Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Change by Kirsten Miller

26 reviews

rjwadia's review

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

mandi_lea's review

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

kindredspirit7's review

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

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

clefi7's review

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, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

chb's review

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: Murder, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Infidelity, and Grief

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

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, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, and Trafficking

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

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

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.

Spoiler

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

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

smallwonders's review

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: Sexual violence, Violence, Trafficking, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

lorahkay's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

This book wants to be a feminist thriller but it often misses the mark. It’s clear the author has not confronted her own implicit beauty and size biases… so, while attempting to invoke post-menopausal bad-assery from her main characters, it’s frequently complicated by her seemingly subconscious devaluation of other women at the same time (e.g. one woman was making “bad” food choices; the same woman, abused and bulimic, would be “pretty again” if she addressed her “grey skin” and “thinning hair”; main characters are **worthy** because they work out and keep their bodies fit, and on and on the list goes quietly criticizing the woman in the background). The plot is mildly interesting but also seems to miss the mark. The ending was obvious from miles away. This book fell flat and kinda pissed me off, tbh. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Trafficking, Murder, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child death, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Classism, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, and Fatphobia

Minor: Eating disorder