THE CHANGE follows three middle-aged women who are called to each other due to their distinct powers. Young women are being murdered in their oceanfront community and these three unlikely friends work together to bring justice to these girls and their families. Miller skillfully weaves elements of mystery and suspense with humor and magical realism. This was a super fun read with major themes of female friendship and empowerment. I basically inhaled it & highly recommend for fans of The Witches of Eastwick, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, Cackle, and Practical Magic.

Read this book! I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. I’ve never read anything from this author, but I certainly want to do so again. I cannot pinpoint a single problem with this book. The pacing, the character development and character journeys, the plot, the heroes and villains, and the wisdom are all top-notch. This is a feminist manifesto and a fantasy, a vision for what we wish could be.

The three main characters are Jo, Nessa, and Harriett, unlikely friends drawn together by complementary gifts and desires. All are at slightly different stages in life, having experienced similar sex discrimination but having different life experiences. All are strong women determined to make a difference and ensure that justice is served. There are some obvious unspoken references to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, but they only serve to reinforce the themes. They almost serve to display a different POV, but in the end, there’s no valid excuse for their behavior.

I think one of my favorite things about this book is the multitude of quotable statements, some of which I feel I simply must share. I’ll end my review with these.
“Nothing ages a person like poverty and misery.”
“‘Witch’ is the label society slaps on women it can’t understand or control.”
“...in case you haven’t noticed, somebody’s always killing women.”
“...every recipe is a spell. And all cooks are witches.”
“Anyone who needs a reward to be good isn’t good. They just like rewards. Good people do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.”


There are a couple that made me laugh:
“Do I know you?” Harriet asked, “her head cocked, like a cat contemplating a roach.”
“Harriett greeted Chase with all the enthusiasm she would have shown a chin hair.”
Nessa makes this observation about the chief of police: “Rocca was in his early fifties, with the robust physique of a triathlete and the personality of a barbell.”


Another woman tells Nessa, “You’re the light that holds back the darkness… Women like you have always existed. Without you, the world would be thrown out of balance.”

Discussing places where women are not welcomed, so-called ‘boys’ clubs,’ Harriett says, “Of course, we’re allowed…It would be scandalous if we weren’t allowed. So instead, we’re just not invited. Plagued by doubt because of all the failures Jo experienced in her professional life, she has a breakthrough because of Harriett’s words about not being ‘invited,’ at which point she realizes, “Jo had been good enough all along. They’d made her feel like a failure, when the truth was, they just hadn’t wanted her around. There was nothing she could have done.”

Nessa, who was widowed when her police officer husband was killed, contemplates the justice system, which “was designed to punish, not protect.” Nessa, Jo, and Harriett, on the other hand, want to protect.

This statement is telling: “No one teaches girls how to take care of themselves. We train them to be pretty and kind and polite right before we set them loose in a world filled with wolves. Then we act surprised and horrified when some of them get eaten…those people who wanted girls to be docile and disciplined were often the ones who took advantage of them.”

And this statement is profound, and therefore, one of my favorites: “Why do you think women are designed to outlive men? Why do we keep going for thirty years after our bodies can no longer reproduce? Do you think nature meant for those years to be useless? No, of course not. Our lives are designed to have three parts. The first is education. The second, creation. And in part three, we put our experience to use to protect those who are weaker.”

This is my other favorite quote: “God may have dictated the Bible, but it was put down on paper by men. And over the years, men have changed things that don’t make them look good. In the original story, Eve was the hero, and this snake was her friend… No animal is ever totally tame… They’re either too lazy to eat you or waiting for just the right moment…The most dangerous beast in Eden was Adam… He was God’s first try at humans, remember? And from the outside, he was magnificent… But there was something wrong with him—the thing that had convinced God to try again. He’d just come off making the animals when he went to work on Adam, and he forgot to change one little thing. Like the animals, Adam was driven by bodily needs. When Adam wanted to rut, all the reason God gave him went right out the window. With animals, sex is natural. What made Adam so dangerous was his desire to dominate…stay far away from those who seem driven by their desires. Don’t be one of the women who think they can feed those men. Those that do meet one of two fates. They either end up getting eaten—or they turn into monsters.”

What an interesting and unique story! I had no idea what to expect out of this and was so pleasantly surprised. I really loved how unique each of the main characters were. Feminist revenge in a small coastal town? YES PLEASE. The balance between mystery, murder, and humor was magic (😉-IYKYK). The tensions was continuously building and the character development was great. The only thing keeping this from five stars: I felt that the flashback chapters, while very important, seemed ill fitted into the story and didn’t flow smoothly.

