The Change, such an innocuous word for menopause is used in some way as to mean giving men a pause in this exquisite tale of 3 older friends who’ve quite had it, both with the games of power that men have played in their lives and with the depredations they have inflicted on the girls in their community. As the women age, they have developed witchy powers, to see ghosts, to effect natural retribution, and to repair damage to those harmed. Hot flashes that can start fires, burn flesh, and melt metals work well in this alternative reality. There is mutuality of friendship, respect for each others’ gifts, and a hidebound duty each feels to find out what happened to 3 dead girls, at whose hands it happened, and to deliver a satisfactory punishment befitting the crimes they committed and their degree of culpability. Both a humorous romp and a thoughtful disquisition on the imbalances of power, by whom it is held and by whom it is wielded. Very enjoyable.

“Leonard laughed. ‘Well, I certainly hope that’s all there is to it. I’d hate to think there’s a serial killer on the prowl in the area.’
‘Isn’t that what Culling Pointe’s gate is for?’ Harriett asked. ‘To keep bad guys out?’
‘Yes, I suppose so.’ The thought seemed to lift Leonard’s mood again.”

That is hands-down my favorite little chunk of writing from this book, and I think it epitomizes Miller’s writing style- she manages to say a whole lot without saying a whole lot- it’s awesome to read a book with *opinions* that doesn’t explicitly spell everything out for the reader.

There are a lot of positives about THE CHANGE- great characters, strong writing, buckets of social commentary, satisfying revenge, magic, ghosts, badass plants, and some Grade A period chat. Miller also nails the creepy/smarmy dude characterization. There’s also a lot of really nice women-lifting-other-women-up dialogue such as:

“‘When someone calls you attractive, it means you draw people to you,’ Harriett said. ‘You think a tiny waist and wrinkle-free skin are the only things that can do that?’”

And:

“‘That anger’s like rocket fuel,’ she told Jo. ‘Either it pushes you forward or it burns you alive.’”

But of course I also have a few minor quibbles. Without spoiling anything, I’m not totally sold on the merits of the conclusion. I also have some questions about appropriation that I’ll let someone much smarter than me expound upon.

3.5 rounded up! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy!

I absolutely loved this book and devoured it really quickly. Magical realism is one of my favorite genres and this one did not disappoint at all. The 3 main characters are all complete badass women and honestly, I'm just trying to grow up to be as cool as Harriett. I definitely recommend this everyone!

I loved this book, I loved Nessa, Jo and Harriet, and I loved their attitudes. They took on the bad guys and turned things upside down for women all over their city. I want to be like them when I grow up.. Super powers abound, along with magic and witches. You will need to suspend disbelief when reading this book,but it’s not hard to do.. I wanted to believe that these events could really happen, so I believed. It wouldn’t surprise me if most women will feel the same way while reading this book. I actually may have become a little bit of a badass just from reading this novel. This book is sure to be talked about ALOT. Immeasurable thanks to Harper Collins Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The badassary of these three women is AMAZING! A witch befriends a women who speaks to the dead and another whose strength can't be matched by any man.

Toxic men, in this wealthy beach town, beware these women are coming for you!!! The Change is the ultimate telling of revenge by middle aged women experiencing a mid-life crisis in life, love and purpose. The Change by Kirsten Miller will keep you on the edge of your seat as these women uncover "who" is killing young girls in their seaside town.

Women, "The Change," will ignite your feminine power and encourage the free rein of the use of the F*** word. The synopsis states it best, Witches of Eastwick meets Big Little Lies.

Thank you William Morrow Books for the complimentary copy of this novel.

i wanted to love this. I think magic and women my age with a mystery would be perfect. The story is just way too cliched for me. :women of a certain age, wronged by men, finding each other and then solving mysteries oh and throw in our periods, menopause and the empty nest. Enough already.
Thanks to the publisher though for a chance to review this ARC. I can see i am in the minority with my opnion!

So a book that features three middle age bad ass super heroes! What is there not to love about that??? I truly enjoyed this book so much - I didn't want it to end. The challenges these women faced in trying to discover who was killing these young girls, is nothing compared to what they faced in the corporate world - and all so true!!!! Most women who worked in these environments will absolutely relate to all the BS these women had to endure just to be successful - or even to try and make it up the corporate ladder. As their super powers develop you get a real understanding of how each of them was prepared to take on what they have been gifted. I do wish the ending had been a little more robust - everyone got dealt with a tad too quickly and with little fan fare. But overall this is a wonderful, romp of a book and I hope the author is planning more adventures with these women. I received an ARC from the publisher William Morrow through NetGalley and I appreciate the opportunity to read this book. All opinions are my own and not influenced by access to the ARC.

