#THECHANGE by #kirstenmiller has been all the rage and incidentally is also about rage. This book explores what it’s like to be a woman in this world, with cruel expectations and even crueler men. But three women are about to show us what it means to really embrace middle age. There is an element of fantasy, but I believe a lot of what men fear of women has little to do with actual magic; it’s the sheer willpower we can wield.

There are so many thoughtful details and nuanced layers to behold. For one thing, all the women are introduced first. It’s subtle, but a man is merely someone’s husband, which I noted and appreciated. And while the missing and murdered girls proved to be a gripping storyline, I enjoyed reading more about how Harriett, Jo and Nessa discover and refine their powers, supernatural and otherwise. The work that went into climbing the corporate ladder, starting their businesses and cultivating real connection with the women and girls in their lives is at once remarkable and should not be. This was a fabulous tear-jerker.

Thank you to @williammorrowbooks and @netgalley for providing an eARC for review. This was very much a @jordys.book.club #jordymademedoit read. #THECHANGE is available TODAY.

An engaging mystery, thriller & paranormal read. True reparations dealt-Unforgettably
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2022
Like a mashed-up version of Practical Magic/Kill Bill/A Vigilante and the PowerPuff Girls rolled into one great read.…yes – humor, anger, revenge with sarcasm & wit. This may be my new Book of Spells, Grimoire or Life Chart. This is fast paced, fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable. My affinity with each character, the situations they faced- ones I have endured, equaled my investment. I did not overcome -I lived through painfully, embraced and grew into, adapted and succeeded – full bloom. Can’t decide if I’m a truth seeker, protector or punisher… but I don’t have to choose (hehe)
Thank the author for putting us on blast – articulating our repression with guns blazing, no effs given. We are knocking down walls, taking names and setting the list on fire … now excuse me while I feed my kids. I would read this again ... good morale booster.

Three bada$$ women discover a body and are determined to figure out what happened to the girl. I saw this book recommended again and again on bookstagram and went into it blind and was not let down in the slightest. The whole time I was reading it I knew it was going to be a 5 star rating. I loved everything about this book and want to recommend this book to everyone. This book is just so good I cannot say enough good things about it.

The Change by Kirsten Miller is a unique paranormal story. I wish there had been a warning on the book regarding some of the items in it. I was looking forwarding to reading this paranormal thriller (and then I started reading The Change and was shocked). I had trouble with the significant amount of foul language, nudity, graphic details on menstruation, and the intimate situations. There is also a great deal of man hating. I am a feminist, but I do not believe that feminism should involve bashing men (continually). The villains in the story were a little overdone. I could envision that cartoon villain in the tuxedo with the top hat and cape who twirled his groomed mustache (the type with the curled ends). I liked seeing the three witchy women came together to find a killer. Jo, Harriett, and Nessa unite to get justice for the girls being murdered in their town, Mattuak. I like how their magical powers complemented each other. Each of the women gained their powers upon reaching menopause. I liked that the protagonist were my age. The story is more of a paranormal thriller than a mystery which disappointed me because I love solving whodunits (and the blurb made is sound like a paranormal mystery). The pacing varied throughout the book. The beginning is slow as each of the characters are introduced. It takes a little while to get to the killings. I felt the story was overlong (almost 500 pages) and the author is overly descriptive. There were so many extra characters along with the backstories that were unneeded. I thought the second half was long with a predictable ending. I had a hard time getting through The Change. I am not a fan of books that make me cringe and grimace. While The Change was not my cup of tea, I suggest you obtain a sample to judge it for yourself. The Change is a bewitching tale with post-menopausal powers, a nefarious garden, murdered women, a distressed mother, an evil villain, and crucial justice.

This trio of women might just be my new favorite fictional characters. Nessa, Harriett and Jo - I adore you!!! Strong female characters are where it's at. The focus on female friendships had my whole heart. And this storyline, phenomenal. There's nothing quite like exposing the ugly truth of how society treats women.

The Change is sooo well written and is going to stay with me for a very long time. I can't wait to see what Kirsten Miller writes next.

