Right from the start of this story I had a picture in my head of a character from Gone With The Wind. A young black girl who talks all the time about what is going on around her that she doesn’t understand. The voice was the same and as I kept reading it began to irritate me. The story is set in Florida and it took me a while to realise that it was set in the present day not in the early 20th century. I think I am the wrong target reader for this book ( 70 year old Scottish lady!) .
I didn’t finish it. Perhaps a younger reader would enjoy it.

'This is how all family's created. Confession. A yearning to release. Somewhere to place your shame and have it wrapped up, coddled and cradled like an infant who doesn't have the words yet to explain all the ways the world haunts them'.

An incredible read by Leila Mottley, centering on motherhood, the power of creating your own community and the strength of young women. We follow the views of three young mothers; Simone, Emory and Adela. I loved how the writer celebrated their individual journeys instead of demonising them. They are all flawed, but they are also brave, kind, and doing everything they can to learn how to be the best for their children.

The language is beautiful and the main characters felt completely tangible to me.

A definite five stars.

A gritty novel exploring themes of friendship, motherhood, survival and acceptance. I enjoyed reading the girls stories, but did find some parts to be drawn out and failing to engage. A good and interesting read but would have preferred a tighter editing. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the review copy.

Despite her debut Nightcrawling earning so much critical acclaim, this is my first Leila Mottley novel — and it surely won't be my last. I really enjoyed The Girls Who Grew Big, a gritty yet beautiful novel about teenage mothers in Padua Beach, a small, impoverished Florida town.

The novel follows three characters: Simone, Emory, and Adela. Simone, the leader of The Girls, is a single mom with toddler twins. Emory is a recent mother to a newborn and she is determined to finish high school and attend a top-tier college. Pregnant Adela has been sent away by her mortified parents to have her baby quietly. Their lives become entangled in various ways, and each girl has her own strong, unique voice.

The first thing I loved about this book is how Mottley expertly transports the reader to Padua Beach. Everything jumps off the page — from the sandy beaches and swimming pools to the McDonald's that Adela’s grandmother adores. I could picture it all perfectly, from the torrential hurricanes to the gritty birth scenes. Mottley has a gift for realism, even when her prose is sophisticated, flowery, and metaphorical.

That brings us to Mottley’s writing. There is no doubt about it; she is a talented storyteller with a knack for symbolism. Most of the time, I adored her prose. However, my one complaint is that, occasionally, her characters go off on long spoken monologues that feel unnatural compared to their usual conversations.

Finally, I loved that this novel is unafraid to portray heartbreaking moments while ultimately being about resilience, hope, and girlhood. From girls kicked out of their homes to awful experiences at conservative, fear-mongering abortion clinics, the novel depicts the horrors and isolation of teenage pregnancy. It doesn’t shy away from brutal truths that are very much a part of young mothers' lives. However, it also shows their inner strength and the joy they receive from their children and fellow young mothers. It’s a book about sisterhood and support.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this novel to… anyone. It’s wonderfully done.

*Thank you NetGalley for the e-ARC*

Beautiful and heartbreaking all at once, this book showcases the remarkable truths of being a girl, a woman, a mother. The writing was beyond gorgeous and full of gut punching lines and prose that had me tearing up. I loved all the girls, but Simone especially carved her way into my heart. Her love and determination for her twins was awe inspiring, I was rooting for her and my heart was in my throat at certain points during this book.

If you’re looking for a book that feels like Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car, with the tenderness of sweet honey, and characters that ache and bleed and make you feel alive, I highly recommend this one. Moving and deeply emotional. I will be reading everything Mottley writes from now on.

Well, I must admit that a book about a group of teenage moms from Florida wasn't something I expected to be reading, however Mottley's reputation meant I cautiously gave this one a try. The opening pages call out preconceptions of the characters. It sets a marker in the sand not to come in with too many assumptions, and in fairness it made me put aside my hesitation over the subject too. It was less a rallying cry for the underdogs and more a rally cry of "We're not the underdogs!". I felt more engaged than I expected and joined the charge into the story that followed.

Now, this is more of a character driven story than it is plot driven. Simone, Emory and Adela take turns telling us how the time passes. Pregnancies, child raising, schooling, and romances make up the bulk of their lives with a few small diversions and flourishes. The first half of the book flew by. The characters came to life, they became real and familiar with great ease. I was hooked. The second half slowed down bit. The introductions over, time passed a little more slowly. Or rapidly I guess, since it would be easy to jump weeks at a time to get to the next event. Our characters still grew and developed, but it was less energised. Mostly building on the patterns and plots from earlier.

