I'm a huge fan of the Aunties! Unfortunately however, this third (and sadly final) instalment of their escapades fell short for me, with little/no additional character development and a far-fetched, repetitive plot. Very interesting context on Indo-Chinese culture though with the book being set during New Year celebrations with those infamous red packets!

It’s Chinese New Year, a time to celebrate…
 
Fresh from their honeymoon, Meddy and Nathan meet the Aunties in Jakarta for a family celebration. Amid the festivities, an old flame of Second Aunt’s arrives with extravagant gifts. Unfortunately, not all the presents were meant for them.
 
NOT the time to start an all-out war.
 
The item goes missing, putting Meddy and the Aunties in the middle of a feud between Jakarta’s most powerful business moguls – and in great danger. To save her loved ones, Meddy must organise a search party, a break-in, and a kidnapping. It might sound impossible – but with the Aunties by her side, nothing is impossible… just complicated.

I adored the first two books in this series but this story just felt a bit too far-fetched and a bit unnecessary. The craziness (and I mean insanity) of the events in this book was a lot to take so be prepared to leave reality at the door. What I do love about Sutanto’s work is her ability to make me absolutely laugh out loud in terms of how she brings the characters to life on the page. The aunties are hilarious and mostly oblivious to what comes out of their mouths. They remain the highlight of the series. I was more invested in their stories than in Meddy and Nathan’s storyline.

An easy read which will have you laughing at the eccentricity of the aunties and their crazy antics. This is the last book in the series and I don’t think the author could bring them any further along in their stories. If you’re looking for a mystery with romance and madness galore, go check out The Good, the Bad and the Aunties which is out now.

Thanks to NetGalley and HQ Publishing for the arc. 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Oh. My. Wordy. Word!!! I leapt for this book when I saw it, having read two of this series before and knowing the author was AMAZING at madcap, crazy comedy and action adventure and from the get go I settled into this on a journey where we were moved off a train due to a storm (not trying to make this all about me but…) where someone had to alert me as I was so invested and the only one not caring that I’d been sitting on an unmoving train for half an hour!

Onto a bus for me, as I followed our old friends (how is this series ending?!) Meddy, Nathan and the Aunties as a mix up at a ceremony means they are in trouble with some mafia-sequels groups. The sudden comedy, with impeccable timing, sent me into a higher state of consciousness that sealed Ms. Sutanto as one of my favourite authors.

Fab, fab, fab. Go buy basically! Thanks to the publisher for the advance review copy of the book.

This is the the third and final book in the Aunties series which is a series that I’ve found a lot of comfort in reading over the last couple of years. I knew I was going to be in for a wild ride when reading this book. That is exactly what I got and it was wonderful.

Meddy and her husband, Nathan have landed in Jakarta to spend Chinese New Year with her entire extended family. Of course, at the celebration, there is going to be some extravagant gifts exchanged. But, when a grand gesture goes awry it is discovered one gift did not end up with the person it should have. Surely, it should just be easy to swap gifts to make things right. Instead, Meddy, Nathan and the Aunties find themselves as helpless pawns in an impossible mission to stop the family from being in danger.

It was so fun to be back in the world of the Aunties and their antics. A lot of the characters in the series are well known to the readers at this point but even still we get some more background on them throughout the book. Meddy will forever be one of my comfort characters and I love seeing her relationships with her family. We get to meet some new characters and in turn, some villains in this instalment which was also a lot of fun as they each added something new and unique to the story.

I adore the Aunties and how hilarious they are as a group. There were moments when reading this book I found myself laughing at the things they do and the things they say. The little fights they have with each other are hilarious too. Not only that but I love how supportive the entire family is of one another. They would really go to the ends of the earth for each other and it is heart-warming to read.

If you have read the other books in this series you will know that the plots of this series are incredibly unrealistic. That is part of the reason why I love this series so much though. Yes, the plot is ridiculous most of the time but that is what makes it all the more fun for me as it really is a book you can escape into. If you can get on with a ridiculous plot for characters you are sure to fall in love with then I’m sure you’ll love this series.

Jesse Sutanto is certainly an author whose books I will automatically pick up now no matter what. They have cosy mysteries, lovable characters and a lot of heart-warming moments. Each of her books have felt like a love letter to her culture, the places her books are set in and also to the readers.

