Didn’t See That Coming by Jesse Q. Sutanto Review

Title: Didn't See That Coming

Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto

Genre: YA Rom-Com

Publisher: Electric Monkey

Pages: 384

Release Date: 7 December 2023

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Hello fellow booklovers! Today I'm sharing my review for Didn't See That Coming by Jesse Q. Sutanto. A surprisingly heartfelt, You’ve Got Mail Style Rom-Com that offsets its witty charm and humorous quips, with a deft exploration into sexism, toxic masculinity and online harassment of girls that I found refreshingly relevant.

Synopsis

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?

Review

  Though not really a gamer myself (Pokemon and Animal Crossing being pretty much my only experience), I enjoyed exploring both the perks and pitfalls of the gaming community from a female centred perspective.

And what a perspective it was! Kiki was such a confident and compelling protagonist, with flaws and insecurities that brought depth to her character— which I found utterly endearing. Her relatable foray into the world of first love, starting a new school and the awkward task of making friends is certain to be a just as much of a hit with teen readers as well.

As I previously mentioned, we do explore some highly important subject material, such as the emotional and psychological impact of bullying (both on and off-line) and the multitude of problems that an environment of misogyny and toxic masculinity can cause.

However, the biggest highlight for me was the witty banter and character cameos from Jesse Q. Sutanto’s previous YA Rom-Com (Well, That Was Unexpected) which imbued the perfect amount comic relief to break up the more emotionally intense scenes. Especially with the return of the precocious Eleanor Roosevelt Tanuwijaya, whose elaborate (and secret) school wide dating service brings Kiki face to face with her online gaming bestie— who doesn’t know she’s a girl.

The romance was really good (in a slightly angsty will-they-won’t-they-kind of way), but I did really enjoy it. Our male love interest was an adorable cinnamon roll and he and Kiki’s IRL interactions are the absolute cutest.

My only criticism is that the pace did dip a little in the middle—however, Kiki’s resilient attitude and determination not to give into her bullies, plus her drive to change her school’s outdated (and sexist) policies, did lead to a satisfyingly uplifting conclusion that did definitely make up for it.

So, if you’re an avid gamer or adore YA Rom- Coms with a message then I highly recommend checking this out!

Also huge thank you to Rachel Quin and Electric Monkey Books for the finished copy.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5

About The Author 

Jesse Q. Sutanto is the award-winning, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, Well, That Was Unexpected, The Obsession, and Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit. The film rights to Dial A for Aunties was bought by Netflix, and the TV rights to Vera Wong was bought by Warner Bros, with Oprah and Mindy Kaling attached to produce.

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