Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book through Netgalley. What follows is my honest opinion.

As soon as I read a reviewer describe this book as Succession meets Veep I knew I had to read it.

For 20 years, firebrand and political hero, Nancy Harrison has served in the same seat in Congress that her deceased husband once did. Now after an illustrious career serving the people of New York in Congress, she now has her eyes set on The US Senate. Aided by her former intern turned campaign manager Cate and campaign press secretary Tom, Nancy is in the fight of her political life for her chance to serve as the junior senator of New York. What should be an easy slide to victory is proving quite difficult against TV star Chip Carmichael. Carmichael a has-been TV star from the 80s is using his ability to use memories of a bygone era to chip away at the boomer constituency Nancy so desperately needs to win. If matters couldn't get worse Nancy's campaign is set in free fall when a video of her daughter Greta throwing a bottle of champagne through the window of a restaurant during a riot in Paris is plastered all over the internet. What follows is a madcap romp through the streets of New York and Paris as Nancy makes her beloved son Nick track down his sister before she destroys her mother's political aspirations.

This book was an absolute joy to read and just when you think you figured it all out another twist is thrown at you. The perfect book for these contentious times, Let's Not Do That Again is a thrilling read full of mystery and hilarious behind the curtain views of modern politics.

So much of what I love, wrapped up in a single book.

Is Grant Ginder a mind reader? A magician? I don't think so, but LET'S NOT DO THAT AGAIN was absolutely written for me. I sort of suspected that when I first saw the cover and the synopsis and hoo boy, am I grateful not to have been disappointed.

A badass woman running for Senate (NY). Family drama and satire (and jokes! "at the behest of his mother Nick had made not one but both Cuomo brothers cry"). NYC, Paris, and a quick scene in Buffalo. People wanting to change the world for the better. Women who take charge and know how to get things done.

Even if those things don't reel you in like they do me, I'd rec this one based on its good dialogue and sheer fun factor.

This book is an in depth look at family loyalty. When the family faces a crisis on the same week that Nancy is running for office, will the family fall apart or be strong enough to stick together and work things through? This was an engaging story that had me on edge several times. Really enjoyed it!

Let's Not Do That Again, the latest book by Grant Ginder, is delightful in every way. I enjoyed it from start to finish. I was fully engaged from the beginning and entertained throughout by the characters and storyline. The strong thematic nature of family loyalty, the lengths to which one would go for a loved one, and insurmountable growth towards self-discovery, make this a novel you won't soon forget. The characters are wonderfully believable, with just a hint of quirkiness; the plot is just enough mystery to keep you following along; and Ginder's writing is clear, tidy and easily readable--all adding up to a must-read for any and all this spring or summer. Thank you NetGalley for this wonderful advanced copy.

Grant Grinder's Let's Not Do That Again is a fun exploration of a somewhat dysfunctional political family in NYC. With tenderness and wit, Grinder draws the reader in. I was surprised to find myself fully invested in these characters and their development. This was my first read by this author but will definitely not be my last.

Much of Ginder's novel is focused on a revenge fantasy, but I was drawn more to Nancy Harrison's strong personality and political aspirations and her son Nick's coming into his own, and I wished for more page time spent with each of them.

Nancy Harrison is running for Senate, and she’s going to <i>win.</i> She’s kissed all the babies and passed all the right legislation and said all the right things. There’s just one potential problem: her grown children. When she wakes up to headlines about the kids’ antics instead of her own political promise, all hell breaks loose.

The cover design and title of <i>Let's Not Do That Again</i> felt playful and potentially campy, but I had trouble locking into the story's tone, which wavers into extended dark, vindictive revenge fantasies--even as the reader suspects that the inspiration for the anger behind all of this is misguided.

<i>Let's Not Do That Again</i> is largely focused on Nancy's daughter Greta's self-obsessed, revengeful, immature, naïve escapades and her willful, careless ignorance of the potentially grave, widespread consequences of her actions--and those of the dangerous, vapid, insufferable people with whom she surrounds herself. This was frustrating to dig into so extensively.

Whereas Greta is an unsympathetic, aggressive, and misled character, her brother Nick is unfailingly loyal, vulnerable, smart, funny, and loving--and the Nick storyline is sweet and offers hope. I found myself wishing for more page time spent with Nancy and her political life and for more family drama in which the characters interacted directly with one another.

The last quarter of <i>Let's Not Do That Again</i> felt like the strongest of the book for me. The tone was constant, and Ginder offers over-the-top camp with heart and complexity. The feeling in this section reminded me somewhat of of <i>The Unsinkable Greta James,</i> with additional depth.

Grant Ginder is also the author of <i>The People We Hate at the Wedding.</i>

I received an advance electronic copy of this book, published April 5, courtesy of NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company.

Nancy has been a congresswoman since she assumed her late husband’s seat. Now she’s running for a seat in the Senate. Everything is going great with her campaign, the only thing that she’s missing is the support of her two children, Nick and Greta, and this wouldn’t be such a big issue if her daughter wasn’t actively trying to sabotage her career.

