It’s always the books I pick up randomly that end up surprising me. Reading Dial A For Aunties has been A RIDE and a delightful one at that.

To start, this book is not down to earth. It’s over the top ridiculous, humourous in an absurd way, you’ll have to suspend your disbelief at the scenes that unfold to truly enjoy the dark humour and satire. Besides, where’s the fun in holding onto reality while reading fiction? A book like Dial A For Aunties on that note. But if you’re looking for a book that makes sense or is focused on the crime, this is not the one.

Full time comedy, part time murder mystery with a tinge of romance, this book had me laughing out loud, even though there’s something really ridiculous and concerning happening on page. I couldn’t stop smiling or turning the pages at the bad decisions and near-caught moments, eager to find out how it wraps up and what other insanity is to ensue. Being entertained, I found myself not caring about it. Meddy’s thought process and commentary itself had me in hysterics.

I loved loved loved Meddy’s relationship with her mother and aunts — the family dynamics (older and newer generation), the reluctance to work together but doing it anyway and the Asian-ness of it all. Meddy finds them stifling, like the “overbearing Asian aunties”, but they all come to her rescue even though they have clashes amongst themselves. Their interactions showed they would go to any lengths for their family, despite the sibling rivalry and banter. Fourth Aunt, in particular left me very amused. I could clearly see the unique relationship between Meddy and each of the aunts.

Asian readers would find the theme of independence, to stay with family or pursue your dreams, relatable. I also adored the author’s note included in the beginning, about representation and stereotypes — about how she and Meddy share the ability to speak English fluently while their parents speak broken English and are more comfortable in their mother tongue. It shows what they’ve given up so their children could live a better life and not their lack of education or intelligence. This same depiction of broken English can be seen in the story, and also used to crack some jokes, but eventually we see how much Meddy’s mom and aunts love her and how Meddy too realises it.

Portrayal of Chinese-Indonesian culture and learning about their traditions interested me a lot. The author did a wonderful job at intertwining her own cultural references in the story, especially about weddings.

The romance is just there, to be honest. I like Nathan’s character and the flashbacks of his and Meddy’s relationship but he or their romance isn’t the spotlight here. It’s a small addition to the plot though I did root for them, second chance romance and all.

HIGHLY recommend Dial A For Aunties! If you need a good laugh about an Asian family trying to dispose a dead body while getting pulled into miserable, comical antics, then you should pick this up. You’re in for an entertaining read!

Dial A for Aunties was laugh-out-loud funny, but it still had such a strong emotional core. And while it is a romantic comedy, the real love story is between Meddy, her mom, and her aunts. I loved their relationship (and hijinks) so much. This book is a quick read because you get totally sucked into the story! If you’re looking for a heart-warming book with plenty of shenanigans that will make you smile, I would absolutely recommend Dial A for Aunties.

First off, thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishers for an ebook ARC of this.
OK, about 90% of the way through the book our narrator, Meddy Chan, goes on a list of, "I can't believe these things happened....." And neither can we. This is a definite File Under "Suspend All Disbelief" Read. (For starters, a brand new luxury hotel, but there does not seem to be security cameras anywhere!)
But that's OK, sometimes you need a nice piece of fluff/cozy mystery read - and this fills the bill quite well.
A Chinese/Indonesian/Singapore family in the San Gabriel Valley of LA - Meddy is the only cousin (or husband!) who has stayed on. Author Sutanto opens the book with a nice note about the way the 3 Aunties and her mother talk - it may be "pidgin", but they can speak 3 different languages!
Not even the constant spats between the jealous sister duos grows old here.
The novel is a Romance, withh an odd kind of mystery as its basis. We know "who done it early on, but the story is not about finding the criminal, but rather hiding what the murderer has done! Often there is a nice touch of darker humor, and story, to it all.
Oh, and then the local yokel cop she throws in - those of us old enough flash back to Sheriff Roscoe in "The Dukes of Hazzard". Or Orson Welles' character in "Touch of Evil".
I have enjoyed reading interviews with Sutano - she almost seems to be apologizing for writing this, after having achieved an MA from Oxford!
Definitely in the "Crazy Rich Asians" mold - and just as fun.
Great Summertime Beach Read.

