This story was phenomenal. I truly loved learning about how these girls got into their predicaments and grew “big” enough to overcome them. The depiction of this small beach town in the Florida panhandle was so gritty and real that I could truly feel the tension the girls felt from living in a place of invisibility and strife. The way they became each other’s family despite serious trials amongst the group was incredible to witness, and I found myself crying for them several times but rooting for them always.

Since I was such a big fan of Leila Mottley’s debut, NIGHTCRAWLING, her latest, THE GIRLS WHO GREW BIG was very high on my list—definitely one of my most anticipated of the year. This synopsis made me even more excited to read it:

“𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘖𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘩’𝘴 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘊𝘭𝘶𝘣 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 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.”

It follows a group of young girls who jump from girlhood to motherhood and then into adulthood VERY quickly. You can’t help but feel for these girls. There’s no shortage of judging eyes, hushed whispers, nasty stares, and disapproving family members. On top of all that, they still show up for their kids and each other as they navigate this new life, along with the constant struggles that arise. This is a survival story.

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Florida setting
- Multiple POVs
- Female friendship
- Found family storylines
- Reflections on motherhood
- Coming-of-age stories
- Small town vibes

The writing is impressive, the characters are solid, and the subject matter is heartbreaking. Mottley explores themes like race, class, identity, sexuality, and teenage pregnancy exceptionally well. I didn’t get the full on “five star feels” for this one, but it was pretty darn close. 4.5/5 stars for THE GIRLS WHO GREW BIG! It’s out now!

Leila Mottley is the author of one of my all-time favorite books; Nightcrawling. To say I was excited for this book is an understatement. While I didn't love this one as much as Nightcrawling, it was still a great read.

I don't understand how Leila Mottley writes with such depth, beauty, wisdom, and maturity as such a young author. It's truly astounding to me.

This book about teenage mothers living in a small Florida town is a slow, quiet read, but one that still packs a punch. I love that it challenges the stereotypes and judgements that people have towards teen mothers. It is a book that is likely to make people think and even had me considering my own opinions about things (to the point that I texted a friend to discuss one specific topic).

The book primarily focuses on three specific characters (Simone, Emory, and Adele). They each come from different backgrounds and situations, but all three lack support from the people they most need it from. It was really interesting to be able to be inside each of their heads and understand their motivations, reasoning, and emotions.

They are all very real and flawed characters, but they are also incredibly resilient young women who are doing their best. I could respect and appreciate each of their journeys. It's easy to be the reader and to form opinions or judgements of these characters, but it's also easy to consider things from their perspective and ask yourself what you would have done in the same situation. I cannot say I would've been as strong or resilient as any of these girls, nor can I say that I would have made different or better choices. But I can tell you that after reading this book, I can respect each of their journeys.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and Leila Mottley will continue to be an autobuy author for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf the galley of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚: The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley
⭐️: 4.5/5 (rounding up on #goodreads)

“I fretted over scar tissue from cuts I hadn’t caused, ‘cause what if I was the source of all the ruin in our lives?”

Simone, Adela, Emory — three of many girls in a small coastal town in the Florida panhandle who grew big. As teenage moms, their town and families think they’ve lost their way and judge them harshly and shame them. In reality, they’re finding themselves as girls, as mothers, as humans — mostly with minimal to no degree of support systems.

This book was beautiful, heartbreaking, unnerving, and made me uncomfortable at moments — all that I feel a great book should do. It has a cast of characters that are so well developed and real that I’ll be thinking of this book for a long time after putting it down. (Side note: I ended up listening to about half of this on audiobook and the listening experience is truly incredible.)

Big thanks to Knopf via @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Girls Who Grew Big is out now.

TW: pregnancy loss, traumatic childbirth

Have you ever read a book that was full of hurt and disappointment but also love and friendship, and it was so beautiful you wanted to cry when you finished it? I just did. 😭

I wanted to give every single one of those girls the biggest hug and all the love. They were reckless and steadfast, vulnerable and strong, all at the same time.

If you're human and have blood pumping through your veins, go read The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Motley. Just when I think I've read the most insightful, exquisite sentence, I turn the page and she does it again. Motley has created a story that digs in and sticks with you.

Read this if you like:
• Coming-of-age stories
• Character-driven reads
• Books about teen motherhood
• Poetic prose
• Books that make you wanna give the characters a hug

Many thanks to @aaknopf for the complimentary copy! All thoughts and opinions are provided voluntarily.

