Sutanto (of Aunties fame) has done a good job transitioning to young adult for her recent novel that takes a spin on You’ve Got Mail. It’s a classic “you don’t know that I know” hidden identity story, but what really makes it is the feminist gamer twist, calling out a misogynist online culture. The setting of the private school and the pressure of Asian families to “save face” are also elements that advance the story to a deeper level. Some hijinks are fun while some moments are melodramatic, but all in all, it’s a nice YA read.

Rating: Really Liked It

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book via TBR and Beyond Tours in exchange for an honest review!

Didn’t See That Coming is a story about Kiki, a gamer girl who pretends to be a guy to stop the harassment she got. Her online best friend, Sourdawg, doesn’t know she is a girl and when she transfers to the same school as him, he might just find out the truth.

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

Reading this synopsis when it entered my inbox made me super intruiged and I couldn't wait to dive into this story! I wouldn’t call myself a gamer girl, but I definitely enjoy playing them (not more than reading tho hehe), so I was excited to read a story about one.

The story stars off so strong! It immediately set the tone for a great book and I was hooked! I loved the online interaction and chatting format added to the normal dialogue. Reading Kiki’s thoughts was fun, since she is very humorous and witty! The level of humour and sarcasm added to the story made this such an easy read. The writing style really made it feel as if I was with my own friends, the familiarity making it amazing.

I really admire Kiki as a character, her confidence and how she won’t let others walk all over her. Standing up for herself and speaking her mind. The emotions she felt were so real, as I felt them as well when I was reading what happened to her.

Her relationships with her friends and family are so fun to read. The banter made me smile throughout this whole book. The blooming romance between her and Liam was also everything! I kinda wanted to read from his POV as well, as I think it would’ve been a great bonus to the story.

I hadn’t expected this book to be so heavy in the end, tackling topics like bullying, sexism, misogyny, classism and toxic relationships. I had thought this book to be sweet and fluffy, but I loved the way this book tackled these difficult topics that are still very much a problem this day.

I haven’t read anything by the other aside from this book, but will definitely be checking out the other books as some of those characters made cameos in this one!

Overall, I loved every minute of Didn’t See That Coming, which had amazing humour, a strong main character and a strong message.

Didn't See That Coming, by Jesse Q Sutano, is a cute YA novel. Well-written story of likable characters in situations that were realistic and laughable at times. I enjoy an occasional YA novel and this one did not disappoint. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for the ARC ebook I read to complete this review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Jesse Q Sutano is quickly becoming an auto-buy author. I really enjoyed the message of this one and think it would be a hit for YA lovers, gamers, and teens! This beginning did take a little for me to get into, but once I did, I was eager to find out how it would end.

Kiki is a female gamer trying to fit in at a new school her parents transferred her to. As a female gamer, the males didn’t take her seriously so she decides to pose as a male under her gamer username. At her new school she becomes a target for bullying when her classmates begin referring to her as “crazy Kiki.” The bullying does stop at the classmates, her principal also bully’s her and doesn’t listen to her because of who she is. It’s not until Kiki finds her love interest Liam that she second guesses her decision to use and pose as a male in the gamer world.

While this book does deal with heavy topics such as bullying, misogyny, and cultural expectations, it’s written well, blending in a bit of humor and is easy to read. I found myself rooting for Kiki standing up for herself and not backing down to the males. She showed them women can be great gamers too. I also enjoyed the bit of fake-dating that’s mixed in as well. That’s one of my favorite tropes.

Even if you aren’t a gamer, I think you would enjoy this read with the many different pieces woven within the story. If you read Suranto’s previous works 𝐷𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐴 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝐴𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠, I believe you will enjoy this one too with the humor, but with a YA feel.

Thank you to the author, publisher and @NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This YA contemporary romance take on You’ve Got Mail tackled a lot of heavy topics but somehow still kept it light. Bullying, sexism, harassment wasn’t what I was expecting but Sutanto kept it real for the YA crowd and that, I can get on board with.

I loved the gamer aspect (brought the old email communication to a more relevant communication medium) and I did like how she tackled the harassment in the gaming world. Gives you a real vivid picture of what women go through all the time.

My daughter complains that I should give books I love 5 stars, instead of 4, so 5 stars it is. I am so far from the demographic of this book, but I loved it. I saw a Jesse Q. Sutanto book was available from Netgalley, without noticing it was YA, yet I loved it.
First of all, it takes place in Jakarta, which immediately drew my interest.
Plus, parts take place in a private Chinese school, so I imagined all the characters were speaking Chinese.
It took a few seconds on reading the first page for me to realize a character was playing a video game, which became one of the important plot points.
Apparently, there is a previous book with some of the characters, which I plan to read soon, because one of my favorite things in this book were character names. Now, I am not going to get any of the last names but one, because I do not have the physical book, but George Clooney and Eleanor Roosevelt are brother and sister, our heroine is Kristabella, with Liam Ng, and Justin as possible love interests.
The action that takes place in the game is fascinating to me, but the explanations for why Kiki chooses her game name is also a big plot point.
A really terrific ending really made me happy. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy, as this is probably a book I would never have read. I recommend it to anyone who wants to read about female empowerment.