I enjoyed this read a great deal.. The characters have much to say regarding the women who find more joy, more hope, more confidence in the so-called "Third Act" of their lives. The Change imparts much in terms of this attitude that I hope will be adapted more widely. One of the things that Miller does well is in how she portrays Nessa. Nessa is Black but her Blackness is NOT the foremost thought on her mind whenever the pov shifts to her and that, quite honestly, is a lesson more white authors can use if they determine to write Black characters.

The Change by Kirsten Miller
LOVE LOVE LOVE this book! This book I absolutely didn't want to put down at all. Well written, characters that come to life, I highly recommend this book, you will not be disappointed! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this and leave my opinion.

4.5 stars. I can see why this one is getting rave reviews. I loved this mystery that had a tone different from most mysteries with a heavy focus on the victims and victims' families. I loved the #girlpower, and the focus on female friendships and female aging. I thought the supernatural elements were well done. The setting definitely enhanced the storyline. I would love to discuss with someone!

The Change was a very layered crime mystery x SVU episode x witches x me too/corporate culture book. There were some really outstanding parts - I loved the character of Harriet and the storyline of the girls (i.e. the SVU part) was very compelling. I feel like all the layers caused certain elements of the book to be spread too thin - I liked both Jo and Nessa but felt they were both missing out on their full potential. The addition of Nessa's daughters was just distracting, as was giving Jo's husband a storyline of his own, and Franklin too. I would have rather read more about Nessa's aunt. Overall, I think the book would have benefitted from having a bit tighter of a storyline and snappier chapters. Though, once I got halfway through the book, a lot of the elements started to become cohesive and that helped pick up the pace. I think this was a solid good read, and I'll definitely look into the author's other books (I didn't realize she had such a backlist). I really appreciate the opportunity from netgalley and the publisher to read this in advance of the pub date on May 3!

The Change by Kirsten Miller follows mainly three female characters in their forties that gain superpowers that they use to take down men throughout the town that have wronged women. The women find out more about themselves as they learn their powers and rage against the patriarchy. When a young girl is found dead near the beach in their town, the women make it their duty to find out who she is and what happened to her.

I was surprised to see that this was a Book of the Month add-on for the month of May! I had already read it so felt like I was in the know on this one.

As a whole, I enjoyed this book. I found it to be insightful and fun and the mystery at the center of the story kept me engaged. It was great to be following women who were older and who had been through some difficult life situations. It was a refreshing perspective!

I loved that this novel does not hold back. It gets into the gritty details of what life can be like for women in a variety of settings including at home and at the workplace. At times, it is absolutely infuriating because it is so close to home.

I absolutely loved the feminist perspective in this book most of the time, but at others it had an undertone that made me uncomfortable. For example, what really got me was several times it was mentioned how women disliked being looked over by men at work or elsewhere and receiving comments about their looks or body. Totally get it. 100% agree. Yet on more than one occasion, the women do this to men in the book. I'm pretty sure the only descriptor we get of Franklin is that he's "smoking hot." At one point, the women are at a funeral and it is said that all the women can't stop staring at him -- which is just disrespectful and inappropriate. If it were all men staring at one woman, it'd be creepy and gross. The standards should really flow both ways in my opinion. I almost hope I was missing the point here and it was a satire on how men write women in some books (with little to no descriptors except for how good they look). But, I also don't feel like you can have it both ways -- a staunch, realistic portrait of the way women are treated in the world AND a satire on how women are sometimes perceived in fiction. Maybe I missed the point here -- in fact, I hope I did!

I do think it could've been a bit shorter. But, I didn't feel like I was disengaged either. Many of the other stories or perspectives that at first seemed out of place and unnecessary ended up clicking together, and everything came together nicely in the end.

In all, I would definitely recommend, but readers should know they're getting into a gritty novel that deals with many tough topics, not a light and fluffy drama.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for an early copy of this in exchange for my honest review!

Billed as Big Little Lies meets Witches of Eastwick and I knew I needed to get my hands on this novel. As a women in her late forties, I could not put this engrossing novel down. Three bad ass women at the time of their lives when most people have written them off, come together with their unique strengths and abilities to protect young women in their communities and right the wrongs that have been done. Full out revenge, eff the patriarchy amazing read. I could not put this book down. This is one of the best books I have read this year. Strong women, fierce friendships and willingness to do what needs to be done. This was such a great book. Cannot recommend enough!

This book was the perfect read to get me out of a reading rut. The writing was impeccable. I cannot recommend this book enough!