While the writing was good, this wasn’t my favorite book. It seemed to be doing too much. There were a few too many storylines just for the sake of it and I found it to be too long.

This was such a crazy ride witchy ride I found kind of over the top at times but still couldn’t stop turning the pages. There were a lot of twists and turns that were at times completely unrealistic even taking into consideration the paranormal elements of the story but it was so very very entertaining that I didn’t care about the lack of logic in the plot . Would definitely recommend this if you are looking for a wild adrenaline filled witchy thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kirsten Miller, and publisher William Morrow for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a meaningful manifesto on female empowerment. I really enjoyed each of the characters and their powers. It was dark yet hopeful, heartfelt, and full of depth--all of which I enjoyed. But at times it felt a bit too on-the-nose during the latest Supreme Court rulings and everything else going on in the world, and I think I would've enjoyed it more if the world around me didn't feel so heavy. The magical realism simply drove home the sense of helplessness I feel in daily life lately. Also, it was about 100-150 pages too long and my attention waned in the middle (hence why it took me so long to finish it--I paused it to read Stephen King's Misery 🤣).

I enjoyed the heck out of this book. I had saved several quotes from it that I just loved but I'm stupid and my kindle upgraded and I have no clue how to find them. Anyways, this book is what that stupid Dietland should have been.

Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.

"I choose vengeance. She’s the only mistress I serve."

Girls are disappearing. Girl's bodies are being found. When no one seems to take an interest because no one deems the girl's lives worthy enough, a small band of women are pulled together by matched anger and frustration to figure out what's going on and who these girls were.

This was wonderful. I loved our three MC's - Nessa, Herriet and Jo. They each had such strong personalities and I loved each of them for the compassion and witchy goodness they brought to the table. I also found the end to be realistic. I read this with a book club and we tried to find relevant, real world cases that seemed to maybe be inspiration for this one and, unfortunately, there were too many to narrow down. This is why the story is so good- relevant, well written with characters you love and vegeance so sweet. I don't know if I started off loving the cover but by the end, I couldn't imagine any other. I loved this one

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

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I am the perfect reader of this book, a woman of a certain age… 😂 or am I actually 😭?
Jo, Nessa, and Harriett are women who have discovered they have unique “gifts” as they’ve reached menopause, and together they’re using their new skills for some vigilante justice.
At roughly 500 pages it might look long, but this novel flew by giving voices not only to these three main characters, but a number of women who’s stories deserved to be told. It’s empowering in giving voice and importance to women of all ages. I loved this unique blend of fantasy and mystery, and I know this one is going to be on a lot of favorites of 2022 lists.
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I really enjoyed The Change, but unfortunately I didn't make it all the way through before my advanced copy expired. I will be looking to either borrowing from the library or buying it so I can complete the book and provide a review.

This book was very fun and entertaining. I did feel it was a bit too long as other reviewers mentioned but I did enjoy the side stories. I disagree with other reviewers that ALL of the men in the story were painted in a negative light. That just isn't true. Art, Franklin, and Jonathan were positive male characters. I'm not sure if we were supposed to be in the dark along with Jo and Nessa about who the "bad guys" were but it was obvious to me so there were no surprises in the end. I don't read a lot of fantasy/magical realism but I enjoyed this one and would definitely recommend!

The premise of The Change is really interesting and quite fresh: three women that are past their peak team up to solve a series of disappearances involving young women in their posh neighborhood, getting revenge against the men who perpetrated the crimes but also against men in general who screw women over. Each of them has a special "power" that comes with age: Jo (the youngest of the three and the owner of a gym for women-only) can channel her rage into incredible physical strenght that she uses against the other sex (a little bit like a woman version of Hulk, without the green stuff); Nessa a cop widower, has a gift for seeing the ghosts of dead girls whose bodies haven't been found and she makes her mission to recover them so that they can rest in peace; finally Harriet who was a talented advertising director in the same firm where her ex-husband worked and who got demoted, after divorcing her husband tranforms her property into grounds for witchcraft, where she grows all sort of plants that she uses to heal or poison. I really liked the angle that a woman's life and her contributions to society are not over when she reaches menopause and there were many "you go girl" moments throughout the book that made me cheer for our heroines, especially Harriet (the best moment in the book IMO. Is when Harriet enlightens her ex-husband, who came to her for help, on the reason why he didn't come up with a great idea in years: "It's because they were MY ideas, I just handed them to you").. The one warning that I feel I need to give readers is that while the book is marketed as fantasy, it is actually much more of a mystery and it was a bit darker than I had anticipated by reading the blurb. Besides this I wholeheartedly recommend it to any woman, especially post-menopausal ones! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiaised review.