As a gamer girl myself, this book did a pretty good job highlighting the issues girls and women face in gamer spaces. The objectification and sexualization of characters aside, there are the threats and accusations of doing it for attention (because heaven forbid a woman does something for herself). Kiki is a strong modern girl being raised in a conservative country and struggles to stand up for herself in a school that doesn't support her. Ooooh my blood boiled at the "maybe he likes you" line in response to a make classmate bullying her. Kiki finding her voice was so fun to read and the end was great and realistic. The romance was cute and played well into the larger story, but the sudden appearance of a love triangle came from no where. I couldn't tell if it was real or a part of her bullying, especially the "grand" gesture of love. Overall, a fun read that highlights social issues in a fairly realistic way.

I absolutely tore through this book. I didn’t want to put it down and finished in in less than half a day. A modern take on a You’ve-Got-Mail-esque story, this YA romance is sure to win over any fans of the classic 90s rom-com. The story is cute, sweet, and highly entertaining, though not without its cringy teenage moments.

After horrifying experiences of sexism playing an online game, teenage Kiki creates the online alias “Dudebro10” to avoid harassment. She never thought she’d find a best friend, and she really never thought that best friend would end up going to her new school. Her first week at her new school ends up going horribly, with sexism and bullying taking center stage in her new experience. Kiki seeks to find her online friend IRL, but in the process makes some new girl friends along the way, and falling for her online bestie… She is torn between revealing who she is online to her friend and protecting the friendship they have online.

I did feel like the ending was a bit rushed, and mostly, I wanted more, but this book tackles some very difficult topics (bullying, online harassment) and still manages to come off as a fun read. Jesse Q. Sutanto walks the balance beam between lighthearted and serious very well and leaves the reader with that feel-good warmth.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC!

KiKi is being sent to the prestigious Xingfa Academy for her senior year of high school, and things start to go wrong right off the bat. She makes and enemy of the school's golden boy, Jonas, is branded a troublemaker by her teachers and the principal, and is called Crazy KiKi by her peers. Just when things can't get any worse, KiKi finds that her best friend in an online FPS goes to her school...but the problem is he thinks she's a dude, and the more she learns about her classmates, she thinks Saurdawg might just be her worst enemy...

I don't know how Sutanto does it. Somehow she writes just absolutely edge of your seat thrillers and then turns around and writes the most adorable romcoms. And every book of hers I've read, from the cozy mysteries to the romcoms to the thrillers, they're all just amazing.
You just want to hug Kiki as she goes through her days at Xingfa, dealing with cultural bias, misogyny, favoritism, and a family that just "wants what's best for her". She suffers so much in this book, as many girls do. This is a thing for boys (when the new robotics club is for everyone, but only boys are personally invited to join), girls aren't good at playing games, unless they're playing a healer. But she manages to get through it all in style, making life better not just for herself but her fellow classmates, too.
And you just have to love Elanor Roosevelt and Sarah Jessica Parker, too. 13 year olds that will someday take over the world without you even knowing it. I loved Elanor in Well That Was Unexpected, and was thrilled to see her back in this book.

I was excited to see that Jesse Q. Sutanto was writing a YA book after really enjoying her Aunties cozy mystery series. This had a similar mad cap energy but also a LOT of teen angst.

Kiki's life takes a turn for the worse, when her mom switches her high school from an engaging, creative school to one that is very strict. The only bright side is that her best gaming bud is also at the new school, but he doesn't know who she is or that she is actually a girl. When lots of teen drama ensues, Kiki has to figure out who she is and what she's going to stand for.

I flew through most of this book, but a few parts were a bit more stodgy. I loved Kiki's knowledge of herself but watching her slowly disintegrate was difficult. I wanted to tell her to snap out of it! I did a major cheer during the climax of the book. The story line with her gamer bff/crush was really sweet but there was a twist at 70% that was so completely unnecessary. It dragged the pacing down for me. I did love the look into a high school in Indonesia and all the culture that accompanies it.

Overall this was a cute read but I could have done without a certain story line. 3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Kiki is a fun character and it was heartening to see her overcome the obstacles a new, more conservative school threw her way. However, there was a cheesiness to the writing that prevented me from loving this book (i.e., "dudebro" as a gamer username and the way Liam's "hotness" was described). I didn't totally buy in to Kiki's reasoning for not telling Liam who dudebro was earlier, but I appreciated the way it was resolved in the book. As with Sutanto's other books, there were some wonderful side characters, especially Eleanor Roosevelt.

I was so excited to receive this as an arc because I really enjoyed the last book by this author. This one was just as good and had me glued pretty much from the start. I liked all the topics that the book touched upon and thought it was a solid read. I liked the MC and how the book includes the other characters from the previous book. This is definitely one of the books I would suggest other check out. This author is quickly becoming one of my favorites!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

A young adult story line set in an online community where players can be anonymous and a high school where evry day finds someone else in your face. The story translates well into today's game centric climate and should find a great audience with the target reader.

