Wow!🤩THIS WAS AMAZING!! The Change is a FANTASTIC book that I thoroughly enjoyed on every level. It had me laughing over the dialogue between these women, yet it was suspenseful at the same time. This book was unbelievably well written and held my attention throughout the book. It didn’t even bother me that it was on the longer side- I was loving every page. The female leading characters in this book are phenomenal. Highly, highly recommend! Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for access to The Change. I truly hope this book finds a huge audience and is given all the credit it so rightfully deserved!

Three women come together in the Long Island, New York beach town of Mattuck in this pure fantasy about female empowerment and revenge. One that will keep you rooting for these fierce women. Harriet Osborne, a once successful advertising executive, has been put out to pasture as she approached turning 50. Her deserved promotion was given to a man who had nowhere near her qualifications. Divorced and living alone, she spends her time in her rather interesting garden and is viewed as the town witch. Nessa James is a widow and a retired nurse. As she has grown older, it appears she has inherited the family gift of hearing and seeing spirits. And Jo Levison, who was also pushed out of an executive position, operates a gym and as she has entered into the next stage of life, her changes have given her a new, strange strength. Hot flashes have a whole new meaning. When the women find the dead body of a teenage girl on the beach, they discover that more girls have gone missing and believe a serial killer is lurking.

With the three women banding together, they use their talents to not only uncover who is behind this tragedy but also vow to deliver justice. Author Kirsten Miller writes how women’s lives have three parts: education, creation and in the third stage, we use our power to protect those who are weaker. And boy, do these three badass women do that. The Change addresses serious issues of female equality, wealth versus poverty and more and includes lots of refreshing female rage. At almost 500 pages, this book moves fast. And while you might not agree with the means in which the women settle the score, I bet that you’ll be smiling anyway.

It's a unique, intriguing and entertaining combination of being suspenseful, serious yet often very funny. Cheers to these women of a certain age!

And once you’re done reading, turn on Annie Lenox/Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin’s “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves.”

The Change was absolutely the perfect revenge, feminist thriller that I had no idea that I needed in my life until I picked it up! It will definitely go on my list as favorites and top reads of 2022.

Whoever said this was like Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick wasn't wrong. The three women in the book, Harriet, Jo, and Nessa, are three women that are very different yet they become drawn together by the magical powers that each has developed as they reached middle age. Each woman has been mistreated by a man in one way or another, as all women have, and they are ready to do something about it, starting with finding a serial killer on the loose in their small beach community of Mattauk after they discover the body of young girl tossed away like trash with Nessa hearing more dead girls nearby with her "gift". No one wants to believe them, so they take it upon themselves to exact justice and vengeance on the men who think they can victimize and prey on women without repercussion-and so often do.

I loved, loved this book! I'm tired of reading about wishy-washy women who let men (or other women) walk all over them, especially women my age in books and movies getting relegated to the sidelines. Middle age women aren't old, menopause doesn't mean a woman's life is just done, and I think Miller really highlighted how women that age, well my age because I'm 45, are still powerful and in many cases are just coming into their power--albeit not magical in the way Harriet, Nessa, and Jo did but powerful in other meaningful ways.

The writing in this book was flawless, the characters superb, the wit executed brilliantly, and the premise was just perfect. I had a bit of an idea about the mystery and ended up being right, but that didn't matter because the novel was just so brilliantly done. I've read that the rights for The Change have been bought for TV, and I can't wait to see it adapted. I think it will be excellent to watch as long as it's done well.

I can't recommend The Change enough or say enough good things about it! Gosh, can I be Harriet?! The Change publishes on May 3rd and is a must-read!!

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for my ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions are my own.

-Review published to Goodreads and Twitter on 4/28/22 and on Amazon and B&N on publication date

Great story that kept me enthralled until the very end. This was an inspirational story (can I say that about a story with murder?) about women righting the injustices in our patriarchal society. It showed menopausal women as powerful (and a bit magical) as they worked to uncover multiple murders in their small town.

The Change follows three women who gain "powers" when they reach a certain age. The three have all been treated as less than by men during their careers. Harriet, Jo and Nessa are extremely interesting characters.

This book is a little outside my usual reading genre. I absolutely loved it nonetheless.

Expect to see: feminism and lots of it, witchcraft, revenge, strong female leads working together, liberal use of the F bomb, truly despicable human beings and a little humor thrown in.

