Miller triumphs...THE CHANGE is that rare treat: a suspenseful story with great pacing, memorable characters, and an engaging voice. Fantastic in every way, this fierce anthem against misogyny is a smash.--Publishers Weekly (starred review) Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick--a gloriously entertaining and knife-sharp feminist revenge fantasy about three women whose midlife crisis brings unexpected new powers--putting them on a collision course with the evil that lurks in their wealthy beach town. In the Long ...
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Miller triumphs...THE CHANGE is that rare treat: a suspenseful story with great pacing, memorable characters, and an engaging voice. Fantastic in every way, this fierce anthem against misogyny is a smash.--Publishers Weekly (starred review) Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick--a gloriously entertaining and knife-sharp feminist revenge fantasy about three women whose midlife crisis brings unexpected new powers--putting them on a collision course with the evil that lurks in their wealthy beach town. In the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk, three different women discover that midlife changes bring a whole new type of empowerment... After Nessa James's husband dies and her twin daughters leave for college, she's left all alone in a trim white house 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 Nessa to realize that the voices calling out to her belong to the dead--a gift she's inherited from her grandmother, which comes with special responsibilities. On the cusp of 50, suave advertising director 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 have both gone to seed. But Harriet's life is far from over--in fact, she's undergone a stunning and very welcome metamorphosis. 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. Guided by voices only Nessa can hear, 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. Their investigation into the girl's murder leads to more bodies, and to the town's most exclusive and isolated enclave, a world of stupendous wealth where the rules don't apply. With their newfound powers, Jo, Nessa, and Harriet will take matters into their own hands...
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It seems to be the dawn of feminist books and I am here for it! I have lots of female-led books on my TBR lately and two of them centred around women who have entered the menopause and are fighting back against society.
The Change is rage inducing for all the right reasons and it's also an incredibly quotable book which draws attention to the shortcomings of our patriarchal society. I'm not sure what it would be like to read this book as a male, but as a female the lead characters are instantly likeable and easy to relate to. Each of our three main characters; Nessa, Harriet and Jo have been wronged in some way, whether by the careers they dedicated their lives to, their husbands or their family. Through flashback chapters we learn about their backstories and we are outraged for them - for example, the high flying ad executive gets side-lined for being female past a certain age.
Although this book has a lot of relatable points for the time we are living in now, there is also a supernatural element to it. Nessa can see and hear ghosts of dead women, Jo has a powerful and dangerous energy within her and Harriet can mould the natural world to her will. Together they are a force to be reckoned with and when multiple bodies of young women are found in their area they work together to bring those responsible to justice. I would love to read another book with these characters at the centre as well.
I really enjoyed this book, although at 480 pages it is very long. It is very engaging though and I kept wanting to pick it up to find out what happened next. My only criticism would be that past the main event (no spoilers but around the release of the podcast episode) I felt like it started to drag a little. I think after this point it could have been edited down a little and my enjoyment would not have decreased at all.
Overall, The Change is a rage inducing look at our society through the lens of a paranormal thriller - great for lovers of multiple genres. Thank you to NetGalley & HQ for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Kristina
May 13, 2022
A not so bewitching tale!
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 not so bewitching tale with post-menopausal powers, a nefarious garden, murdered women, a distressed mother, an evil villain, and crucial justice.
