Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Change by Kirsten Miller

12 reviews

artemisia_the_witch's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.5

A beautiful book, who reflect quite admirably the experiences of middle-aged women. Some parts are quite horrifying, although it sadly depict nothing but reality (apart from some magic powers we wish we had), and others are powerful, adorable, funny, heartwarming and satisfying. The characters are incredibly well-written, and the story don't miss a beat.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Drug abuse, and Trafficking

Moderate: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Rape, and Gaslighting

anne_reader's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Trafficking, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Blood, Cursing, Murder, Child abuse, Body shaming, Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Eating disorder, Death, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

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

---

Content Warnings

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

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

---

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

mithridatic's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

i absolutely LOVED this book. from the empowering messages to the relatable sorrows and the sprinkles of humor. i enjoyed it so much an e-book, but found it to be so layered and littered with important messages that i’m still going to buy a physical copy to reread and annotate.
i’d recommend this book to anyone but especially any women/AFAB people out there who know the daily struggles we face in every facet of life. these were some very inspiring, kick-ass characters and a story i’ll hold dear to my heart

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Sexism, Death, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Murder, Grief, Alcohol, Vomit, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Drug abuse

annabelle's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

A good revenge fantasy with a sprinkle of the supernatural. I enjoyed the story as a whole, though I did see the twist coming. I don’t mind that since it was done well. The plot was interesting and the pacing was good considering the length of the book. It didn’t lag anywhere and the story built up well. The characters were compelling, and I was rooting for them to complete their vengeance. 

While there are some magical realism/supernatural elements, so much of the story is realistic in how adults and the systems we have fail vulnerable women. I appreciated how that was a focus of the story and the book stressed how these girls deserve respect. It was definitely a violent book, yet not overindulgent in describing the graphic details of the horrors these young girls experienced which I appreciated.

Some moments did get a little girlboss-y feminism at times, but I don’t think it was too bad overall. I appreciate some unapologetically angry women enacting revenge. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

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.

---

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.

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.

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. 

---

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

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

I was very confused about the time line in this book

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Grief, Pedophilia, Rape, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Classism, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Vomit, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual assault

netflixismyroommate's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

I wanted to like this book more than  I did. It talks about menstruation and menopause as a universal women’s experience when it’s not and complete erases the experience of trans women. Additionally, in a book that talks so much about

sexual violence

the lack of mention of the disproportionate impact to trans women and non-binary people is extremely telling and rather upsetting.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism, and Sexism

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Rape, and Drug use

Minor: Drug abuse

Gender essentialism