Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
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...
"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."-- Provided by publisher.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Publishers Weekly Review
Sutanto's zany third and final adventure for newlywed Meddy Chan and her bighearted yet bullheaded aunts (after Four Aunties and a Wedding) serves up all the mafia mix-ups and madcap chases that series fans have come to expect. Meddy and her well-mannered husband, Nathan, are honeymooning in France when they get a call from Meddy's mother inviting them to Jakarta to celebrate Chinese New Year with her large extended family. During the festivities, a cavalcade of sleek black cars arrive. From one of them emerges gangster Abraham "Abi" Lincoln, who, as a teen, was in love with Meddy's aunt Enjelin. He's come bearing gifts to the entire family in a bid to renew his courtship, but in a rush of excitement, an important document gets mixed in with the presents and then goes missing. Meddy, Nathan, and the aunties set out to retrieve it, only to fall into the middle of a vicious business rivalry that could endanger their lives. Some readers may be worn out by the unrelentingly frantic pace, but Sutanto packs in loads of local color, and gives the aunties ample opportunity to let their freak flags fly. This caper mostly pays off. Agent: Katelyn Detweiler, Jill Grinberg Literary. (Mar.)
Booklist Review
Meddelin ("Madeleine" wastes vowels) finally caught "the One That Got Away" after being reunited in Dial A for Aunties (2021) and married in Four Aunties and a Wedding (2022). After luxuriously honeymooning across Europe, Meddy's got to present Nathan to her extended Indonesian clan, just in time for Chinese New Year. The aunties--Big Aunt, Second Aunt, Fourth Aunt--and Ma are, of course, eagerly waiting to claim Nathan at the Jakarta airport. The newlyweds (and everyone else in the family's megamanse) are awakened the following morning by "the Scourge of Jakarta"--Abraham Lincoln Irawan--and his rifle-toting entourage bearing lavish gifts. Distracted by adoration for Second Aunt, Abi gives away something he shouldn't have, inciting domino-tumbling (mafia) mayhem that Meddy and the Aunties must set right. Delightfully preposterous monikers (Julia Child Handoko, Kristofer Kolumbes Hermansah) populate the extensive cast as precarious chaos reigns, but true love will indeed conquer all. Sutanto delivers another addictive romp, managing to negotiate a thrilling (multi) happily-ever-after finale because, alas, this concludes the Aunties series. But Sutanto's acknowledgements promise "other meddlesome, auntie characters . . . to come."
Kirkus Book Review
Meddy Chan's honeymoon with her dream mate is interrupted by theft, hostage taking, and abduction. But it's nothing the aunties can't handle. At a chaotic celebration outside Jakarta, where Meddy's extended family has gathered to celebrate Chinese New Year, a red gift packet containing the title deed to a valuable parcel of land in downtown Jakarta that Abraham Lincoln Irawan, who's long carried a torch for Second Aunt Enjelin Chan, has earmarked for his creditor Julia Child Handoko, accidentally ends up in the hands of one of Meddy's cousins. Learning of the mishap, Julia Child--a rival businessperson who's the perfectly law-abiding head of a conglomerate, not another triad leader, Abi blandly assures Meddy--pressures the family to recover the deed by imprisoning Nathan Chan, Meddy's new husband. It's a testimony to the size of that family gathering that the discovery of a photograph showing the gift recipient kicks off a lively discussion of who she is and that the identification of the young woman in the photo with her as Annabelle leads to a further discussion of whose daughter she is. Because Rochelle, the friend of Annabelle who ended up with the deed, is the granddaughter of Kristofer Kolumbes Hermansah, a third absolutely legitimate businessperson, the family's attempt to retrieve it from Annabelle leads to still further complications. As the pot boils, the tone remains light and the frantic complications rollicking, though the four aunties, Meddy's mother and her three sisters, make a much less powerful impression individually than as a group. Sutanto's hilarious triptych ends with a finale that could just as well have been titled "An Auntie You Can't Refuse." Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.