Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Change.

Three women from the small community of Mattauk, New York are going through "the change". Nessa starts hearing voices of the dead; a skill which she inherited from her grandmother. Harriett has recently lost her job and has become a recluse, but has acquired a green thumb of sorts. Jo has a hot temper and is also literally hot--all the time. These three women come together to try and catch a killer of young girls targeting their community. The police aren't much help and not enthusiastic about finding the person responsible. Nessa, Jo, and Harriett take matters into their own hands with the help of their newly-acquired powers.

I really enjoyed The Change. It was refreshing to get the perspectives of people in different age groups than we see in most books. These women are strong, powerful, and don't take s#!t from anyone. If this was a series, I'd definitely continue reading more about these ladies!

"The Change" by Kirsten Miller was an incredible murder mystery. A plot full of women empowering scenarios, epic bravery, friendships, motherhood, career dilemmas, supernatural abilities, and intuition. Was a breathtaking, fierce adventure. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are mine.

<i>“Anger's like rocket fuel. Either it pushes you forward or it burns you alive. " </i>

The Change follows three women that discover more than the expected in their midlife changes. With these changes brings power to the women to bring justice to victims that are written off by the authorities and to right despicable acts that would be otherwise swept under the rug.

I went into The Change for the thriller and the murder, but loved it for the feminine power, the neighborhood messy gossip, the absolute <i>thrill</i> of seeing the wrongs of the world being righted, even if only at a small scope. Hariett came out as a show stealer for me. Regardless, I still loved the back and forth point of view of each woman and did not think that any of them dragged, a common problem for me with multiple perspectives.

The Change delivers the revenge we have all considered when questioned "what would you do if you had magical powers?"

Fantasy might by my one true love, but the social commentary added to it skyrocketed The Change into my top books of 2022.

Thanks to #Netgalley for the ARC - the opinions (muddy tho they might be) are my own

3.5 stars, rounded up

I didn't hate the book, but didn't love it either. A story with a touch of magical realism is something I generally enjoy and this one is very light, so even if you're someone who likes stories completely grounded in reality, you might like this one. That is, if you like reading about women taking/owning their power, their voice.

The 3 women main characters each in their 40s, in the prime of their midlife, gradually discover that they matter and what they can do matters, so they proceed to use that knowledge, that power, to make a difference. One realizes that her family's power of hearing the dead has been passed to her and she hears the voices of dead young women from around town. She gathers her friends, and together they solve and resolve the murders.

If you enjoy reading about strong women being empowered and putting men in their place, this is for you. For me, it was a little over the top, and a little too one-note ...... all the men were bad, all the women were invincible. But, the story does move along at a steady pace, and the dialog is good.

I really enjoyed The Change but felt it may have been a bit too long. The story keep my attention but felt a little disjointed at times with the shifting back in time. I very much enjoyed the feminist female power angle also.

Overall a good book just a bit too long.

The Change is quite simply an empowering thriller, particularly for women who know what it is like to become more and more invisible with age. Here, we have three menopausal superheroes who come into their own after "the change," completely rejecting male definitions of female power. Set in the beach community of Mattauk, New York, the novel focuses on three menopausal women: Nessa James, a black former nurse who can see dead people; Jo Levinson, "the Protector", who owns a women-only gym and channels her hot flashes to burn down people and property; and Harriett Osborne, the "Punisher", a former advertising executive repeatedly passed over for promotion. After walking off the job, Harriett stops dying her hair and becomes engrossed in botany, using weed and mushrooms to improve the depression of other "invisible" women, and growing all sorts of unknown plants in her garden which she uses for both beneficial and destructive purposes. These three women team up after a dead girl leads Nessa to the toney neighborhood of Culling Pointe, and the other dead girls Nessa sees there lead to the conclusion that a serial killer is afoot. The novel is timely (think #metoo and Jeffrey Epstein), and well-written, quickly paced in short chapters so that the reader never loses interest. It is also extremely funny in a snarky way fitting for the subject matter. I would love to see a sequel to this novel. 4.8 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for gifting me with an advanced copy of this book. All opinions in this review are strictly my own.

This was a very enjoyable book. It was a break from my normal thrillers. This had a thriller aspect with a woman comradery feel along with some fantasy mixed it. I definitely enjoyed it.

I really loved this book. It definitely keeps you guessing. It does have a Witches of Eastwick feel to it and it was an enjoyable, on the edge of your seat read. I like suspense and thrillers and this book definitely has both!

The Change challenges what you may commonly believe about menopause. What if instead of losing an ability, you gained something. Something that was a superpower that changed life as you know it? When I first requested this book, I thought I would be in for more of a creepfest based on the cover alone. Instead I found a celebration of womanhood amidst a thriller enmeshed with magical realism. I loved the interesting and even sometimes nutty (Harriett) characters and couldn't help but cheer for Nessa an Jo to right the wrongs of men. Even though the villains were pretty much a given from the beginning, there was a nice twist at the end that most will not see coming. Read this book to rid yourself of some rage, live revenge vicariously, and fuel you inner Wonder Woman! This is a fantastic pick for your lovely ladies book club and would be a great mother-daughter read as well. Thank you @NetGalley and @WmMorrowBooks for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. #NetGalley #TheChange

The Change is exactly the book I needed to read right now! As I am beginning this journey at this point in my life, it was fun and refreshing to read about women of a similar stage in life as they find their inner strengths and gifts to make a difference in the second halves of their lives. It was witty, humorous, mysterious, heartfelt and charming! I was rooting for each of these ladies while in my mind, I was envisioning the perfect casting adaptation for Netflix/Hulu/HBO: Harriet=Nicole Kidman, Nessa=Octavia Spencer, Jo=Amy Schumer/Rebel Wilson/Amy Adams. I couldn't put this book down and look forward to this author's next work!

