Reviews

Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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welcometomynirvana's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

katreadsalot's review against another edition

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5.0

This is a lovely YA romance that is also about relationships between children and parents, which I loved. Sutanto's voice is just so fun - I laughed so many times. The rich setting of this novel made me feel like I was in Indonesia and Bali with Sharlot and George! Excellent on audio narrated by Risa Mei and Yoshi Sudarso.

debbilynn42's review against another edition

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funny inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

fkshg8465's review

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This may be the dumbest book I’ve ever enjoyed. However, I wish the author would stop renaming Indonesian characters to US celebrities. This time, it was George Clooney and Eleanor Roosevelt. In a prior book I read, it was Tom Cruise. It feels like she’s saying US personalities are the standard for all other wealthy Asians to emulate. Otherwise, it really was the dumbest book that I’ve loved reading.

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial

Something I love about young adult coming-of-age is how much the characters really grow over the course of the book 🥹 It’s so lovely to watch them navigate new feelings and experiences so vulnerably!

Jesse Q Sutanto knows how to make you giggle with sheltered, ignorant 17-year-old Sharlot, who goes to Jakarta, Indonesia for the very first time with her mom, who is from there. She has her own not-so-flattering predispositions about what to expect, and the reality of Jakarta completely blows her expectations out of the water.

I thought the premise of how Sharlot & George get set up by their parents (&by Eleanor, George’s 13-year-old sister) was hilarious. George’s potential business, One Liner, was a really wholesome idea too, and it just made me love George more lol! Their connection was a bit of a slow burn but I had so much fun with the fake dating plot!

I am always a sucker for the fraught mother-daughter relationships, especially in Asian immigrant households. I loved that Sharlot and her mom continued to unpack more layers from the other, and eventually held space to get to know each other beyond the roles of “daughter” and “mother”.

I will pretty much read anything JQS writes, & this fluffy romcom was a silly goofy, sweet lil reprieve.

Content Warnings