Unfortunately I put this book down a little after having started it. I became a bit bored with the story. The characters seemed out for themselves and I couldn’t connect to it.

Grant Ginder has a wicked sense of humor and Let's Not Do That Again is a super silly yet engaging and compulsively readable book. It's always funny to read and laugh out loud at an eccentric and dysfunctional family (that isn't your own). A family saga with lots of twists and turns and it made for a very fun read.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for this ARC.

Nancy Harrison is a politician who took over her deceased husband's seat. Here two grown children, Nick and Harrison, struggle with adult life. When Greta does something that could derail her mother's campaign, family must step in.

A look at families, misperceptions and above all else love, this novel reminds us of how fragile and vulnerable we all are and how much we need love and support. Funny, sad and truthful, it is a gem of a book.

This was a good story. It felt a bit slow for me. There was a lot of building, and I was looking for a bit more doing. I enjoyed the characters, I just wanted more to happen.

If you could have your memory removed, would you? Nepenthe is a company that does just that. But what often sounds too good to be true often is. The novel follows four characters who had a memory removed and a woman who works at Nepenthe and considers the ethical considerations of both the company and the people who get the procedures done.

This speculative fiction had all the markings of everything I would love. Each of the four characters stories starts so strongly, I was invested to see what memories were deleted and how they came to make the decision to delete in the first place. But for how long the novel is (448 pages), it felt like very little happened when it seemed like there was so much to explore. Although this book wasn’t for me, I still loved the premise of the book and will pick up the Jo Harkin novel and see what fantastic idea she dives into next.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

"Let's Not Do That Again" begins as Nancy Harrison's senate campaign is dealt a scandalous blow when the media runs footage of her daughter Greta smashing windows during a riot in Paris. We find out that Greta has been seduced by Xavier, a swarmy neo-nazi French Casanova bent on making a political splash. His politics repulse her, yet she is supposedly charmed when he refers to her as "my little rabbit," "my little flea," or "my little shrimp."

Xavier brings to mind the Albert Brooks' character Jacques Brunswich in The Simpsons-- the bowling instructor who charms Marge - "Marge, darling, there are ten pins in my heart. You've knocked over eight. Won't you please pick up that spare? M"m."

So Xavier's character is a bust. Greta is not very sympathetic either, falling for this malarkey and then changing her gears on a whim a number of times. Nancy is pretty humorous in her political jockeying.. I could read more Nancy. We also have Nick, Nancy's son who is striving to keep out of his mother's political drama, runs off to rescue his sister in Paris, and he is working on composing his Joan Didion musical. Cate and Tom head up Nancy's campaign staff and are instrumental in pulling off an improbable solution to everyone's problems.

"Let's Not Do That Again" is pretty humorous and a quick read. I have not watched “Veep,” but this is touted as something fans of that show would love. Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars. I enjoy Grant Ginder immensely. His stories have a lot of family drama and enough love in them to balance out the snark. I only wish his characters were a tad more likable. Well, the female characters. Nick was awesome as he was.
Nancy Harrison is running for Senate! However, her daughter, Greta, is angry and hurt by what she believes to be her mother's betrayal of her father. And her son, Nick, just CANNOT work for her anymore. Greta also seems to be trying to find herself and in doing so, starts dating a French Nazi. Chaos ensues. Nick flies to Paris to bring Greta home. But is she ready to face her mother? Will they get past all the craziness? Will Nancy win the Senate race in New York?

*Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for a digital copy of this novel.*

This cover is GOLD!

The story, fell so flat for me. Oh, so very flat.

It was definitely a character based story and there was a lot of details, story building, etc. and these books just never do it for me. I crave fast paced, thrilling, exciting, etc.

I am sure if you like this style of writing, you'd enjoy this book!

I'm not sure which job is more stressful: being a politician up for election or being a parent. After reading this book, I'm still not sure, especially when you have children that are trying to find their own place in the world and are doing it very publicly. I really enjoyed this heartfelt and humorous look at both the political life and the world of parenting. This almost felt like it had a Gilbert and Sullivan vibe to it with the quirky characters and all the small little Tetris-like events pieced together. Definitely a fun book!

