by Jesse Q. Sutanto
ASIN/ISBN: 9780593434031 
Publication: November 28, 2023

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DESCRIPTiON

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?

Content Warning: bullying, cyberbullying, sexism, toxic masculinity

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jesse Q Sutanto grew up shuttling back and forth between Jakarta and Singapore and sees both cities as her homes. She has a Masters degree from Oxford University, though she has yet to figure out a way of saying that without sounding obnoxious. She is currently living back in Jakarta on the same street as her parents and about seven hundred meddlesome aunties. When she’s not tearing out her hair over her latest WIP, she spends her time baking and playing FPS games. Oh, and also being a mom to her two kids.

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REVIEW

I enjoyed Sutanto’s Dial A for Aunties and was curious about her YA books. Didn’t See That Coming demonstrates how versatile Sutanto is from the absurdly funny to sweet romcoms. Didn’t See That Coming is very much the latter, but it also provides insight into heavier topics like toxic masculinity, bullying, and finding space within or possibly outside of the patriarchy.

Coming from a conservative Asian family, it was easy to sympathize with Kiki’s struggles. She’s outspoken and tries to stand up for what she believes in, yet is told time and again that she is overreacting and to accept her place as a female student. It’s heartwrenching to see the light in her diminish each day she goes to school. This aspect of Kiki’s story was written well, and I could not help but hope that she would be able to overcome the adversities facing her. It gets harder before it starts to get better.

As different subplots began to pop up, the main story started to get buried under them. I wanted more time and effort spent on Kiki solving her Sourdawg mystery and discussing their relationship, both online and potentially offline. As things began to come together at the end, their relationship offline just seemed to be resolved too quickly. I don’t know if I would have done the same had I been Sourdawg.

Overall, I enjoyed Didn’t See That Coming. It’s a cute YA romcom with an endearing main character. It reminded me why I like Sutanto’s writing style, which is why I picked Well That Was Unexpected, the book this one is a companion to.

**Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours for allowing me to be part of the tour. Remember to check out the schedule and visit more posts. Also, thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with access to the book. I voluntarily read and reviewed it. All opinions are my own.**