Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Change by Kirsten Miller

4 reviews

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

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.

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.

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

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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

mm691984's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Cursing

Moderate: Sexism, Violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Abandonment and Gaslighting