Next Time Will Be Our Turn
by Jesse Q Sutanto
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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.
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9780593816875
- Binding
- Paperback
- Authors
- Jesse Q Sutanto
- Publisher
- Berkley Books
- Published Date
- November 11, 2025
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 352
- Physical Info
- 7.98 in L x 5.36 in W (0.56 lb)
I couldn't put it down.
Not the writer’s finest novel, possibly her worst. Giving up one- third of the way thru. Boring characters, repetitious
▪️Read this if you like:▫️romance & historical fiction - 1990s/early 2000s Los Angeles & Jakarta▫️well-written characters▫️queer representation———I wasn’t planning on crying multiple times while reading this, but here we are🥲This book took me a couple of chapters to get into, but once we got to Magnolia’s storyline, I could not put this down. There’s a lot of growth and self-discovery, and I enjoyed seeing Magnolia mature and figure out who she is, all while in a new country. I also thought the commentary on sexism, misogyny, and homophobia were interesting, especially given the cultural differences and time this takes place in.This was a sweeping story spanning decades, but I felt like the big timeframe was handled well. I most enjoyed seeing the evolution of Magnolia’s relationships with Iris and Ellery, and how crucial and formative they were to who she was. As Magnolia got older, I also liked seeing her stand up for herself and her beliefs, even if it went against the way she was raised. Towards the end there were several twists that took me completely by surprise, and this was mostly where the tears came out. The ending felt very bittersweet, and though I wished it had been different, it gave me a lot to think about.Sidenote: Labeling this as “historical fiction” is making me cringe because it’s about the same timeframe that I grew up in😅 but I enjoyed all of the references!Thank you Berkley for the free copy!
I've just started reading this and so far it's pretty good. There's one thing that's really confusing though. If Magnolia (the grandmother) is in her 70's in the present day, how could she possibly have been sent to school in California at age 16 in 1998! Maybe there's something further along in the story that will explain this (time travel perhaps?) or better yet, maybe the author will see this review and offer an explanation. It's just very distracting and kind of taking something away from the story when an such an important fact can't possibly make sense.
I was unsure what to expect with this book, but I enjoyed the story quite well. It starts with a shocking moment while the entire family is gathered for Chinese New Year & the matriarch, Nianai ( Magnolia) shocks her entire family with a guest. Her granddaughter Izzy is going through teen life questioning moments & after this surprising event with the family, Izzy, 16, reaches out to her grandmother with questions. This takes us on a history back when Magnolia was 16 & sent to the US for an education & to live with her 2 year older sister, Iris. The main reason for young Indo-Chinese females to achieve higher education in America for honor & prestige to the family back home & ultimately to meet & marry a successful man. Listening to Magnolia share her story with Izzy was moving at times, satisfying at other times & sad in too.
