It Won’t Always Be Like This is a graphic novel about an Egyptian-Filipino-American girl who writes about her summers with her father and his new family in Egypt. This graphic novel explores the complicated dynamic that is family and cultural difference during Malaka Gharib’s preteens through early adulthood.

I enjoyed that Gharib didn’t shy away from how she was as a teenager (mood, bratty, and selfish). She was quite honest looking back as to both how she felt and her reasoning behind it at that time. I also like how the ending wasn’t necessarily a happy one - things weren’t resolved and everything was okay, but Gharib wished everyone, especially Hala, the best.

Overall, a great and beautiful graphic novel memoir that dives into being a kid with not only divorced parents, but divorced parents who live on opposite sides of the world from each other and what it’s like living between them. ( )

I enjoyed this coming of age story. It is a realistic portrayal of a child who grows up with divorced parents who are from different cultures. Malaka's mother is Filipino while her father is Egyptian. Her parents met while in the U. S. but when they divorced, Malaka's father moved back to Egypt. Malaka dresses like an American youth, which shocks her father's Egyptian neighbors. The Islamic faith is a big part of the story as Malaka's father and her new stepmother are Muslim. The story solely takes place in Egypt over several summers which Malaka always spent with her father. As she got older, Malaka's dress became an issue. She was expected by both her father and the Egyptians to dress modestly as she she came of age. On one occasion Malaka was groped by a group of boys because they thought she would be easy, given her dress style.

Gharib is a natural storyteller. It seemed like she was speaking to me face to face about her summers in Egypt. She knew what angles of her story would keep me reading and exactly how to write it out. Because the storyline actually happened to her, the writing flowed naturally. ( )

graphic memoir - Filipinx/Egyptian American's teen spends summers and holidays with her Egyptian dad, stepmom, and family in Egypt and Qatar (CW/TW: group of boys grab at her on the street). ( )

This follow-up to I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir seems to be leeched of all fun, leaving us the story of the author as a sulky, annoying tween through teen spending summers in Egypt with her father and his new family. Gharib's bland inner angst and brattiness drowns out the relatively more interesting evolution of her stepmother, Hala.

This follow-up to I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir seems to be leeched of all fun, leaving us the story of the author as a sulky, annoying tween through teen spending summers in Egypt with her father and his new family. Gharib's bland inner angst and brattiness drowns out the relatively more interesting evolution of her stepmother, Hala.

It would have been nice to nail down some actual dates in the story, as I felt a little lost in the rapidly passing years and lack of context of world events. ( )

I received this e-book ARC through Net Galley from Ten Speed Press in exchange for a truthful review.

Graphic novel memoir about Malaka, a multicultural American child of divorce, and her summer vacation visits with her Egyptian dad and family. Starting from age nine through her early 30s, we get glimpses of Malaka's insights and struggles as she navigates life as a Filipino-Egyptian American during her annual visits back to the Middle East. Culture clash and family dynamics, both good and bad, are at the forefront of this poignant tale. ( )