Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto Published by Berkley on April 27, 2021
Genres: Romance
Format: ARC
Goodreads
Also by this author: Four Aunties and a Wedding, Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
About Dial A for Aunties
When Meddy goes on a blind date her mom set up, it doesn’t end as planned and now Meddy has a corpse to get rid of. Oops. Now what?
Call in the three aunties, explain not to use the eggplant emoji when chatting up strange men, and figure out how to get rid of the body. Because tomorrow, they have an enormous, expensive, high profile wedding that could make or break the Chan family business.
What follows is a roller coaster ride of a weekend with the family trying to get rid of the body while fulfilling all of their contracted duties as wedding vendors in a professional manner.
Not enough stress and zaniness? The man running the hotel is The One Who Got Away – Meddy’s college boyfriend, her one true love, the boy she left so she could help her family start their wedding business.
It’s hard to open your heart for a second chance at love when you’re lugging around a corpse in a freezer.
My thoughts about Dial A for Aunties
Jesse Q. Sutanto pulls off one madcap rom-com caper of a darkly humorous adult debut with Dial A for Aunties.
Fast-paced and darkly humorous with sweet romantic moments balanced by thoroughly bonkers what-did-I-just-read moments. I couldn’t stop laughing during the Chan family discussions. Each aunt had her own POV and well-developed voice along with quirks for days.
It might sound odd in a novel where hiding a corpse is a major plot point but I found moments really touching – Meddy’s love for her family and for Nathan was heartwarming.
I loved reading about the Indo-Chinese wedding traditions and descriptions of dim sum.
Your thoughts
I chose this book because I thought it was going to be an own voices romcom so it threw me when Meddy killed her blind date but I decided to keep reading. I’m glad I did but on a different day, I might not have. Do you ever stop reading a book because the inside doesn’t match the cover blurb or description? Let me know in the comments below!
In conclusion
Dial A for Aunties is an absolute delight – dark humor, reunited lovers, and family ties. It deserves all of the stars.
I can’t recommend this highly enough! I hope the Netflix adaptation does it justice.
My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.
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This book fulfills the PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt – A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover.
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