Rania Hanna’s storytelling is a rich tapestry, bringing fierce heroines, a mother’s deep and abiding love, Arabic folklore and oral tradition to the page with beautiful, lyrical prose. There’s grief and sacrifice but also triumph.
This book doesn’t shy away from how messy and hard marriage can be, even without the pressures of being on camera for a reality TV show. How some days hurt because even when two people love each other deeply they can still make mistake after mistake — and yet, Not You Again bravely shows that even after hitting a breaking point it’s possible to come out on the other side stronger than ever before. It takes some hard lessons, a lot of work from both characters, and a big leap of faith, but Andie and Kit choose each other, rebuilding their love one stitch, and one brick, at a time.
“You’re ever saving Ophelia in all your books, darling.” This line. A thousand times, yes. And it’s one of the many reasons why I love Paulette Kennedy’s books, but especially this one.