I love, Love, LOVE this book! The premise is original and the writing is phenomenal. I'll be buying extra copies to give to friends who, I am SURE, will also not be able to put it down!

this was a good book. I enjoyed the concept and the narrative. I found the pacing could improve. Sometimes, just as we'd reached a pivotal moment in plotting, the author would veer off-course for a backstory that could have easily been summarized without taking us all the way back to the event and it's dialoged back and forth.

More broadly, I fail to understand the thrust of this story: that women were robbed of the lives they truly wanted because of men? there is an undercurrent narrative here that implies the goals that men achieve are worth pursuing more than women's goals. The only actually enlightened character was Nessa. Joe eventually figured it out, but she was still soo envious of her male for far too long into the book.

And again, without spoiling, I want to add that a woman played a pivotal role here, and was perhaps the biggest villain. not a victim, but a villain. and that may be the most undercutting part of this entire story. Comparisons with witches of east wick and big little lies are beyond generous (meaning nope, this is not either of those stories),

I look forward to a briefer book the next time, but I will be reading.

Oh boy. This was everything I hoped it would be! Major hype surrounding The Change by Kirsten Miller but I LOVED IT!

I saw this one described as Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick and I actually think that’s a good representation. Three women living in a small town on Long Island are dealing with their own midlife changes but this is not a book about menopause. Trust me.

Nessa has a gift for hearing the voices of the dead, and sometimes seeing them. She raised twin daughters, mostly alone after her husband died. And after they go off to college, she’s feeling empty nest syndrome in a big way.

Harriett has been living for her career until one day her career and her husband are gone and she decides to take matters into her own hands.

Jo has a thriving women-only gym, a supportive husband and a 10 year old daughter who she will protect to no end.

One day, Nessa sees the ghost of a teenage girl standing by the road, she recruits her friends to help and soon they discover the girl’s body. The police write off the victim as a drug-addicted sex worker but Nessa knows this isn’t her story. They work together to uncover more secrets and ya’ll, this story gets pretty crazy! There are some triggers here for content, so do some research on your own if you want specifics.

The character development in this book is perfect. We get the back stories along with the current events timeline. There are a lot of characters and I think this might best be read in print. I would not have been able to keep track of the timelines and characters if I was listening to it. You’ll be holding your breath as everything is revealed and it races to an epic conclusion in an almost cinematic way. I hope this gets made into a movie or series. It would be fantastic!

If you love a feminist revenge story with strong middle aged women and a touch of magical realism, this is the book for you! This would make a fantastic book club selection, I’m definitely going to have my book club read it.

Three women come together after each have their own struggles with being a women in a man-business world. Trying to rise up but always being set aside. Will read more from this author! thank you NetGalley and the publiser for the e-arc in exchange for a review.

This is amazing book! I had no idea what it was about going into it but I heard great things. It did not disappoint. Part murder mystery, part female power! I also enjoyed the humor that was brought into it about how women are perceived. This is unlike any book I have ever read. I would recommend it for anyone that is trying to find the beauty in the power women carry within them.

I loved this book. It took a little bit to get into it but when it started moving I didn't stop reading till the end.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kirsten Miller and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review. There were some satisfying witchy elements in this book for sure. I enjoyed getting to know the characters Harriet, Nessa, and Jo as they become unstoppable older women who also develop some unique and witchy powers at a point when they all decide in their own ways to leave the misogynist constraints of society behind.

These three power women work together to solve a series of unsolved murders involving far too many young vulnerable women, and in the process bust into a ring of corrupt wealthy men who are using their wealth and resources to cover their crimes. The corruption extends well beyond what any of them could have imagined, and at points the ladies all wonder if risking their own safety is worth finding justice for these young women.

The book initially captured my attention, but did start to drag a little towards the end. I struggled with some of the choices the main characters made to exact their own revenge on the male characters. I particularly enjoyed Harriet's "no fucks to give" attitude, but found Jo's blinding rage a bit grating. I'd give it a solid 3.5 stars.

This is a solid book focused on women taking their power back. Nessa, Jo, and Harriet are all at a transition in their lives. Each had a different path in life that all comes together when they find a girl's body on the side of the road. Through this story of how they work to uncover the mystery of who the girl is as well as discovering others that have gone missing, Miller portrays women at a time when they often feel useless and forgotten and shows that they have more power and knowledge than many. Using skills they have through magical realism, these three amazing women take on toxic masculinity and ways that women are dismissed over and over again. It is inspiring, empowering, and full of sheer rage that I believe many women feel today. The Change feels very present for today's society and yet is an entertaining mystery at its core. I loved this one and can't wait to see what she writes in the future.