This was a cute read that satisfied all my romance needs! Thank you Netgalley for the chance to review!

"A hilariously fresh and romantic send-up to You've Got Mail about a gamer girl with a secret identity and the online bestie she's never met IRL until she unwittingly transfers to his school, from the bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties, The Obsession, and Well, That Was Unexpected.

Seventeen-year-old Kiki Siregar is a fabulous gamer girl with confidence to boot. She can't help but be totally herself...except when she's online.

Her secret? She plays anonymously as a guy to avoid harassment from other male players. Even her online best friend - a cinnamon roll of a teen boy who plays under the username Sourdawg - doesn't know her true identity. Which is fine, because Kiki doesn't know his real name either, and it's not like they're ever going to cross paths IRL.

Until she transfers to an elite private school for her senior year and discovers that Sourdawg goes there, too.

But who is he? How will he react when he finds out Kiki's secret? And what happens when Kiki realizes she's falling for her online BFF?"

Firstly, so here for the You've Got Mail vibe, but also, I know so many people who've played different genders in games for protection, that I am so here for it.

This was a fun quick rom com. I really liked both main characters, Kiki and Liam. It was a believable friends to lovers. You see the "third act breakup" coming from very early on. I feel like Sutanto did a really good job with incorporating some very real issues that girls/women deal with.
Thank you netgalley and Sutanto for the arc.

This book was so much fun! I love Sutanto's writing style, and this book was no exception. For fans of Eric Smith and Emma Lord, this book was a blast from start to finish.

Thanks to Netgalley and PRH Audio for the arc of this book. I have loved all of this author's novels and this one is no different! I loved reading about Kiki and what she went through as a female online. I completely understand why she did what she did and I'm so happy things worked out for her and Liam. I think this book contained such important topics and is a great read for all teens.

‘Didn’t See That Coming’ is a cute YA romance that is full of fun banter, characters with more confidence than I have in my 30s, & really serves up the “Crazy Rich Asian'' vibes when it comes to the opulence & wealth of this world we get to be a part of for 300+ pages. I was quickly pulled into the story, often catching myself smiling or laughing as I got to know the characters. Kiki is such a spitfire & the Lil’ Aunties are such a vibe - I want to be them all when I grow up.

But I feel like this book is a bit fragmented - while most of the book was super fun & enjoyable, there's a chunk in the last quarter-ish of the book that just felt disconnected & maybe even a little unnecessary. It’s difficult to explain this without giving any spoilers, but I’ll just say that there is a plot point that is introduced in the last bit of the book that really caught me off guard because it didn’t seem to fit. We didn’t really need another point of conflict as the “secret identity” situation really gave us lots of potential conflict. Because of this, I want to give this book a solid 3.5 rating, but I’m rounding it up because there was more of the book that I enjoyed vs. the bits that I didn’t enjoy.

I also really appreciated the way this book approached some really sensitive topics, like sexism, online harassment, & bullying. This is one of those YA books that I wish I had when I was younger, but am glad that it exists now. There were a lot of (unfortunately) relatable moments, so I was rooting for Kiki all along the way.

Side Note: I am obsessed with the Lil’ Aunties & I would love to read a whole book just about them & all the incredible mischief that they get up to!

Didn't See That Coming" initially caught my eye due to its charming and vibrant aesthetics. I also wanted to explore it to determine if it would be a good fit for my teenage daughter, who's an avid gamer herself. To my delight, the answer was a resounding yes


.The story revolves around Kiki, our main character, who harbors a deep passion for video games and the supportive community she finds within them. However, she faces a predicament as everyone in her online gaming world assumes she's a male. This leads her to confront significant misogyny and forces her to adopt a male persona to enjoy her games without harassment. She forms a close bond with an online friend whom she's never met in real life.

As the narrative unfolds, Kiki changes schools and deliberately attracts attention by altering her school uniform skirt, which results in her partnering with friends to create a matchmaking service. Unexpectedly, her online friend ends up attending her school, unaware of Kiki's true identity.

A few key takeaways from this book include the harsh reality of bullying, the prevalent issue of online harassment targeting women, and the beautiful portrayal of culture, which struck me as a prominent aspect of the story from the very beginning.

