Halle Butler

Weirdly mundane and vaguely unsettling, but also somehow so f-ing satisfying and full of this dark, satirical rage that was addictive to read. Reading this is like having a dream where you’re watching a car wreck happen in slow motion right in front of you but then you wake up and you find yourself actively behind the wheel of the car that’s wrecking.

Butler does such a strong job of capturing being in your late 20s/early 30s, unsure about the future, trying your best even when you're just angry or desperately wanting a single real friend to talk to. Set against the backdrop of contemporary consumerist culture in America, this novel really creates such a vivid landscape of the frustrating routines Millie finds herself in- she's all at once hyper-aware of and yet unable to escape the banalities of life.

"The New Me" isn't going to be a book for everyone, but if you've ever found yourself in a situation similar to Millie then you're going to find something familiar in these pages, whether you want to admit it or not.… (meer)

Millie is lost. Having broken up with her boyfriend, she lives alone in her apartment and watches episode after episode of the Forensic Files to pass the time. She seems to not care about much; she is financially dependent on her parents, she has friends who she doesn't really like, and let's face it, she's kind of a filthy slob. She's been working a temp job that she thinks is a joke, but once the idea of full time employment enters the picture, Millie’s actions begin to shift.

I'm not gonna lie: I love a good book about a millennial being lost (just take a look at my 2018 reads, they pretty much plague that list!). However, this particular book fell flat for me. It was almost as though it was trying to be Otessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation... only it was not nearly as interesting or well written. I know this book was satirical, but come on, even a satire requires a bit more of a plot than "depressed millennial is depressed".

Anyway, there is one thing that really saved this book from being a one star read: the Millie/Karen dynamic feels so real! How many times have you met a Karen in your life? That one person who is so off putting and so observant that you can feel their eyes judging you when you turn your back? The. Worst.

A special thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)