This might very well be my favorite book of the year so far! I was in love from page 1, I loved all the moments with Meddy and her ma and aunties, the family dynamics were incredible! It was an absolute hoot, I was genuinely shocked by how things played out and kept thinking how is she going to write her way out of this all throughout the book! We need more books like this in the genre!

As soon as I read the description for this one, it immediately gave me Finlay Donovan is Killing It vibes and I couldn’t wait to dive into it! I love a good genre blend and this was such a fun combination of a RomCom and murder mystery!

You’re immediately drawn in as it’s starts off with a bang and just when you think it can’t get any more ridiculous, Meddy and her Aunties are faced with one hilarious situation after the next and you can’t help but laugh the entire way through it!

It perfectly blended themes of comedy and culture which proved to make it such a charming and smart read!

Not only am I excited for a sequel coming next year, this has also been optioned to be adapted by Netflix!

If you are looking for a little laughing out loud then this is the book for you! What a fun read with great characters and a story that is really about the love the family and coming together when one member needs help. There is also a little romance sprinkled in so it isn't just hijinks! I was so excited when I got to the end of the book and saw there is going to be a sequel. I need more of the aunties STAT!

This book was absolutely crazy! It's Joy Luck Club + Crazy Rich Asians + Weekend at Bernie's all wrapped up into one. I also love Jesse Q. Sutanto's Instagram feed with her aunties. I need the Netflix movie already!

I have never laughed hysterically over something I've read, but this book had me in hysterics, because I could see my mother and her friends not understanding what the eggplant emoji meant in today's terms. I could see her doing the exact same thing texting with someone, swearing she loves to eat eggplant. I was dying laughing at the whole exchange.

Jesse was very spot on with the language barrier that a lot of Asian parents have with the English language. For my Thai relatives, they can't pronounce words with R's in them, so rice becomes lice. And yes, we do laugh hysterically every time they have problems with the English language, so Jesse was very spot on with the way she wrote this book. I do appreciate that she included that language barrier warning at the start of the book to help the reader understand that she was trying to be as authentic as possible. She wasn't writing about stereotypes. She was writing from a point of view of how she grew up and how she experiences life with her aunties (well, maybe except for the dead body and all). Her experiences were very similar to what I grew up with when it comes to the language barrier.

I definitely recommend this laugh out loud book to everyone, because we can all use a good laugh. A lot of what's happening in this story can seem a bit over the top, but it just screams the perfect Asian American comedy for the screen. Love, love, loved it!

Dial A for Aunties follows the story of Meddelin Chan, a young woman who accidentally kills her blind date and winds up soliciting help from her mother and aunties in order to help get rid of the body. It turns out it’s a lot harder to cover up a crime, especially when the dead body is accidentally shipped to an island resort where Meddy and her family are working for the weekend for a big billionaire wedding. Further complicating matters is the appearance of the love of Meddy’s life - her college ex-boyfriend - on site. What’s a girl to do in order to pull off an extravagant wedding, sorting things out with her ex and covering up a crime? Listen, we can all likely agree that Dial A for Aunties has an outrageous set of circumstances for a premise. Armed with this knowledge, I simply went into this novel expecting to be entertained… and I totally was! If you’re the type of person who enjoys a story filled with shenanigan after shenanigan with even more shenanigans sprinkled on top (much like myself, and also, I really enjoy that word, if it wasn’t obvious), you’re very much in luck. The circumstances are, to be completely frank, over the top and ridiculous, but Sutanto magically just pulls it all together into a story that is engaging, funny and amusing. The author captures the spirit of a comedy film with her narrative style and plot navigation; she also does well with creating a colorful cast of memorable characters. I appreciated the specifically Asian touches as well, whether it was highlighting specific traditional practices, the multilingual abilities of immigrants, or the lovingly portrayed complications of family dynamics (especially among sisters). (Oh, in case you were wondering, there is a romance, but it’s not a central focus.) Hilarious, heartwarming and all around a good time, I can 100% recommend Dial A for Aunties!