In summary, I thoroughly enjoyed "Didn't See That Coming" and would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley and Jesse Q. Sutanto for providing me with the opportunity to read it.

This is my first Jesse Q. Sutanto book and I'm glad I liked it so that I can read all her other books! It's an easy read for me and I liked the main characters! Especially being Asian, I relate to her and the traditions of her country a lot! The only thing is that there's too little romance for my liking, it came so late in the book, felt more like a slow-burn. Overall, it's a fun and easy book!
Also I have to say, this cover is SO pretty, it's definitely very eye-catching.

I am going through a YA kick! This is a cute story of gamers with elements of You’ve Got Mail and life in Indonesia. I wanted even more Liam content and didn’t love the twist in the end.

3.5 stars, rounding down to 3.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for the advanced reader copy.

This was a cute, modern day, YA take on You’ve Got Mail that is light in tone but manages to incorporate a few delicate and more serious topics in a well handled way.

I was really interested in the first 1/4 of the book, but it did manage to loose me a bit as the story progressed and started to fall a bit flat and some of the fun and the light heartedness I’d grown used to in the book was a bit lost with the heavier topics. The 3rd quartet plot twist also felt a bit much and didn’t fully land for me either.

Overall though this was a cute read and I can see fans of YA contemporary enjoying it! Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I love how the author handles some serious issues but does it in a way that doesn’t make the book too heavy. YA can also come off super cheesy, but this one was so funny and well written so that it wasn’t over the top so that even as an adult I enjoyed it. Her writing style is just fresh and laid back. It’s honestly like talking to a friend. I can’t get enough.
Kiki has just been transferred to a new High School by her parents for her senior year because they felt like her previous school was too liberal and they want her to know what a real conservative life will be like after she finishes school. Kiki doesn’t want to transfer schools-she loves her school and her friends and she feels strong and confident there. However, she doesn’t get a say in the matter, so she sucks it up and tries to put her best foot forward on her first day but it goes horribly wrong when she makes enemies with the most popular guy in the school, who ends up bullying her because she doesn’t blindly go along with everything he says just because he’s him.
Meanwhile, at home, she is a gamer who has made a solid friendship with another gamer after she pretends to be a guy because she was getting hit on when she played as a girl. And now she can’t tell him that she’s a guy because she’s let too much time pass and she’s developed feelings for him. Then she accidentally finds out he goes to her school so she sets out to find out who he is with the help of her friends and their new dating app.
If you’re looking for a sweet teen romance that also deals with tough issues like bullying both cyber and in person, inequality and feminism, you will definitely enjoy this book. There’s also so much humor you’ll find yourself laughing despite the seriousness of the topics.
Thanks to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

This is a great teen drama/romcom. I enjoyed how it addressed the ways females are expected to behave and how they are treated when they don't fit the mold. I think teens will enjoy the gaming aspect, as well as the complications of family and friend relationships.

Will Kiki be able to maintain the anonymity behind her screen name and keep her online friendship separate from her life in her new school when those worlds collide? Will her new tormentor stop being such a jerk, or will the Crazy Kiki nickname be hers forever?

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When Kiki’s parents decide to send her to a new school, she is devastated, and distraught when she finds the students at this school not as welcoming. the only light in her days is noggin on to her online game and chatting with her long distance bestie Sourdawg. Only problem is, she just found out he isn’t so long distance, and actually goes to her school. That plus the fact that she has been pretending to be a boy in the game since the harassment for female gamers is so bad. Is she finally going to meet her bestie in real life? How can she tell him she is actually a she and not dudebro?

Oh man, this book. It absolutely broke me that Kiki entered her new school as a super happy, and confident girl, yet as time went on we see her spirit just break. I wanted to scream at the tormentors, as well as the principal of this school so damn much. It was just infuriating that Kiki was blamed for everything, when she was the one being harassed daily. I loved that Liam was such a nice guy from the get go and that he was truly a good friend to Kiki. The love story was so perfect, and the ending was just chefs kiss! Plus I loved catching up with Eleanor Roosevelt again!