Sorry, I could not get into this book at all. I stuck with it to the end, but I could not get invested in any of the characters, and the plot veered off in a direction that left me shaking my head. I know this book has been popular with many, and the author's writing style is definitely engaging -- I guess this just wasn't for me.

This novel has a crazy set up. A 20 something young woman is rioting in the streets of Paris while her mother is running for Senate and her brother is trying to hold things together. I liked it!

Politics, family drama and disfunction, love, lies, figuring out who you really are and who you really want to be. A couple unexpected turns. Bad guys you love to hate. A family to root for despite their messiness. Motherhood and career, how far you'll go for your children. Even the secondary characters had depth and a story. Extremely well done.

Completely ridiculous yet I couldn't help but love to hate the three main characters. The comparisons to Veep are apt.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e-copy.

Despite a promising premise, ultimately Let's Not Do That Again didn't quite land for me. Going in I expected a character-driven story, which this was, but I felt like the characters weren't developed enough to feel connected to. So when the plot did start to unfold, I just couldn't feel invested in the outcome for the characters. I did enjoy the Paris setting, however, and think readers will be drawn in by the bold cover!

Family dramas are my jam, so I knew Let’s Not Do That Again would be right up my alley. Maybe it’s being an only child in a small family, but reading about other chaotic families always intrigues me - and the Harrison’s are definitely chaotic.

Let’s Not Do That Again took quite a few unexpected turns - some believable, others a little less so. Overall, this is a fun family saga for all who enjoy this type of story.

Five bighearted starts for this hilarious family comedy - with a heck of a twist!

Few in the contemporary fiction space love a messy family as much as Grant Ginder, who has given us a delicious trio to get to know in his newest, Let's Not Do That Again. To be blunt, reading this was an absolute delight. This cinematic contemporary fiction tale takes us from sticky summer days in downtown NYC to the serenity of Paris, up into high rise properties and down into New York towns you've never heard of. I'm personally always a big fan of Ginder's queer protagonists (who don't begin and end with coming out stories or other glaring traits to signify queerness), and I really fell for Nick's experience in New York (perhaps because it feels like my own in so many ways). The book is a love letter to hating life in New York (IYKYK), and those of us who are a little resentful of a world left behind by generations before us will find much to laugh at in the pages. And when all is said and done, this story has a couple of kickass twists that will leave you shocked and burning through the back half. Come for the fun Veep-like political drama, stay for the Schitt's Creek-like character development, fall in love with how it all comes together.

Let’s Not Do That Again is everything I love in a novel: A compelling story, peopled with fully developed characters about whom I care deeply; brisk plotting; and great writing that is by turns funny, tender, moving and thought-provoking. It’s been a while since I’ve read a novel where characters—even the minor ones—came to life so vividly on the page. I loved the Harrison family from the opening pages and, echoing one of the book’s themes, I still loved them even after they made some—shall we say ‘questionable’?—choices. Finally, I seldom laugh out loud while reading a book, but Ginder’s witty prose got me: Ham f@&$ing sandwich, anyone?

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Another introduction to a new author for me, with what is described as a family and political saga. The setting is mostly in NYC with all of its hussle, noise, cabs, traffic, art, museums, statues and fountains. The campaign ventures into small town NY state and the daughter flees to Paris. It seemed much more domestic drama than political thriller.
The story is written in five acts, like the play Professor Nick Harrison is attempting to write.
Nancy Harrison, a working mother of two adult kids, has been in congress since her husband's untimely accidental death twenty years ago. Now she's running for a Senate seat.
The daughter, Greta, doesn't seem to know what she wants to be when she grows up. She wasn't particularly likable, mostly an immature, spoiled upper class dreamer. She gets sucked in online by a charming and handsome right wing French nationalist, Xavier de la Marinière.
Eugenia is the bitter and vindictive mother in law. She's an art patron, philanthropist, high society and the widow of a governor. Political roots run deep in this family.
However, as Nancy campaigns, she delegates Greta's international incident to reliable older brother Nick.
Nick's musical he's writing about, Didion, stutters and spurts throughout the events. While Nancy's campaign staff, Cate and Tom inch towards romance. Nick is the most relatable character, he cleans up everybody else's mess. He nearly misses a chance at romance trying to save Greta from hers.
Nancy does what she deems best for her kids. Does she make good choices, the right call, or a is she a self-serving victim of circumstances?
This was an enjoyable read, a bit slow to start, kept me engaged towards the end. Much more a mother's tale, about family structure and relationships, politics weren't preachy. I would read more from this author.
Thanks to Netgalley, Grant Ginder and Henry Holt and Co. for the advance digital copy of "Lets Not Do That Again". These are my personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily.

