Kiki Sinegar is a smart, strong gamer girl. She can slay in Warfront Heroes as well as anyone. But when she got tired of the misogyny and bullying in the game, she changed her girly in-game name to Dudebro10. And suddenly, all the bullying went away. She could play as much as she wanted, and she was treated like any other player. Well, any other male player. And that’s how she made a friend in the game.

Kiki feels good playing with her friend Sourdawg, and while he’s in Singapore and she’s in Indonesia, she feels free to share some of her life and challenges with him. Sometimes it’s a little difficult pretending to be a boy, but she gets by. And she encourages him in his sourdough obsession.

But then real life becomes a problem. Kiki’s parents have enrolled her into a new school, one with higher standards and far stricter rules. She has to wear a new uniform and leave her phone outside of her classroom. And worst of all, she has to sit behind Jonas Jayden Arifin. Just looking over the bulletin boards outside of the classroom, she sees that he is a top student and an athlete. It turns out that he is also the class prefect, there to help enforce all the rules Kiki isn’t interested in following.

While the classes are more intense and the homework load is twice what she was used to, Kiki was excited to find out that they’re doing a group project where they are designing their own game. They’re assigned groups, and she’s with Jonas and a couple of other kids, including Liam who is quiet. Jonas immediately takes over the project, coming up with a sketch of a stereotypical curvy woman that actual girl gamers find offensive. Kiki can’t help herself and speaks up. Jonas is immediately offended that she has opposed his ideas, and the others in the group just stay quiet.

This is the first in a series of interactions that make Kiki increasingly angry and gets her deeper into trouble. And when she vents to her best online friend Sourdawg, she finds out that she had been wrong. Dawg wasn’t in Singapore like she thought. He lives in Indonesia. And he goes to her new school. And now she has to figure out just who he is, without letting on that she goes to the same school, or that she’s been lying to him about being a boy.

As she feels her soul getting squashed by her new school and struggles to find a friend at her new school, Kiki also has to decide what to do about Sourdawg. Does she expose herself, or does she stay quiet? And will she ever find her place in the new school, or will she lose herself trying to stay quiet and out of trouble?

Didn’t See That Coming is the latest YA novel from bestselling Jesse Q Sutanto. This incredibly readable re-telling of You’ve Got Mail is set in a strict Asian high school, but all the feelings are familiar and relatable. These characters shimmer with energy and intelligence and a gaming edge. It’s funny and heartwarming and sweet.

But it’s also heartbreaking and frustrating and sad. Seeing Kiki at the new school, bending to all the rules and feeling her true self faded away brought back some not-so-happy feelings and memories for me. So if you are someone who was bullied and felt alone, this book could bring back some strong unpleasant feelings. But things do get better, and isn’t that why we read novels in the first place? I love the writing, which is smooth and lovely. And I just wanted to keep rooting for Kiki. I still recommend this book very strongly, but if you are someone who has dealt with bullying, or you’re buying it for someone who has dealt with it, know that there could be some strong reactions to some of the scenes.

Egalleys for Didn’t See That Coming were provided by Random House Children’s through NetGalley, with many thanks.