This book really has everything and is quite a wild ride! I found myself both laughing out loud and gasping in shock every few chapters as we see Meddy navigate how to get away with (self-defense) murder and get back together with her ex. There were many times when I could not see how Sutanto could create a satisfying ending and I struggled with whether to root for Meddy and her family or not given all the crazy things they did. No spoilers on whether everything worked out for Meddy, but I was mostly happy with the balance of how to make it realistic but also a satisfying conclusion for the character arcs.

Meddy is a great protagonist and narrator, and all the supporting characters do not disappoint either. I enjoyed getting to know Meddy’s family and the way her relationship to them was connected to her Chinese-Indo ethnicity, as well as seeing some of the wedding traditions associated with the culture. I also thought the romance with Nathan was mostly meshed in well with the main plot, but I was not a huge fan of the flashbacks because they felt kind of choppy and made the beginning of the book slow.

This was a great read overall, and an amazing example of how books can focus on minority groups in a way that is joyful, entertaining, and informative. I highly recommend adding this to your summer list - could be a fun beach or pool read!

'Sutanto grew up in both Singapore and Jakarta, where she now lives. This book has been described as "Crazy Rich Asians meets Weekend at Bernie's" and I think that is an apt description. The book is being developed as a movie for Netflix and a sequel is also in the works. It is a farcical romantic comedy, featuring a young photographer, and her mother and three aunties. Together they run a wedding business. The story is set mostly at a luxury resort on an island, where the five of them are working all while trying to hide and then get rid of a dead body. It is a zany read and a good recommendation for fans of that type of humour.

Loved this one so much! Was a total blast, had me cracking up and such sweet and tender moments with the Aunties. I revived a gifted review copy of this book from Berkley, but opted for the audio. I’m so glad I did. The audio is fantastic & I highly recommend!

Jesse Q. Sutanto's screwball romcom novel begins with Meddy(short for Meddelin) Chan dealing with the fact that her loving but overbearing mother has set up a blind date for her via a dating app.

Meddy is used to giving into to her mom and her mother's quartet of formidable sisters, even to the point of becoming the photographer for their mutual event planning business.Yet,this latest arrangement is way too much but when told that the man in question is running the hotel where the family business has been hired for a major league wedding, she once again gives in.

As the date winds down, Meddy not only finds the guy obnoxious , she soon learns that his expectations for the evening are totally different than hers. Fighting him off in the car, an accident occurs and Meddy is shocked to see that he's dead!

Going home for help, Meddy is both relieved and anxious than her mom and assembled aunts are very willing to help her get rid of the body, as long as it doesn't interfere too much with the wedding plans for the next day. Juggling both the big celebration and the need to stash the corpse before it's discovered in one of the coolers mistakenly brought to the hotel, Meddy runs into Nathan, a former love who is in charge of the event.

Can Meddy rekindle an old flame while discretely dispatching a dead man and making sure that the wedding of the year goes off without a hitch? Without giving anything away, I can say that DAFA is a pure page turning delight.

The author gives this modern day story a classic fictional flair with dark comedy in the style of films like Arsenic and Old Lace as well as Clue. A perfect comedy cocktail flavored with family love and laughter:

This was a 3.5 star read for me because I LOVED the "then" chapters and the relationship Meddy had then things went south and I had trouble getting back into it. I loved the humor of the aunties and the hide the body solidarity but I wanted more from the romance storyline. The twists with dead body took over too much and just made it less enjoyable for me. I loved the relationships with Meddy, her mom, and her aunties though! It left me really curious about the mom and aunties and their stories as much as Meddy's.

Originally posted on IG and full review to be posted on Forever Young Adult.

