I was not a huge fan of Well, That Was Unexpected, the companion novel to Didn’t See That Coming. In fact, I disliked it so much that I couldn’t bring myself to write a review for it. When I received a surprise physical arc from PRH International, safe to say, I was regretting my request for it. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I did enjoy Didn’t See That Coming, even though it would not make my “best of” lists.
Hi, book fam! I’m glad I’m starting the new year off on a good note; I finished my first book of the year and my first review! Last year was quite a quiet one for me, starting a new business and focusing a lot of my time and efforts on it. It’s a quiet year for my business so far. I’m struggling with making a steady income so I end up distracting myself with books and reviews. If anything, at least I’m keeping up with my writing and reading skills. A huge and incredible thank you to PRH International #PRHInternationalPartner for treating influencers so well and for surprising me with a physical ARC.
Didn’t See That Coming: Surprisingly Good
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What I Liked
Didn’t See That Coming is Gen-Z coded You’ve Got Mail with a side of modern feminism, a high school setting and two gamer kids. Kiki (Dudebro10) and Liam (Sourdawg) are unlikely online friends. You see, Kiki has been masquerading as a teenage boy to play her favourite online game without getting harassed by trolls and the like. That is, until Kiki finds out that her online bestie goes to her new school and is probably the only decent person in her class.
Despite taking on difficult subjects such as school bullying and misogyny, Didn’t See That Coming is surprisingly very simple and sweet. It moves quickly and is quite easy to read; this does affect a lot of the plot elements introduced in the book such as online gaming and the dating app created by Kiki’s younger friends which I’ll touch on later. I am clearly not the target audience; the actions and thought processes of the kids, specifically Kiki did make me cringe but I can bet that if I was sixteen all over again, I would be giggling and kicking my feet.
I loved Kiki and Liam’s friendship, I think the book did a good job of letting it grow naturally on the page. It didn’t seem forced nor seemed like it tried too hard to make them fall in love with each other. You can feel the charm of youthful love radiating from it’s pages. It’s just sweet and wholesome
I also really just loved Kiki; while I thought her actions were very over-the-top, I am reading from an adult’s point of view. I did find her quite annoying and frustrating in the beginning; she came off almost as a spoiled brat. But, she’s also stubborn, intelligent and very brave. I also thought Didn’t See That Coming did a good job of portraying Kiki’s struggles, especially trying to fit into a new school and battling the rampant sexism. We were all probably at one point a Kiki, whether we went from one school to another or even going up a grade brought it’s own slew of social problems.
I can definitely relate a lot to Kiki and her friends’ struggles. I’m born and raised in Malaysia, just a few hours away from Kiki’s Indonesia and it was just as strict as Didn’t See That Coming portrays it in Xingfa’s rules and mentality.. But I never questioned it. I was just like the boomers, agreeing with the conservative uniforms, strict rules on respecting elders and treating teachers. To be truthful, I was even a prefect and a class leader; I had to lead the exact greetings of “Good morning, Teacher” and “Thank you, Teacher” for my class. To some degree, I do still find value in the discipline but I was also from an all girls’ school so my experience of misogyny within the school system is different. So, I absolutely love the girls standing up for themselves even though it seemed really cringey and unrealistic, almost like something out of a Netflix film. I loved Eleanor and Sarah Jessica being the street smart entrepreneurs even though the Lil’ Aunties dating app was barely featured.
What was incredibly interesting to me was to compare my experience with Kiki’s. In Malaysia, I’ve found that it is the public schooling system that is eons stricter compared to the private schools. Students in private schools are encouraged to be themselves and are introduced to Westernised thinking whereas public schools are tradition and discipline-based.
But, most of all, I loved how gross Jonas Ariffin is. Every word out of his mouth made me cringe. He is your typical misogynistic boy, wrapped up in a pretty package. I loved whenever he appeared on the page because I couldn’t wait to see what nonsense he would spout and also because we all know a Jonas Ariffin in our lives.
