A review by biblio_creep
The Change by Kirsten Miller

4.0

Book Review | THE CHANGE by KIRSTEN MILLER 

 

4/5 ⭐’s | PUB DATE:  18 August 2022 

 

Read if you're looking for: 

• A feminist story where women develop “powers” when they reach menopause
• Middle-age women as protagonists
• Terrible men getting their comeuppance
• Witches & botanical magic
• Ghosts
• Responding to hot flashes by walking around in the nude outside

This novel is a fun & humorous tale of revenge. We have three main characters, middle-aged women, who are going through “the change.” As they transition to menopause, they begin to discover that they are gaining some interesting powers. They all live in a community on Long Island, & through a series of events, become friends. One of them begins to see ghosts of murdered young women & girls, & the three begin on a mission of justice & revenge, leaving a trail destruction in their wake. 

I am the target audience for this book, so I really enjoyed it & identified with the characters. I do love a “good for her” book, & I’m white & entering middle-age. One of the three main characters is black, & there is a lot of discussion of how the victims in the book have been targeted because many of them are poor or non-white, so I think the author did a pretty good job there. However, the book is definitely written from a white, middle class, point of view, so just be aware of that. I really loved the depiction of the caring relationships between the women, & how they had each other’s backs, no matter what. The descriptions of the characters were great, especially the annoying and misogynistic male characters. They definitely felt like people that I have met in my life. Overall, this was great fun, & I really appreciate any book that centers older women as the main characters. 

CW:  Murder, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Trafficking