Kiki is a gamer but, due to excessive harassment because of being female, she plays under the banner of being a man. Even her best friend online doesn't know she's actually a girl.
Except Kiki gets moved to a prestigious school and has to deal with real life bullying and harassment and this time she can't escape it. But once she figures out that her online bestie is at school with her, will she reveal herself or allow the bullies to win.

Impactful and striking story about the realities of female gamers and the still rampant sexism in the industry. Several times I was so angry I had to put the book down and go calm down. This wasn't helped by the sheer arrogance and misogyny of her classmates.
Having only limited knowledge of Chinese culture and schools, this was a real eye opener for me.
Kiki was a great character with real depth and her ability to bounce back was heartwarming and had me grinning in girl-power solidarity. Liam was a little less well fleshed out although we got more character growth through his discord messages.
Jonas was a douche
My favourite character, though, was Eleanor Roosevelt. Terrifying and entrepreneurial I wish I had this kid in my life.
Great book with a wonderfully exultant ending.

i have to say i really enjoyed this book! it’s a sweet, fluffy, quick read YA romance that was really heartfelt and very cute! i’m not going to lie, the start was a bit cringy for me, solely based off the ‘gen z’ language that was used but that didn’t continue into the rest of the book.

i really enjoyed the writing and characters of this book! it highlights the issues and misogyny young women face for simply existing and especially in different cultures, and is really heartwarming to see people try to make a stance and come together to support one another.

if you’re looking for a cute, quick YA read i would really recommend this book, i literally read it in less than a day and had a good few laughs while reading.

I love a friends to lovers, so this was right up my alley. Also this was about a gamer girl, I have never read a book including that which was very refreshing for me.

This was a fun and humorous read, yet one with a more serious side. Sutanto achieved a great balance between the contemporary issues they wished to address and the more light-hearted side of the novel, displaying great skill in plot/character development and pacing. Furthermore, it was accessible even from a non-gamer/techo-whizz (like myself) and proved relatable and well-researched. Not only enjoyable, but one with much to learn from as well.

What a delightful read!

Kiki is a 17 year old gamer girl who is unapologetically herself in all aspects of her life, except when it comes to online gaming. She is masquerading as a guy online to try and avoid the harassment that women face in the online community that is heavily dominated by men’s voices and “opinions”. Basically, she just wants the ability to play in peace and she can’t do this with her actual identity – she’s tried. Not even her online buddy sourdawg knows her true identity, but the friendship won’t make it offline right? So no big deal. Until Kiki realises that Sourdawg is also a student at the very strict new school she’s started to attend. Oh and she’s also started to develop some major feelings for him, so that’s going to make things a bit more difficult too.

This book is a light-hearted but meaningful peek into the world of being a girl in the online gaming community. There is so much cute and funny banter and I was absolutely here for it. This book covers bullying, dealing with school life and teen crushes as well as some awful people in powerful positions within the school. The serious topics are tackled and balanced very well with the slightly more light-hearted tone of the book which you think might be difficult but has been accomplished so well.

Huge thanks to the author for the opportunity to read this ARC, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This was a good read, but it was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I wanted a bit more action in the plot, quite a lot of time is spent introducing characters who are named after well known people or characters and it was a bit of a slow start based on that, however, ,Kiki and Liam have a lot of fun before the reveal and after so it balanced out. I also loved the idea of gamers and love from afar.

This is the first book I have read that is based around gaming and It was such a good time, It was a fun easy quick read that I highly recommend!

This book was so good! It was intriguing and really drawed me in. I'll be reading more of this authors work.

As someone who grew up in Indonesia and went to high school in Indonesia, this book felt like a warm reminder of home 🫶🏻

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 realises she’s falling for her online BFF?

This book is so cute and easy to read! It is YA so it does give that awkward and cringey type of vibes. But hey, I love it and ate it up every single time. It gives those Disney Channel Original Movie vibes and I absolutely devoured it.

The plot is there, I love that it delves about sexism and how other people view girls as less capable than boys. This is one topic that I feel very passionate about as women in STEM 🤭 so I love that this book touches on that topic.

Growing up in Indonesia as well, I feel like the stuffs mentioned in this book feels so relatable and I do think that the author did so well in portraying the sort of ‘stereotypical’ Chinese Indonesian family. I can totally imagine this actually happens in real life because of the familiar setting that the author set.

Overall, I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves YA and would love to know more about Indonesia <3. If I had read this book in middle school/high school I’d definitely ate this book up even more 🤭

Thank you to NetGalley for approving my request to read this book in exchange of an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book. It was so fluffy and cute, perfect for the age of the characters and audience. The characters are so well written and they leave you with the perfect balance of frustration and love for them.

I have read several books now by Jesse Sutanto and she's fast becoming one of my favourite all time authors. She can write several genres so perfectly! Cosy mystery, tense thrillers and now YA romances. Loved this!