One day, Nancy wakes up to the news that her daughter, who was supposed to be in Paris learning French cuisine, was in a riot with extreme protestors and ended up breaking a fancy restaurant’s window by throwing a champagne bottle at it. Immediately, Nancy asks her son Nick to find his sister and bring her home. When Nick arrives in Paris, he realizes that Greta is living with a new boyfriend and that he’s a dangerous person.

After this, the story becomes fast-paced, intriguing and full of twists and turns towards the end. At the beginning you don’t even know whom to like or to believe, but you end up rooting for the family as a whole. The only one I couldn’t relate with was Greta, but her character development was also the greatest.

The story took a very unexpected turn that made me view the book from a completely different perspective. Some of the things that happened felt unrealistically convenient but I liked the way everything was wrapped up at the end.

This book has humor, family drama, lies and politics. The writing is great and the storyline is amusing and entertaining and shows us how a series of unfortunate events can change the dynamics of a dysfunctional family.

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt Books for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

There is definitely an audience for this clever book about a NY Congresswoman, who took her seat when her husband the Congressman died. Nancy Harrison's son, Nick has recently stopped serving on his mother's staff, where the demands and lifestyle left him a wreck. He is now teaching writing at NYU and working on the book of a musical about the author Joan Didion. I found that funny for sure, having been an English major in the 1970s. Now, as Nancy makes her first run for Senate, a popular baby boomer era actor has challenged her and Nancy might not win. Inexplicably, her daughter Greta is caught on video, during some kind of protest in France, throwing a champagne bottle through the window of a well known upscale restaurant and the video goes viral, seriously hurting the campaign. The reaction is that Nancy is a lousy mother and therefore will be a lousy Senator, notwithstanding her impeccable 20 years in Congress. Quickly, Nancy's campaign manager learns a problematic man may be involved with Greta. Nancy tries to get Nick to help clean up the mess. We spend the rest of the novel following the campaign trail, Nancy's progressive positions juxtaposed against her shaky presence in her now adult children's upbringing. On several fronts things go very wrong and various characters make various choices that are at a minimum confused and at worst, very unethical. But all for humor's sake. No one could call this a dark novel. I can't quote anything because the best bits would equally be spoilers and there are plot twists and events that one would not want to expose before their time.

Ginder writes with wry humor, with some particularly good takedowns on New York stereotypes. The reader can't possibly like any of the characters very much, so don't look for people to connect with. Neil is the best of the bunch as he tries to find himself and to find the right guy for him. The book is entertaining as a kind of absurd romp through family dynamics, how far people can be pushed to do things they never dreamed of doing, how mistaken people can be about who to trust and who not to trust, and what it means to live according to your values when different values come into conflict. For me, this is a 3.5 star rounded up to 4, but I suspect others will totally rave about it. It is well written and checks all of its intended boxes.

Let’s Not Do That Again by Grant Ginder shows a dysfunctional family in a public crisis. While Nancy Harrison’s re-election campaign for Senate is in full swing, her daughter, Greta has decided to wreak havoc halfway across the world with radicalists in a viral moment. Her son, Nick is employed to go to Paris to find and collect his sister before she does any more damage state-side. Through the process of searching for Greta and bringing her home, all members of the family have to confront who they are and what they are willing to do to protect one another.

So happy to be reviewing another of Grant Ginder’s family dramas. This one is back in his forte, siblings. As someone with siblings, I know intimately how fraught these relationships can be but I also find they are the most fulfilling at the same time. Unlike anyone else in your life, your siblings often know your soft underbelly the best and can gut you in ways that you didn’t see coming. They’re also the ones sent after you to pull you out of a foreign country when shit has hit the fan. While I’ve never had to do that myself, I have come close on one occasion so this book did not seem too far-fetched.

The thing that I appreciate about Ginder’s work when it comes to family dynamics is how he lays bare how complicated and frustrating family relationships can be while also highlighting how mundane and from the outside boring the actuality of it is. The high-powered Harrisons seem like a family that has it all together but it’s clear inside Nick’s head is that he doesn’t believe his family’s narrative. Still, it’s hard to pull away and become your own person, which I can also identify within Nick’s arc.

On top of that, Ginder also perfectly highlights the emotional tone and aesthetic of a family like this. Some dysfunctional family dynamics have serious long-reaching consequences but in the moment-to-moment can be incredibly mundane and darkly comical. This is a hard balance to strike and also to describe Ginder’s work, both Let’s Not Do That Again and People We Hate at the Wedding both perfectly strike that. While there are many other reasons to read Ginder’s work, that reason alone is what keeps me coming back for more.

I recommend this book if you want family dramas that aren’t as serious; even when serious things happen.

This reminded me a lot of "The People We Hate at the Wedding" but it was a lot more fun and, dare I say, functional? I thought Greta was irredeemable, but the author was able to bring the reader's opinion back around on her. There were so many great wry asides. I would read a book just about Cate.

