The New Me was a fantastic quick glimpse into a brief moment of utter despair and depression and longing for something better and an inability to achieve that in the life of our millennial protagonist Millie. Like everyone else on this website, it was for me an instant comparison to My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh which was another favorite of mine, though not immediately in the way that this one was. Halle Butler so succinctly captures the feeling I've been feeling for years of never being good enough, of being lost, of being too much or not enough but never quite in between. Yes, our protagonist was quite privileged, and a common complaint about her is that she is unlikeable but I have to say I strongly disagree. I loved her and her fallacies and I'm actually unsure whether I've ever related to a character in a book more (other than her privileged background). I loved the anecdotes from tertiary characters that helped move the plot along.

I hated Karen so much and felt very gratified getting other characters' perspectives on her. I felt so deeply for Millie that the people around her were unable to even remotely empathize with her just on a basic human-to-human level that generally should be exercised to empathize with anyone you come across even without knowing them well (it really doesn't take much). The part I enjoyed the most was when in the very pit of her despair Millie took a weekend to visit her parents. The way they made her feel special, understood, their unconditional love and support exhibited for her was a very hopeful note in a generally austere book, and in a world full of people Millie could neither relate to nor care about, just as they could not with her. Her family reminded me a lot of my grandparents and the way they have consistently told me they believe in me and in my success despite a lot of mistakes I have made and detours I have taken in my young adult life while trying to find my place in the world. This chapter of the book brought me to tears.

I can easily understand why others may not enjoy this book at the level I did. At times it was bleak and often felt directionless. I believe this was the point of the book. I think the mundanity of Millie's life in the final moments of the book through the eyes of Alyssa was very interesting because I am positive from Millie's perspective, which we were suddenly tugged out of, this was actually a moment in her life of great accomplishment and contentment in comparison to the slice of her life we experience alongside her. I can't recommend this for everyone, but for millennials and others who have experienced burnout and that feeling of wandering through life unsure and unstable, I do. Anyone who has ever resolved in a moment to start living "right," to go to yoga and buy groceries at Whole Foods and pack a lunch and be prompt and put together, just to lose that resolve in the next moment and continue in the merry-go-round of broken promises to themselves, this is your book. I know that's exactly what about it stole my heart.