Jesse Sutanto is really popping off because I’ve seen her dabble in numerous genres such as mystery, romantic comedy, thrillers, and now hound adult. I applaud her range, she is truly amazing!

Despite not being a gamer, this book still delivered what it set out to do. The book touched on various relevant themes in contemporary world like cyber-bullying, toxic masculinity, etc. I am a huge enjoyer of the fake-dating premise so this book was right up my alley! I eagerly look forward to Jesse’s future releases.

Thank you to NetGalley and little brown book for providing me arc in exchange for this honest review.

A cute coming of age story! Very much a YA read which at the age of 31 I was dubious about & wondered whether I was a little old for it. Partly yes but I could appreciate this for what it was. It also handled sensitive subjects like sexism , different cultures & their expectations & bullying which resonated with me as someone who experienced bullying as a child and who has a teenage brother who’s experienced this also. The teen talk made me laugh , felt very much forced in a way and slightly old school but other than that it was a pleasant read & I know this will appeal to so many people of all ages.

Apparantly this is book 2 , carrying on where book 1 left off. However it is a standalone as well. Kiki is in Jakarta and is happy with life: she has some friends, plays fantasy war games online and online chats with her friend and game partner, Sourdawg.
But Kiki's parents decide that she is getting too modern and needs to learn discipline to fit into traditional Chinese culture so enrol her in a new school.
What a culture shock for Kiki. How will she survive?
Loved this book, Captures Asian culture and the characters leapt from the page. So great to have a female gamer as well.
Recommend for age 9 upwards

Kiki Siregar is a gamer girl who uses the alias Dudebro10 when she's playing as to not be harassed by male players. Her online best friend is Sourdawg, a teenage boy who has no idea who she is, or that she is a girl. Then she transfers to a super strict, elite private school. She soon finds out that Sourdawg is at her new school! Who is he really, can he handle learning the truth and is she crushing on her online BFF?

You are immediately comfortable in Kiki's world and her quirky outlook on her life. I was totally immersed from the get-go. Taking place in Jakarta we are presented with an unknown to many of us readers culture, but it is done in a welcoming manner, not preachy or with fanfare but in an everyday perspective. The onscreen and group convos feel natural and I like how they are added to the story. You will adore Eleanor Roosevelt and Sarah Jessica Parker (yes named after THOSE famous women), and their monkey wrench of a venture. Actually all of her friends are great.

Kiki is confident, speaks her mind, and I enjoy her thought process. Her POV is so perceptive we are experiencing this new student life with her. I love how realistic it is, with her making mistakes, facing injustices, trying to fit in while dealing with the strictness, being underestimated and so on. Don't worry, the book is refreshingly funny as the premise promises, absolutely hilarious in parts, even with the gut punches. I really like the way it presents school and people dynamics in general.

The book is aptly named cuz there were things I didn't see coming AT ALL! You could say that in the last 3rd of the book, there is a little bit of a preposterous turn of events but it's so much fun. I know it serves the plot but the whys the protagonist keeps giving for not coming clean get repetitive. However, I do love how she puts everything in place in the end.

The main themes in this generously uplifting in the end book are: sexism and gender inequality and how much they are unfortunately ingrained in society, plus being true to yourself no matter what.

A different kind of high school rom-com, insightful with You've Got Mail vibes, a wonderful commentary on how we treat others and ourselves, set in Southeast Asia. I really, really enjoyed this book.

This is the first book I have read by this author, I really enjoyed it. A nice lighthearted easy to read story. With some good funny parts. Recommend.

Thank you netgalley for the eARC.
Didn't See The Coming followers a female gamer who pretends to be a guy online so that she is treated the same whilst playing.

I really liked the premise of Didn't See That Coming and the subject matter of how women are treated online/when gaming compared to men. It touched on quite a few significant misogynestic topics and approached them honestly and brutally. The romance was secondary but cute.

I struggled in the middle to keep reading as I found it dragging a bit and didn't really like a few of the FMC's decisions, particularly her lack of honesty with Liam. I wasn't super invested in the romance although I like how everything was resolved in the end. A cute, teenage read, particularly if you enjoy gaming.

An interesting mood, not quite up my street, but I did like it. Thank you to the writer, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review this book.

Was this kind of cheesy? Yes. Was it also an adorable gamer YA romance? Also yes. There was so much to love about this book, from the character growth to the supportive friendships. It tackled lots of important topics such as bullying, sexism and cultural expectations without rushing them. However, what really let it down for me was its extremely outdated teen talk like 'betches', 'yaaas' and 'slay' (bearing in mind this is a new book) and cringy gamer tags like 'sourdawg'. Otherwise, a sweet, speedy read.

This was definitely not the type of book I would normally read but I loved it. Kiki was such an interesting character and I could see why she would decide to do the gaming as a male to be taken seriously. And, how the strictness she encountered at the new school was alien to her.
It certainly made me think about how females are still often treated despite given the appearance that there’s equality nowadays.
A thought provoking read