Harper Collins Australia

November 2022

• ISBN: 9780008501464
• ISBN 10: 0008501467
• Imprint: Electric Monkey
• List Price: 19.99 AUD

In actual fact, this is hands down the most enjoyable YA novel I’ve read in a long time. Coincidentally, it is one of a posse of recent YAs that are Asian-focused in one way or another. Even more interesting perhaps is that it’s the second with an Indonesian setting I’ve read in a relatively short space of time, and given Indo is our very near neighbour – plus, also because I have a very dear Indo friend (Hello Miss Lily!), it’s great to learn some more about this country and the culture, even the difficult or unpleasant parts. I love all of the background to this one: the backdrop of Chinese Indo family dynamics, the Indonesian culture with the strict (and yes, to our sensibilities) sometimes brutal restrictions, the exploration of more than just the tourist sites (which is the knowledge extent of most Aussies I’d say), the focus on topics that have run hot, particularly in the past year or so, such as toxic masculinity, slut-shaming and gender diversity. That is to say, they have run hot in much of the Western world with much positivity arising from strong advocacy – not so much in Indonesia where the religious implications and traditional family values are paramount.

But more than all of this – I love that this is, at its heart, an utterly adorable and engaging rom com with a hetero couple. {Don’t shoot me. I have many gender diverse friends and have always actively supported the LGBQT+ movement – but seriously, it was getting harder and harder to find a YA Romance that had a boy/girl relationship – and you know what? they do still exist!} Sharlot has been raised in LA by her single Indonesian mother without ever having contact either with the country of her heritage or her extended family. When she decides that she will sleep with her (secret) boyfriend after much careful consideration, she’s quite unprepared for the reality and backs out at the last minute – no awful consequences from the b/f but her mum walks in to discover a very compromising scene and in a kneejerk reaction, has Sharlot hustled onto a plane pronto ,and they are both bound for Indonesia and traditional family. Meanwhile, in Jakarta George Clooney Tanuwijaya (yes, that is correct) is caught by his father in an equally compromising, albeit solo, situation.

So what would any concerned, traditional Chinese Indo parent do? They would try to find their child a ‘suitable’ romantic interest. And so, begins a complete comedy of errors – with George’s dad, along with his 13 year old sister, and Sharlot’s mum ‘catfishing’ on the local social media app with a view to sparking a relationship. Their feeble attempts to be hip and attractive to the other person are highly entertaining, but become even more so when George and Sharlot finally meet via the engineering of their respective families.

Those families are far more complex than first imagined. Sharlot’s mum and George’s Eighth Aunt are long-lost best friends – in fact,much more than that. Their sapphic friendship was the impetus for Sharlot’s mum leaving Indo, although not in and of itself. Add into this mix, George’s attempts to please his father by being more interested in the family business – they just happen to be the second wealthiest family in Indonesia!- by creating an app called OneLiner aimed at educating and encouraging young men to shed their toxic attitudes and behaviours. There’s a lot going on but, trust me, it’s really not as complicated as it sounds – and it totally is hilarious. The secondary characters are just as quirky as the plot and there is plenty of diversity (both gender and cultural) to offset the main couple and the main plot. I loved it very much and read it very quickly. I especially love that Sharlot has as fine a command of the Anglo-Saxon vernacular as I do and her conversations are literally peppered by expletives. On that note, the publishers have a 12 years suggested age for it but, conservatively and mindful of all my library cohorts, I would not be handing it to anyone under Year 9. Lots of swearing and sexual references which would easily rouse the ire of not-so-tolerant parents (or admins).

Highly recommended for your older or suitably mature readers.