The conclusion threw another surprise my way though. Whilst I'd enjoyed the story so far it had felt more like a profile piece than anything else. The conclusion put everything into context though. It wasn't just a story about birth it was a story about rebirth too. The early cry for acceptance wasn't just not to judge others, it was also about self-acceptance and not letting ourselves be railroaded into what others, and ourselves, assume should be be how our life plays out. This is a story about how none of our stories are written yet. How we can turn a page and start a new chapter of our life.

Such deep messaging has more impact after all that work building up the characters beforehand. Whilst the book had a lot of positivity it still felt somewhat bleak until those final pages. There were highs and lows but it all still felt like it was about surviving. Which is why the twist towards people thriving felt so powerful. Whether it was a life changing or a life staying much the same, it felt like everyone was ready to start living.

I came into this book expecting to be impressed at the writing. What I didn't expect was to get so drawn in and enjoy it so much.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this title. It’s not my usual genre or subject but it sounded interesting. It’s the story of three young women, Simone, Emory and Adela, all unmarried and pregnant and each repressing a theme that’s explored in some detail, be it racism, sexism and all woven around a rather broken health care system and society.
The girls have very different backgrounds but share the common bond of imminent motherhood and their uncertain futures. I wanted to warm to them and lime them, but found it difficult as they seem rather shallow and two dimensional. Rather than being ‘real’ people they’re names to explore issues. Some of it works and some of it doesn’t and overall I found it rather disappointing. It’s certainly an eye opener in terms of expectations about social and health care in the USA and a couple of scenes were heartbreaking. Im torn between a 3 and a four and on this occasion, although it’s really well written, because it failed to engage me fully, I’m opting for 3*. Maybe just not my type of book.

Adela has a bright future ahead of her: first qualifying for the national swim team and then the Olympics. So why did she throw herself away at this one non-swimmers party? She's pregnant and her parents won't have any of it. They immediately send her to some godforgotten beach town in Florida, to have the child (abortion is out of the question to them) give it up for adoption and return to life as was.

In that little part of Florida there's more than one teenage mum, Emory who dreams of going to university and shows up at school with her newborn strapped to her chest, and Simone, the eldest, her twins are four already.
Seen through their eyes the story unfolds. They have lots in common and little safety net. Society is quick to judge and slow to help.

I struggled the first few chapters with remembering who-was-who, and found the voices of the three main characters not that different. Quite early on there's foreshadowing happening that irked me: I know there's a bunch of Girls, and we know ONE of them is new and we know we're reading a novel so we know SOMETHING is bound to happen, just get on with the story thank you very much.

Slowly I was feeling all the feels though. Ranging from "goodness, this book is the best contraceptive one can get", to "crikey, the US of A does have a severely broken healthcare system" (of in short: "this feels so unfair") to "wait, are we anti-abortion, or anti-teenage mum, or what are we to rally against...?" to "yes, yes, this is how it feels" and in between a lot of annoyance (one of the characters, not spoiling, is annoyingly self centred - to the point where I started doubting the author, but no - this was intentional) and... well, just this one paragraph shows that you're in for a ride and i was bouncing left and right and at some point was to invested I forgot my criticism.

Turns out it's not "meant" to be anti-anything. It's a pretty accurate story of how a certain society functions, or not functions and how girls are trying to cope with this human thing called love, and the consequences of human life, called babies.
It's brutal, it's sad, it's beautiful, it's hopeful, and it makes for a good read.

I received a copy from NetGalley in return for my honest opinion.

‘I’ll put it this way: teen moms, like Florida, are the country’s favorite scapegoat.’

Ms Mottley’s insights into the lives and issues of disadvantaged youth in her debut novel ‘Nightcrawling’ had me keen to see how she would address the lives of teenaged mothers in ‘The Girls Who Grew Big.’

Adela Woods, a talented athlete, lived with her parents quite comfortably in Indiana. Until, aged sixteen, she became pregnant. Adela was then sent to live with her grandmother in Padua Beach, Florida. The plan was that Adela would give birth, give the child up for adoption, and then return home. Once in Padua Beach, Adela meets Emory. Emory, the mother of a newborn, is determined to graduate from high school. And there is Simone, mother of four-year-old twins, Luck and Lion. When Simone finds herself pregnant again, she has a difficult choice to make.

Adela and Emory are part of a small group of young mothers who congregate around Simone’s red truck. Simone’s truck is part home, part drop-in centre, part childcare and advice. And yes, it is a difficult journey. These young mothers are still essentially children themselves, grappling with parenthood, relationships and finding their place in the world.

Adela, Simone and Emory are the main characters, and it is their choices and lives that shape the story.

