DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING

𝐃𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠
𝐁𝐲 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞 𝐐 𝐒𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐲
𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤: 𝟑𝟖𝟒
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 𝟕𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫: 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒


The book is set in Indonesia and follows Kiki, a character who loves gaming but is frustrated with the abuse she suffers online simply for being female. To avoid the harassment and death threats, she creates an online persona, with her fellow gamers assuming she’s male. Since Kiki isn’t there to make friends, she doesn’t see any harm in keeping her identity a secret. However, things get complicated when she starts to develop feelings for someone in her online world. The plot thickens when she moves to a new school, only to discover her online friend is also enrolled there. As expected, Kiki begins to fall for him, leading to a predictable but engaging twist.

Kiki's character could come across as annoying and disrespectful at times. While there are moments where her reactions seem justified, other times her outbursts feel unwarranted and random. In the previous book of this series, the main character also appeared rude and somewhat manner less, similar to the character in this one. I am not sure why the author showed their protagonists in such a negative light. The humor in the book didn’t quite land for me, perhaps due to cultural differences, which is understandable. That is okay with me because I'm not the target audience for this book.
Some aspects of the story felt unrealistic like Kiki's parents being eager for her to change schools with only one year left to go. The long climactic speech by Kiki also felt a bit overdone, not quite matching the pace and tone of the rest of the story.

Despite these points, the book does tackle important themes like cyberbullying, toxic masculinity, and class differences—issues that are relatable and relevant. While the writing style felt juvenile sometimes, while some events were over-the-top and cringeworthy, there were still heartwarming and charming moments. Overall, it’s a fun, quick read. I recommend it to teenagers and college students, though it may not resonate well with more mature readers.

My Rating:

3/5

NOTE:   In this blog, the CONTENT and PICTURES are owned by Samayra Singh, and cannot be used or distributed without permission. Strict legal action will be taken against any infringement.