Grow Old and Don't Die - Ari Phillips - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Ari Phillips

GENRE: Literary Historical Fiction.

PUBLICATION DATE: September 15, 2026

RATING: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A genre-defying fictional work with elements of magical realism, dysfunctional family drama, intergenerational conflict, literary fiction, and philosophy. Original in its premise and creative in its execution. Too many character POVs and flashbacks. A good option for those not seeking instant gratification through fiction.

Plot Preview:

For more than a century, Rosa and her son Wyeth have lived quiet lives in the small town of Berkeley Springs. No one yet has noticed their unusual longevity, which is thanks to a secret spring hidden within a mountain cave. But their secret seems to be in danger of being spilled when a greedy corporate empire digs too close to the spring. Unknown to the mother-son duo, the owner of the organisation also has ties to the spring and wants more access to it.

Narrated through multiple characters’ third-person perspectives and various timelines, including one from George Washington watching the town from his afterlife, the story offers us a look at the various characters and at the increasingly tense battle for the spring’s life-extending waters.

From the preview itself, you can make out that this isn't a typical storyline. It sounds like an ordinary story of good vs. evil but is far more complex, both because of the multi-character narrative and the multi-decade plot development. It is also quite slow-moving. You do get your reward at the end but it requires a lot of patience.

Bookish Yays:

⌛ The prologue from 1890. One of the better prologues I have read this year. Instantly intriguing and offering a tantalising glimpse of some mysterious happenings and curious characters.

⌛ Rose and Wyeth as characters. Each flawed and layered, their personality is not typical to their initial introduction. I liked the slow unveiling of their deeper traits.

⌛ The originality of the plot. Not everything worked perfectly for me, but I still appreciate how creative this story is. A refreshing experience in today’s world of copy-paste fictional tropes.

⌛ Berkeley Springs. A strange magical story requires a strange magical town and Berkeley Springs fits the bill perfectly.

⌛ The exploration of the human psyche through various challenges and difficulties. Several characters and their decisions and actions offer food for thought.

Bookish Okays:

🌊 The George Washington perspective. To be fair, I did like a major chunk of his POV, especially his nostalgic musings on what was and his fair commentary on what is. But certain inclusions felt a bit awkward and forced. I also wish there had been some mention of his thoughts on enslaved people, especially given his own complex history with the institution of slavery.

🌊 Other than Rose and Wyeth, some other characters also (Pawpaw in particular) are interesting. But in a few cases, I wasn’t able to figure out their motivations as the whys of their actions didn’t get as much attention as the whats.

🌊 The story is divided in four sections, and the latter three sections introduce a lengthy backstory for three key characters. While the flashbacks are interesting in their own way and the information provided comes into play in the climax, the flow of the main plot and the overall pacing gets affected. It takes time to adjust to the change in track.

Bookish Nays:

☠ The timestamps aren’t always provided. For a story that goes back and front multiple times, I would have appreciated a clear year reference at the start of each chapter. To be fair, many chapters specify a time clue but these aren’t always at their beginning.

☠ Too much of head-jumping across characters. After some time, I lost count of the number of characters whose POVs we hear. The POV changes happen within chapters. Though there is a clear spacing in between paragraphs when the POV shifts, the jumps are still too frequent. I prefer a clear narrative anchor for each chapter, and preferably not more than four POVs per book.

☠ The ending. I don’t know why it didn’t impress me much. Perhaps I expected something a bit more dramatic given the build-up. It felt too smooth and too happy (the revelation of the new romantic relationship didn’t help) for such a complex plot.

Overall, this book has an interesting premise for sure. The execution goes the mixed way, with the characters being a hit but the head-hopping being a distraction. It still might work for readers who are used to character-driven narratives and slower pacing. I liked it enough, and perhaps if the ending had struck a better chord with me and the plot structure not been so jumpy, my rating would have been higher.

Recommended to readers looking for unusual storylines and have patience with slower, meandering narratives.

My thanks to author Ari Phillips and Rand-Smith Books for providing the DRC of “Grow Old and Don't Die” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.