☆ ☆ ☆ ☆.5/5 stars!!

Release Date: June 24, 2025

Thank you so so much to Netgalley and Leila Mottley for an ARC copy of The Girls Who Grew Big. It soared beyond my expectations of how this book would be.

The plot surrounds a group of girls living in Padua Beach, Florida. They've been shunned from their community for one similar reason: giving birth to a child at a young age. Through this story, we focus on three point of views: Simone, the "group leader" of the Girls with five-year-old twins; Emory, an especially new mother battling challenges with school and family; and Adela, a newly pregnant teen who was banished from her home and sent down to live with her grandma. All of them have their own story to tell.

I already knew from the start that I would not relate to this because I haven't faced the same challenges or experiences as the characters in this story. I probably wouldn't like the Girls myself without this story. Nevertheless, I felt like I could really connect to the characters and their struggles. Every story incorporated something important, and I learned stories of resilience, adapting to change, and acceptance. Also within the story, you begin to gain a sense of awareness to other reasons of teen pregnancy besides hormones.

This was a great book, and I would encourage anyone to pick this up if you're at all interested. Thank you so much again to Netgalley and Leila Mottley for the opportunity to read this book!

The Girls Who Grew Big is a powerful, poetic, and fiercely compassionate novel that redefines what it means to grow up, love hard, and survive in a world that misunderstands you. Leila Mottley’s sophomore novel is a stunning exploration of girlhood, motherhood, and the messy, beautiful terrain where the two intersect.

At the heart of the story is Adela Woods, a privileged teen abruptly displaced by an unplanned pregnancy and sent to live with her grandmother in Florida. What she finds in Padua Beach isn't just a change of scenery—it's a gritty, vibrant sisterhood of young mothers who call themselves the Girls. Each of them, from determined Emory to burdened-yet-resilient Simone, is a fully realized character with her own story, her own heartbreak, and her own fight. Their red truck becomes not just a mode of transportation but a symbol of freedom, defiance, and found family.

Mottley’s prose is lyrical and rich, with her signature rhythm and unflinching emotional depth. She paints the landscape of adolescence and motherhood with brutal honesty and aching beauty. Through the Girls, she challenges harmful stereotypes and questions who gets to be seen as “good” or “deserving” when it comes to motherhood and girlhood. The novel never shies away from the hard stuff—abandonment, poverty, shame—but it also pulses with moments of joy, solidarity, laughter, and growth.

What makes The Girls Who Grew Big so extraordinary is its refusal to pity or punish its characters. Instead, Mottley gives them grace. She lets them be messy, brave, vulnerable, and whole. There’s an emotional bigness to this story that sneaks up on you—a quiet strength that keeps echoing long after the last page.

This book is not just a coming-of-age story. It’s a coming-into-power story. Bold, tender, and utterly original, The Girls Who Grew Big is essential reading—especially for those who’ve ever felt underestimated, unseen, or written off. Leila Mottley has done it again.

When they say “it takes a village to raise a child,” they often forget to add that some are forced to build the villages they have. That’s what The Girls Who Grew Big is truly about; growing and holding onto your village when the world tries to dispose of you as a young mother.

This was such a raw and layered story about young motherhood, girlhood, class, generational trauma, shame, community, forgiveness, love, etc. I loved all three POVs from Simone (my fave), Emory, and Adela, who were written with so much nuance and complexity that you root for them despite some of their questionable choices lol. They dare you to judge them and hold up a mirror for you reflect as they share their stories.

The community these Girls built by turning their sameness and otherness into something so beautifully connected and safe was…wow. But I’m not surprised because Leila’s pen always had depth!!! Definitely recommend and I’ll continue to read anything this author writes!

I absolutely loved Leila Mottley’s new book! It’s a powerful coming-of-age story centered around three young women, each navigating the challenges of becoming a teenage mom. Told through their unique perspectives, the book explores their personal growth and resilience as they step into motherhood.
Each of them has been separated from their families due to the choices they’ve made, and throughout the story, you witness their transformation—emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. You’ll laugh with them, cry for them, and cheer them on every step of the way.
This book is raw, heartfelt, and deeply moving. A total must-read!

Mottley has a way of writing beautifully tragic books, with characters that feel so real and rich — this story is no exception. Wonderful read

When Adela gets unexpectedly pregnant as a 16-year-old with Olympic swimming dreams, her parents send their only child down to Padua Beach, Florida to wait out the pregnancy without anyone from their hometown finding out. There, she meets the Girls, a group of teenage moms who have banded together despite their town's rejection of them. Led by Simone, the first of the Girls who gave birth to twins four years ago, the Girls raise their children at the beach out of the bed of Simone's red truck. Simone guides each Girl through pregnancy, birth, and motherhood with her tried and true tips, acting as a new and improved What to Expect When You're Expecting, but for teenage girls.