Overall, I would highly recommend The Good, the Bad and the Aunties if you are looking for a cosy mystery to read. I’d recommend reading the rest of the series before picking this one up but if you love them, you’ll be sure to love this. It is bittersweet to have now finished this series but I’ve loved it and I’m sure you will too.

A book filled with madness and mayhem and some over the top characters. Maddie and the aunties need to retrieve an important gift which is unfortunately gone to the incorrect person but with these characters nothing is a straightforward as it should be. I must admit that I hadn’t realised this was the third in a series, but it was able to be read as a standalone and I am now keen to read the previous two books. A fun and quick read perfect to curl up with on a wet afternoon. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Meddy and her Aunties are back!

Meddy is now married to Nathan and the couple has just finished their honeymoon in France, and afterwards they join the Aunts in Indonesia to visit their family for Chinese New Year celebrations.

Fourth Aunt plans a special surprise for the Second Aunt: her childhood sweetheart, Abi Lincoln, who is now a mafia lord, appears in the huge family home, offering gift baskets to everyone to celebrate the New Year.

Later that night, he reappears on their doorstep and announces he’s in big trouble. He needs one of the baskets back – apparently, it was meant for someone else, someone very powerful, and it contained a title deed to a large plot of land strategically located in Jakarta.

Meddy, Nathan, and the Aunts accompany Abi to this powerful person, Ms Handoko, for whom the basket was originally for, and she tells them she will ‘keep’ Nathan with her, until Meddy and the Aunts find her the property deed…

This starts off a series of events, involving an assault on a teenager, a kidnapping, and intercepting an invitation-only party.

I loved how the characters had names based on white characters from the past: Abraham Lincoln, and Kristofer Kolumbes – yes, that’s how it was spelled! I just found it hilarious.

As usual, expect the unexpected! There is chaos, comedy, and lots of capers and antics. The Aunties are a parody of an Asian family, however, there is lots of love and looking out for another.

I definitely recommend this series of books.

Thanks to HQ for my book copy and for the NetGalley widget.

This was a simple, fun, easy and quick read. The perfect type of book for your holiday, beach, pool kind of read. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

I ADORED the first half of this book, it was funny, drama filled antic& everything I've come to love and expect for Meddy and the Aunties.

But the last half felt rather unnecessary & I was disappointed that that's how it all ends.

I really enjoyed this end to the 4 Aunties series. The characters are fun and three-dimensional. The story was well-paced and ended with a satisfying conclusion. The themes of family, cultural norms and support were well fleshed out. And the comic capers that the family end up in are always a hoot. The Jakarta setting was also fabulous, I enjoyed being transported there with the gentle dispelling of stereotypes around the city. Overall a rip-roaring and easy read with lovable characters in a great setting.

Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to HQ and NetGalley for the ARC.

I absolutely love this series and I’m so sad to see it come to an end, but it ended on a high, that’s for sure. The third instalment of the Dial A for Aunties series is absolutely fantastic, and is a must read if you want a good laugh and heaps of drama.

This book carried the usual chaos of the first two books, with the same high stake situations that they somehow seem to keep stumbling into. It was yet another dramatic and surreal experience, that had me laughing out loud. This author has created a set of absolutely loveable, wild, and chaotic characters that have made this series spectacular.

Meddy and Nathan are a beautiful couple, and I’ve loved seeing them grow throughout the series. Nathan loves Meddy’s family like his own and it’s incredibly sweet. The ending was so wholesome, with Meddy and Nathan getting a more normal happily ever after.

I will always recommend this series to anyone who’ll listen because everyone needs a good laugh – but this series has so much drama and chaos that you’ll constantly be on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next, because these Aunties are absolutely unpredictable – and I LOVE it.

Meddy and Nathan are back from honeymoon and are meeting the Aunties in Jakarta , and of course mayhem ensues .
It’s Chinese New Year and the celebrations are in full swing when an admirer of second aunt arrives with extravagant gifts , unfortunately all of the gifts are not for the Aunties.
It’s too late to rectify the problem and Meddy and her Aunties are thrown into the middle of a feud between two “mob” families.
This book is laugh out loud at times and is an excellent light hearted read .
Thanks to NetGalley and HQ .