Thanks to netgalley and William Morrow for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Read this book if you like: Sister like bonds, feminist characters, who dun its, multiple storylines mixed into one

Wow. This book caught me by surprise. It's so good. It's about three women. Each of them discover they have their own magical gift around middle age. They live in the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk. They soon discover there is evil lurking in their beach town.

Nessa James's husband dies and her twin daughters leave for college so she's left all alone not far from the ocean. In the quiet of her late forties, the former nurse begins to hear voices. It doesn't take long for her to realize that the voices calling out to her belong to the dead.

Harriett Osborne has just witnessed the implosion of her lucrative career and her marriage. She hasn't left her house in months, and from the outside, it appears as if she and her garden a wreck. Harriet's life is about to change.

Ambitious former executive Jo Levison has spent thirty long years at war with her body. The free-floating rage and hot flashes that arrive with the beginning of menopause feel like the very last straw until she realizes she has the ability to channel them, and finally comes into her power.

Nessa can hear the dead and the trio of women discover a teenage girl whose body was abandoned beside a remote beach. The police have written the victim off as a drug-addicted sex worker, but the women refuse to buy into the official narrative. They investigate on their own.

Nessa is my favorite although all of the main characters are developed perfectly. The pace was good though a but slow at the beginning. It picks up and doesn't stop. I loved this book. It's like a fantasy mixed with mystery book. Highly recommend! Get it May 3rd!

Check the triggers as there are some*

Thank you to NetGalley, the author Kirsten Miller, and William Morrow Publishers for my gifted copy. ❤

“The motherfucker deserved it,” pretty much sums up the theme of this book. You might love this book as much as I did if you like the following things:
- Badass female protagonists
- Witchy powers
- Women in their late 40’s
- Men getting the punishments they
deserve

There is also a mystery plot in this book, but I wouldn’t recommend it for the mystery. I found that aspect of the book pretty predictable. If you’re going to read this book, do it for the characters. I adored all three of our main female characters, Jo, Nessa, and Harriett. They are all past “the change” in life and coming into their powers. They use those powers to find justice for murdered girls. We also get many chapters telling the back stories of the female side characters and murder victims. I loved that aspect of the book.

I’ve never read a book quite like this, and it was refreshing to see women close to my age kicking ass and taking names. This book was just under 500 pages but read incredibly fast.

The Change is the type of book that will grab you by the throat and hold on until the haunting end. I work in elementary education and read this in two days on school nights!! From the opening line, I was drawn into an idyllic beachfront town where nothing is quite as it seems. The story follows three very different women who find themselves working together when a murder is discovered in their community. The women decide to take justice into their own hands when the police are unwilling to help. As a gruesome pattern becomes clear, the women must unmask the murderer before they strike again.

This was such a fantastic book! I couldn’t put it down. This is a feminist, queer inclusive, story of vengeance about what happens when three powerful women discover that someone has been killing girls on their watch. It was very well-paced, with action interspersed with reflective moments. I loved all three of the characters, who all have specific roles to play in an ancient and protective magic. Together with Harriett’s garden, Jo’s protectiveness, and Nessa’s light they form a beautiful found family. The Change is filled with witty and poignant writing. I can’t wait to see what Kirsten Miller writes next!

I loved The Change and highly recommend you check it out if you like thrillers, powerful women intent on seeking vengeance, and a hint of mysterious magic. The Change releases on May 3, 2022. Thank you so much to Kirsten Miller, William Morrow, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc

"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."

The Change is about three women who discover they have special powers as they go through perimenopause/menopause. Nessa can hear and see the dead. Harriet is able to create plants that have the power to heal or poison. Jo can start fires and has insane physical strength. Together, they find a dead teenage girl whose body was abandoned. The police don't seem to care but the women's investigation into the girl's murder leads to more bodies, and to Culling Pointe, the town's most exclusive and isolated community where the rules don't seem to apply. With their newfound powers, Jo, Nessa, and Harriet take matters into their own hands...

"𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵."

This was unique, entertaining and powerful. I was getting The Violence vibes, another favorite of mine. I absolutely loved it.

Read if you like:
✨ badass female characters
✨ superpowers
✨ dark humor
✨ revenge

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an advanced readers copy.

