Dial A for Aunties

this was a cute, fun, silly, goofy time. thankfully i wasn't in the mood to be critical and had the heads-up that it's lighthearted, not serious and very unrealistic so that helped my overall enjoyment

p.s. is it just a universal southeast asian thing? people naming their kids after western celebrities? because i know many a pinoy who suffered the same fate as tom cruise sutopo

I HAD SUCH A GOOD TIME
I'm going to confess, I tried reading this book one time, read about 20 pages and decided it wasn't my kind of book. But then a really good friend of mine said I should read it, I was kinda apprehensive but decided to do it anyway... ONE OF THE BEST CHOICES IN MY LIFE.
Loved the chaotic energy of this book and how in all of it they managed to add romance. It was definitely almost a 5⭐️ for me!

I honestly don't know how to rate this or what genre to shelf this at. This was A LOT. You have to suspend your disbelief a lot with this one but if you do it's very very fast paced and enjoyable. It's kinda what I need right now. Over the top high jinks and funny. Necessary for this time in my life and my current crappy attention span.

(Traditional Romance + Excessively Quirky Cozy) * Asian Aunties = Hilarious, fun, and happy read.

I will say that Meddy is not a self-assured strong person at the beginning. She grows and becomes more self-assured. There is romance and hurdles to overcome, like a traditional romance. There is a dead body and quirky side characters, like cozy mysteries. And it settles you down into a huge Asian wedding with so much family. It is so wonderful. I read it in one day.

A fun quick read that I truly enjoyed. I have been looking for something like the Oh so popular “One for the Money” Series by Janet Evanovich. This is not exactly that but does remind me a bit of that style of writing. Something that needs to be solved along with quirky family dynamics and maybe a touch of light romcom. Enjoyable from page to page. Good book for fun while learning a bit about a culture you may know very little about too.

4.25/5 ⭐
The good things:
The romance. Nathan had me kicking my feet and squealing constantly. One of my favorite book boyfriends which surprised me. I wasn't expecting any romance from this book but it delivered.

The book was hilarious. I eventually had to give up on highlighting every quote that I laughed at.

It reminds me a lot of Finlay Donavan Is Killing It and I loved that book.

As long as you don't think about it too much, it's a very entertaining and enjoyable book.

The bad things:
Incredibly unrealistic. I'm willing to suspend some of my disbelief but most of the book was so ridiculous that it was either funny or annoying. The Mareen/ Jacqueline relationship at the end felt so forced and strange. Your plan to get your best friend to fall in love with you was to rob her but not really!?!?! BSFR.

The main character annoyed me a lot at times. I get that it's a cultural thing but her entire life revolves around pleasing her Aunties.

The communication is not the best. When she dumped Nathan he just said "ok well I guess I'll leave now." I'm sorry what? You dated for 3 years and you're just going to leave? Also when he thought she cheated on him he just left and like 10 pages later he's totally over it and back in love with her.

The Aunties felt very stereotypical and their culture was pretty much only used to forward the plot like the "Chinese medicine" thing or when they misunderstood "Jake" on the dating app. None of them were very fleshed out and they all felt like they were the same person with 1 and only 1 personality trait. The assertive one, the one who speaks good English, the one who does Tai Chi, and the strict Asian mom.

This book was all over the place when it came to genre. Is it about family, romance, a dead guy? All of the above I guess.

Conclusion:
I can see why people could hate this book mainly because of the ridiculously unrealistic plot so if you're someone who hates unrealistic stories and needs everything to be logical then maybe skip
this book but if you can suspend your disbelief it's an enjoyable read.

Suspend your disbelief. Like there is no way that this mystery would happen. Would recommend this book for books about the culture not the mystery. The mystery seems to be a conduit to explore their relationships. I would say that I enjoyed it for some parts, but kinda felt it drag. Also the romance in here...... not that great. Not realistic for sure

Weekend at Bernie's meets Crazy Rich Asians. I like the relationship with the aunties but I honestly found this painful to read at points. Why does Nathan have to be SO idealized instead of a real, complex character? Why do we have to be reminded of her pubescent heart flutter at every mention of him, even when serious ** is happening? It's a fantastical story but the overblown storytelling (or reading/audiobook?) made me think of a fourth grader over exaggerating when they're telling a joke you've only heard a hundred times but they think is novel.

3.5/5 ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗ post reading

this was lighthearted and fun, it felt like a hollywood movie. it did break my slump so i'm happy about that! I couldn't give it 4 stars, but I've rounded up :)

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗ pre-reading

let's get me out of this reading slump! this book looks fast paced and light hearted - described as funny and hilarious. please pray for me that this gets me out of the slump

so frickin fun!! i love the suspense mixed with humor. the whole plot was pretty unexpected to me except the fact that she and nathan got back together and it gave me santa clarita diet vibes. ALSO the fact that an indonesian author is getting to much hype in the book community rn makes me feel pretty patriotic. excited for the next book :)))

The premise of this book is so much fun. A young woman accidentally murders her blind date and then her aunties come to the rescue to get rid of the body. In the meantime, the young woman's college sweetheart appears and things get even more complicated. What a romp!

Meddy is a photographer in a catering business with her mom and her aunties. After her mom lines up a blind date for her on a dating app, Meddy finds herself in a nightmare experience that ends with the accidental death of her date. In a panic, she puts the body in the trunk and runs to her family for help. In addition to the task of getting rid of a body, the family is catering a very important wedding. Meddy runs into Nathan, her college love, who runs the hotel at which the wedding is taking place. Shenanigans ensue.

Meddy, her mom, and her aunts are highly entertaining characters. They bicker and say inappropriate things in situations, but the love and loyalty between them is heartwarming. Their adventures in disposing of a body become a bit farcical as the story progresses, but the reading experience is still quite enjoyable.

Personally, I found that the story got a little too ridiculous in the second half of the book. There was just a bit too much going on, and all of it was highly unbelievable. Hence the three star rating.

it was so cute!! and funny! i loved it. there were a couple things i didn't like - nathan seemed too perfect, maureen was weirdly flippant and casual when she was holding the aunties hostage, her entire plan to prevent jacqueline from marrying was pretty bonkers, and i'm not totally sure how i feel about the main characters completely getting away with literal murder........but it's clear that this is meant to be a light hearted read, and i loved meddy & her family's relationships with each other. it had me really sappy at points (the epilogue ♥!) can't wait to see the movie!

I enjoyed this! Weekend at Bernie's with Asian aunties. It doesn’t take itself too series and if you do you won’t buy much of what’s happening.

Cute and fun, a little frustrated with the main character at times but there were also a few moments that I could really relate to.

As a series I’m wondering where to go from here, will it be more of the same, no lessons learned? Not sure I believe in this as a series but I might give the other books a try in the future.

I read that they had opted for a movie, I would love to see the movie!