‘Motherhood makes you lonely, but more than that, having everyone turn away from you in the moment you need them most is a betrayal that lingers like a chipped tooth, for you to drag your tongue over and remember all that was lost and wouldn’t return.’

As I read, I thought about choices and consequences. About life as a teenager trying to find a place in the world, and about the judgments that others make. There are no easy answers, and I struggled at times with the choices Adela, Simone and Emory made. But overall, I admired their determination.

Another thought-provoking novel from Ms Mottley. I’ll be looking for more.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This is a poignant exploration of "teen moms", resilience, and the complexities of navigating life when your 'accents slung themselves into the room 'fore [you] even made it through the door'. The multiperspective narrative resonates deeply with themes found in the documentary *The Florida Project*, which similarly depicts the lives of girls living on the fringes of society. Mottley’s girls, like those in *The Florida Project*, embody a spirit of hope and determination, even as they confront daunting obstacles – including biting through an umbilical cord in the absence of a knife! Mottley’s ability to evoke empathy and understanding for her characters made this book a compelling read for me, and the vivid imagery and emotional depth prompted me to reflect on the broader societal implications of their experiences and the strength found in community.

The Girls Who Grew Big is going to be a difficult one to review. I understand the direction the author Leila Mottley was trying to go in, and I feel like at times she succeeded, but it's just that lack of finesse that stumbles the book.

I understand that this lack of finesse was probably intentional. These girls have messy lives and live wildly and without shame. We focus upon three main views: Simone, Emory, and Adela. Each girl represents themes that the book deals with, like racism, classism, sexuality, and sexism. They have emotive arcs, and little blips of their earlier lives frame the girls in their present. Symbolism was rampant, (the appearance of a killer whale comes to mind), and the overall writing was good. Sometimes the girls crisscrossed over one another, and their voices felt too similar. Even Adela, who was newly introduced to Padua Beach and the girls, didn't really have any differentiation. I felt like I knew she was middle class, ate salad, and had problems with regards to her mixed-race parentage, and so in my mind that made her different, but I never heard it within the writing. Likewise, Emory and Simone both felt dynamic on their own too, but sometimes as I read I had to stop myself and recall what character I was actually reading about.

As a reader, I"got" what Leila Mottley was trying to portray. But sometimes, what she was trying to portray came across a little stereotypical. Characters outside of Simone, Emory, and Adela especially felt one dimensional to me. This was a shame, because the dynamics were all there for the story to really make this a place that felt realistic, but more and most importantly, respectful. I couldn't help but think of poverty porn at times as it felt more like the idea and glorification of poverty, rather than the actuality of it. I also think the plot was a bit threadbare.

I did like the potential of The Girls Who Grew Big. At times, it had excellent scenes that were heartfelt, and I loved the atmosphere of Padua Beach. At others, it felt like it could've been even more, but it never quite got there.

the book follows a group of women in their pregnancies and motherhood.

i adore the friendship between all the girls, it truly felt like a sister hood at times. the girls support each other through heartbreaking topics such as, miscarriages, abortion and teen pregnancy.

the characters are so full fledged and feel extremely realistic - to the point where your heart breaks for them at times.

this was a truly wonderful debut novel

I was completely hooked by this book. It threw me into a quagmire of emotions as I followed the lives of these teenage mothers living, one could almost say wild, in a small town in Florida. I felt sadness and joy, despair and hope, admiration and disgust. I felt so much anger on their behalf as they struggled to find a place in an unwelcoming and hostile society. The characters are all so well developed that you cannot help but become emotionally invested. Given the America we're looking at today, I think this is a book with an important message, reflecting society's treatment of women when at their most vulnerable. I highly recommend this book.

In a forgotten Florida town that only comes alive when Spring Break tourists pass through, a group of girls are redefining what the matriarchy looks like, stands for and can do. This is a novel about empowerment through female power as well as an indictment of those who seek to control, denigrate and dehumanise women and girls who get pregnant in 'the wrong way.' Told through the entwined narratives of three girls who are forced very quickly to become women, this is beautiful. It reminds me of Greek theatre in the way that it is almost choral and cathartic. It's beautiful and flawed and dangerous and subversive and utterly brilliant.

Pregnant teenager Adela finds herself banished to her grandmother’s house in a tiny impoverished patch of Florida to have her baby in secret and give it up for adoption.

Unexpectedly, she finds herself drawn in to a group of teenage mothers living outside the borders of society. Simone is the ringleader – mother of five-year-old twins – and there is also Emory who has baby Kai with Simone’s brother.

Simone is ready to give up on her partner Tooth, who has never been a real parent to her twins, yet suddenly finds herself pregnant again. Emory has been cut off by the grandparents who raised her for having a baby with a Black man and struggles to maintain her dreams of finishing school and going to college rather than marrying her baby daddy.

