I recently finished "The New Me" by Halle Butler. I feel like in most circumstances a book like this would have lost my interest. The narrator especially when listening to the audiobook as I did is a sardonic, sarcastic person and normally I would get annoyed and lose interest and remind myself that I'm under no obligation to finish a book merely because I have started it. However this book continuously pulled me in, I couldn't stop myself from pressing play when I got in the car to drive to work and again at the end of the day as I headed home. I found myself thinking about the characters in the novel throughout my day which while is common for me, I wouldn't have expected with this book given my mixed feelings about it.
Only when I got around 3/4 of the way through the book did I realize why I was drawn to it. Despite the satirical nature of the main character's narration. There is a little bit of Millie in all of us. If I'm being honest there is a lot of Millie in me. That desire to do better, that pull to self sabotage. The moments of self sabotage we don't even realize we're doing until our apartment is a mess and we've messed something up. I was drawn to this novel because it gave me a window in, a window in to a story that I was dying to have a happy ending.
I was routing for Millie throughout the novel. Hell I was rooting for her evil boss, the way this author so bluntly portrays how some people just naturally have that drive and ambition and other people just want to, need to make it to a position of relative comfort, was such a refresher.
People in novels always have goals, ambitions, at least all the novels I've read. Even self-help ones where the author shows a little of their kooky side. It was so refreshing to read a novel about someone who wanted an "average" life. They didn't have grand plans, they didn't have huge ambitions. Millie wanted a full time job. She wanted to live in her apartment, have a meaningful conversation with someone once in awhile. Millie wanted consistency. I loved that. I loved the reliability to that.
The ending in my opinion was rather abrupt. I kind of fell in love with Millie, I understood her, I was rooting for her. I wanted to watch her achieve her dreams. That being said I loved the way the book ended. I won't spoil the ending for anyone reading this, but I will say that "average" is more than acceptable, not everyone has to achieve something "great". Sometimes maintaining an average life, an average job is okay.
"The New Me" Halle Butler
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_New_Me/Oo1fDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
Only when I got around 3/4 of the way through the book did I realize why I was drawn to it. Despite the satirical nature of the main character's narration. There is a little bit of Millie in all of us. If I'm being honest there is a lot of Millie in me. That desire to do better, that pull to self sabotage. The moments of self sabotage we don't even realize we're doing until our apartment is a mess and we've messed something up. I was drawn to this novel because it gave me a window in, a window in to a story that I was dying to have a happy ending.
I was routing for Millie throughout the novel. Hell I was rooting for her evil boss, the way this author so bluntly portrays how some people just naturally have that drive and ambition and other people just want to, need to make it to a position of relative comfort, was such a refresher.
People in novels always have goals, ambitions, at least all the novels I've read. Even self-help ones where the author shows a little of their kooky side. It was so refreshing to read a novel about someone who wanted an "average" life. They didn't have grand plans, they didn't have huge ambitions. Millie wanted a full time job. She wanted to live in her apartment, have a meaningful conversation with someone once in awhile. Millie wanted consistency. I loved that. I loved the reliability to that.
The ending in my opinion was rather abrupt. I kind of fell in love with Millie, I understood her, I was rooting for her. I wanted to watch her achieve her dreams. That being said I loved the way the book ended. I won't spoil the ending for anyone reading this, but I will say that "average" is more than acceptable, not everyone has to achieve something "great". Sometimes maintaining an average life, an average job is okay.
"The New Me" Halle Butler
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_New_Me/Oo1fDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
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