What I Didn’t Like
However, Didn’t See That Coming features my least favourite trope in any setting: miscommunication. I also don’t feel it was well-executed. Not that I couldn’t envision Eleanor hiding the truth from her online bestie. I know that if I was in her shoes at sixteen, I would do the same thing. But it seemed a little incredulous that as Kiki struggles to make friends, she doesn’t want Liam to know who she is. At the same time, Kiki continues to deceive him online as Dudebro, listening to Liam’s troubles at home and at school. It comes off as a little icky.
Another thing I didn’t quite like is the third act conflict. In general, I’m not a huge fan of third act conflicts, it’s too much of a cliche and cop-out on good storytelling. But the one in Didn’t See That Coming was, to put it lightly, just not good. It was unnecessarily dramatic and after how much doom and gloom was poured into the handful of pages, it was wrapped up too perfectly. Again, it felt more like a Netflix series and lacked nuance and tact in resolving the conflicts.
Which leads me to my next issue with Didn’t See That Coming: all the missed opportunities to make the story more compelling and fully-fleshed out. I found it a little frustrating that online gaming is used as Kiki and Liam’s common interest but it barely features in the book. We don’t see either Kiki or Liam actually playing the game beyond a few simple lines, nor is the game actually described (it’s just given a title and generic gameplay). Instead, we see them mainly use the chat feature. I think it’s a huge missed opportunity to also not feature more of the game development project that Kiki and her classmates worked on when the plot of Didn’t See That Coming revolves around gaming.
Another frustrating missed opportunity is the Lil’ Aunties app. I thought we were going to get more of it, how Eleanor and Sarah Jessica worked on the app and how Kiki would play into the development of it. But instead, it just became another plot device. It’s frustrating that despite technology playing such a big role in the story, the worldbuilding is so shallow. Honestly, replace it with another other element and the story could just be the same.
To be honest, the lack of thought and consideration given to these two elements makes it seem very trivial. It neither respects gamer girls nor women in tech, despite what the source material implies.
But, the biggest issue I take is with the use of current slang and popular technology such as TikTok as well as mentions of the pandemic. While this does not majorly affect the plot in any way, I think it’s a lazy way of worldbuilding and it sets the story in a certain era and generation and takes the fantasy and imagination out of reading. Call me a boomer but I’d rather authors come up with alternatives so that the book isn’t so grounded in reality and doesn’t live beyond the years of say, 2023.
Did I Enjoy It: Conclusion
In conclusion, there’s honestly not much I didn’t like about Didn’t See That Coming and what I didn’t like has more to do with my personal opinion than the book itself. So, for that, I give it a win. Someday I’ll be able to bring myself to write my scathing review for Well, That Was Unexpected. That day is not today.
ARC RECEIVED FROM PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE INTERNATIONAL FOR REVIEWING PURPOSES
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Didn’t See That Coming
Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
Series: Standalone (Well, That Was Unexpected #2)
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: November 28, 2023
ISBN13: 9780593434017 (Hardcover)
A hilariously fresh and romantic send-up to You’ve Got Mail about a gamer girl with a secret identity and the online bestie she’s never met IRL until she unwittingly transfers to his school, from the bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties , The Obsession , and Well, That Was Unexpected .
Seventeen-year-old Kiki Siregar is a fabulous gamer girl with confidence to boot. She can’t help but be totally herself… except when she’s online.
Her secret? She plays anonymously as a guy to avoid harassment from other male players. Even her online best friend—a cinnamon roll of a teen boy who plays under the username Sourdawg—doesn’t know her true identity. Which is fine, because Kiki doesn’t know his real name either, and it’s not like they’re ever going to cross paths IRL.
Until she transfers to an elite private school for her senior year and discovers that Sourdawg goes there, too.
But who is he? How will he react when he finds out Kiki’s secret? And what happens when Kiki realizes she’s falling for her online BFF?
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