This was an amazing story which sucked me in and kept me riveted until the end. I honestly did not see the twist until a page before it happened. I loved this book and will recommend it to everyone! It was so powerful!

When justice is not served, does your blood boil, and you wish the wrongdoers dead?
Has some gross, creepy dude wronged you that you wanted to kill in the past?
If you have answered yes to either question and are also a woman, you need to pick up this book and read it now!
The Change is a fiction piece set in a desirable area of New York close to the ocean, a town mixed with poor to highly wealthy inhabitants. But the city faces a possible serial killer offing young, poor girls, that some people see as disposable are acts that bring together three strangers to solve these murders. Author Kirsten Miller created a trio of passionate female characters, each uniquely beautiful and powerful. Miller weaves in supernatural elements to make the trio’s powers enticing enough to be jealous that this could never be true in the real world but not enough to make the story ridiculous. The world these ladies live in is described so clearly, and concise that I read the book with ease, eager to see if I figured out the murder mystery correctly. The book is delectable for murder mystery fans and those who enjoy strong female characters.

4.5/5

What a fun twist on a detective type novel! Kind of like a Charlie's Angels, but with super powers? I am having trouble trying to find a way to describe this book since it is so unique.

Jo, Nessa, and Harriet are three unlikely neighbors brought together due to their special gifts. Nessa can see the dead and she needs to the help of Jo (the muscle) and Harriet (the witch) to help uncover who killed the dead young women she finds. Walking together along a beach, they women first stumble across their first body of a young girl. Then there are more. Who is killing these young women and is there a serial killer on the loose?

Each of the main women are a force to be reckoned with. All three are very different, but come together with their special gifts to support one another and help women as a whole. It is a very moving and powerful book. Definitely in the thriller category, the book kept you guessing until the end. Harriet was my favorite character and I just loved her charisma and her self confidence. Jo was probably my least at the beginning (kind of crude for crude sakes) but definitely grew on my towards the end. Loved the three together and I hope the author continues their story and allows them to solve more mysteries together.

Great thrilling read! And go girl power!

Thank you to William Morrow & Company and NetGalley for granting me a free copy in exchange for my honest review!

Marketed as a mix between Big Little Lies and The Witches of Eastwick, this novel was definitely one that I wanted to read. And, although the marketing did hold up for the most part, the novel fell a bit flat for me.

The three main characters — Harriet, Jo and Nessa — are all middle-aged and have all been taken advantage of in their careers by men. After they discover the body of a young girl and begin to try to figure out what happened, each comes into her own and discovers formerly unknown powers that leads them to flesh out the evil that lurks in their community. Revenge, some magic, and a bit of murder swirl through this novel, and the characters are definitely likable. What made this less than a 4- or 5-star read for me was the severe putdown of all things male that seemed to take place through much of the first half of this novel. Yes, the feminist message here is a good and interesting one, but I found it too strong and a bit overboard — especially at the beginning. Nonetheless, this was an enjoyable read, one whose mantra could be “revenge is sweet!”

This is the story of 3 strong women who discover their individual super powers after menopause. They’ve bonded together to solve the mysterious disappearances of young girls in their town. It’s a little quirky, but I enjoyed the story, their friendship and the message of female empowerment. Recommend!

The Change by Kirsten Miller is a unique fantasy novel that captivates readers with a murderous plot. Nessa James, Harriett Osborne, and Jo Levison, a trio of delightful mid-age women, set out to solve a mystery against the forces that control their upper-class community.

Nessa possesses the ability to hear the voices of those that have passed away. Assisted by the cries of the dead only Nessa hears, the women proceed to the murdered bodies of young girls. Will Nessa, Harriett, and Jo be able to respond to the cries for help from the young girls despite the odds?

The Change is my first book by Kirsten Miller. The use of humor and vivid descriptions is intriguing to readers. The story is a well-written, enchanting journey. In the blurb, the book description is "Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick." Fantasy bookworms will love this stunning tale of magic and mystery.

The Change is available for purchase on May 3rd.

Thank you, NetGalley and William Morrow, for the privilege of reviewing this charming mystery. Your kindness is appreciated.

I really enjoyed this book! It had me hooked from the first chapter, and kept me on my toes the entire time!

This book may be close to 600 pages but I still managed to binge it in 24 hour. While not entirely what I was expecting, this genre-defying book is easily a five star read!