This book was exceptional and will absolutely end up being one of my favorite books of 2022! I've been so stressed about turning 40 this year, about getting "old". Instead of dreading it, I'm going to embrace it. And who knows ... maybe I'll tap into some of my own powers.

Huge thank you to Harper Collins Canada and Netgalley for my e-copy!

The story is about three women - Nessa James has inherited the ability to see and hear the dead while Jo Levinson and Harriet Osborne develop interesting powers in their forties. When Nessa is led to the body of a dead girl, the three join forces to uncover the murderer. Along the way, Nessa becomes aware of two more dead girls. The investigation leads them to an exclusive enclave of powerful rich men. The women are determined to ensure that the guilty are punished, the girls identified and the families notified.
Engrossing read, especially the parts where the women were using their powers -highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy.

Smart, relevant, and captivating! The Change takes some tropes of the thriller genre, twists and flips them and, in doing so, creates a riveting social commentary on how women in society are devalued by the toxic men in power. Far from preachy, the characters and plot line weave heartbreaking truths into the narrative that only the truly brainwashed could refute. I absolutely love that the three main women are over 50, confident, self sufficient, powerful, talented, and total badasses! The literary world often mirrors society and portrays women, even their heroines, as unreliable, hysterical, paranoid, fragile creatures who lack self control and need a male love interest to save them or talk sense into them so they can save themselves. Well, The Change doesn’t subscribe to any of that bullshit and I love that! Even though the main subject of the novel and the many poignant truths were heartbreaking, the kickass female trio gave me hope that if we as women just understood our own power we could change the narrative for good. Such unique and powerful read!

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow & Company for the opportunity to read an advance electronic copy of The Change for an honest review.

Ya’ll. Will. Love. This. Book. The Change by Kirsten Miller is fun, suspenseful and finally features a cast of mid-forties women. Nessa can see ghosts of murdered young women. Jo is the protector and Harriet is the witch who can concoct the perfect dose of revenge. These three ladies meet when a young girl’s body is discovered near the beach of their town, but Nessa senses there are more bodies. How many girls are there and who has taken their lives? Nessa, Jo, and Harriet are going to find out and make sure those responsible receive the justice they deserve.

Finally, a book where being in your 40s is a strength and is viewed with power as opposed to invisibility and desperation. While investigating the murders, we learn about each woman’s backstory, and the men who have underestimated them along the way. Those backstories were personal and there is a little bit of Nessa, Jo and Harriet in all of us. Forget Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda, I want to be these ladies.

If you are looking for a book with a little bit of fantasy, a lot of suspense, and badass women, then this book is for you. Get on your local library’s hold list or purchase from your favorite bookstore immediately! This is the PERFECT book club book. Thank you to @netgalley for the ARC.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Kirsten Miller for an ARC of this book!**

Ghosts and murders and feminist witches...oh my!

This tough, tenacious, and somewhat terrifying trio of ladies are JUST the sort of vigilantes you need to READ to believe!

The tiny and affluent community of Mattauk, Long Island holds all of these women...but each is ready to burst out of her shell and into her true self. "The Change" has hit them all, but rather than bringing out a midlife crisis, each of them are set to discover the hidden talents that will challenge everything they know about themselves, once they are brave enough to explore them. Nessa has always suspected she had the gift that runs in her family...and now in her late forties, can confirm that she hears voices, calling from beyond the grave. Jo's hot flashes are far from your standard menopausal fare: she can actually FEEL them coursing through her, and can project them out of her body entirely...for good or ill. And there of course, there's the sassy, indomitable, and no-nonsense Harriet, whose former career being unappreciated in advertising is in the rear-view mirror...and whose nude sojourns in her garden are set to bear some interesting fruit.

It is Nessa's ability to hear the dead that draws the three in as one united force, and the unsolved disappearances of several girls from the Mattauk area that urges the women to band together to find answers...and more importantly, harness their individual powers and impose a little bit (okay, a LOT) of justice. So many men have held them back in their own personal journeys, have silenced them, held them down, and suppressed their power....until now. As the investigation builds to a fever pitch, can these women unlock every secret, break down every door, and FINALLY destroy the patriarchy, evil man by evil man, once and for all?