Adela thinks she is above the girl’s drama and cat fights and their almost feral life. She seeks a new relationship, hoping she has found someone to take care of her. But the girls know better than anyone that they and their babies are on their own.

A visceral and sometimes uncomfortable rendering of young motherhood which is real and raw.

For fans of Witchcraft for Weyward Girls by Grady Hendrix.

I struggled to get into this book and gave up after a few chapters. Sadly neither the story or writing style felt like it was for me.

The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley is a powerful and poignant exploration of young motherhood, self-discovery, and the complexities of girlhood. Adela Woods, a sixteen-year-old who is pregnant, finds herself banished from her privileged life in Indiana to her grandmother's home in the small town of Padua Beach, Florida. There, she meets a group of other young mothers—Emory, Simone, and the rest of the Girls—who are all navigating their own struggles and dreams amidst the challenges of motherhood.

The Girls, despite being outcasts in their town's eyes, are on a journey of their own, figuring out what it means to grow up while also taking on the responsibilities of raising children. The story emphasizes the resilience and strength of these young women as they face judgment, betrayal, and the contradictions of their lives. Mottley weaves these difficult subjects with empathy, creating a narrative that is raw yet full of heart.

What stands out in this novel is Mottley’s ability to create a vivid, authentic portrayal of young women who, though perceived as lost, are searching for love, belonging, and their sense of identity. The novel resists easy stereotypes, allowing each character to be multifaceted and deserving of compassion. The warmth and humanity of the writing draw you into their world, making you care deeply about their struggles and triumphs. It's a beautifully written and emotionally charged story that leaves a lasting impression.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

This is a story about teenage pregnancy in southern America. It begins with a harrowing first chapter from Simone who births twins in the flatbed of a truck and continues, alternating between Simone, Adela, sent to live with her grandmother away from the family for the nine months she is pregnant and Emory who chose to have a baby and is now wondering how she can finish high school and go to college. Together with several others, these girls create a family group who support each other with love and friendship as they go through all sorts of battles with family and society.
Although I couldn't relate directly to the stories the girls were telling, it is an emotive read, often pitting society's expectations against the wants of these young mothers. It is also clear how little support there is for them from the authorities. It is a powerful and moving read.
With thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Adela returns to high school with her new born baby strapped to her chest. Simone, ringleaders of the Girls, a group of young mothers galvanises them as they create a village together. Emory joins this unlikely band of sisters. The Girls dance, breastfeed, raise their children and themselves .
‘We knew risk and failure and worry. We knew release and reckonings and all kinds of regret. But we also knew what it was to expand beyond what you believed of yourself”. The Girls together knew more. Together they did not unwish themselves as mothers. Best of all they find themselves and their way. The Girls Who Grew Big is gentle, tender, funny, honest and so full of heart, love, energy, wisdom and compassion. It succeeds in navigating what it means to be a young woman, a daughter, a mother and a friend. Leila Mottley has written a much needed book.

I really loved this author’s novel Night Crawling which I read pre-publication a year or so ago so when I saw this one on NetGalley UK I immediately requested it and it went straight to the top of my to be read list
This is the story of a group of girls mostly young teenagers in a Florida beach town who get together to support each other through teenage pregnancy. It’s a story of female support and friendship in the situation where these children are subjected to misogyny and distrust from most of the adult population of the area. It’s a story of how women together are stronger than on their own and the strength, fat mothers of any age go to protect their children.
The novel has immense heart. I found it deeply moving in places whilst at all times being optimistic. The difficult subjects are managed with extreme poise this is a highly skilled author and this book is perfectly put together
The author has a beautiful poetic way of writing which I particularly enjoyed. There were several sentences that I highlighted as they were so perfect “there was nothing more devastating than the slagging air in our house after that Child was swept out the front door “.
The issue of abortion is raised. She’s very topical in the USA currently with the reversal of the Roe v wade law
I would very strongly recommend this book. It’s going to be on one of my lists of top books for 2025 and Leila Motley is now one of my favourite authors..my immediate feeling is that if you like Where the Crawdads song by Delia Owen’s then you will love this book .The only similar book I’ve read recently is Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix I FB you like me enjoyed either of these books you will love this one too
I suspect that this book will make a fantastic movie and would expect the rights to be taken out quickly likewise I suspect this book is going to sell very well
I read an early copy of the book on Net Gali UK and return for an honest review. The book is published on the 10th of July 2025 by Penguin general UK-Fig Tree
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads, StoryGraph, and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.wordpress.com. After publication will also appear on Amazon UK.No