Three women come together in attempts to basically burn it ALL down. And, honestly, some of that might need to happen in real life at this point. While this is a work of fiction, the scenarios were very realistic, and quite rage-inducing.

I really loved this story as a fantasy, but also as an inspiring tale of how much power we can have if we work together towards a common goal.

Just adored this. At the core, we have a story of three women (three pov's, all enjoyable to read) seeing a young girl's murder being glossed over by their town and authority, and take justice into their own hands (with new supernatural powers!). Bringing to mind the rise in popularity of true crime, and specifically the case centered in Robert Kolker's Lost Girls, I thought it's very natural that these women wanted answers and raged against the system that sets us up for failure to begin with. I had a fun ride with these women. There are bits that are obviously very dark, but I think readers will expect horror elements going into it. We don't read mysteries for the good vibes, and there is a cathartic aspect to their journey regardless.

I picked this book up after seeing multiple people talking about it on social media. At first glance, I wasn’t sure this book was for me. But this book was for me, for all women. This story captivated me with the tale of three women Harriet, Jo and Nessa all with their respective strengths fighting for the justice of young girls who had been taken advantage of and killed. While I predicted the ending as I got to know all of the outside players more and more, I was pleasantly surprised with the ending and justice served.

I was gifted an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Change by Kirsten Miller was at times funny, frightening, and a rollicking amalgam of deceit, love, family, friendship, and vengeance.  I loved it and I think this book would be appreciated by readers of Liane Moriarty and Jodi Piccoult.

Some of my favorite quotes:

“I wouldn’t say I’m an expert when it comes to scripture, but as far as I know, Jesus never had a problem with the word ‘fuck.’”

"The only true youth serum has two ingredients— luck and money.”

"As strong as you are, we’re stronger together. You may be the concrete, but I’m the rebar.”

"...every recipe is a spell. And all cooks are witches.”

4.5 stars rounded down to 4 because it still needs a bit of editing, but I think this book is a "triumph".

Burn it down!
I'm not sure what to say about this book that hasn't
already been said. Three women in their forties realize
they have special abilities and they use those abilities
to take down some disgusting, horrible men.
The only negative I have is at times this book was a
little hard for me to get through. I think it needs to be a
limittle bit shorter.

This book has been making the rounds on bookstagram, and I totally get it. It's a 480-page revenge story like no other. Three women in their late forties team up and use their unique and fantastical talents to bring justice against men who've had it too good for too long. The book gets violent and kind of dark, but it was certainly a page-turner and I couldn't stop until the mystery was revealed.

“The Change” begins with an introduction to one of three points of view, Nessa’s, detailed therein. Nessa has a surprise of her own: she begins to hear voices from beyond the grave. Nessa inherited this gift from her grandmother, and it comes with certain responsibilities that Nessa owes to each of the dead she meets.

The second point of view comes from Harriett, who has walked away from her career and her marriage. She hasn’t left her property in months, and it appears from the outside that her garden and landscaping has run wild. However, Harriett has undergone a change of her own resulting in a gift tied to her beloved wild garden.

Finally, we meet Jo. Jo has also walked away from her career to pursue a passion project: a gym for women only in which they are allowed to let their frustration and fury out. Jo has also begun to experience menopausal hot flashes. Things aren’t always what they seem, however. Jo discovers that she has the ability to channel the heat and power of those hot flashes, resulting in her own apparent version of a super power.

These women are brought together and, following the pull of Nessa’s gift, they discover a body of a teenage girl that was abandoned in the scrub on a remote beach. The police write off the girl as a sex worker who has overdosed on drugs. Nevertheless, the trio of women are convinced the girl was murdered and that she’s not the only one. The trio persists with their own investigation that leads to the discovery of more bodies that seem to point to the town’s uber-rich community. The trio decide to take the investigation into their own hands with the help of their new powers.

This book immediately pulled me in. I didn’t want to put it down. The book was engaging and well-written. The book and its storyline were truly ingenious. Although I’m not at the same age and point in my life, I felt as though I could relate to the trio of women and the hurdles they faced. While the highlight of women and their struggles as females were heavily present in the book, it was written in such a way that it doesn’t feel overbearing. The development of their powers and how they were to use them were brilliant. I was cheering them on the whole way. The mystery slowly unfolds as the book proceeds, twisting and revealing some surprises. I did figure out some of the intended surprises, but the book was so good I didn’t even mind.

Overall, this book was an inventive mystery that empowered its female characters. The book is relatable and engrossing. I will definitely be buying a hard copy of this book when it comes out and have no qualms about reading it again. I highly recommend this book for fans of mysteries, fiction, fantasy, and stories that celebrate women. Pick up a copy of this book and enjoy the twisty ride!