Dial A for Aunties

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.

This was the most wild ride (compliment). 

I found this one to be a bit of a mixed bag, but overall it was a fun read. Meddy felt a weak as a protagonist, but the supporting cast was strong and interesting enough that they made up for it. I loved the dark humour and the contrast of the glitz and glamour of the wedding with the murder and its coverup.

I found the ending disappointing - everything felt wrapped up way too easily and quickly, and the lesbian romance reveal felt unearned.

i literally loved this 🥹

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!

This is pretty much my family in book form. Minus the dead body, of course.

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

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.

Fun read, but the most unrealistic part of it is that 2 super close we-tell-everything-to-each-other best friends didn't know that the other one was gay

To enjoy this book you will have to suspend your disbeliefs and just let it take you for a ride. If you have trouble with that you will not like the book.

This book was full of drama, murder/mystery kinda, and romance! It's a little of everything! It goes quickly just as quickly as it came. There are some great parts to this book, but sometimes things went by too quickly or I got confused. I still think this was worth the wait and I got it at my library!

This was hilarious.Why can't my family be this fun

This book is a lot of fun! I really enjoyed the different characters and the combo of romance and comedy. In fact, there were many moments that were right out of a 1930s slapstick comedy movie.

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!

Weak start, and I initially rated this two stars. I thought it was just especially unrealistic, and gave a fanfiction vibe. Fortunately, as the story goes on there is some development and the plot solidifies. I won't be reading any more books from this series.

Erg leuk en grappig verhaal. Wel een hoop dingen die eigenlijk niet horen te kunnen... ik bedoel een moord plegen en dan het proberen weg te moffelen op een trouwerij... ja, erg bijzonder allemaal

3.75/5

3.5*
cute

The story doesn't make sense, but quite enjoyable.
Maybe need additional footnote in the book.
Easy to be understood as an Indonesian, but non Indonesian could be confused by the term used inside the book.

It's one of those stories where the MC makes the most ridiculous decisions that throw everything into chaos. Everyone in this book is a caricature of real people.

This book was way too overwhelming for me.

3.5 Stars

5 stars for sheer entertainment value!
The most outrageous things happen in this novel but it's pure fun.
One of those perfect novels to make you smile.

3.5⭐️ this was SO fun

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

DNF at page 40.