Reviews with content warning for Eating disorder - The Change

Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

The Change by Kirsten Miller

19 reviews

kmark's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

Content Warnings

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

First read of 2023 started off with a bang! I absolutely adored this feminist, witchy read. With multiple POVs, but mostly focused on Nessa, Harriet & Jo, I loved to hear their life experiences and yow they got to where they are now. The strength, power and pursuit of justice, a world where all women and girls can be safe was so beautifully crafted and inspiring, I just I did not want to put this book down. Plus, January LaVoy was incredible as a narrator. She has such a talent for distinguishing voices for each character in a way that is so immersive—my favourite narrator to date! I can’t recommend this magical realism revenge thriller enough & I really hope a sequel is in the works.

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okiecozyreader's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I ended up really loving (by loving I mean I couldn’t put down) this mystery with three older women (who have gone through the change) and have mystical powers. One senses that there is a ghost in an area, and they arrive there to find a body. Surprisingly, even with a drawing of the child, no one can identify her. The women discover there are other children and when the police don’t offer much assistance, they take the case into their own hands.

This reminded me of a darker Murder She Wrote or a Charlie’s Angels, in which the women were calling their own shots, or maybe a nature-Ocean’s Eleven.

There are parts that are difficult to read though. There are times where I hated the way most of the men were portrayed. But then I thought, does it bother me this much when it’s women being portrayed similarly? And isn’t that the point of this novel, that sometimes men create their own world and women sometimes are invited to have a seat at the table. Unfortunately I still think this can be true today.

In our discussion with @lbtheloverofbooks, Kirsten Miller said “We need to change the narrative about being this age. It is one of the best times of our lives. Do younger women a huge favor and give them something to look forward to.” Laura Beth posted in our group that Kirsten Miller was doing a giveaway and I was lucky enough to get one. Miller was such a generous and fun guest.

I’m on fall break and had some time, but I pretty much read the book this afternoon. Once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down. The 470 pages went by a lot quicker than I thought they might.

There are definitely content warnings for this one, though.

“You’re saying you found a witch like Miss Ella?
I found two. A protector and a punisher.” P97

“‘Witch’ is the label society slaps on women it can’t understand or control.” P113

“Women are allowed everywhere these days. Golf courses, nudie bars, the Racquet and Tennis Club. It would be scandalous if we weren’t allowed. So instead, we’re just not invited.” P180

“The key to getting away with anything is convincing yourself that you’ve done nothing wrong.” P188

“Accept that what you find may be worse than you ever thought possible. And believe you possess the strength to see it.”
“Our lives are designed to have three parts. The first is education. The second, creation. And in part three, we put our experience to use and protect those who are weaker. This third stage, which you have entered, can be of incredible power.” P436

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victoriarosalesvt's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective 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

4.5

This book has an interesting storyline involving three friends and a town mystery. It was fun, exciting, emotional, and even funny at times. I loved the different character perspectives and backgrounds the author gave in the book!

Content Warnings

apersonfromflorida's review

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dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

clhtdr's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

lowkeymarie's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

Holy shit, this was a hell of a ride! Great characters, a wicked sense of humor, and simmering with righteous feminine rage.

Dinged it slightly for some awkward time jumps that slightly confused my dumb ass. 😅 But definitely one of my faves I've read so far this year!

Content Warnings

bedtimesandbooks's review

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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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

libertyreads789's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

3.25

Before I get into the review, I want to say a quick thank you to NetGalley and the publishers over at William Morrow & Company for letting me access this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Change is an Adult Fantasy/Mystery/Thriller about a group of women in Mattauk who have discovered magical abilities as a part of their midlife crisis. Those abilities end up putting them on a collision course with the evil that lives in their wealthy beach town. I’ve seen this pitched as Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick. The Change is out on May 3rd and is available for pre-order now.

There was so much in this story to love and, yet, it fell short for me. I love this beachfront town and all of the wealthy (and not so wealthy) people who live and work there. At first this story really gave me Revenge vibes which I loved and wanted more of. But the story focuses less on the rich people in town and more on the lives of the people who also live and work in this town and have to make it work. There is an ensemble cast of characters who all have their parts to play in this story. My favorite character is probably Jo because she seems the most well rounded character in the story. I feel like I know her a lot better than I know other characters. I love the image of strong women wanting to take back their town after disaster strikes and wanting to prove that women belong here just as much as the men do.

But where this powerful feminist message got lost for me was that it was constantly putting the men down in the first half of the novel. As we learned in the 2010s, that’s not how actual feminism works. Feminist ideology is not about hating men. I also didn’t love the messaging that came across as the women discovered this horrific event. It was seen as: of course this happened. Of course a woman was sexually assaulted and murdered. They’re a woman in a world of men. It was gross and it severely dialed down the horror of seeing what happened to this character. Also, I didn’t appreciate that most of the villains in this story were villains who might one day give a speech outlining all their evil plans while twirling their mustache. Their actions alone would have made me hate them. I don’t then need the author to add another level of evil behavior to make sure I know who’s the bad guy.

The things I enjoyed and really wanted more of were the magic elements and the women pulling together to take care of business. I loved that this was a magical realism story while also having a mystery/thriller element. I love the way the genres were mashed together. But I just found this a little heavy handed.

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