This book is hailed as a cross between Big Little Lies and Witches of Eastwick...and while I'm very familiar with the former and only slightly with the latter, I can say comfortably that this is only a starting point for The Change. Perhaps my favorite thing about this book is how fresh and ORIGINAL it is, to the extent that comparing it to other books in some ways does it a disservice. Miller isn't afraid to GO THERE, and her characters are not the gossipy, paranoid, sometimes snooty and always secretive moms with secrets galore that you find in Big Little Lies. Rather, they are all fierce, interesting, compassionate, and relentless Women (with a capital W) who all have pasts that have inspired them to strive for a different future. Miller weaves in just enough backstory throughout to keep the reader invested and to explain each character's motivation without bogging down the book. By story's end, I certainly felt like I KNEW these women, and I was sad to say goodbye! Harriet in particular is QUITE the card...if I could end up with one tenth of her sass by the time I'm in my mid-forties, I'd say I'm doing alright!

Revenge can be oh so sweet, there's an undercurrent of danger throughout this one that leaves the reader wondering if good really CAN prevail. Obviously for this plot to work, most of the men in this book are pretty despicable and easy to dislike, so if some man bashing bothers you, you probably should steer clear. For me, however, nothing was over the top and I was perfectly content to watch these women channel their frustrations into challenging the status quo and blazing a path of fury. This title is especially clever in its double meaning, and though this novel has tinges of fantasy elements throughout, it all feels within the realm of possibility...or perhaps a much needed eventuality!

"There have always been those who want to deny women power. And there are also women who refuse to accept it....But many women are simply too frightened to see things as they really are--or to accept that the world men have made must be destroyed."
"Yes, but are we really supposed to destroy the world?" Jo asked.
"Not the world---their world."

Some men want to watch the world burn...but as for these women?


...You'll just have to wait and see.

4.5 stars

I love this book so much! I completely fell in love with the three main characters. Each were unique badass women with “special powers”. I really liked how the author made the characters and events very believable. I could not put this book down because something kept happening to keep me reading! I think if you’re a feminist, like mysteries, and witches then this book is definitely for you!

Slow beginning, very exciting once you're in. Reminded me of Southern Bookclubs Guide to Slaying Vampires. Instead of vampires, they're going after rich, white men. I'm a fan!

I love this book. It’s as if someone finally figured out how to take the best pieces of YA literature and work them into real life adult situations. There are strong female characters. There’s a sense of individual powers that require a suspension of disbelief, but also a stance that we all might have some sort of power if we tapped into it. And there’s certainly a message that women have been held down in myriad ways in our society, and it’s an all our best interest to power forward with the strength and determination so I’m by the women in the novel. The concepts of right and wrong get a revision on the equality rather than misogynistic definition of inherent in our society. But it’s also just fun and engaging and a great mystery.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for this ARC!! The blurb says “a gloriously entertaining and knife-sharp feminist revenge fantasy about three women whose midlife crisis brings unexpected new powers” and I think that fits perfectly. Jo, Nessa, and Harriet come together to battle the evil in their neighborhood. This truly was laugh out loud funny at times but with a good mystery.

Brilliant, stunning, gripping and utterly unputdownable! I did not want this story to end! Nessa, Jo and Harriet have not met before, but when they do meet, discover each has a ‘special’ gift. They turn out to be amazing badasses! Several young girls go missing over a number of years and these three women discover the link. They are determined to find the bodies and find peace for the girls and the families.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.5 rounded up.
The Change was such an entertaining read and I really enjoyed this book!

Witches seem to be having their moment right now (I’m not mad about it), and this was such a unique take on that theme. The three women at the heart of this story could not be more different from one another, but each was raised knowing they possess a certain gift. When a body belonging to a young girl is discovered and the police brush it off as just another runaway, the women take matters into their own hands. Soon you’re not sure just who you can trust.

I loved the characters in this novel. Harriet in particular was my favorite character, but they all were interesting and well developed. I loved the flashbacks sprinkled throughout so we really got to understand who they were and what made them that way. The mystery was thrilling and definitely kept me guessing.

This would make a great book club book and think it could lead to a lot of interesting discussions.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for a review copy.

