Review

(Note: This is a companion novel for Well, That Was Unexpected, but they can be read separately.)

Besides the ugly uniform, Kiki’s perfectly happy at her progressive, easy-going Jakarta private school. But when her mum decides that she needs more discipline and better social connections, she moves Kiki to Jakarta’s most prestigious school, Xingfa – and it is really strict. The rules are over the top; the homework is brutal. Worse than that, Kiki’s being bullied by the school’s richest (and most obnoxious) student, Jonas, ending up with the dismissive nickname ‘Crazy Kiki’, just for speaking her mind. Other students timidly sit back and let it happen; the principal dismisses Kiki’s harassment with a ‘boys will be boys’ chuckle.

Kiki’s no stranger to casual misogyny – she’s a gamer girl, who’s had to change her online handle to the ultra-masculine ‘DudeBro10’ so that she could game without judgement. But when she discovers that her online gaming bestie Sourdawg goes to Xingfa, she goes out of her way to discover who he really is… but how can she unveil her online deception when everyone already thinks she’s crazy? And could she be falling for her online friend in real life?

*

Another quick and enjoyable read by Sutanto. This one is less of a romcom/love letter to Indonesia (Well, That Was Unexpected) and more of a smash-the-patriarchy romance, both of which I am completely here for. Sutanto references Moxie, and the vibes are definitely similar.

Kiki is a great character: confident, but affected by the bullying she experiences. Her young friend Eleanor Roosevelt, another character carried over from WTWU, and her friend Sarah Jessica Parker (Indonesian naming-fashions are a whole thing) and their Lil’ Aunties matchmaking service are great. And I like the ending.

Of the two books, I do prefer the first one… it’s funnier and has more about Indonesian culture which was fascinating. But this one is still a lighthearted, quick & easy read. I would shelve this in senior fiction (Year 10+), mainly to keep it next to WTWU, but it does have a healthy sprinkling of swear words. There’s nothing beyond kissing here, so it would be perfectly fine to lend to slightly younger students who have senior fiction permission.

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Kiki receives rape threats, death threats & general harassment when she games under a girlier handle (backstory, no detail on the more serious stuff); general misogyny; school & cyber-bullying; sexualised/objectifying depictions of female game characters (disapproved of); Kiki is pressured into a fake dating situation (no physical touch involved beyond brief hand holding); mild depictions of online gaming violence (stabbing, shooting, etc.); a couple of relatively chaste kisses; healthy sprinkling of swears (f-words, s-words, one asterisked c-word). Main relationships are mlw; one minor wlw relationship.

*

Sutanto, J. Q. (2023). Didn’t see that coming. Electric Monkey.

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I read this novel for free thanks to a school library — support your school library by visiting & borrowing!