ARC Review | Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Rating: ★★★★☆

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: April 27, 2021

“I look at the ceiling. Pretty sure that when Glad was planning their marketing campaign, they didn’t think their target market would be a bunch of middle-aged Chinese women arguing about how to best dispose of a body.”

If you are looking for a book to bring you immense amounts of joy and an abundance of laughs from over-the-top hijinks and family drama look no further. The amounts of times I laughed out loud or gasped in shock over some plot twist or reveal was insane, Dial A for Aunties is a fast-paced story that will keep you on your toes.

Near the beginning of the story, we get a split timeline which both really propelled the story and gave background to Meddy’s relationship with her family and her struggles with balancing her romantic and familial relationships. While I did prefer the chapters in the past (Meddy and Nathan are too cute for words), once we switched to present day only, I was still hooked because everything really started coming together and there was truly too much going on for my focus to be pulled.

The strong family relationships were at the heart of this story and they were a joy to see. Though Meddy does feel limited by the family ‘curse’ that sees all the men in her family leave (so she’s determined to stay with her mom and Aunties and keep the family together) there is such a strong and unconditional support network around her ready to lift her up – or hide a dead body if needed. All the Aunties have their own special place in the family – and bring unique perspectives (and humor) to Meddy’s misfortunes. But seeing the entire family unit interact, even over the most mundane things brought me so much joy.

If you want a book that will make you laugh out loud and swoon over a second chance romance, Dial A for Aunties is the book for you.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.