A review by thechaoticlibrarian_
New Growth by Taahesi B. Williams

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

So I recently read New Growth by Taahesi Williams, and whew—this book took me on a journey. It follows a woman named Elliot who goes through back-to-back devastating losses. She hits a breaking point where everything feels like too much. She doesn’t know who she is anymore, or what she wants, so she does the only thing she can think of—she leaves it all behind. In one final attempt to piece herself back together, she chooses herself. She wants to live for her, to become someone she’s proud of.

But of course, life doesn’t go as planned—and when it doesn’t, Ellie pivots like a pro. Y’all… Ellie said, “I’m getting out of here because y’all have clearly lost your damn minds.”

Enter: mysterious coffee shop guy. And from the moment they meet, that’s all she wrote. He is absolutely mesmerized, trying to get her attention, trying to talk to her, trying to take her out—but my girl is not having it. She’s not interested. The last relationship was chaos, and she wants no parts. So she agrees to coffee, but ONLY coffee. Except… you know how that goes. Coffee was never just coffee.

This book is a beautiful second chance at love, with an age gap, chronic illness rep, and a slow burn that had me screaming: “IF HE WANTED TO, HE WOULD!”

So if any of that sounds like your vibe, go check it out!