Leila Mottley’s talent is unbelievable. Her first book, Night Crawling, is one of my favorite books ever and was written while she was in high school! Now she is the ripe old age of 23 and she has written another beautiful, heartbreaking book.
The Girls Who Grew Big tells the story of 3 young mothers living in a poor Florida panhandle beach town. They all face tremendous challenges: teenage motherhood, familial rejection, men who are not worth their time or energy but they continue to survive and even thrive all while raising their children. This book is sad but also hopeful as we see the bond between The Girls growing and we witness how they support each other.
Thank you to Knopf and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

this can be a frustrating read — because it's challenging. it challenges so many preconceived notions and stereotypes, so many of the ways we, as readers and as people, judge. its characters are complicated and fallible. its writing is authentic and vocal. its story moves in fits and starts.

but all of that builds intentionally. the moments i felt tense while reading this were opportunities for me to step back and consider why i felt that way, which only made me enjoy the book more.

i wish we got to know more of the girls, the group of young moms at the center of this story, rather than just a few of them. but that's only because i so appreciated how the three we saw were rendered on page.

This book is a worthy successor to the wonderful Nightcrawling. Ms. Mottley has an extraordinary talent for telling emotional stories in a way that feels completely authentic. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don't think this was a bad book by any means but it just wasn't speaking to me at the time. I might revisit in the future but the story wasn't resonating

I’ve been waiting for another book by the author since reading Nightcrawling!!! That book touched me and I knew this one would do the same. I loved the story line and how she incorporated the found family trope within a story that hits close to home for a lot of women /young girls in this book. I enjoyed watching the young ladies navigate and use each other as a support system.. The author tells a story in a way that is relatable but also informative for those that have not had similar experiences. I can’t wait to see what else Laila has up her sleeve. I’m reading/buying anything she puts on paper at this point.

The Girls in The Girls Who Grew Big is a girl gang in Padua Beach, Florida, a place that one can’t locate on the map because it’s a place folks simply pass through. Conspicuous circumstances bring together the misfit crew: the girls are teenage moms who band together because their nuclear families do not provide the proper support they need to flourish. From hiding a daughter in another state to prevent the public spectacle to parental humiliation and disownment, The Girls pull their resources to care for their kids and each other. If they seem scrappy and on edge, it’s because they know the religious townies condemn their choices and believe the moms are destined for hell.

Mottley structures her book by following the three trimesters of the group’s newest member, Adela. In addition to Adela, the story unfolds from Simone and Emory’s perspectives. The narrative moves linearly, and this character-driven story rotates through these three girls’ lives. In general, Mottley covers ideas like one’s family, agency over their body, and various forms of love—platonic, unrequited, romantic, and familial. More specifically, regarding motherhood, the girls struggle to find the love they need in their partners.

Mottley’s strength in her second novel is her ability to underscore how society can reduce these girls to the label, teen mom. I may not understand the desire to fill a house with offspring who depend on me so that I can give and receive love when I don’t have the “requisite” security measure (i.e., a steady income), and certainly not in my teen years. Yet Mottley treats her characters with a dignity and reasonableness that challenges my thinking. Her spirited girls’ distinct voices and dreams kept me on the edge of my seat, and I eagerly wanted to learn how their circumstances would unfold.

Unlike Nightcrawling, Mottley’s newest came across as a YA read with MA content (which I know makes it not categorically a YA book). The “showing” element could be stronger, and sometimes the “telling” comes across as unbelievable (e.g., Emory and Adela are best friends—When did this happen?—and Emory loves Adela—How is this possible when I didn’t even know they were more than acquaintances?). Mottley’s poetic writing about The Girls’ world transported me to the pristine white sand and emerald green waters, and I looked for more of this showing as it relates to the girls.

23-year-old Mottley, you go, girl.

My thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for an ARC.

Knopf eARC
This was a tender, intimate, and heartbreaking look into three teenage girls all woven together by teenage pregnancy and parenthood. Mottley knows how to write deeply complex characters that are so easy to become invested in. I was right alongside this group of girls and all they were going through. There was some triumph here, but a lot of realistic heartbreaking scenarios. After this and Nightcrawling, this author has solidified herself as an auto-buy for me.

At times I felt like there were 2 different authors writing this. Maybe it was done purposefully because the 3 POVs had different levels of education. I’m not sure, but at times the writing was beautiful. With regards to the story itself, I enjoyed it but felt it dragged at times and some of the storylines were a little hard to believe. Granted, I’ve never been in these girls’ shoes. Although, I do know I would do anything and everything to keep my kids safe and healthy, but it seemed to take these girls a little longer to grasp that part of motherhood. Overall, I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the complimentary copy of this book. As always, the opinions expressed within this review are completely my own.

