The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto -> Starting September 10th, 2024

[Aly]

What should have been a family celebration of Chinese New Year descends into chaos when longtime foes crash the party in this hilariously entertaining novel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties.

After an ultra-romantic honeymoon across Europe, Meddy Chan and her husband Nathan have landed in Jakarta to spend Chinese New Year with her entire extended family. Chinese New Year, already the biggest celebration of the Lunar calendar, gets even more festive when a former beau of Second Aunt’s shows up at the Chan residence bearing extravagant gifts—he’s determined to rekindle his romance with Second Aunt and the gifts are his way of announcing his courtship.

His grand gesture goes awry however, when it’s discovered that not all the gifts were meant for Second Aunt and the Chans—one particular gift was intended for a business rival to cement their alliance and included by accident. Of course the Aunties agree that it’s only right to return the gift—after all, anyone would forgive an honest mistake, right? But what should have been a simple retrieval turns disastrous and suddenly Meddy and the Aunties are helpless pawns in a decades-long war between Jakarta’s most powerful business factions. The fighting turns personal, however, when Nathan and the Aunties are endangered and it’s up to Meddy to come up with a plan to save them all. Determined to rescue her loved ones, Meddy embarks on an impossible mission—but with the Aunties by her side, nothing is truly impossible…

[Jessica]

I'm realistically probably not going to be able to start this until next month.

[Melanie]

Do you want to move it to sometime in September? I'm always behind so I'm ok moving it if next month works better for you.

[Jessica]

Yeah, that would be good. How about Sept 9th?

[Melanie]

Jessica wrote: "Yeah, that would be good. How about Sept 9th?"

Can we do the 10th? I have one scheduled on the 9th already.

[Jessica]

Yeah totally, or the next week if that's better. I'm good anytime the 10th on so whatever works best for you.

[Melanie]

The 10th is good. Do you want to update the thread or do you want me to?

[Jessica]

I got it.

[Jessica]

Chapters 1-5
(view spoiler)[ These books are so funny. It's been a while since I read the first one so it took me a moment to remember the dynamics and who was who. This is a fun set up. I knew things wouldn’t stay calm for long but damn poor Nathan. I'll be curious to see what happens and how this works out. Is he actually a crime lord or will this be like the Mafia family of last book? These books are so ridiculous but so fun.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapters 6-9
(view spoiler)[ LOL I'm enjoying this kid. I figured as much when they pulled up to her richy rich house. But also don't admit you stole it - well okay not stolen but still. I feel like this is not how this works, just having the deed doesn't mean ownership, but maybe I'm wrong. Taking it physically is not going to work out, that family is totally going to retaliate. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 10-14
(view spoiler)[ Yep see there it is, Second Aunt has been kidnapped. This is so silly, but so fun. Just casually drugging people left, right and centre no big deal. This surely won't cause more problems. I'm glad they found Second Aunt but LOL at Meddy’s mom using that opportunity to corner Nathan about kids. Of course Second Aunt is doing Tai Chi.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapters 15-16
(view spoiler)[ Oh so she's been pregnant this whole time. I wasn't expecting that. I feel like there should have been signs earlier but maybe I just missed them. I love that Fourth Aunt was just fawning over Christopher's cars and how he's actually a huge fan so she ended up performing but yes hello of course Richelle was going to recognize Fourth Aunt. The quick thing is not there 😂
(hide spoiler)]

Chapters 17-Finish
(view spoiler)[ Well that was pretty easy and as if it was as simple as I gave her Julia's scarf. This was silly but I knew it would be as that's part of the charm of these books. Also poor Meddy not getting to tell Nathan on her own time but now it's out there. I wonder how her aunt found out. This series is so fun, it was nice to jump back into the zaniness. (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

I'll be picking this one up this week.

[Melanie]

Will start this in a few days.

[Melanie]

I read this yesterday, I'll come back and update with my comments tomorrow.