Harriett, recently divorced and let go from her advertising job, hasn’t been seen in month. Her house especially her garden, once the showpiece of the neighborhood, is out of control. For the first time in her life, she is taking control and cares little of what men think of her. Her ‘green thumb’ has grown her the reputation as being the Witch of the island.

Nessa, a retired nurse has recently become an empty nester. As a widow and with her girls gone, her life has gone quite. She’s entering her third phase of life and coming into her gift of hearing the dead and helping them be at peace.

Jo, once running one of the largest hotels in NYC, now owns her own women’s only gym. After years in the corporate world and of being passed up by men less deserving of their positions, Jo is filled with rage. Mixed with menopause, this rage fuels her and gives her physicals powers to protect the women around her.

While all three women are extremely different from each other, they were meant to be friends. The balance they bring to each other makes them a force to be reckoned with. I thoroughly enjoy their friendship and the dynamic between the three women. I also found it refreshing to have three badass main characters going through menopause. The discussions around menopause was enlightening and I loved the way Miller framed it in the story but also these women were the best reminder that a women’s life isn’t over when they hit menopause.

While these three characters and their background stories are vital to the plot, the actual plot starts after they discover the body of a young girl. When the police write her off as being a sex worker who over dosed, the three women take it upon themselves to investigate further. With Nessa’s gift confirming that there was foul play, the women soon discover there may be a serial killer in their beachside community.

Miller does an amazing job of creating complex, interesting, and relatable characters. Not only to we get to know so much about our leading ladies, we also get small character chapters on other girls and women vital to the story. Almost everyone we meet in this story gets a small backstory, This really puts a focus on our victims whose powerful stories really stand out.

I would most certainly call this book a work of feminist literature and while you can feel the rage in the pages, it’s (in my opinion) entirely realistic. From Miller’s depictions of Jo and Harriett losing out on jobs to men less qualified to how much a rich man can get away with will really resonates with readers. Miller does an excellent job of also include men who stand apart and don’t fall into classic stereotypes. One of my favorite conversations in the story is when Harriett is pointing out the irony, that the only opinion that seemed mattered for an AD targeting middle aged women was from men.

This book had me laughing one minute and outraged the next. I had so many conflicting feelings throughout the entire story and I’m obsessed with our three main characters. I want to be just like Harriett, Jo, and Nessa when I’m grown up! While this story is 100% entertaining, it also is a thought provoking story about how women are ‘suppose’ to be according to society.

I could go on and on about how much I loved this book. I already know it’s going to be one of my favorite reads of 2022. The Change comes out next Tuesday, run don’t walk to grab a copy of this one!


The Change comes out May 3, 2022! Huge thank you to William Morrow for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel. This is my unbiased review.

What an entertaining and atmospheric read! Although there are many hard and real truths being explored in this book, there is also humor and hope. I’m a woman of a certain age, and I had forgotten how much I love characters who are in my age group that are not behaving like they are one step away from the nursing home. Thank you to the author for seeing us too!

Al and all just a great read with a feminist flare and it never hurts to throw in a little witchcraft!

"The Change" by Kirsten Miller
No love, BUT Mystery Aplenty
Well, there is the mother's love for her child. Yes I think this is a 5-STAR read. Yes, this is a scary story. Yes, I believe there are monsters in our real world. Thus this story could give you nightmares, or not; but it sure did interfere with my good nights sleep. I am not a fan of self-appointed avengers in the real world but in a book – HOORAY !! Happy Reading !!
NOTE: I received an ARC of this story via a 'Read Now offer' email from NetGalley.
This review expresses my honest opinion.

WOW! Get ready for a read you simply can't put down. Marketed as Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick - this book delivers a tale that will leave you spellbound.

The short version: Three women from a diverse set of backgrounds in Mattauk, NY discover the body of a young woman and set off on a mission to uncover who she was and who exactly is behind her death. Fueled by their unique gifts and a burning determination to right the wrong done to not only this young girl but to all women in general and ensure the person sees justice. Harriet, Jo, and Nessa are all characters that embody what it means to truly embrace the wisdom and changes that come with aging and will stay with me for some time.

As a reader, I was sucked into the story and found myself dying to grab a few more minutes every chance I could get, and easily will be in my Top Books for 2022. Order it now and block your calendar for a couple of days. You've been warned!

Thank you to William Morrow for the free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.