Thanks to Net Gallery and the publisher for this eARC. This is an almost 4/5 for me,

Kiki aka Dudebro1, a girl gamer, is forced to transfer to this fancy conservative private school. She gets bullied by the billionaire rich boy and is dubbed “crazy Kiki’ but when she tells the teachers/principal no one cares. Instead, she gets threatened to be expelled if she doesn’t start being a “lady”. The only silver lining is that, her online besties and crush, who she’s never met irl apparently goes to the same school and the only thing keeping her going is finding him. Book also features faking dating via a plot twist,

How this book could have been improved:
1. Am I a horrible person for wanting a redemption arc for the billionaire rich kid? I honestly kind of felt bad for him and his poor little rich boy life?
2. Why did nothing happen to the shitty conservative school and that horrible principal?

Jesse Q. Sutanto is an insta-read for me. I’ve read all of their books at this point and I’ve loved every one. They are so good at making you have fun and stay engaged even while going over heavier topics. I’m amazed by how they can flawlessly write and mix multiple genres. And this book did not disappoint. As always I fell in love with the characters which made it so easy to laugh and cry with them through the book. I highly recommend!

I love how many new releases by Asian women, featuring asian FMCs have been coming out. I am pro all efforts to normalize "diverse" MCs and I recognize that Jesse Sutanto has contributed a lot in that regard, across a variety of genres. However, I find myself loving some of her books and more skeptical about others. For instance, I loved Vera Wong and would eat up a sequel, but although I enjoyed the absurdity of Dial A for Aunties, I haven't been keeping up with that series. Now, with "Didn't See That Coming" I find myself somewhere in the middle. I am going to have to check out the first book in this series (which I didn't realize it was a part of until I started it) and would be interested in future installments featuring the other characters mentioned in this one. I appreciate the way Sutanto addressed big themes such as bullying and sexism but I struggled with the tone and some of the pacing. I found myself midway through feeling as if the book couldn't possibly have more to cover, and then being pleasantly surprised by the twist. I also liked how she managed to play off the classic You've got mail formula in a unique and less directly adaptive way.

Fun genre switch for me! Thoroughly enjoyed this fresh and funny read. Beautiful job of pulling me in and experiencing all the emotions right along with the fabulous characters. Thank you NetGalley, Jesse Sutano and Random House Childern’s for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I would recommend this book if you're looking for a YA contemporary romance. Set around the lives of two gamers in high school in Asia, this book hits some awesome topics like gender, bias, and stereotypes. Entertaining but not life changing. Thanks #netgalley

I VERY MUCH ENJOYED THIS BOOK! I don’t normally read Contemporary YA Fiction but
When I do it has to be relatable and captures my attention. This read went above those expectations! I don’t know much about gaming or Asian culture and it was eye opening learning about the hardships of sexism that girls and women are experiencing; the author really portrays that well through the book.
I found myself raging with the protagonist KiKi and wanting justice for her so bad. The novel is loaded with pop culture and I found myself relating to a lot of the bullying aspects that KiKi experienced throughout the book. I rooted for her to have a happy ending and for her to remember who the hell she was and not forget the amazing person she was. I found myself pulled right into the world that the author created and once the novel ended I felt my self in crisis that this wasn’t reality. I love this book so much and will very much be recommending it to anyone who will listen, and also to the librarians at my place of work. I enjoyed learning about a culture unlike my own I enjoyed learning about a hobby unlike my own. I was intrigued through the entirety of the novel and I couldn’t put it down!

POOR KIKI!!!!
OVERALL I LOVE IT

High school romance is definitely my jam. BUT high school romance in JAKARTA?! sign me up!!!

I love how this book managed to wove online gaming sexism, cyber bullying, school bullying, and mysoginistic into a still sweet tender love story. A story of becoming a woman. Of becoming unapologetically YOU. Of a girl stands up on herself and managed to find courage with her friends.

F*** the racist mysoginistic school that only want to SAVE FACE among other bullying problems. Sadly, it happened a lot in Indonesia, and it reflected clearly here. I love love how Kiki finally take "revenge" on this.

Oh my sweet green flag boy🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽
Hope u rot in hell for those red flags boys yikes

If you're into gaming, high school romance, friends to lovers, and problematic school, give this book a go!!! 💖💖💖💖

Ps. It's a standalone book. However, if you have read Well That Was Unexpected, you'll find one or two familiar names here. EVEN IF YOI HAVEN'T (bcs I haven't too), it's okay. The story is still very much understandable and enjoyable.