7/10

I decided to read this book on a whim. I stumbled upon a literary PR person on Twitter who had tweeted about her client, Grant’s, book. It was intriguing enough that I decided to try it.

Let’s Not Do That Again is a rollercoaster ride of drama, comedy and complicated family dynamics. Nancy is running for congress. Her son was working for her and is desperately trying to get out. Her daughter is angry at her and desperately trying to do whatever she can to rebel.

One thing leads to another and, well, sometimes the choices you make in life can lead to unexpected results.

I read this book very quickly - primarily because Grant told a constantly unraveling story that gripped me. Quite a few times I found myself saying out loud, to the characters, “don’t do that don’t do that”. Fortunately nobody was around to hear me talking to the book.

Grant writes dialogue very well. The conversations seem natural (for the most part).

His descriptors, though, can be a bit jilted. Let me explain by comparing fiction novel writing to painting.

For the most part, dialogue should be in the foreground. It drives the story. It should be painted with acrylics. It is with acrylics that you get the detail that most closely represents reality. You can see the nuance in acrylics.

The background scenery in the book, however should be done in a way that lets you fill in the blanks with your own mind. It should be painted with water color, creating broad strokes that let you know what’s going on while still ensuring that it’s blurry enough to be in the background.

Does that make sense? I hope so. It makes sense to me.

Grant does everything in acrylic - trying to create the details of reality whether we want it or not. Some of his background descriptions are so detailed, I kept thinking that maybe the passers by were secret characters who would play a significant role in the story. They aren’t and they don’t.

For instance, in one scene characters are sitting in Central Park when a rollerblader goes by. Instead of just saying a rollerblader zoomed by, Grant laid out a full description of what the rollerblader was wearing and what maneuvers they were doing. I don’t care.

He constantly would describe background scenes like that in such detail that I thought they were the main story.

That’s my biggest and only complaint. It doesn’t make the story bad, by any means, it is just a bit distracting.

Anybody who likes complicated, but fun family dynamics, and tongue-in-cheek suspense will like this book. It’s worth the read.

#netgallley #letsnotdothatagain

I would like to thank Henry Holt Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book as an ARC. I had read Grant Ginder's book- The People we hate at the Wedding, and enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to reading his new book. This is a book about Nancy Harrison, her son Nick and daughter Greta. Nancy is running for Senate in New York.She has been in Congress since her husband died, about 20 years ago,( she won his seat after his death). Her son Nick had been her campaign manager, until a year ago when he quit to teach at a college and write a musical about Joan Didion. Greta, is working at an Apple Store, and gaming, until she meets a man on a game. And then the drama begins. Nancy's mother in law blames her for her son's( nancy's husband) death . Greta pretty much blames her mother for everything. Nick wants to be the "good son", but has a lot of anger as well. Greta meets a Frenchman and runs off to Paris with him. The Frenchman turns out to be a Neo Nazi , who encourages Greta to rebel against her mother. On the home front, Nancy's Senate race is a lot closer than she would like, due to an ex actor turned politician , who uses Greta's rebellion for his own cause. Nick is struggling with his musical and his love life, as well as his family. What starts out as a fairly light hearted look at politics, life and families, does take a very dark turn about 2/3 of the way in. It is intriguing, funny, scary, and frightening all at once. No spoilers, but pick it up and read it. You will not be disappointed.