The group consists of many young mothers, one of whom is Emory, a smart and devoted high school student committed to getting out of Padua Beach and going to college, something seemingly impossible with a newborn baby during her senior year of high school. When Adela shows up, her and Emory are mysteriously attracted to each other and Emory brings her to the Girls who show her the way to be honest with herself about her pregnancy and how her life is forever changed.

This book is about so much more than teen pregnancy and the sacrifices it takes to be a mother. It's about privilege, agency, and self-determination. The Girls each pave their own paths through various and unexpected ways, demonstrating that the one size fits all approach doesn't work for everyone. Getting crafty with your circumstances and staying true to what you want out of life is a crucial part of the stories of these Girls. This is the ultimate coming of age story for the three narrators, Simone, Emory, and Adela, where they all find the ability and freedom to decide their futures themselves.

Wow. Wow wow wow. This book blew me away. The way it was written, all three girls’ points of view to show their lives up to present, and their hopes for their future. A reminder that even now, when so much is accepted in the world, so much still isn’t. And when you’re not accepted for who you are, for the choices you’ve made, the only thing left might be the family you find and make your own.

All of those hopes and dreams, regrets and gratitude. All rolled into a big heap, and mixed within multiple people who all exist within each other.

I will shout from the rooftops for anyone I know to give this book a chance. I could not put it down, and when it was ending, all I wanted was for it to be longer. Amazing words, incredible stories, and undeniable talent to this author.

This was such a beautiful story of young girls who had pregnancy and motherhood in common. Following their stories over 3 trimesters allowed time for the characters to change and grow. Although life threw them all curveballs, they all came together and turned tragedies into triumph. This is a tale of true sisterhood and shows the strength of women and mothers. I loved it so much!

This book is potent and raw. It is about teenage pregnancy, friendship, and resilience. The setting, a podunk town in Florida, is perfect for the backdrop of these girls’ lives and their toughness to persevere.

The Girls are a group of young women, all of whom are either pregnant or new mothers. They support each other, care for each other, fight, argue, disagree, but they all respect each other and each other’s choices. It’s amazing how truly resilient and intelligent these girls are, contrary to how they’re perceived.

Beautifully written and brilliantly plotted, this book is emotional and compelling. I couldn’t love it more. Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the opportunity to read and review this 5-star book.

4.5 Stars. The Girls Who Grew Big was an emotional glimpse into teen pregnancy and motherhood. This story is a raw look at motherhood in general, the need to be loved, social class, prejudice, community and the strength of friendships and forgiveness. The character development of these young ladies, their babies, and families is amazing with layers upon layers of emotion. The author, Leila Mottley is only 23 years old... mind blown! I truly loved this book! Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC opportunity.

This book was SO GOOD. It was a great meaningful story. It taught me a lot and I was engaged the whole time. A very important story overall.

I loved this book! It was a beautifully written and heart-wrenching story. The writing style is what immediately captured me but the story itself, wow. This author is extremely talented.

This book was so intriguing to me. In light of the current era in the U.S., I think Mottley uses this book to bring emotional, deeply personal characters to a larger problem of the era.

3.5 stars!!!! this was beautifully written, however a little confusing at times with the jumping around memories/timelines. that's my only complaint! the story was something i haven't seen much of - teen pregnancies are truly still very taboo even in 2025. i loved the sense of community and how the girls banded together in times of need, even when one felt betrayed by the other. i wish we had seen more of the other girls in the group but understandable that we didn't due to there already being quite alot of characters POVs.

i loved how each character at the end had so much growth and decided to do things their own way forward. that is such an important message to send to young women - you CAN and SHOULD do it! for yourself!

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of The Girls Who Grew Big, by Leila Mattingly, from Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Knopf/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

Wow. Just…..wow.

Fever dream. Didn’t want to put it down.

How in the holy hell did 23-year-old Leila Mottley—who has not (yet) had a baby—make me—a 59-year-old woman who wasn’t able to have kids—feel like I was experiencing pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood?

This book was magic.

Oh, it was also some spot-on social commentary, too, don’t get me wrong. This woman doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to that. So, no, the book won’t be for everybody, especially those who think they have some sort of right to tell anyone else what they can do with their body. (Also, and I’m picking nits here, the dialectic stuff sometimes came off as forced/uneven. So don’t read it if you’re not a fan of books written with most of the characters speaking in such.)
Now I need to read everything else she’s ever written, including this piece published just this month (April 2025) in Harper’s Bazaar:
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture...

Just not until I get some of my yardwork done. I totally flipped my schedule today in order to finish this book before getting to my plants, because after reading the first third of it yesterday I absolutely had to finish the remainder in one sitting.