BOOK REPORT for Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Cover Story: Cartoon Cutesy
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 4
Talky Talk: Lighthearted Beach Read
Bonus Factor: Close-Knit Families, Weddings
Relationship Status: My Maid Of Honor


Cover Story: Cartoon Cutesy
I love the fun, bright colors and the aunties all peeking out from behind Meddy. This is very on-trend for these kinds of chick-lit books right now, so while I think it’s cute, it’s also…just yet another cartoony cover.

The Deal:
What was your worst blind date? It probably can’t top Meddy’s, which ended with her driving home with an actual dead body in her trunk. Luckily, her Ma and three aunties are ready to do whatever—and I mean WHATEVER—they deem necessary to keep Meddy safe and free from behind bars. There’s just one slight wrinkle: this weekend is the wedding of one of their biggest, richest clients on an exclusive island off of the California coast, and everyone has a high-demand role that requires them there. So where do you stash a body until you’re ready to dump it? And what happens if that body accidentally joins the wedding in the most macabre ways…

BFF Charm: Yay
Meddy has infinitely more patience than I think I could ever have. Not yelling at her aunties, going on with her job taking wedding photos when the dead body of the man she accidentally killed is roaming the halls freely, coming face-to-face with the lost love of her life…how she has any hair left by the end of the day is a miracle! She’s a little older than most of our YA BFFs, but I could sympathize that Meddy around her family didn’t always feel the real “her”, because I know I definitely slip right back into bad habits (*cough*actinglikeasullenteenager*cough*) around my family, no matter how old I actually am. Meddy’s internal voice was world-weary and funny and endearing, and I would gladly hang out with her (but on a totally different weekend)!

Swoonworthy Scale: 4
Meddy found her ideal man, Nathan Chan, back in college, but she let him go out of fear. Fate drops him back in her lap, of course on this very day she’s trying to figure out how to dispose of a dead body. Their scenes together were cute and full of yearning, though they were so besotted with each other that rekindling this relationship seemed like a foregone conclusion.

Talky Talk: Lighthearted Beach Read
Should a book about hiding a dead body be this amusing? Sutanto toes the line between comedic farce and lighthearted story about a woman who needs to believe in her own voice. I had a great time laughing at the petty arguments between the aunties, slapping my forehead when someone did something dumb with the body, and breathing a sigh of relief every time Meddy got away with keeping her secret. If you need a beach read that’s not ALL about romance this summer then I would definitely check this one out. Also, this book has “movie adaptation” written all over it, and I cannot WAIT to watch it.

Bonus Factor: Close-Knit Families
I loved Meddy’s Indonesian-Chinese family! If I WERE Meddy, their meddling and guilt trips would totally drive me nuts—my family is definitely more hands-off—but reading about it from the comfort of my couch was like getting adopted into well-meaning chaos. I loved how they had Meddy’s back no matter what, even during times when they, say, unfavorably compared her to their kidnapper (“be more like her!”).

Bonus Factor: Weddings
I love attending weddings in cultures different than my own, because there’s always something fun or unique to learn. I’ve heard of tea ceremonies before, but I didn’t know about the tradition of forcing the groomsmen to do silly things before they could see the bride. I also loved the idea that the aunties pooled together their gifts and made an unstoppable, one-stop shop of wedding services. Talk about using your talents! And shout-out to Jacqueline for being an awesome bride and friend!

Relationship Status: My Maid Of Honor
This book is obviously getting top honors at my wedding; it would make me laugh during the stressful parts, keep my relatives in check, and I know it would make my bachelorette party a hoot. Only just…leave the dead bodies at home, ‘kay?

This book was all around silly, light and fun read! It was cute and funny and felt good to get caught up in the antics! The storyline is an absolute ridiculous situation that Meddy finds herself in and suddenly I feel like it’s Weekend at Bernies all over again! Meddy’s family is hysterical and although they do meddle in her life it’s out of love. I liked how the story was a mix of mystery, romcom and humor. The family aspect of it was great too. I would love to see more in the future from the aunties!

