A review by annescorner
Four Aunties and a Wedding, by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.
dnf at page 67
I really enjoyed the first one "Dial A For Aunties" and did look forward to this sequel. However, it let me down for multiple reasons.
First of all, I did find it kitsch and very cliché at points and the interactions and thoughts of Meddy (especially regarding Nathan) did make me cringe quite a bit. Additionally, the fact that the death from the first book is mentioned every second page in some kind of way made me really frustrated. But what was even more infuriating was Meddy's attitude towards her family. There were some instances of that in the first book as well, but they were imo good-natured and more of a joke. This time she complains about or feels embarrassed of her Ma and aunties from page one, always compares them to Nathan's posh English parents and thinking about how it will be a disaster because of them. It made me mad. I can understand her worries to some degree (e.g. the hats were a bit over the top), but it was just too much. And lastly, the humour. The humour, chaos, and unbelievability of the events in the first book of this duology made that book for me. I loved it. But I felt this one tried too much to hop on the bandwagon of the first one and the humour came out, most of the time at least, as to of a try-hard and just cringe. Sure, there were still some instances were I did laugh out loud, but generally speaking it was not comparable to the first novel.
And tbh, after I decided to dnf this one I went ahead and read the last chapter and epilogue of this novel. And I'm glad I did not finish this one. I mean, what kind of conclusion or rather reveal was that?? I obviously don't know what happened in-between, but just thinking that I would have read on and that was the reveal of the mystery? I would've been so disappointed. I was just so far-fetched and unbelievable that it wasn't even funny anymore. And I also didn't really like that it was related to the first novel. I get why it was done that way, but just the whole thing was amiss for me.
I'm still kinda sad that I had to dnf this one, especially because I enjoyed the first one so much, but this does tell me that contemporary rom-coms are often better as a standalone. And you can still read "Dial A For Aunties" and read it as such, the story can imo be completed with the first one.
I really enjoyed the first one "Dial A For Aunties" and did look forward to this sequel. However, it let me down for multiple reasons.
First of all, I did find it kitsch and very cliché at points and the interactions and thoughts of Meddy (especially regarding Nathan) did make me cringe quite a bit. Additionally, the fact that the death from the first book is mentioned every second page in some kind of way made me really frustrated. But what was even more infuriating was Meddy's attitude towards her family. There were some instances of that in the first book as well, but they were imo good-natured and more of a joke. This time she complains about or feels embarrassed of her Ma and aunties from page one, always compares them to Nathan's posh English parents and thinking about how it will be a disaster because of them. It made me mad. I can understand her worries to some degree (e.g. the hats were a bit over the top), but it was just too much. And lastly, the humour. The humour, chaos, and unbelievability of the events in the first book of this duology made that book for me. I loved it. But I felt this one tried too much to hop on the bandwagon of the first one and the humour came out, most of the time at least, as to of a try-hard and just cringe. Sure, there were still some instances were I did laugh out loud, but generally speaking it was not comparable to the first novel.
And tbh, after I decided to dnf this one I went ahead and read the last chapter and epilogue of this novel. And I'm glad I did not finish this one. I mean, what kind of conclusion or rather reveal was that?? I obviously don't know what happened in-between, but just thinking that I would have read on and that was the reveal of the mystery? I would've been so disappointed. I was just so far-fetched and unbelievable that it wasn't even funny anymore. And I also didn't really like that it was related to the first novel. I get why it was done that way, but just the whole thing was amiss for me.
I'm still kinda sad that I had to dnf this one, especially because I enjoyed the first one so much, but this does tell me that contemporary rom-coms are often better as a standalone. And you can still read "Dial A For Aunties" and read it as such, the story can imo be completed with the first one.