"Savage and heady debut�Always Coca-Cola�embeds, in a deceptively simple story, a razor-sharp commentary on how young women in Beirut today are buffeted by the alternately conflicting and conspiring forces of hegemony, capitalism, and patriarchy- without, vitally, ever using such dry terms�we see the serious intention behind the gentle satire�Remarkably, given its short length- a little over a hundred pages- and its uncomplicated, at times even frothy, style, "Always Coca-Cola" comes off as a work of searing intensity that powerfully conjures the atmosphere of contemporary Beirut; it's a testament to translator Michelle Hartman's skill that a novel written mostly, but not entirely, in Modern Standard Arabic, the 'literary language' used in the Arab world, reads so naturally and humorously in English�" � Words without Borders
"When university student Abeer Ward looks out the window of her Beirut bedroom, she sees a giant Coca-Cola ad across the street featuring her best friend Yana. The influence of the Occident persists not only in the billboard- and Abeer's Coke-bottle-shaped birthmark- but in the choices she and her friends make�Chreiteh's character development and figurative language is strong, and there are moments of humor." � Publishers Weekly
"Chreiteh keeps up a lively dialogue (trialogue?) between the main characters, and eventually they all learn what it means to be 20-somethings in modern Beirut�Chreiteh is a fresh voice in the Arab world." � Kirkus Reviews
"Lebanon is an Arab country that faces west. The Lebanese embrace Western institutions- i.e., European cafe culture, American retail brands- but Lebanon remain within the Arab world�This makes cosmopolitan Beirut a most interesting hybrid: a westernized Arab city. It's against this backdrop that Alexandra Chreiteh and Michelle Hartman write Always Coca-Cola, a lightly sketched novella about young women in contemporary Lebanon� Always Coca-Cola's best moments illustrate the fault-line between tradition and modernity� The author's greatest talent may be her ability to use a little scene to make a powerful point�The femininity vs. feminism tension at the book's core could be examined just as easily in numerous settings, even certain subcultures within the U.S� Always Coca-Cola is about the simmering tension between tradition and modernity as experienced by young middle-class Lebanese women. This is a great premise for a novel� an intelligent little book, and worth the read." � New York Journal of Books
"�a wonderful, head-shaking, humorous and sometimes sad journey through and around the forces menacing young women's lives and bodies, in Lebanon and beyond." � Egyptian Independent