This was a very enjoyable quirky book. It was enjoyable to experience the evolution of the characters throughout the book and to see them struggle through the journey. The book has elements of reality and mirrors some stories on the news and gossip columns, but is very charming.

I enjoy following politics (to an extent), so this novel, based on a messy political family in NYC, was an easy choice.
Congresswoman Nancy Harrison is running in a very tight race for the US Senate. Meanwhile, her wayward daughter, Greta, runs off to Paris to hook up with a degenerate race baiter who has plans to ruin her campaign. Nancy enlists her son to go bring Greta home, derailing his plans to steer clear of politics. Naturally, nothing goes quite as planned and they soon find they have way more to worry about than the results of an election.
Most of the book was amusing and entertaining, but it took a rather dark turn towards the end that I definitely wasn’t expecting. The inner-workings of the campaign was fun to read about, and the dysfunctional Harrison family dynamics came across as pretty authentic.
Thanks to #netgalley and #henryholtandco for this #arc of #letsnotdothatagain in exchange for an honest review.

Grant Ginder does not disappoint in his latest novel about a woman desperate to save her political career from the shadow that her wayward daughter appears to be casting over it.

A light, enjoyable read about family and forgiveness with a side of politics.

This reminds me a little of Fredrick Backman’s work. This isn’t quite as funny (at least in the absurdist sense), but the vibe is similar and the relationships between flawed but lovable characters is front and center.

The story droops a bit in the middle, but the beginning and ending are delightful, and I loved the central characters. This is a great read for when you need something not too heavy that moves well but is still smart enough to keep you interested and engaged.

The audiobook version is worth a listen as well, smoothly and evenly narrated, with a story that lends itself well to the format.

"The People We Hate At the Wedding" by Grant Ginder is one of my all time favorite books, so every time he releases a new one, I prepare for a wonderful, meaningful reading experience. And I was not disappointed by this one!

The thing I love the most about Ginder's writing is how he develops the personalities of his characters so much more than their physical appearances. He gives a few basic clues as to what they might look like, but when you visualize his stories, the reader gets to decide what they truly look like. It seems like a small thing, but once I realized that's how he writes, I appreciated his books even more.

I highly recommend this one!

A hilarious story about a congresswoman's campaign is derailed when her daughter Greta flees to Paris, joins a communist boy who's swept her off her feet, and throws a bottle of champagne through a restaurant window. Meanwhile, her son Nick finds himself falling in love for the first time in his life while trying to figure out what to do with the rest of it. There was a fun dysfunctional family aspect to this, both from a mother to offspring and brother to sister. It was super witty and funny and so tightly written that every sentence seemed to serve it's purpose. If you liked VEEP you'll defintely enjoy this one..OUT NOW

📚𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀📚
4/5 🌟

Happy Pub Day!

This book had me at its sarcastic title, and kept my attention throughout with- its “Veep” meets “Schitt’s Creek” vibes.

It’s the story of politician Nancy Harrison’s run for office while trying to manage a public family outburst (or two) that have less than ideal optics. Her children, compliant Nick (a great gay character adding texture and depth) and rebellious, angry Greta, form the backbone of this contemporary, topical, written, entertaining comedy.

If you want a refreshing break from serious topics, check this out!

My thanks for @Netgalley and @HenryHoltandCo for the electronic advanced electronic reader’s copy.

Let’s Not Do That Again is a funny and astute novel about a female politician’s family, their inner lives and an incident that may throw the potential Senator’s election off path. I wished it was a tad shorter but loved the characters and found parts very funny.

Tore through this one. Smart and well written but also a pleasurable romp of a story. Franzen-esque in its depiction of a self-destructing family and in its gimlet eye about modern politics. Some moments of implausibility required suspension of disbelief but it worked with the tone. Very enjoyable.

It’s bad enough when your irresponsible little sister starts dating a French Nationalist that even Marine Le Pen disavows. But especially in an election year when your Mother is running for the New York senate!

In Grant Ginder’s latest book, The Harrisons are the kind of smart, liberal progressive family that read Balzac in the original language and do the Times crossword in ball point pen.
While mother Nancy is desperately trying to come up in the polls for a New York Senate seat, son Grant sees his life taking shape with a potential boyfriend he actually wants to see beyond the first date. If only he can lock a composer to help him bring his idea for a musical based on Joan Didion to life!
And then there’s daughter Greta. Finding herself listlessly moving through a job as an Apple employee she meets a man on line who seems as fascinating as he is gorgeous and before you can say, ‘tout de suite ‘, finds herself embroiled in a passionate affair with whacko far right of right.

What transpires is madcap and near farcical, and yet Ginder never lets it get out of hand even with an inevitable act he’s laid the groundwork for. He also manages to make a collection of characters that are all likable and winning which isn’t the easiest considering one is first seen vandalizing a famed bistro, and his matriarch is waist deep in the dirty cesspool of politics. A fun romp and for me a great introduction to Ginder who I’ll definitely be reading again. Thank you to Henry Holt and @netgalley for the advance copy.