When mid-20s Meddelin “Meddie” Chan reluctantly agrees to go on a blind date arranged by her mother, she figures: what’s the worst that could happen? Well, she deploys her Taser to deter his overly aggressive advances, leading to a car accident and his (very unintentional!) death. Unsure of what to do next, she stuffs him in the trunk and turns to her mother and three aunties for help. The Chans sisters, who run a wedding business, have a huge event lined up the next day (at the hotel owned by Meddie’s freshly deceased date, one of many complications). The body goes into a jumbo cooler, the cooler goes aboard a ferry to the island wedding venue, and a comedy of errors – and a couple of crimes – ensues. The real hotel owner turns out to be Nathan, Meddie’s college boyfriend and true love, which raises the question: who is in the cooler? Dial A for Aunties is packed with near-misses and comedic twists that will have readers alternately gasping with surprise and laughing out loud. Jesse Q. Sutanto depicts Meddie and Nathan’s sweet love story in a series of flashback chapters, adding appeal for teen readers. The Chan women stick together, despite a few sisterly squabbles, adding depth to a somewhat improbable storyline. Indonesian-Chinese wedding customs are incorporated as Meddie photographs the bridal preparations, tea ceremony, and other traditions throughout the highly eventful day. With vibes of both Crazy Rich Asians and Weekend at Bernies, this big-hearted romantic comedy will leave readers anxious for the as-yet-untitled sequel.

Fun rom-com that reminded me of "Crazy, Rich Asians". It is perfect for a quick, easy weekend beach read. Enjoy with a glass of rose and a warm sunny day.

"Crazy Rich Asians" meets "Weekend at Bernie's" in this fast-paced, hilarious, and ridiculous (in the best way) novel that celebrates family, Chinese-Indonesian culture, and women. Equal parts murder mystery and rom com, "Dial A for Aunties" is the perfect summer read for anyone looking for laughs and love.

Unbelievably fun, creative, and all too relatable, Dial A for Aunties has quickly become one of my favorite books of all time (I even gifted a copy to my mom for Mother's Day). As the reliable kid myself, Meddy's journey from being the one who sticks by her family's side to chasing her own dreams struck a chord with me. Dial A for Aunties is the perfect read for anyone with close ties to their families who still want to pursue their own passions.

Warning: This is a "Weekend at Bernie's"-style corpse comedy!

Medellin Chan is a good Indonesian-Chinese girl who is raised by her mother and three aunts, all of whom run a wedding business together. There's a backstory about why there are no men around, including Meddy's old college flame. Desperate to get Meddy married off, the blind date that her mother set her up on ends in death - his. And thus begins a romp in which the Aunties and Meddy try to dispose of, hide, or dress up a dead body all while trying to put on a wedding for a rich client.

OK, so while I realize that the title hinted at some sort of murder or death, I simply didn't read the premise, so the macabre twist took me by surprise. Therefore it took me a while to get into it mainly because I was screaming the whole time at the Aunties to help Meddy. This is an over-the-top cringe comedy that I had to be in the mood for (kind of like while watching the stellar "PEN15"). I tend to feel mortification, frustration, and martyrdom viscerally - and that wasn't what I was necessarily in the mood for at bedtime.

Once you embrace the premise, it's pretty damn funny. My mother also has four sisters, and even though the particulars are not the same (we're Vietnamese and far more introverted/not into making scenes) – so much was incredibly relateable: the sibling dynamics, small grudges, the backhanded praise, strange use of logic that only makes sense if you grow up with them, going off on tangents, and shaky use of technology/slang. I was also very impressed with Sutanto's blending of English and the various other languages – at different levels of fluency – for each of the characters without it feeling belabored or confusing.

The romance itself is sweet but not the star of the book as Meddy's love of her family is, and therefore I wasn't invested in it or him. Overall, I could see this easily as a film, and I think that's owing to Sutanto's talents in creating character and dialogue, and all the loving attentions to detail.