I am squarely in the demographic for this novel, a murder mystery solved by some kick-ass middle aged women, with a healthy dose of magical realism and unapologetic feminism, so I had some pretty high expectations. It will be impossible for any woman over the age of 40 to read this without nodding in recognition at the mirror that this book holds up to “reality” (even if I am still waiting for my mid-life super power). I loved reading about the friendship that formed between the strong protagonists, and the author did a great job portraying the polarized beach community where the mystery unfolds. There were lots of twists and turns I did not see coming, and I could tell that the author took great care in constructing the plot. That said, the concept was a bit better its execution. This would have been a five star book for me if there had been less telling and more showing; some of the moralizing was a bit too heavy-handed, even for someone like me, who is in the target audience and can't get enough of feminist fiction. I did enjoy it very much, though - huge thanks for the review!

This book is pretty un-put-down-able and very enjoyable. A few weakness in the writing and characterization don't detract significantly from a cathartic story with many twists for readers.

First off, those of us women who are of a certain age definitely know what "the change" is. alluding to. Secondly, we women of a certain age would love for this season in life to help us refine ourselves and help us become the bada$$es that we were meant to be. I mean, we might actually look forward to aging if this were the case. But I digress. Lucky for us, we can live vicariously through 3 intelligent, determined and very different women who are all in their "third stage" in life, who serve as the main characters in this book.

"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 third stage, which you have entered, can be one of incredible power."

Once you start to learn more about the three main characters, Harriett, Jo and Nessa, the book captivates you and you won't want to put the book down. I'll warn you now - the book starts with what feels like a lot of male bashing and I was worried that was going to be the whole story. But do not fret friends, it is necessary to set the stage and help the reader to feel the motivations behind these three women, exploring their newly found "powers." Nessa has known since her youth that she has a special ability to hear those who have passed on, but need her help to be "found." This gift, passed down through the generations, does not come to fruition until the woman holding the gift reaches the third stage in her life.

"You're the light that holds back the darkness," Harriett said. "Women like you have always existed. Without you, the world would be thrown out."

Jo is able to harness her hot flashes into physical heat and strength and Harriett has become somewhat of a healer with her plant concoctions designed to help, or in some (maybe many) cases, hurt. Together they balance each other out. One searches for the lost, one fights for the lost, and one holds the responsible party accountable. Full of twists and secrets - just when you think one person just might get away with their crimes, justice is served..

Does it sound like I am being vague? I am. I don't want to give any of this story away. If you feel like the story drags a touch at the beginning - keep going. I promise you this story is worth the read! This story is going to make quite a splash!

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the advance copy to read and review.

The beginning takes a meandering path to introduce the characters and it takes a bit to understand what the point is. What follows is a unique story. The characters are fantastic. The mystery is engaging and keeps you guessing. I love the midlife genre featuring strong females. I also enjoy the supernatural aspects. Female empowerment is great to finally see happening in books today. This one is a bit heavy handed though. Almost every male character is an ass. There are a couple who are great but they are like footnotes. Overall this was a great story.

This book is GREAT. It is not even my typical genre (I don't read many thrillers) and I LOVED it. The Change is about 3 STRONG, BADASS, FEMALE main characters who are all over 40. As each character begins menopause a magical power awakens within her. LOVE. TO. SEE. IT. A serial killer is murdering girls in Mauttak, Long Island. Jo, Nessa and Harriet quickly learn that those in power - men - aren't going to do a thing about it. So it is up to the trio to solve the crimes and protect young girls.

This book is a great read for everyone, but it will especially resonate with women. There were countless moments where the MCs came up against misogynistic men where my inner voice was saying, "Uh huh. Been there! I feel you." I never annotate while reading, yet this book had me so excited that I put it down at one point to note "This is an anthem of female power and empowerment."

Ghosts, magic, a murder mystery, women taking down the patriarchy, and often humorous, this book has so much to love!!! It's described as feminist revenge fantasy and I need more stories like this please and thank you!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Change is out tomorrow, May 3. Add it to your TBR now!

Thank you to @williammorrowbooks and @netgalley for the eARC.