Next Time Will Be Our Turn, Jesse Q. Sutanto
Next Time Will Be Our Turn, Jesse Q. Sutanto
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Next Time Will Be Our Turn

Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto

Narrator: Emily Woo Zeller, Louisa Zhu

Unabridged: 11 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 11/11/2025


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.

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.


Reviews

Goodreads review by ellen on August 23, 2025

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing this ARC! Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to settle on a 2.5 star rating for this one. I find myself slightly frustrated because I feel as though I could see the bones of what this story could be, but I feel as though it missed the mark in a lot o......more

Goodreads review by Mai on December 08, 2025

2025 Goodreads Choice Awards (Mai's Version) - Readers' Favorite Historical Fiction This one surprised me. Clearly, I need to start reading synopses before starting books, but maybe some of you are right. Sometimes it's best to go in blind. I thought this book was going to be set in present day and fe......more

Goodreads review by Angie on June 04, 2025

I am unwell- THAT ENDING! 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Izzy is talking to her beloved grandmother Nainai, who is an accomplished woman in Indonesia. Nainai has just entered the Chinese New Year party with a tall beautiful woman on her arm and shared a public kiss. The scandal! And so the story jumps back to 1996 when Nain......more

Goodreads review by Booksblabbering || Cait❣️ on October 21, 2025

I did not expect this one to hit me as hard as it did. This took me to the extremes of emotion. Laughter and tears. This is not a romance. It is a love story. This is basically a coming-of-age account told to a granddaughter that starts in 1995 after her grandmother causes ripples as the undisputed......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie on November 11, 2025

What a heartfelt, moving story. I inhaled it and fell in love with all of the characters along the way. Imperfect people making imperfect decisions, and doing the best they can in a world that views them as lesser than…just beautiful. You can tell Jesse Q. Sutanto poured her soul into every word. Wh......more


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