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A review by lory_enterenchanted
Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto
emotional
informative
2.5
Read as a change of pace, hoping for something lighter than my usual Around the World reading but still with some substance. I was interested in the Indonesian setting, but though I learned a bit about Indonesia it was very much a tourist and rich person's perspective. Chinese Indonesians are the 1% of the country, as they took over where the colonizers left off, which seems very unfair but we only get their point of view. I would rather have read a tourist brochure or article about Bali.
As for the story, George's voice was not believable to me as a teenage boy. Nor could I believe that two smart teens would not twig to how they had been tricked -- the misunderstanding went on way too long. Did George not notice that Sharlot texted in broken English while her speech was perfect? Could they not both at least suspect that the other had also been an impersonation?
Then the plot about Sharlot's mom and Eighth Aunt (do they not have real names???) -- it just felt shoved in to provide some LGBTQ interest. They did not come alive for me as characters.
I'm thinking of trying the sequel because I would like to read more about Indonesia, but I'm hoping it is an improvement on this one.
As for the story, George's voice was not believable to me as a teenage boy. Nor could I believe that two smart teens would not twig to how they had been tricked -- the misunderstanding went on way too long. Did George not notice that Sharlot texted in broken English while her speech was perfect? Could they not both at least suspect that the other had also been an impersonation?
Then the plot about Sharlot's mom and Eighth Aunt (do they not have real names???) -- it just felt shoved in to provide some LGBTQ interest. They did not come alive for me as characters.
I'm thinking of trying the sequel because I would like to read more about Indonesia, but I'm hoping it is an improvement on this one.