FROM the award-winning author of Dial A For Aunties comes a new young adult romantic comedy with Indonesian culture and family dynamics at its heart.
This is a story that will have readers laughing and rooting for the main characters along the way.
In reading romance about and for young people, it’s deeply refreshing to see this kind of earnest humour and emotion as they navigate their first relationships.
While nothing goes perfectly smoothly, the mix of awkwardness and excitement in early exploration of romance is a feeling that deserves to be captured. Sutanto’s writing takes great care to do this and so much more, and with a laugh out loud moment in almost every scenario, it’s a brilliantly light and comforting read.
The story is told in switching chapters from the perspective of two teenagers with loving, if somewhat meddling parents.
After being caught in a compromising position with her boyfriend, half-Indonesian Sharlot who’s lived in the US all her life is brought to spend the summer in Jakarta while her mother keeps an eye on her.
There, having been raised in the city, is George, the only male heir to one of the wealthiest families in the country. When George’s father goes looking on social media for the perfect young woman to set his son up with he comes across Sharlot’s profile and messages her in his place, except it’s not Sharlot who answers but her mother having had the same idea to find an appropriate partner.
Having attempted to portray their children as being as sensible and marriage-worthy as possible, once the two teenagers read the messages supposedly between them they think of each other as boring and traditional despite an initial physical attraction – but agree to one date.
Due to the inescapability of his family’s fame, George finds this one date with Sharlot spinning out of control when they are spotted by cameras at a cafe.
With the supposed relationship now public, there seems to be no choice but to go along with it and, only knowing about each other through the images painted by their respective parents, the two agree to begin a fake relationship.
This whirlwind false romance confronts George and Sharlot with the blurring of obligation and real connection, getting to know each other beyond the perfect story they present to the public for the sake of George’s family image.
These two sides to both of them and their interactions with each other make the central characters exciting to follow and lend a depth to every interaction. With George’s real commitment to making an app that helps teenage boys unlearn toxic masculinity and Sharlot’s passion for art, you hope for the best for them both individually and in their relationship.
The messages between the parents attempting to talk as young people are hilarious.
Well That Was Unexpected can be expected to be the standout YA romance of the year for its witty character dynamics and stunning backdrop of Indonesian culture and locations.