DESCRIPTION
From the author of Oprah's Book Club pick and New York bestseller Nightcrawling, here is an astonishing new novel about the joys and entanglements of a fierce group of teenage mothers in a small town on the Florida panhandle.

Adela Woods is sixteen years old and pregnant. Her parents banish her from her comfortable upbringing in Indiana to her grandmother’s home in the small town of Padua Beach, Florida. When she arrives, Adela meets Emory, who brings her newborn to high school, determined to graduate despite the odds; Simone, mother of four-year-old twins, who weighs her options when she finds herself pregnant again; and the rest of the Girls, a group of outcast young moms who raise their growing brood in the back of Simone’s red truck.

The town thinks the Girls have lost their way, but really they are finding it: looking for love, making and breaking friendships, and navigating the miracle of motherhood and the paradox of girlhood.

Full of heart and life and hope, set against the shifting sands of these friends’ secrets and betrayals, The Girls Who Grew Big confirms Leila Mottley’s promise and offers an explosive new perspective on what it means to be a young woman.

Leila Mottley easily falls under my list of "Grocery List Authors" - that is, authors whose grocery lists I'd jump at the chance to read. Her debut novel "Nightcrawling" was one of the most riveting and thought-provoking novels I've read in the prior few years, so I was delighted to hear that she was coming out with her second work.

"The Girls Who Grew Big" centers on a group of female teenagers who grow up in Padua Beach - a small, overlooked town in the Florida Panhandle who've been forced to grow up in ways that no one can truly understand. The unofficial leader of the group is Simone, a 20 year-old mother to twins Luck and Leo who has helped the other girls in her group with their pregnancies and children, and whose red pickup truck serves as a shelter and safety net for them all. Emory is still in high school, but wishes to pursue her education even with the birth of her son Kai, even if it means bringing him along with her to classes. And Adela is the newest entry into the group, a competitive swimmer who who moves to Padua with the grandmother after the discovery of her pregnancy, her parents determined to hide the truth from their community.

What follows is a series of events that bring the girls closer together (and also breaks them apart), forces them to confront their true desires and dreams, and highlights the ever-evolving and complex situations and decisions these teenager mothers have to face. From decisions they have to take into their own hands because no other options are available to them, to the both forced yet resilient bonds they create between themselves, to the fierce and unwavering love that they have for their children (despite being children themselves) - this is a deeply emotional and beautifully crafted novel that weaves each of the three characters' perspectives and backstories together. Mottley's prose is both diverse and dynamic, juxtaposing seemingly simple passages and phrases together with captivating insights and emotions, and I loved how she rotated perspectives and voices amongst the protagonists of her novel.

Perhaps most overwhelming of all is the fact that Mottley is only 23 years-old... I'm still trying to wrap my head around how someone of that age can create a work of this depth and complexity. Regardless, "The Girls Who Grew Big" is well worth the read when it is published in June 2025!

This book was surprisingly insightful and profound - not because I doubted the writer's ability but because I didn't expect to be so affected by the elements of motherhood, I'm currently 7 weeks postpartum and I read this book around 5 - and it was an honest relatable book given the characters are absolutely nothing like me. Really good read.

Why are we so much harder and unforgiving when it comes to our girls and so easily forgive our boys for the same mistakes? This book is so many things: a story of survival, of love and redemption, but really it’s about community and who and what make up our community. This book explores choices women and girls make with their bodies, the way we give ourselves up, and how these choices shape their lives and their children’s lives. Do our choices define us?
When you lose your way and what it takes to find your way back. This book is bold and daring but hold true for the girls this book is written about, our young teenage mothers. This book may not resonate for all who read it, but the ones that get it will absolutely love this book.

The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley is an unusual novel in that it portrays teenage pregnancy and motherhood in a gritty, visceral way. Parts are difficult to imagine, especially for someone who has had normal pregnancies and deliveries, in hospitals, with supportive partners and families. I felt for these young women, although I could not relate to their circumstances or the decisions they made. Thank you to the author publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley is a raw, emotional, and beautifully written story about teen motherhood, friendship, and resilience. At the center is Adela, a sixteen-year-old girl sent away by her parents after getting pregnant. In Florida, she meets a group of other young moms who become her unexpected support system—each with their struggles, strengths, and stories.

The Girls—especially Emory and Simone—are tough, determined, and full of heart. They face judgment and hardship but also find moments of joy, sisterhood, and fierce love. Mottley does a great job showing that motherhood doesn’t cancel girlhood; it just complicates it. The writing is lyrical and vivid, and the characters feel alive.

The only reason this isn’t five stars is that a few storylines felt rushed or unresolved. I wanted more time with certain characters and a deeper dive into some of their choices.

Still, this book is powerful and moving. It shines a light on often overlooked girls and tells their stories with care, honesty, and compassion. An intense read with a lot to say.