I am not usually one for fantasy or magical realism, so I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone for this book because the description really grabbed my attention. That being said, I did not enjoy this the way that I've seen so many others love it on Booksta. While I really enjoyed parts of it, I found myself not in a hurry to pick the book back up. It is beautifully written though. I think it all comes down to it just not being the right book for me 🤷🏼‍♀️

Coming in hot with a review of The Change—a book you may or may not be familiar with. 😏
Also feeling extra cause I’m literally having a hot flash right now. I digress.

A wise woman once said, “We can’t freak out over all of the books.” Cheryl wrote this in her post yesterday and gave me permission to quote her. It’s true. But damnit, it is sorely disappointing to have Booksta give you the FOMO, just to find out it wasn’t the sweet literary release to cool off this hot mama.

This book was a hot mess. The Change by Kirsten Miller is about a group of menopausal women who have magical powers turned detectives turned vigilantes. It’s night sweats, rage filled treadmill sessions, and relationships gone sour. It’s a contemporary menopause manifesto slash witchy brewed diatribe slash revengeful rage drama all packaged together in a too long tableau. It’s a feminist Justice League meets the Usual Suspects. (Not the actual movies, but a nod to the movie names just to be clear.)

Lots of people are freaking out about this book. I get it. Underneath it all it’s about women standing up to the patriarchy. But this book is 480 pages! It’s a slap-dash inclusion of all of the things, and the plot within the plot is repeated three times. With a clear focus and a hard edit this book could be my everything. Right now though, it’s over-the-top revenge plot makes me want to run for the treadmill.

This book did not change my life. That’s okay. It’s a book that a lot of people are freaking out about and that’s cool. I’l continue my search. Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

What a unique twist on the suburban woman story! Loved each of these characters including their flaws. They each had their own strengths that I found to be very empowering. I did expect this to take more of a supernatural twist and was surprised that it didn't really. I'm not usually one for contemporary dramas but still enjoyed this quite a bit.

Witches of Eastwick meets Big Little Lies equals the best feminist revenge fantasy novel to date!!!! I love this book!

Finally!!!! Thank you, Kirsten Miller, for writing 50-year-old characters who know their history, their worth, their power, and their strength! Menopausal women do not shrivel up and die! We are bold, strong, funny, and independent!

Harriet, Nessa, and Jo take on shitty men of all forms - but mostly the rich, white entitled assholes who deem themselves rulers of the world. While dismantling the institution, these women become champions, role models, and sometimes saviors to women and girls being used, abused, and killed by these men. They give voices to the victims in ways other books have failed - women saving women! What's not to love about that?

But I also love that Kirsten Miller didn't make all men shitty! Both Jo’s husband and Nessa’s boyfriend support, love, and embrace their strong female counterparts. They don't question, mock, or belittle their opinions or actions, what real men should be!

This book is full of wit and sarcasm. The cleverness of the title alone clues you into the book's tone! I did solve the murder mystery but in no way did that affect my enjoyment of the book.

Throw this one in your beach bag! You're in for a fun ride!

I was skeptical at first. I thought how am I going to remember all of these characters! But I kept reading!!

I am SO glad I did. This was a fantastic read and I want more! This is a book with strong, independent females, willing to do whatever it takes to keep their children safe while also teaching them how to protect themselves through life.

I fell in love with these strong heroines and their future heroines! Please tell me there is more to come!!

Can’t recommend this book more! Smart, funny, and empowering, this book has it all. Not sure how the author kept so many character stories straight, but she did. Plot was tight and the characters were well developed. Will be thinking about this book for a long time.

I received a free advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

Overall, I enjoyed this book though I felt it did get long unnecessarily.
The gyst of it is this:
Three women become “fast friends” with a plan to bring justice to a system that is broken in a beach town of NY. Harriett heals and punishes with her plants. Jo uses her physical strength to protect them. And Nessa has a gift of hearing and seeing the dead. They were all in their mid-forties –- a time in their lives when they want to make a difference for young girls.

And so the story goes...

This book was interesting. I do think parts dragged on and the book was a bit too long for my immediate liking.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

After hearing people absolutely RAVING about this book before publishing day I was super intrigued and motivated to finally pick up my ARC copy. The story overall was pretty unique-3 women who all come into their own individual "powers" as they hit menopause that allow them to help previously murdered women in their area. Not sure if it's because I went into this one blind and had zero clue what I was reading about, but I found myself really not being able to get into this one. But like I said, I am definitely in the minority with my middle-of-the-road review so I recommend checking out some of those higher 4 and 5 star ratings for a better description!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with an ARC for review!

Three women, three roles. Many murders, many missing girls. One creative author.

I enjoyed this book, although it was a bit too long, almost 500 pages. A few chapters could have been cut. Many thanks to Netgalley