This is kind of a fairytale about teenage motherhood. These girls all deeply love their children and are able to keep them clothed and fed while living in the bed of a pickup truck with no explained source of money for multiple years. It is not all sweetness and light, but there isn't much reality either. The girls were all interesting and I enjoyed reading their stories, but I had trouble accepting their continued camaraderie and relatively easy existence.

An intriguing story, multiple story lines. At times it was hard to follow, but about good read. At times it felt "preachy".

This story of teenage pregnancy in the Florida panhandle will take hold of your heart and not let go. Adela, Emory and Simone are part of a group known simply as The Girls and all of them are trying to navigate the struggles of friendship, love, pregnancy and motherhood. Each girl has their own struggles, but in a lot of ways they are the same. This is well written and heartfelt and not to be missed.

Three years ago, I was stunned by this author's debut, Nightcrawling, which was released when she was 19. It was an Oprah Book Club pick and longlisted for the Booker Prize.
The details of Nightcrawling have since faded, though it's still one of my top reads, but this book brought that awe factor right back to me - I'm stunned all over again.

The Girls Who Grew Big is about a group of teenage mothers in a small town on the Florida panhandle. Told in the alternating POVs of Simone, Adela, and Emory, the lines between girlhood and womanhood are blurred as they create a bond only they can understand.

I flew through this in a day. The messiness and angst of teenagers as they navigate their families, their futures, living arrangements, boyfriends, and the South while balancing the demands of motherhood... had me hooked.

Mottley's prose is addictive. Here are a couple of quotes that stopped me in my tracks:

"𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘈𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘦, 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦..."

"𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦."

🎧 The audiobook narration by AhDream Smith, Erin Spencer & Khaya Fraites was impeccable; each delivered the girls' stories and voices exactly as I had in my head.

Incredible. Cemented as a forever favorite author.

The Girls Who Grew Big is a phenomenally good book. It's an ode to motherhood, to girlhood, to womanhood--to the villages that sustain us through parenthood. Mottley is so kind and generous in her depiction of these young women. They're not stereotypes, and they're not naive. These characters are so well-rounded and live so fully, I really felt like these girls were real people telling me their stories. Each of the relationships, romantic, platonic, and familial, is so thoughtful. Some of them are absolutely heartbreaking, some of them are so sweet and tender. I just can't say enough how much I loved this book. What a fantastic depiction of Florida, too, and the South as a larger whole. There's such a specific culture and Mottley really does it justice. Five resounding stars.

Sometimes you read a novel that just fully inhabits you, makes you feel as though you know the characters in a way that has you cheering for their successes and aching with their disappointments. Leila Mottley’s The Girls Who Grew Big is an astonishing novel, one that will stay with you and never make you think of teenage pregnancy the same way ever again.

Adela is a sixteen year old competitive swimmer from Indiana who finds herself banished to her grandmother’s home in Padua Beach, Florida after she becomes pregnant after having sex for the first time. Angry and feeling betrayed by her family and friends, Adela finds comfort in the friendships she forms with “The Girls,” other pregnant teen moms and mothers who have become a cautionary tale in their small community.

Simone is the de facto leader of the group. Outwardly brazen and tough, she’s wounded by her family’s rejection after she gives birth to twins and must eke out an existence by living out of her red truck that all of the “girls” rely upon for shelter and support. Those also include Emory, who is determined to finish high school and go to college and maybe even Adela if she can open herself up to this strong, ever-revolving circle of mothers, barely adults, who all have a fierce love for their children and dreams of their own even if the community has dismissed them.

Mottley has a way of creating a deeply atmospheric setting and characters that are fully fleshed out, aching with potential and vulnerability. Mottley captures a scene and has an ear for dialogue that makes this characters so relatable and real. The struggles of teen girls and teen mothers is one that has been sensationalized often in the media, but Mottley hold up a true mirror to the situation that may just help us better understand the teen girls we are privileged to know.

I’m stingy with my five stars, but this read is five enthusiastic stars and is definitely a contender for my favorite read of 2025.

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and NetGalley for the eARC.

Leila Mottley writes a book thats going to punch you in the gut. The girls in this book "The Girls" really will stick with me forever. The feeling of motherhood, sisterhood, and the pain was so raw. Wow.