Next Time Will Be Our Turn - by Jesse Q Sutanto (Paperback)

About the Book

"Izzy Chen is dreading her family's annual Chinese New Year celebration, where they all come together at a Michelin-starred restaurant to flaunt their status and successes in hopes to one up each other. So when her seventy-three-year-old glamorous and formidable grandmother walks in with a stunning woman on her arm and kisses her in front of everyone, it shakes Izzy to her core. She'd always considered herself the black sheep of the family for harboring similar feelings to the ones her Nainai just displayed. Seeing herself in her teenage granddaughter's struggles with identity and acceptance, Magnolia Chen tells Izzy her own story, of how as a teen she was sent by her Indo-Chinese parents from Jakarta to Los Angeles for her education and fell in love with someone completely forbidden to her by both culture and gender norms"--

Book Synopsis

A grandmother tells her granddaughter about her twisty, often surprising, journey to who she is now in this sweeping love story by USA Today bestselling author Jesse Q. Sutanto.

Izzy Chen is dreading her family's annual Chinese New Year celebration, where they all come together at a Michelin-starred restaurant to flaunt their status and successes in hopes to one up each other. So when her seventy-three-year-old glamorous and formidable grandmother walks in with a stunning woman on her arm and kisses her in front of everyone, it shakes Izzy to her core. She'd always considered herself the black sheep of the family for harboring similar feelings to the ones her Nainai just displayed.

Seeing herself in her teenage granddaughter's struggles with identity and acceptance, Magnolia Chen tells Izzy her own story, of how as a teen she was sent by her Indo-Chinese parents from Jakarta to Los Angeles for her education and fell in love with someone completely forbidden to her by both culture and gender norms--Ellery, an American college student who became Magnolia's best friend and the love of her life. Stretching across decades and continents, Magnolia's star-crossed love story reveals how life can take unexpected turns but ultimately lead you to exactly who you're meant to be.

Review Quotes

"Sutanto unfurls Magnolia's story of self-discovery with compassion, warmth, and a wonderful eye for period detail. The emotions feel complicated and earned. Both a queer coming-of-age story and a tender family portrait, Next Time Will Be Our Turn celebrates the ways love defies expectation."--Apple Books

"A brilliant, beautiful, bold-hearted tale of love, identity, family, and the empowering truth that it is never too late. This book has my whole heart."--Ashley Herring Blake, USA Today bestselling author of Dream On, Ramona Riley

"Such a tender, warm-hearted and brave story of finding the courage to love who you want. Magnolia's story will move you to tears!"--Kelly Yang, New York Times bestselling author of Private Label

"I was instantly invested in the story of Izzy and her grandmother. A beautifully warm tale about love and family and learning to live the life you want."--Paige Toon, bestselling author of Seven Summers

"Next Time Will Be Our Turn is a masterwork of intergenerational love, identity, and rebellion told through voices so alive they feel like family. Jesse Q. Sutanto's writing is deeply heartfelt and achingly authentic. The ending left me breathless, eyes wet, and somehow more whole. This is a beautiful, defiant, unforgettable triumph."--Taleen Voskuni, award-winning author of Lavash at First Sight

"A moving and strikingly original love letter to love in its varied forms. Yes, swooning, heady romantic love. But also the trying, stormswept love shared between family. Even the primal love for a bite of perfect food gets many a moment. This book will remind you why love stories matter."--Jeff Zentner, award-winning author of Colton Gentry's Third Act

"Jesse Q. Sutanto aces it again! Devastatingly poignant, Next Time Will Be Our Turn left me weepy and breathless. This unique, heartwarming tale gives hope for all of us black sheep looking for our happy ending."--Olivia Blacke, author of A New Lease on Death

"A queer Chinese Indonesian tear-jerker: a winning combination."--Kirkus Reviews

"Prolific Sutanto presents more page-turning fiction with empathy, humor, and just enough bite."--Booklist

"Sutanto demonstrates her range in this new bittersweet love story that feels very different in tone and structure from her previous works--more wistful, vastly less zany, and unfolding as a long conversation between a grandmother and her teenage granddaughter. ... I was hanging on every word of the narrative--and was also struck by the tender and real intergenerational dynamics."--Modern Mrs. Darcy blog

About the Author

Jesse Q. Sutanto grew up shuttling back and forth between Indonesia, Singapore, and Oxford, and considers all three places her home. She has a masters from Oxford University. When she is not writing, she is gaming with her husband or making a mess in the kitchen with her two daughters.