As part of her honeymoon Meddy has turned up in Jakarta to celebrate Chinese New Year with her extended family. When they arrive Second Aunt is greeted by a long lost former boyfriend, the heavily tattooed 'businessman' Abi who proceeds to show great generosity by handing out lucky envelopes. Unfortunately, one of those envelopes contains a gift meant for a formidable business rival Julia and now it is in the hands of Abi's business enemy Kristofer. Now Meddy, her husband Nathan and the Aunties are at the centre of a business dispute which has absolutely nothing to do with the most powerful gangsters in Indonesia!
This is the final part of a trilogy and I hadn't read the first two, however I read another book by Sustanto so I had a good idea of what to expect. I think a reader coming to this book fresh would really struggle, it's a manically-paced, laugh out loud culture shock. That's not to say the story isn't very clever, well-written and hugely entertaining but it is very full on.

A really fun book. I've read the other two and was worried this third book would be a let-down, but this absolutely did not disappoint.

This book got me out a reading slump!

I read this whole thing in a single day because it is so funny, I loved being back with the aunties and their shenanigans.

What I really loved was the return to these characters, I am sad this is the end of the series because it means no more aunties and no more absurd situations.

This series was so perfect for me, fast paced, funny, and overall a great time. I loved Dial A for Aunties and that one is still my favourite, at times I found The Good, the Bad and the Aunties to just be a little too unbelievable. The introduction of the mafia and several plot points were just a little too out there for me. The book also felt like it stalled in the middle as the Aunties and Meddy had achieved what they set out to do originally only for something kinda obvious to embroil them in more danger and drama.

Overall 3 stars for this one but I would re-read the whole series again and pick up more by Jesse Sutanto because her writing is addictive.

***ARC Read***

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Only Meddy and her aunts can live through this much chaos - Meddy (and now Nathan) must have constant high blood pressure LOL. 3 books and no rest in any of them.

I can't believe this is the last book in the series!!! I've loved every single one, I've had real belly laughs and it's not often that books can do that! The characters maintained their personalities throughout the three books and I think that's the main beauty of it - its as though we're looking forward to seeing the family again in each book, we know what to expect so its like a reunion almost.

This book was such a chaotic yet light, fun and good-vibes read. I ate it all up and sad to see it end.

I highly recommend this series.

What a fun conclusion to the series. Personally, didn’t think it was necessary, but I enjoyed my time reading it.

this just didn’t feel like the end of a series ??? despite the actual stakes being high it didn’t feel HIGH STAKE if that makes sense, and the ending was a tad cliche for my liking … it was v fast paced and entertaining tho which has helped my crippling reading slump so props for that

The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties is the third and final book in Jesse Sutano's highly popular and successful Aunties series. This time newly married Meddy and Nathan travel to Jakarta to celebrate Chinese New Year with the extended family and of course chaos ensues. A mix up in the distribution of the traditional red envelopes given as gifts during the celebrations turns dangerous when the deed to a valuable piece of land is given to the wrong person by accident and Meddy and Nathan find themselves caught up in a gangland feud that has been ongoing for decades and now involves multiple generations.
Reader who enjoyed the humour and well drawn characters of the first two books will find much to enjoy here, though I admit for me it did feel like the weakest of the trilogy and I think the decision to wind up the series before the joke is stretched too thin is a wise one. If you are looking for a fun light hearted piece of escapism this should fit the bill.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Third in the series, I really thought it would not be as enjoyable as the others, but Sutano is quickly becoming an auto read author for me. Meddy and her family, including Nathan, are still as loveable and mischievous as ever, with the consistent and excellent characterisations across all the books. With the increasingly high stakes and hijinks, I was chuckling along at the misunderstandings of colloquial sayings whilst still enjoying the heartwarming bonds in this family's dynamics. The writing really does make the reader feel part of the family, an unmissable ending to the series.

Meddy and her aunties are back and this was a very entertaining treat that made me laugh and kept me reading.
The mystery is as solid as usual, the boisterous and big family of Maddy is great at creating very funny moments.
Can't wait to read other stories featuring them.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks t