Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Change by Kirsten Miller

37 reviews

amandaboyer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

rjwadia's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

mandi_lea's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

kindredspirit7's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cazastrophe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

clefi7's review against another edition

dark emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

this is an angry novel. I absolutely loved it. women getting revenge on men doing horrible things. in the beginning it seemed like the characters did odd things that wouldn't be done in real life? but men have done much worse, and the rest of the book was amazing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Murder

chb's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

cheye13's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Yet another book that I don't think was pitched to me correctly. I had heard it was a sort of witchy book about post-menepausal women starting a coven and gaining powers. This is not that, but the only disappointment I have about it is I still want to read that book too.

The synopsis is more accurate than the elevator pitch I got. These are adult women (though I wouldn't call them all "middle age") who always sort of had these magic powers, and are just now beginning to embrace and express them after meeting each other and beginning to uncover a conspiracy. Essentially it is much more a crime/mystery/thriller with a little magic than it is a true paranormal.

This book gave me so much more than I expected, and I truly enjoyed it. It's cathartic, angry, vengeful. Satisfying in every way I wanted from it. It was also terribly sad. There's a lot of heavy, tense, and upsetting memories and flashbacks, and the crimes involved in the conspiracy are abhorrent. I did find myself tearing up more than once. But the book's message is clear and vindicating and never once felt exploitative.

I was genuinely pleasantly surprised by this book; this is what I want whenever I pick up something in the "women killing men" genre but rarely ever hope for. This one finally delivers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

essentially an Epstein revenge fantasy; the story is primarily intended as cathartic, but while the majority of the crimes occur off-page, the story does not shy away from acknowledging their occurrence.

The backbone of the plot is a sex-trafficking ring of billionaire men who kidnap, sexually abuse, and kill teen girls. While these specific crimes are never on-page, the fallout and details of them are included.

Knowing this spoiler does not ruin the story in my opinion. There are unpleasant/criminal police characters, but there is not technically police brutality.

lilifane's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this! 
This was a lot more fun than I expected it would be, although there are some dark and difficult topics as well. Since I still don't read book descriptions, I didn't know what this would be about and was completely surprised. 
I knew it was a female rage book, but I had no idea about the plot or themes. So this centers around 3 middle-aged women at the beginning of their menopause who discover a dead girl at the beach as well as some supernatural powers within themselves. With these powers, they try to solve the murder that no one else seems to take seriously and generally help out other women and take revenge on men, basically. 
I did not expect a murder mystery to be part of the story and since I love those, I was pleasantly surprised. Thought, the mystery is kind of in the background of the plot for most of the time and is more of a plot device. I think it was rather predictable too, but I didn't mind because I cared more about the characters, themes and messages of the book. 
I loooooved the characters. Not only the 3 protagonists but also their families and their dynamics. The way they talked to each other, to their daughters, to anyone around them really. The way they just stopped giving a f*** and took control over their lives. Amazing. 
The plot was often interrupted by background stories of the women involved which showed how they were wronged by men in their lives one way or another. Usually these kinds of tangents would make me impatient or bring me out of a book completely, but I was enjoying the whole experience way too much here and couldn't put the book down. The misogynistic microaggressions also made me SO angry, because they felt so real. And it might feel like a lot or even extreme, but is it though? The way feminist themes are portrayed here is very on the nose, but it's also refreshing how unapologetic and direct they are handled. 
I'm a peaceful person and I believe in peaceful solutions. But I get there are situations where peaceful doesn't accomplish anything. And it felt so good and cathartic to see these women reclaiming their power and taking revenge in such a satisfying way.
Loved the writing, loved witchy vibes, loved the humor. And the audiobook is excellent. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Infidelity, Rape, Car accident, and Death of parent

smallwonders's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, and Trafficking

Minor: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault