in 2 days. I have also noticed that I really enjoy the mixed media aspect of books. I just brings what the characters are going through to a more believable point of view.

Overall I really liked this book. When my daughter gets older I could see myself telling her to read these books. I can't wait to see what other books this author comes out with.

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for the Advanced Reader Copy.
4.5/5

An enjoyable YA romance that was a fun and fast read. It didn't totally hook me though so I wasn't very invested. I think this will be popular among slightly younger (than me) YA readers!

I love this author so much! She didn't disappoint on this book! I loved this book! I would definitely recommend this book! I read this book in one sitting!

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Children's for this e-book. Let me just say that I love this author I love the Aunties series, I was hesitant to read Vera Wong but I loved it as well and I loved this YA as well. So pretty much Jesse can write any book and I will love. I loved how this book overall was focused on Kiki and her story the changes that any teenager faces when moving to a new school. Navigating bullies and having the courage to Stand Up for yourself.