A cute little young adult book with You’ve Got Mail vibes! I sometimes have a problem with YA books, just because I am of mom of YAs and it comes too lose to home, haha! But overall a fun, cute read!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This delightful YA novel from Jesse Q. Sutanto is both exactly what I hoped it would be, and yet somehow more. I really liked the feisty heroine, Kiki, who is sent to a conservative school to learn how to fit in with a more "traditional" (i.e., misogynistic and harmful) society setting after excelling in a more liberal school environment. She struggles a bit with her self worth when she's bullied, and has to work through some things on her own and with her new friend group. Paired with this, she also has to work through sexism in her favorite game, a first-person shooter war game where she's pretended to be a guy for years to avoid extreme online bullying. Her online gaming best friend (what a cutie!) turns out to be a student at her new school, and (being a YA rom com at its heart) she manages to fall for him in real life. There's also delightful callbacks to characters from Well, That Was Unexpected, and very strong You've Got Mail vibes.

I really loved this story, and will continue to read this author whenever she's got a new release! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review!

This was charming, as all Jesse Q. Sutanto's work is, but I think the You've Got Mail premise doesn't really work in here. I think it's hard to make it work in any story these days, especially in the age of social media, but it was a bit of a hang up in this. Our main character knew very quickly the real identity of our second lead and it just felt like lying for the rest of the book. But ultimately, I did enjoy this, Sutanto writes so well and her characters are always endearing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a cute YA novel that is somehow both light and entertaining but complex enough to challenge traditional and sexist culture and confront bullying in school and online. This one does it all!

Synopsis:
17 year old Kiki is a confident, outspoken gamer girl who is 100% as real as can be… except when she’s online playing under a username that suggests she’s a guy. She does this as a result of the harassment and threats she got when she played as herself. As Dudebro10 she can just focus on the game but when she unexpectedly becomes friends with another gamer she struggles with the fact that while he’s opening up to her about his secrets — she’s keeping a huge one. Since she’s sure he doesn’t even go to school in Indonesia they’ll never meet IRL so it’s not that big of a deal, right? But when Kiki is transferred to a new school she learns that her online bestie is also a student there. Who is Sourdawg? How will he react if he finds out his online bestie is actually a girl? And what is Kiki supposed to do about the feelings she’s developing for him that are a lot more than friendship?

This book has:
👾Gaming
👾Feminism
👾Friendship
👾Bullying
👾Sexism
👾Secret identity
👾Matchmaking
👾Tween Aunties

A heartwarming, fun and entertaining book for all teens and an especially good fit for those who find themselves in cultures/institutions where the patriarchy is still the accepted norm and standing up for yourself can lead to bullying and punishment. The story is about friendship and individuality, falling in love and challenging people to stand up to inequality. It addresses the blatant toxic behavior, bullying and harassment that are not uncommon in elite institutions or the gaming community where sexism and objectification are perpetuated by artists who create overtly sexualized woman characters and authority figures impose punishment for girls who don’t “fit in.”

Jesse’s writing style & character relationships are fantastic. I really enjoyed the friendship between Kiki in the younger girls aka the lil aunties and her relationship with her parents was so relatable for young girls. The romantic interest is super cute and supportive. Overall, the characters felt pretty realistic for teenagers and the drama was entertaining! I recommend this book to anyone who reads YA!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Triggers: bullying, sexism, harassment, gaslighting.

Thank you NetGalley & Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This review is posted to Goodreads, Instagram, and Amazon.

I know this is YA but it is frustrating how there were parts where the main character makes the same mistakes over and over. How do you get in trouble in class and get upset about it and then do the same thing the next period? I really like that Kiki stands up for herself and enacts change but at first I was like sis catch the hint! I do think it all comes full circle at the end and I am happy that Kiki stood up for herself but it felt very YA to me.

The principal is so insufferable!!! Every scene with him infuriated me.

The blackmail part of the book was very cringey to me and made me want to turn the book off. Personally I would have just confessed so listening to Kiki suffer through it was very painful to me. I'm an oversharer so I could not relate to that part at all.

I really think this book is so great for young people to hear that they don't have to put up with bullying, sexism, and misogyny even though it is culturally present.

Also admittedly, I have not seen You've Got Mail so that could factor into part of my review of the story!

Thank you to NetGalley and PRH Audio for an ARC of this one!

TW: Sexism, Bullying, Misogyny

I really enjoyed the idea of this book and the angst and drama portrayed between Liam and Kiki was well done. The way girl gamers are treated in this world was spot on and I love that Kiki stood up for herself and demanded action multiple times. The overall situation was addressed appropriately. I personally wasn't a big fan of the writing style and prose, but I am an adult reading YA, so that is expected at times. I have a pre-teen, gamer girl daughter and I think she would really enjoy this book in a few years! Overall this was a solid YA romance! Thank you to Netgalley, Jesse Q. Sutanto and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I thought this was such an important YA read! It was definitely cheesy at times but what YA isn't? I loved all of the characters + was rooting for Kiki the entire time! This touched on so many important topics + was so incredibly relatable. I think all young girls should read this.